Darren (our MD), in conjunction with Wealth Matters, gave a presentation on tax saving strategies which we've uploaded for you to read or download if you would like.

Listen up! If you’re viewing this post, you can land yourself a free accounting service with Crunch. Too good to be true? Well read on to find out how…

We’ve recently set up a scheme whereby anyone can be an affiliate of Crunch and simply promote our wares. The truth is, we discovered a natural tendency for our customers to recommend us, so that got us thinking: why don’t we give them something in return? Hence the creation of the Crunch affiliate scheme.

All you need to do is refer people to our service and for every person that signs up after your referal you'll get 10% of what they pay Crunch for every month that they are with us for two whole years. Not bad eh? Your earnings can quickly add up. If you successfully refer 10 people, it covers the cost of being a Crunch customer – thereby effectively giving you a free accountancy service. And you don’t have to stop there, the more you refer, the more you earn, there's no cap.

Interested? Sign up as an affiliate and you could have free accountancy by this time next week!

Here at Crunch we’ve had a number of people asking about the possibility of setting up a limited company with twin directors at the helm. Naturally we had to respond. So we put our technical bods on the case, and after much keyboard bashing, and mouse tapping, we can proudly announce that the twin director feature is now available.

But we are not going to add a new module or create a new graduated scale of costs based on activity or number of toes or something. This new service is avaliable for the exact same price as the old one, £59.50 per month.

This means that anyone looking to share the responsibility of running their own company can now do so content in the knowledge they don’t have to pay more for the privilege and that they are getting the same great service that single director accounts receive.

If you'd like to find out more about multi-director setups you can give us a call on 0844 500 800, sign up for a demo or request a call back

There’s no way to be modest about it: Crunch is now top of the league for accountancy services in the UK!

As far as league tables go, this really is the premiership and like any good football team we’ve got where we are through great team work and an incredible passion for what we do – that is, providing freelancers and contractors with the best possible accountancy service on the planet.

The table is provided by freelancesupermarket.com where customers rate each accountancy service in a number of different categories. The pricing point, level of customer service, and the proficiency of the pay roll team are just a few of the factors taken into account. In short, they look at each accountancy firm from every perspective. And from every perspective we got top marks.

Of course, it’s great to be acknowledged by our customers, but this doesn’t mean we’re going to rest on our laurels. That’s why we’ll be rolling out some exciting new features very soon, including the multiple director service, which is being released next week.

Freelancesupermarket is a price and service comparison website which showcases the best of freelance services in the UK.

You can explore the site here

The computer gaming industry is really thriving right now which makes it an immense pleasure to announce that Crunch is teaming up with GamesIndustry.biz – the world’s most read and influential games industry website.

The deal enables us to showcase the superb Crunch service to the gaming community via their website and online forums.

“The gaming industry is arguably one of the most vibrant and creative sectors,” said Crunch founder Darren Fell, “Our fully automated and stylishly designed online service makes accounting simple and the time-saving benefits are huge – freeing games developers and others in the industry to focus on what they’re good at.”

Phil Elliot, Editor of GamesIndustry.biz, was suitably impressed by what he saw in Crunch: “This innovative and award-winning online service will be beneficial to our community. It’s a practical and easy to use service designed specifically with freelancers’ needs in mind.”

One such freelancer is BAFTA award-winning game designer Andrew Smith.

“Going freelance has been a lot easier than I expected, partly because Crunch made it easy… One of the main things that attracted me was the monthly price set-up – it’s a very flexible way of doing things which I like because you’re always wary of extra charges and hidden extras. This way, if there are any problems, I’m not tied down for a long period,” He said.

This year’s Budget promised an investment of £457 million in the UK gaming industry, as well as tax relief, to stimulate the creation of 3,500 new jobs in the sector over the next five years. Game on.

Well this years budget has been described in a number of different ways: “A much a do about nothing,” “A deficit attention disorder,” “A pre-budget budget,” “An election budget,” and so on and so forth. The overall view is that the real budget will take place after the election. But what should the UK’s freelancers make of it all?

