CCCS | InfoCentre | Northern Ireland

Self employed

If you are self employed, having a budget for your business is essential.

Your budget will show your business income and expenditure and help you keep up to date with bills. A business budget will also help you work out how much money you can pay yourself as a wage.

To make a business budget you need to:

Work out your average gross monthly income before any deductions
Identify all your average monthly business expenses. These may be things such as business premises, car costs, a business mobile
Divide any yearly expenses by 12 to give you a calendar monthly amount to include in your budget. If you pay for things weekly work these amounts out calendar monthly. Don’t forget to include tax, national insurance, VAT and business debts
To work out the amount you can draw as a monthly wage, you must deduct your monthly business expenditure from your gross monthly income

If you would like help making a business budget please call our Helpline and one of our specialist advisors will be able to help you.

If you are having problems with business debts you should contact Advice NI. They will be able to help you find a business debt advice centre in your area.

If you are concerned that your business is losing money or want to find out if it is a viable business, you can contact NIBusiness Info in Northern Ireland.

FAQs

I am self employed. Can I still claim benefits?

If you are self employed you can claim benefits. Depending on the benefit you are applying for the Government may want to see your accounts. Some benefits are dependent on the amount of National Insurance contributions you have made.

Can you help me with my tax?

No. If you are having problems paying your Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT, or have arrears on any of these please contact Tax Aid. They will be able to give you specialist advice on how to deal with your tax problems.

Where can I find general information about running a business?

If you would like general advice and help on running or setting up your own business contact Business Link in England, Business Support in Wales, Business Gateway in Scotland or NIBusiness Info in Northern Ireland. They will be able to help support you either over the phone or through a face to face advisor.