Browse the site by resource type and topic.
Our independent and in-depth guides to freelancing
Writing a holiday policy for freelancers — Ensuring you take time off when you're self-employed
What is mental health? — Understanding what mental health is, and understanding mental health at work for freelancers.
Taking time off when freelancing — Time off from your business when freelancing can be a challenge, but there are ways to put things in place to help you cope.
Sole-trader or limited company — There are multiple ways of starting a business in the UK. Most will opt for being a sole-trader, but understand the differences before you make a decision.
How did you sleep? — Good sleep health is a foundation of good mental health, but worries and stress can disrupt our sleep patterns, and impact our wellbeing, especially if you're self-employed.
Self Assessment — Our one page overview on what self-assessment is, how to register, how and when to complete your tax return, and where to find support.
Payment on account — Payment on account surprises many freelancers, and it can be a painful cost you weren't expecting.
Mythbusting — There are lots of perceptions about freelancing - some good, some bad, many false. We help you unpick the truth from the stories.
Juggling half-term and freelancing — How to handle half-term if you're a freelancer
Making tax digital: what freelancers need to know about MTD for income tax self assessment — In April 2026, new rules will come into play for sole-traders to make tax digital and submit their income tax self-assessment. Make sure you're ready.
Quiet Times — Freelancing is rarely consistent in terms of workload, but when you have extended periods of time where there is less work flowing your way, what can you do about it?
Too solo? — Isolation and loneliness can affect freelancers, but working for yourself doesn't have to mean working by yourself.
Late Payments — Almost 50% of all SME invoices are paid late - leading to cash flow issues, wasted time chasing, and a blow to your confidence. What can be done to improve things?
Dealing with bereavement as a freelancer — Whilst no-one wants to plan for such an event, dealing with bereavement is something which can affect all of us.
Contracts — Too many freelancers work without contracts in place - and it leaves both you and your client open to risk. We introduce what concepts are, why they're important, and what you should consider including in them.
Community Matters — Building your own support network is critical - and being part of freelancing communities plays a big part in this.
Back to work — Getting back on track after some time off can seem like really hard work - here are some of our top tips to get back into the swing of things when you're self-employed.
10 things that negatively affect freelancers' mental health — Based upon our annual survey, we've highlighted the most common challenges that freelancers face which negatively affect their mental health, and provide some tips on how to avoid them.
What do we get asked the most often about freelancing.
Why do I keep getting ghosted? — The unfortunate phenomenon of a client you're engaging with suddenly stopping returning your calls.
What should I be including in a post looking for freelancers? — Make sure you're including the bare minimum in posts on LinkedIn looking for freelancers - it saves everyone time!
I've received a letter from the ICO saying I need to register - is this a scam? — When you start a new business, you might receive a letter from the ICO asking you to register with them. Let's learn a bit about who the ICO are and what they do.
What things do I need to do before April 5th as a freelancer? — April 5th is the end of the UK tax year - a time to make sure you're making the most of your allowances, such as pensions, ISAs and business expenses.
When do I have to become a limited company? — You aren't obliged to become a limited company, but there might be some tax benefits over £50k/year
Should I sign this contract with a non-solicitation clause? — Understanding non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in contracts is essential, to avoid you being prevented from working.
I've got a side hustle - do I need to register with HMRC? — If you're earning money outside of employment, there are rules about when and how you need to tell HMRC. Here's what you need to know.
Should I voluntarily register for VAT? — Exploring the pros and cons of voluntarily registering for VAT.
Should I increase my rates to kick off the new year? — We polled 275 freelancers, and asked whether they're increasing their day rates this month, and the reasons behind their decision
How to deal with quiet spells? — The "feast and famine" of freelancing can be hard to deal with, and periods of no work is always challenging.
What's the difference between a freelancer and a contractor? — Understanding how you're being engaged is essential for any contract
Do freelancers need professional indemnity insurance? — An introduction to what professional indemnity insurance is, and why its so important for freelancers.
Do freelancers need a business bank account? — A commonly asked question about keeping your finances easy to manage.
My laptop just died - can I buy a new one via my business? — Accidents happen, things break, new laptops are expensive - can I buy a new laptop via my business?