First off, if you’re a cider-swilling contractor, who has an unquenchable thirst for apple and pear flavoured alcoholic delights, you’ll be pretty darn angry at the news that duty has gone up 10%!

It’s not all bad news however. Small businesses looking for more investment will be happy that the government is actively encouraging banks to lend more money. RBS and Lloyds will be lending nearly £94bn of new business loans over the next year, almost half of which will go to smaller firms. Yippee!

Furthermore, the chancellor is looking to cut business rates for “fledgling businesses,” as well as existing ones, for one year from October. He will also double the Annual Investment Allowance to £100,000 – although most small businesses invest less than the current £50,000 limit, so perhaps not too much of a difference there.

Another morsel of positive news see’s the entrepreneur’s capital gains tax relief doubled which should enable more investment in small businesses.

All-in-all, the budget is a positive one for small businesses – and small limited companies in particular. Crunch offers a superb service for those wanting to set up under the limited banner, and makes the whole process ridiculously easy. You can find out more here

For more information on the budget, you’d better wait till after May the 6th!

It’s the ultimate accolade for any accountancy service dedicated to freelancers and contractors. And we’ve just landed it. We’ve walked the high-wire, performed numerous back-flips and jumped through many hoops, (metaphorically speaking). And now it’s official: Crunch is PCG accredited!

The fact that we’ve been accredited by the PCG says a lot about our expertise. The Professional Contractors Group has very strict criteria for giving their blessing to any company or organisation. To become PCG accredited you have to take undergo extra training to prove your mastery of particular areas of tax regulation. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.

The PCG are particularly hot on IR35. It’s not enough to be a qualified accountancy practice, you also have to prove that you have specific expertise in issues affecting freelancers. IR35 is one of the biggest. And our accountants are some of the best at dealing with it and that’s why we’ve been accredited.

The PCG is an independent, not-for-profit professional association who represent, support and promote the freelance community. They provide an indispensable service for freelancers and contractors – and are well worth checking out.

You can check out the full list here

There’s no doubt that Crunch is right at the cutting edge of online accountancy technology, so it’s only natural that our own MD Darren Fell is a judge at the PPH Virtual Business of the Year Awards 2010.

The accolade is the first of its kind and rewards those young, fledgling companies that make innovative use of the web in the way do business.

The awards are being hosted by PeoplePerHour.com, the networking site where freelancers can find work with small and medium-sized businesses. There are currently over 40,000 freelancers signed up to the service and almost 13,000 businesses using the site to outsource their work.

Darren will be a judge alongside Paul Birch who co-founded social networking site Bebo and is an investor in Crunch. The deadline for entries is 15th September 2010 and award winners will be announced within 30 days of the application deadline.

You can find out more here

Debt collection. It’s a term that creates the image of burly henchmen terrorising blameless innocent types, usually of a slender frame; they are often grabbed by the collar and pushed against the nearest wall. But, for the contractor it is they who are the real victims when hard work goes unpaid. The following is a guide on how to manage the problem of client non-payments.

The importance of clarity

Before you commence work, it is important that a detailed job specification document is drawn up and agreed by both parties. There should be no vague wording, or issues open to interpretation.

Here’s an example of a bad specification for making a cup of coffee:

• Take the coffee beans (which coffee beans?)
• Put them in the grinder (what standard of grinder?)
• Put the ground coffee in the coffee machine (which brand of machine?)
• Pour and serve (do they want milk, sugar – if so how much?)

The moral of this example? It’s important to be very specific.

You should also make sure you have a written agreement detailing when payment is due – and exactly how much. This could be a ‘terms of business’ document, it may not be required by law, but for obvious reasons it is advisable.

Just before payment is due for your work, contact the client to remind them.

When payment becomes late

In some industries, it is customary for clients to pay before the end of the month which follows the invoice month, leaving a possible credit period of up to 60 days. When there isn’t an agreement or custom in place, then the law stipulates a default credit period of 30 days.

The credit period begins either on the day the work is completed (or when the goods are delivered), or the date when the customer receives a notice of payment due – whichever of these is the latest.

