How do you get paid ?

[The Flying desk]

Hi

I'm about to begin an FIC course and am wondering how most instructors in the UK are paid.

I presume if I find part time work at several clubs that I would then be self employed and will provide the schools with invoices and sort out the tax myself. Or Are you treated as a member of staff and paid under PAYE ?

Thanks for your help

[pilgrim flyer]

Hi there

I set up a company and used reciepts for all my training (up to 3 years prior to incorporation) as 'set up costs'. This includes an FAA CPL/multi/IR and JAA CPL/FI.

I bill the school, they write a cheque to the comany, usually the same day. My company presently owes me in excess of 30k, which will take to about the year dot and beyond to recoup at instructing rates.

Downside, had to go through 3 years of receipts construct accounts and will probly end up paying around 600 quid to the accountant to sort it all out (plus one of around 150 quid incorporation costs)

Was spending all that money sensible? - NO!

Would I do it again? You bet, best job I've ever had, but a good job I've got another one to pay the bills. And for my IRI. And my JAA IR. And some multi hours. And my CRI. etc. etc.....

PF

[152wiseguy]

badly.......

[Dude~]

Just because you're part time doesn't mean you have to be part time. Most schools will make you an employee and sort out tax for you, and probably pay you monthly. You could easily be an employee with several companies.

I would be careful about using club a/c and calling yourself self employed, therer was a thread about it earlier and the outcome I seem to remember was that it is a bit iffy and you should be carefull, or ideally know your facts very well.

[The Flying desk]

Thanks for your responses.

Would it be fair to say that most instructors are on the books at schools, even if you are part time at more than one outfit ?

I was wondering how the clubs would treat a self employed instructor using their aircraft and presenting the bill at the end of the month or week ?

There are some obvious benefits in setting up as a self employed instructor versus an employed instructor, i.e. the ability to recoup some of the flight training costs accrued. However, I presumed that this is a bit of a grey area.

It would be a shame to lose out on employment because a school will not pay an instructor who is not on their books.

Pilgrim Flyer, Do you work for one, or a number of school/s which cut you a good deal ? And finally, as they say, how do you sort the admin such as insurance and liability ?

Cheers

[pilgrim flyer]

TFD
I one work for just one at the moment, though I have done odd bits of ermm 'joyride' work. Gave this up cos a) it seemed a bit iffy from a legal/operational point of view and b) the guy I worked for seemed to think that I was a charity and he was a money making bussiness. This, you will find, is a not uncommon vew amongst the flight school owning fraternity - best offer I had was to pay well over 100 quid an hour for the owner to check that I could fly a PA28...
The school where I work is a club. Upside, you tend to get treated more reasonably and if I refuse to fly in dodgy weather etc (you will be asked) then no huffing. Downside, planes a bit scruffy and the avionics suck. All bar one (salaried) instructor are part time with other incomes. I think that one of the others puts it through a company, rest self employed.
There was an article about all this in AOPA's mag a few months ago. The upshot was that it is OK to be self employed but get a good accountant. Speaking of which I believe membership of AOPA to be vital and they've just come up an insurance scheme for instructor liability. I did a BFR for my FAA licenses last year. The guy had a company, largely for the limited liability angle in the event of a nasty. In my case, after spending all that money geting qualified, any claim for more than about 15 quid would see me bankrupt- which in many ways would come as a welcome relief....
PF

[FlyingForFun]

It would be a shame to lose out on employment because a school will not pay an instructor who is not on their books.

I'm not quite sure what the problem is here. Why can't you simply fit in with your school's requirements? If they want you on the books, then go on the books and get paid each month. If they don't, then either be self-employed or set up a company, and get paid that way instead.

My school offered me the choice when I first started working there. I chose to go on the books because it's the easier option - I'm sure there would have been a chance to save some tax somewhere if I'd set up a company to pay myself through, but on the amount of money I earn I pay so little tax it doesn't seem worth the effort. Of course, if I'd happened to end up working for a school who prefers paying instructors this way, I'd have jumped through the necessary hoops.

FFF
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[PSF2J]

Getting Paid

From my experience of the tax man, running a flying school, and paying instructors, i was told by the Inland Rev, that Instructors can only be employed by the company. They cannot be self employed unless they provide their own aircraft and do not take bookings through a school/club. I know this isn't always the case. My advice would be to contact IR.

Most schools pay by the hour typically 15-20squid per flying hour. Some pay you for groundschool, and some will give you a daily retainer. Every school is different. You can get upto 17k a year, but will have to work extremely hard to get it!

All the very best to you as an instructor, I love it!

JP

[hashdef]

This situation was recently investigated by the IR at the club where I work. The club considered the instructors to be self employed. The IR investigation concluded that they were self-employed for tax purposes but employees for NI.