I've money in my business account - where should I put it? — You can put money in a business savings account, so you can earn interest on it
An evergrowing list of things we wish we'd known when we started freelancing.
The importance of backups — Keeping your files safe is critical - loss of data can be catastrophic, so putting backups in place is non-optional to keep your business sustainable.
I'd need to put money aside for taxes and national insurance — Top 20 ranked "I wish I knew", many new freelancers don't proactively know much to put aside for tax and national insurance.
about payment on account — Payment on account surprises many freelancers, and it can be a painful cost you weren't expecting.
that you'll never truly have a day off — It can be incredibly easy to feel like you have to work all the time, or taking holidays is hard - but with some structure, it doesn't have to the be the case.
that fellow freelancers aren't competitors — Building communities of support with fellow freelancers has more benefits than drawbacks.
Get your first two years of freelancing sorted with our copilot course - Flightplan.
1. Considering Freelancing — Some key things to consider before you make the decision to start freelancing.
2. Before you take-off — Essential steps before you're ready to start your business
3. Launching your freelancing business — Mandatory and recommended tasks to officially launch your freelance business
4. Finding work — Finding work is a big part of freelancing - and something you'll need to develop skills and invest time in.
5. Before you start the project — Before you start work on a client project, here are the things you'll need to have in place to prepare and protect yourself
6. During your first project — Ensure you establish your ways of working and get ready for invoicing early on.
7. After the first project — Get your invoice in, seek feedback and learn from your early experiences.
8. Three months in — Time to mind the gap, review your first quarter, keep on top of paperwork, and manage your workload.
9. Preparing for downtime — Get ahead of quiet periods, whether its taking time off, or when you're not finding work.
10. Quarterly review — Every three months, get into the habit of some regular tasks you'll need to complete and keep on top of.
11. Dealing with turbulence — Explore some of the more common situations which might happen
12. Nine months in — We're coming to the end of the first year, time to prepare for year end, and consider your financial future.
13. End of your Tax Year / April — Depending on when you've started, you'll need to understand what to do at the end of the financial / tax year.
14. End of your first year of freelancing — Congrats! You've completed 12 months of self-employment - there are things you need to do to wrap up the year.
15. Planning ahead for year two — What's coming ahead for the next year, and what do you need to think about for the future?
16. Graduating Flightplan — You might no longer be on your flightplan, but there's plenty more to think about - graduate to the Fellows programme for ongoing support.
Content across the library that's been updated recently.
26 Nov, 2025 — Budget 2025 — The November 2025 budget has a number of announcements which may impact freelancers
27 Oct, 2025 — Take part in the Leapers mental health and freelancing survey — Every year, Leapers asks "How are you doing?", and researches the mental health of the self-employed.
29 Aug, 2025 — High Court Says Whatsapp Messages are Contracts — UK High Court rules that Whatsapp messages are contracts, but don't assume you're protected just yet.
31 Jul, 2025 — New plan for tackling late payments — Positive news for small businesses this week, as the UK government announces its "Plan for Small and Medium Sized businesses", including a package of proposed changes in law to tackle late payments. And they're looking for YOUR feedback on the plans to make sure they're doing the right things.
22 Mar, 2025 — Are we seeing a decline in the quality of freelancers? — There seems to be an increasing volume of people suggesting freelancers are getting worse. But I think it might be more complicated than that.
13 Mar, 2025 — Self-Assessment Reporting Threshold Increase — HMRC announce an increase in the Self-Assessment Reporting Threshold, what does it mean for you?
04 Mar, 2025 — Sick pay for the self-employed? — Matthew spoke to MPs this week about the need for better protections for all workers, not just employees.
13 Feb, 2025 — Are you feeling Überarbeitsglück? — Drömbetalning? Kahvilapaniikki? A collection of (made-up) words from other languages that describe the freelancing experience.
05 Feb, 2025 — New day rate data from YunoJuno — New day-rate data is published today from YunoJuno, but does an increases in day rates actually paint the full picture?