When the client doesn’t pay

So, the client seems unwilling to pay for the services you have offered despite passing the credit due date. What do you do? Firstly, try and avoid getting a third party involved.

Speak to the client and ensure that they fully understand the situation (this is where the importance of a detailed job specification document comes into play). Try some good ole’ fashioned polite persuasion. It is best practice to receive payment directly – both for your own business reputation, and for your own coffers. Remember: courts cost money; and so do debt collecting agencies – though, if you’re lucky you can get the money back in both cases.

If you’ve done everything you can to speed up payment and still the client is showing zero inclination to hand over the money for your hard graft, then it’s time to get help…

Who should I turn to?

You can recover the money owed through the courts or via a debt-collecting agency.

Courting assistance

Legal action should really be a last resort for a freelancer or contractor. Before you involve the courts, make sure that it will be cost-effective, and ensure that your customer is able to settle – otherwise you could be wasting money on a non-recoverable debt. Here are the advantages and disadvantages…

• You can indirectly employ the services of a bailiff to recover your debt, or, if it is a large sum, the Sheriff.
• Court fees will often be added to the client’s debt, meaning you can recover both.
• You may be able to charge interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debt Act 1998.

• Going through the courts can be costly with no guarantee of your debt being recovered.
• Your client may be working from home, in which case the bailiff or sheriff may not have the right to force entry.
• The process can be slow and laborious.
• It is a sure-fire way to irreparably sour relations with your client.

Indebting yourself to collectors

Debt collecting agencies often get a bad press, but as with all industry sectors there are good and bad options. You should not feel guilty about employing debt collectors if you’ve tried every alternative to recover the debt. But to ensure you take an ethical route, check out Creditsafe Ltd – the only debt-collecting agency in the UK approved by the Professional Contractors Group(PCG).

• Progress is usually fast and reports are detailed.
• Their fee can be fully or partially funded by the debtor.
• If they’re working on a commission basis then it’s in their own self-interest to collect your money.
• Debt collectors can help resolve a dispute if the client defends the claim. And they can do so in a more cost-effective way than going through the courts.

• Varying ethical standards of debt collecting practitioners. The actions of a hardline agency could damage your reputation.
• May create bad feeling between the two parties – dependent on the context of the action taken, and the standards of the agency.
• Can be expensive – their commission is usually 8-10 percent for commercial debts.

Summary

Before you take any action in recovering debt, make sure you have a good chance of success. After all, you don’t want to spend money chasing a client who legitimately doesn’t have anything to give. There are a number of techniques you can use to gauge the ability of a customer to pay up. If you’ve managed a constructive dialogue with them, then you may have gathered a few clues. If your client has limited company status, you can get a credit report for a small fee.

It’s important to employ a third party to recover debt only as a last resort because if that same client has more upcoming work (which they can pay for) then they’re unlikely to employ someone who’s just sent the debt collectors round their house for a slightly late payment.

The best practice is to simply ensure that good clear communication and documentation is maintained from the outset of the work you undergo for a client. This means that if the client does give you the run around, you know that you’ve done everything correctly from your end – and that you can prove it.

Here at Crunch we’re well aware that we’ve shaken up the traditional world of accountancy. We’ve had rival accountants trying to poach our customers and bean counters attacking us on forums. Since we’ve entered the marketplace, the grey world of accountancy has suddenly become full of colour.

An article featured on ContractorCalculator.co.uk discusses the battle between those services which embrace cutting-edge online technology, and the more old-fashioned accountancy practices. Here’s how they see the situation:

“Online contractor accountancy has attracted some harsh criticism since the first services started hitting the marketplace last year, but rarely from customers. It’s been service providers who clearly don’t understand either their contractor marketplace and what it wants, nor what benefits a truly integrated online service has to offer.”

It must be remembered that Crunch is still the only online service for freelancers and contractors which is backed up by fully chartered accountants.

The article concludes:

“As online contractor accountants start to look more attractive, but existing service providers keep poo-poohing them, perhaps we should all apply the lessons of history. Beware of people who don’t, won’t or can’t sell you a machine gun. They’ll try anything to get you to buy a bow and arrow.”

