Beyond the Lens

Beyond The Lens

Published by The Association of Photographers Limited
4th Edition 2014
Printed my Spinnaker Print
The Association of Photographers 2014



Logos:

"Logos may be registered as trademarks and in many cases are protected by copyright as an artistic work that may be infringed by photographing." P. 71

Money:

"The Bank of England has copyright in their notes, but reproduction is also covered by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981." P. 71

"The size of reproduction, context, positioning, and wording on the note are all taken into consideration when the Bank of England considers requests." P.71

"HM Treasury's permission may also need to be gained before reproducing coins that are governied by the same Act." P. 71


What type of business is best for you?

Sole Trader:

"It gives you the greatest freedom over your actions, and does not preclude you from taking on employees if you want or need to." P. 81

Disadvantages:

"personally liable for all your business debts, and your risk of bankruptcy" P. 81

"you have no one else to share your responsibilities with." P. 81



"All businesses need to understand that an invoice, say for £1,000, is not the photographer's personal money." P. 81

"It belongs to the business"


Partnership:

"Partnerships also have unlimited liability for debts, and each partner can bind the other." P. 81

"The partners are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the business." P. 81

"It is crucial for there to be a proper written agreement between the partners, drawn up with the help of a solicitor." P. 81

"However well the individual partners get on with each other at the beginning, unforeseen problems can and do occur." P. 81


Limited Liability Partnership:

"This is a hybrid between a standard partnership and a limited company." P. 81

Advantages:

"limiting your liability to the capital you have introduced into the business" P. 81

Disadvantages:

"much of the additional administrative tasks of a limited company." P. 81


Limited Company:

"Limited companies are registered under the Companies Act and are separate legal entities in their own right." P. 81

"Company assets belong to the company and not to the shareholders, so if a company fails and goes into liquidation, the shareholders and directors would not normally be entitled to any of the company's assets." P. 81


Working As A Freelancer

"Tax and National Insurance are an unavoidable part of every worker's life." P. 82

"Employees have the advantage of the employer working out their contributions and payments every week or month" P. 82

"The self-employed have to give more attention to these payments because it is always their responsibility to ensure that payments are made correctly and on time." P. 82

"A fee, rather than a regular wage, is received in return for providing a service and submitting an invoice." P. 83

"Freelancers must be registered with HMRC as self-employed." P. 83


Self-Employed Persons

- "ultimately decide the course of their business"

- "determine their own hours of work"

- "have more than one client"

- "issue their clients with invoices for which they receive fees"

- "have no contract of employment"

- "receive no holiday or sickness pay"

- "have to correct unsatisfactory work in their own time and at their own expense"

- "provide their own tools or equipment"


Employment Persons

- "ultimate responsibility for the work is taken by someone else"

- "have regular hours of work"

- "work for one company or individual"

- "receive a weekly or monthly wage and are eligible for overtime"

- "work a standard number of hours per week or days per month and are eligible for overtime in excess of this"

- "have a contract or letter of employment"

- "are entitled to holiday pay and sickness pay"



"Once you have made the decision to set up as self-employed, the next step, as well as looking for clients, is to notify HMRC within three months to avoid the possibility of £100 penalty." P. 83

HMRC website - www.hmrc.gov.uk

"Maintaining good accounting records on a regular basis will take up some of your time, but will almost certainly save time and costs in the long term." P. 84

"Failure to notify HMRC of liability to pay tax due and on time will lead to substantial fines and interest penalties." P. 84

"It is recommended the following records should be maintained as a minimum:" P. 84

- "A business bank account separate from your own personal accounts"

- "A sales invoice list to record all sales invoices raised by you and dates paid"

- "A file of purchase invoices paid through your bank and a spreadsheet or computer records of your purchases"

- "A bank receipt list/spreadsheet to detail cash, cheques and bank credits received from customers"

- "A cash payment list/spreadsheet to detail cash paid to suppliers"

