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Why FCSA accredited CIS providers are as rare as hen’s teeth…

FCSA accredited CIS providers are as rare as hen’s teeth… that means pretty darn rare! Liquid Friday is proud to be one of only three providers nationwide to have gained FCSA accreditation for our CIS service. This is great news for recruitment agencies active in the construction industry who want to give genuinely independent contractors a choice in how they are paid.

Good to know...

About FCSA accreditation

Liquid Friday has been a long-standing accredited member of the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA) for its umbrella service. We now have the same endorsement of our CIS service. The FCSA is the biggest professional membership body for service providers in the professional employment services sector. That includes umbrella companies, contractor accountants and CIS/self-employment providers. FCSA membership is widely considered to be the benchmark for compliance in an otherwise unregulated industry and a safe pair of hands for recruitment agencies. Accredited membership is only awarded to service providers that have been independently assessed by industry experts (Ernst and Young in our case) to confirm that they operate within the FCSA’s rigorous Code of Compliance

About CIS / Self-employment

CIS is an incredibly easy way for independent, genuinely self-employed subcontractors in the construction sector to operate. The level of tax deducted at source depends on their CIS status but is usually 20% once they register with HMRC as self-employed and have registered for CIS payments. They also have to complete an annual self-assessment tax return in which they can claim any allowable expenses against their income. Don’t worry, we can help workers with all of this.

Why offer your candidates CIS?

We are talking about independent, professional tradespeople who are not under supervision, direction or control and take their own financial risk. In other words, they are genuinely self-employed and in many cases they want to be paid accordingly. Therefore as a recruitment agency, if you only offer umbrella or PAYE, you risk losing candidates to the agency up the road who are paying CIS. So you have to balance this against your risk, and the only way to do that is to use a CIS provider who is FCSA accredited.

Your peace of mind

We only offer our CIS service to subcontractors who are not under supervision, direction or control and we carry out regular Employment Status checks, giving our agency partners the confidence that workers are genuinely self-employed. It is not just a box-ticking exercise. In order to retain our FCSA accreditation we have to:
  • Be assessed against the FCSA’s Code of Compliance
  • Adhere to rigorous standards
  • Prove our compliance annually

Find out more about our CIS service

You can find out more about our CIS service here or click on the link below for a guide on everything you need to know.