Read the full article here

A recent article in the Daily Express explores the importance of a business plan for the success of a new start-up company. It may sound like a rather obvious point to make – but they do provide some handy advice which avoids mind-numbing jargon.

One particularly salient observation talks about how a ‘good accountant can not only save you tax but also advise you on many aspects of the business, from how to set up a limited company to planning your exit strategy.’

And if you’re a freelancer who should you call? Crunch of course! Here’s what they have to say:

“If you want to handle your own tax, see hmrc.gov.uk for information or get some pointers on being tax-efficient as a freelancer at Crunch.co.uk.”

The Daily Express: crusading for a better accountancy service…

Read the full article here

Special free event to NMK members on 24th March, London, 18h30-20h30!

‘Personal Branding for freelancers - marketing YOU to generate leads’

So how do you make YOU attractive....the Haagen Daz of the freelance world, sought after and so damn good leads just fall through the door? The life of the freelancer or consultant is hard enough surely without having to don a marketing hat and turn you into the next coco cola?

Digital veteran Darren Fell, founder of Pure360.com, freelance advice site FreelanceAdvisor.co.uk and the ground breaking online Accountancy service Crunch tells you the key steps to make you highly marketable. Get this right and you'll be shocked when big brands come knocking on your door!

Already have a 'Personal Brand' but not seeing the results from all your hard work?

Just about to start on the path to freelancing and want a brand identity you can feel really passionate about? Darren will guide you through the basics, forcing you to make key decisions in another of his interactive seminars that will get you thinking and keep you thinking about marketing YOU!

The seminar will deliver:

• How to turn you into a brand?
• The big decision - choosing your name or a separate brand identity?
• Your website and when and how to use social networking
• The importance of PR and watching out for the opportunities
• Case Study: A real life digital freelancer - 0-12months and a successful business

And what to do when all the leads start flowing....well that's another seminar entirely!

When: March 24th 2010, 18:30 - 20:30

Location: Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, room M 228, London, NW1 5LS

Price: free event (55 places) (sponsored by Crunch!)

Register now on Facebook

Feedback from the last seminar - "Drumming up Business - Sales tactics for the digital freelancer"

"Darren gave very important sales tips for our NMK audience. Sales are about persistence and enthusiasm, and Darren showed how we can keep both. He also emphasised in the seminar the relevance of keeping ourselves motivated and very well organised. I was surprised to know there are so many online resources for free that may help freelancers and other professionals to organise our work. I certainly learnt a lot and I am going to apply Darren's techniques in my own work place!"

Magda Hercheui, NMK champion and senior lecturer at Westminster Business School

I attended this event and just wanted to say that Darren is a very engaging and inspiring speaker. He mentioned at the beginning that it was one of his aims to ensure that the people attending would leave with some "fire in their bellies" for wanting to pick up that phone and make those sales calls.By the end, most people were clamouring to get calling. The event was peppered with lots of really good tips and insightful advice. Also, hearing about his background was truly inspiring. I'm looking forward to the next event!

Comment made on Freelance Advisor by "Sajid_S". See item here

Crunch founder Darren Fell has spoken out after the HMRC ruled that 1,700 Weight Watchers leaders were employees rather than self-employed. As they help clients lose pounds of body mass, they will be losing pounds of a monetary nature through increased taxation.

Darren feels that complex tax regulations could stifle the UK’s freelancing workforce:

“Going it alone is scary enough but when you feel like you have the might of the HMRC gunning for you then the world can feel a very hostile place indeed. Under the current UK tax system self-employed people are made to jump through so many unnecessary hoops; causing a great deal of distress and costing individuals time and money to comply with for very little gain to tax revenue.

Read the full article here (Simply Business is the website which helps give small businesses a simple way to purchase insurance)

In a recent exchange on an online forum, Crunch found itself the centre of attention as rival accountants discussed our services pro’s and cons. One of the head honcho’s of SJD Accountancy had the following to say:

“There are many on line bookkeeping packages available such as Crunch and FreeAgent, but to my mind I can't see why you would pay an on going monthly fee for the software when you can pop down to WH Smiths and buy Sage Instant accounts for £89, or indeed use our spreadsheet for nothing!”