- "A petty cash list/spreadsheet detailing all those small items you will pay for on behalf of your business, quite often from your own money"

- "A spreadsheet of business payments made by credit cars"


"Writing up your records on a regular basis needs to be a discipline to avoid future problems." P. 84

"you need to understand what you are doing as it can take a long time to find and correct mistakes and HMRC now issue penalties of up to 30% of tax due to carelessness." P. 84

"You must include the name of the customer or supplier, the invoice number, your reference for filing, the net amount, VAT and gross amounts, together with the date the invoice was raised." P. 84

"The golden rule is to keep all receipts and paperwork regardless of how your records are maintained." P. 84

"for some people starting out in business on their own it is recommended that you consider seriously the benefits a qualified accountant can bring to you." P. 85


"The table below indicates the different amounts of tax payable under self-employed and employed. It is based upon a freelancer earning £25,000 profit after deductible expenses, and an employee earning £25,000 salary." P. 85


                                                    Tax                     National Insurance            Total Tax Deducted

Employee                                  £3,112                          £2,070                                 £5,182

Self Employed                          £4,664                          £140                                    £4,804

Difference                                 £1,552                          £1,930                                 £378




VAT Rates

"The standard VAT rate for the majority of goods and services is 20 percent." P. 89


"if you invoice a customer £100 for your services before becoming VAT registered:"


Goods and services        NET       £100.00

VAT                               20%        £20.00

Total                                              £120.00



Standards, Marketing & Representation


"Marketing yourself and being marketed by others can be the difference between success and mediocrity." P. 109

"seen and presented in a way that puts you on a par with others." P. 109

"Portfolio cases should be distinctive, workable and well marked." P. 109

"Delivery should be accompanied by a delivery note with special tabs being kept on any original work submitted." P. 109

"should always have insurance for their own portfolios even though a folio and its contents are the responsibility of the client/agency from the time it is delivered to them until it is returned to you or your agent." P. 109

"The portfolio should not be used by an agency in a 'pitch' unless representing the photographer." P. 109

"Permission must be given by the photographer before work is used for pitching and a fee may be charged for this." P. 109

"Less is more so do not be tempted to present every piece of work you have ever done and if you haven't done much, don't pad it out with work that doesn't do you credit." P. 109

"if there is any doubt in your mind don't put it in." P. 109

"Personal work will impress creatives but if the book is seen by a less visual person, often the client, they may need the reassurance of seeing commissioned pieces." P. 109

"Have another person look over your portfolio will give you a fresh perspective, it is very difficult to be subjective when it is your own work." P. 109


Insurance:

"The cost of insurance policies including goods in trust, public and employer's liability and loss/damage is normally reflected within the photographer's fee." P. 111

"When a shoot is weather dependent, the client should be given the option of taking out weather insurance." P. 111


Social Media - Simon Leach

"awareness of both the photographer and their work, when social media is utilised effectively." P. 115

"why you wish to use social networking and what benefits you hope to gain from your efforts."
P. 115

"social networking sites are not the end to all your marketing worries they are just a tool" P. 115

"How they are effective can also depend on your market and who your buyers are." P. 115

"time consuming and require new content at a reasonably prolific level." P. 115

"need to be pro-active in terms of keeping it refreshed on a regular basis." P. 115

"consistency is highly recommended both in terms of regularity and of content posted." P. 115

"your followers will develop a firm understanding of what they can expect from you." P. 115

"terms and conditions." P. 115

"Make sure you understand them and take note of whether there are any differences in the way they treat words, stills or video content." P. 115

For example, once you upload an image to Facebook, Facebook now owns that image. But does not tell you, only in small righting in the terms and conditions section.

"you should not waste to much time on vague hopes of success and you do not want to build up to many followers on a site which you cannot practically maintain longer terms." P. 115

"ultimately a badly maintained site can actually be worse than no site at all." P. 155

"you can be held legally responsible for information or opinions you make public about other individuals or companies." P. 115