29 Jan, 2025 — What is the "freelancing support ecosystem"?
17 Jan, 2025 — Episode 1 of the Independents Podcast
12 Jan, 2025 — Site Updates - January 12th, 2025
12 Dec, 2024 — Freelancers increasingly turning to overdrafts
04 Dec, 2024 — Independent Impact 50 PR Awards
01 Dec, 2024 — Local Communities and Meetups added to Communities Directory
28 Nov, 2024 — Day rates are not the whole story
15 Nov, 2024 — 50% of the world is not freelancing — Data might show half of the world is in some form of self-employment, but that doesn't mean they're freelancing.
14 Nov, 2024 — Help us create the future of Freelancing Suport
05 Nov, 2024 — Late tax payment interest rate changes — HMRC is increasing the interest rate for late tax payments - nothing to worry about if you're paying on time.
11 Nov, 2024 — Bank of England interest rate changes affects freelancers — The Bank of England has dropped its base rate - how does this affect freelancers?
30 Oct, 2024 — October Budget - what it means for freelancers — The new Labour government has announced its first budget - here is our round up of what it means for freelancers.
19 Sep, 2024 — New policies tackling late payments
08 Sep, 2024 — Returning to employment isn't a failure of freelancing
05 Aug, 2024 — Racism on the streets, and in the hiring process.
28 Jul, 2024 — Move fast and break things.
24 Jul, 2024 — Do we need to rebrand freelancing?
10 Jul, 2024 — Freelancing isn't free
06 Jul, 2024 — Henley Business School on Side Hustling
06 Jul, 2024 — Seth Godin on freelancing rates
05 Jul, 2024 — LSE on 'trapped' feeling of self-employed
26 Nov, 2024 — Introducing our Freelancing Supporters
Our weekly assemblies, where we discuss the week's topics and share our experiences.
How do you invest in your own development? — When you're self-employed, learning and development all falls on you. How do you make sure you're keeping on top of things?
How do you juggle multiple projects? — When you're a freelancer, you often have to manage multiple projects at once. How do you manage your workload, and what's the best way to approach it?
How do you deal with a project going wrong? — Projects can go off the rails when you're a freelancer, and learning how to identify, navigate and react is a skill you can develop.
How do you deal with feeling overwhelmed?
How does imposter syndrome affect you?
What do you do when you've not got work?
Every possible phrase you might have heard about freelancing, explained.
Breadcrumbing — a client leading you on, with potential offers of work, but never signing the contract.
Corporation Tax — Tax you pay on business profits, when registered as a limited company.
Freelancer — An individual working in self-employment, providing services to a client on a project by project basis.
FSCS protection — FSCS protects customers of financial services firms that have failed, to help keep your business funds safe.
ghosting — being ignored by a client, despite having things to resolve.
GPSR - General Product Safety Regulation — EU regulation designed to ensure all products sold in the EU are safe and meet certain standards.
HMRC — HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is the tax authority of the U.K. government.
ICO — The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is the UK's data privacy watchdog.
Income Tax — Tax due payable to anyone earning over a certain income in the UK, and the primary tax you'll pay when you're self-employed
IR35 — Tax law designed to level the amount of tax paid by those in employment and self-employment.
Limited Company — A limited company is one of the legal formations of a business in the UK. Whilst you're not technically self-employed if you're a limited company director, many sole-owners of limited companies describe themselves as self-employed.
Making Tax Digital — A UK government initiative to digitize tax reporting, requiring businesses and individuals to use software to submit tax returns online.
National Insurance — National Insurance is a tax on earnings and self-employed profits. There are different types of National Insurance, you'll need to understand the differences.
Office of the Small Business Commissioner — An independent body, set up to help small businesses deal with late paying larger companies.
Payment on Account — Paying your income tax in advance, as is mostly commonly required by the self-employed.
Self Assessment — The process of calculating and reporting your income and expenses to HRMC each year, rather than being taxed at source.
Side-Hustle — A side-hustle is additional paid work done alongside regular employment, often as a way of earning extra income or testing out self-employment.
Sole Trader — A sole trader is considered to be ‘self-employed', and is the singular owner of a business, entitled to keep all profits but liable for all losses.
UTR — Universal Tax Reference - a unique identifier for you, when you're completing your Self Assessment tax return.
VAT — Value Added Tax, additional tax you'll be charging your customers and liable to pay to HMRC, when your turnover is over £90,000