Hmmmm. Someone seems to be missing the point. Surely the boss of a large accountancy firm would be aware of what his rivals are offering? Does he really believe that Crunch is just a bookkeeping system?

Crunch is, of course, an online accounting system fully backed up by expert chartered accountants. It really is a complete service – and all for under £60 a month and with no hidden extras. Meanwhile, SJD offers a monthly service for £95 per month. It doesn’t take an accountant to do the maths…

See the discussion here. Brace yourself for over use of "LOL" and inflamatory language!

The latest development in the Crunch system allows you to ‘Pay Yourself.’

Whereas most accountancies are paid to do it from their end, this system allows you to process it all yourself through the user-friendly Crunch system. This allows you to see the national insurance threshold and issue yourself monthly payslips. You can take a salary without paying any more tax. The feature also enables you to see the profit you’re making at the time so that you can issue dividends as and when you want.

It’s yet another example of how Crunch helps you save time, money and hassle. Why pay more when you can pay yourself?

Crunch customer Jono Brain got in touch to offer his assessment: “The ‘Pay Yourself' feature is amazing! Love it. Can tell you guys have spent a lot of time working out the best way to do that, it’s really simple to use.”

A community of expert accountants have made a list of their top ten accountants – and Crunch came top of the class!

Contractor Accountants is a website which offers free professional advice to contractors in the UK – whether they be newbie’s or seasoned veterans. They summed up Crunch very succinctly:

“Everybody is talking about Crunch. Their award winning service combines cutting edge technology, an accountant AND your own account manager for under £60 a month.”

See the list here

It was June 2009, at the height of the expenses scandal, when Crunch MD Darren Fell was invited by parliament to pitch ideas for a new expense management system. After meeting with the Procurement Director at the Houses of Parliament, a simple idea was formulated to make MPs expenses more open, and cost-efficient.

Here’s how it would work:

Each MP would have their own Limited Company, quickly setup by Crunch. They would be provided with a new Business Bank Account and all expenses and payments through it would automatically drop into the Crunch Accounting System. This would then allow their support staff to simply mark what each expense was – they could label them as: ‘travel’, ‘restaurant’, ‘phone’, ‘water-based bird shelter’ etc.

If an MP did charge for a duck house, they would quickly find themselves humbled as the secure Crunch system could send each MPs expenses to a government website for real-time public viewing.

In our proposal, each MP would be running under their own Limited Company, so when they submit their annual accounts, this information would be publicly available. The Limited Company would only be available for parliamentary duties and not constituency duties.

The current Expenses and Administration support team (EAT) in Parliament extended to a staggering 600 people to support 650 MPs. Crunch could drastically reduce this by handling a lot of the support, providing Accountants and the MPs own Account Manager on the end of the phone.

Crunch only charges £60 to setup a LTD company and the Crunch Accountancy service is only £59.50 per month. The MPs self assessment would be charged additionally however this would be incredibly cost effective at only £200 for a really complicated self assessment.

So, what has happened as a result of the proposal requested by Parliament? In short; not a lot…

A committee was setup, which, after a number of months presented a series of conclusions to be adopted in the expenses system.

Following this, another committee was setup and after a few months presented their conclusions. Almost all of the previous findings were ignored and the new conclusions have changed virtually nothing. Viva la Revolution!

Free event!

When: March 10th, 2010 18:30 - 20:30
Location: University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6UW
Price: FREE (sponsored by Crunch)

Do you actually like selling? Do you follow a structured approach to bringing in business?

For some, this is easy, for others this is the hardest part. Bringing in business successfully and following a structured approached will be the difference between a fantastic career or one that is just too painful and very poor!

Darren (The Crunch MD) will guide you through his story from corporate sales in a pan-euro position to his first start-up, Pure360.com. Setup on a shoestring and existing on a fierce cash burn rate Darren was forced to sell fast or face personal bankruptcy.

A lot of the tips are common sense however this course will give you the structure to sell well, actually enjoy the process and ensure you create the perfect pipeline!

The seminar will deliver:

• Sales basics, getting the word out there
• Managing the contacts and the actions - picking the right software
• Reasons to stay in touch - keeping up the momentum of the sale
• The importance of the pipeline - ensuring you never end up with a sales black hole
• Closing business - how to close effectively

The seminar will also comprise of an interactive question and answer session to learn from your selling woes and hear Darren's solution.

To find out more, visit the University of Westminster's site here

The following article featured in the FT, focuses on the battle on Crunch's hands. Why so many consistent attacks from every part of the industry? Are the traditionalists in small accountancy practices, large contractor accountancy firms and even competing online software firms running scared?

We'd like to think we've delivered a service that was so right for the customer and at such a good price we were inevitably going to cause a few ripples. You make your own mind up. When disruption causes this big a fight it can only mean one thing - the customer (you) is going to benefit. Benefit with a better service, a much better price and most importantly a price that doesn't escalate.

"Don’t be fooled by the grey, stuffy exterior of the accountancy profession. If you start to challenge their livelihoods, bean counters can turn quite aggressive.

This is what Darren Fell discovered when he launched Crunch – an online business offering basic professional services, such as invoice tracking and the filing of year-end tax returns, for a flat monthly fee of £59.50.

One rival firm ran a search on the Companies House database to find all the businesses that used Crunch. It then targeted each of these companies with a mailshot promoting its own service, in an attempt to poach their custom.

None of the companies signed up with Crunch switched, according to Fell, who runs the business with a team of 17 accountants and software experts from an office near his home in Brighton. However, he has clearly been rattled by the experience.

“It was a really weird feeling to be attacked like this,” he says. “Down here in Brighton, I help a lot of other entrepreneurs. I hadn’t really grasped that I was going to be incredibly disruptive.”

In some instances, Fell had no one but himself to blame – such as the time when one of his freelance marketers made a mistake answering a question on an accountancy blog. The marketer had not checked the answer with any of Crunch’s accountants or tax experts, and quickly issued a retraction.

But news of the mistake quickly spread across other business chat rooms, leading to a noticeable drop in businesses signing up to Crunch’s service.

Fell was on holiday in Majorca at the time, trying to take his first real holiday since launching the business three years earlier. However, he was soon back on his Blackberry trying to stem the bad PR.

“We had a massive dent in new customers seeking our services,” he recalls. “All that they could find on the internet was that Crunch gives bad advice.”

Although Fell might have expected a hostile reception from established accountancy firms, he has clearly been shaken by the experience.

His first start-up – an e-mail marketing company called Pure, which he sold for $7.8m two years ago – had created no such ill will, despite shaking up that market.

“Never in seven years did I receive one snide comment,” he says. “It makes you frightened to read anything on the internet.”

Rubbing competitors up the wrong way, however, is an occupational hazard for the innovative entrepreneur..."

The full Financial Times article can be found here

Crunch was at the Glug networking event in Brighton on Friday (February 5) handing out free beer! The event was aimed at designers and creatives tired of boring networking events, this was a great event to meet people and have a few beers at the same time.

Glug was organised by Glug Brighton in partnership with Glug London Made Studio, Studio Output and Agency Rush.

Check out some photos of the evening below.

Glug Brighton - 050210 - Images by Craig Sawyer

Crunch is proud to sponsor a new website launched with the aim of uniting the UK’s surging community of self-employed. FreelanceAdvisor.co.uk is an advice and networking website for freelancers and contractors, and it comes into action at a time when uncertainty has forced many people to look at their skillsets and consider working for themselves.

According to recent research carried out by trade body the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), there are currently 1.4 million people freelancing in the UK. The website makes its debut as official Government figures released last week show that unemployment has reached an 11-year high – the number of people out of work in the UK in the three months to September rose by 140,000 to 1.82 million. Economists claim this number could top two million early next year – leading to an inevitable rise in the number of freelancers and contractors.

FreelanceAdvisor.co.uk is written by experts from all industries within the freelancing community, offering guidance and advice on managing all aspects of the lifestyle. 14 articles are published each month along with a podcast featuring an influential figure. High-profile contributors include John Brazier, head of the PCG and Government lobbyist, mand Emma Brierley, CEO of freelance resourcing expert Xchangeteam and responsible for the Freelancer of the Year Awards. A two-part podcast interview with Brazier is currently live on the site. Brazier gives his views on the UK’s working trends and provides analysis of in-depth research into the current number of people working for themselves.

FreelanceAdvisor.co.uk was founded by award-winning online entrepreneur Darren Fell. Fell appears in this year’s ‘Courvoisier The Future 500 in association with The Observer’; a league table of the UK’s most talented business people and was also named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Sussex Business Awards 07/08.

“More people are being made redundant and in the current climate, we predict the UK will see a surge in freelancing,” said Darren Fell, Founder and MD of Freelance Advisor.

“By their very nature, freelancers and contractors don’t have a universal offline or online meeting point, so there was a gap in the market for this website.” He continued: “It’s been growing since it soft-launched in February this year and has been so successful we now want to put it in front of a wider national audience. The content is timely, genuinely useful and will help ease the transition from employee to freelancer.”

Further research carried out by the PCG in September 2008 reveals that of 1.4 million freelancers, 183,000 are freelancing as a second job. These are people in well-paid nine-to-five jobs who are seeking the security of working for themselves.

“We will shortly be introducing a specialist social network; providing a novel way to allow freelancers to collaborate and find work,” Darren continued. “We are already becoming a trusted resource for thousands of freelancers looking for direction in all areas of the
lifestyle.”

FreelanceAdvisor.co.uk intends to attract tens of thousands of users within the next two years.

Crunch.co.uk has won the ‘Innovation in Business’ accolade at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards (BAHBAs). Crunch.co.uk is aimed specifically at freelancers and contractors, and is the UK’s first combined online accounting system and practice – a fully automated online service backed up by an integrated chartered accountancy practice - for which customers pay a fixed monthly fee of £59.50. All annual company returns such as PAYE, Corporation Tax and VAT are included in the price. The company received the award at the sixth annual BAHBA’s, which recognise excellence in business, at a ceremony held at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton on Friday 9 October.

Read full release

Crunch.co.uk is the UK’s first combined online accounting system and accounting practice dedicated to freelancers, contractors and independent consultants working across all professions. Brighton-based entrepreneur Darren Fell, who previously built and sold email marketing technology firm Pure for $7.8m, is behind the project. Crunch.co.uk launched in April this year.

Following van Swaaij’s intended exit from Skype after the company’s $1.9bn majority stake sale to a private investor group closes, Crunch.co.uk is one of the forward-thinking new projects he’ll focus on.

"The accounting industry is ripe for some disruption in order to make it more efficient, lower cost and less time consuming for freelancers,” said Michael van Swaaij. “Freelancing is booming and here to stay as a form of employment, giving millions of people access to work and income otherwise out of their reaches. I've been privileged to be involved with eBay and Skype, and like them Crunch not only aims to reshape an industry but will genuinely help freelancers and micro companies be more productive - thereby supporting an increasingly important part of our economy."

Read full release

Crunch has been shortlisted for the 'Innovation in Business' Awards at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards 2009! The award recognises those business that have outshined competitors through their use of technological, operational or marketing innovations.

Crunch's combination of easy online accounting system and access to a team of chartered accountants is the first of it's kind... So it's not surprising that Crunch, with its revolutionary new technology, has made it through to the final three!

View the nominations

Darren Fell, Crunch MD, was invited on to the popular Chris Evans Drivetime Show on Radio Two to talk about Crunch and accounting with Chris and Foxy.

The show was well received and a great boost to Crunch's notoriety.

There was a minor ripple though; They cited Crunch as the first online Freelancing Accountancy system which wasn't exactly true.

Crunch is the first truly integrated online Accountancy service backed up with an Account Manager and Accountants to gain expert advice over the phone for a fixed fee!

Listen to the full interview with Darren below

The Brighton Argus recently reported on the Crunch launch and interviewed Crunch chief Darren Fell.

Read more (Argus article)