# ACS self employed



## rayanhamid (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi,

I want to apply for ACS. I have 8 years of experience but most of it is self employment. I provide services online via elance and odesk. I am a software engineer. Also it is not a registered business but I have a strong odesk profile and a list of good clients as reference too. Odesk maintain my statement plus I have my bank statements too. Please help me in this regard.


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## KeeDa (Sep 1, 2014)

You will need:
Self statutory declaration for your employment (type, dates, skills, etc) and roles and responsibilities.
Statutory declaration (or reference letters on letter head) for your roles and responsibilities from as many clients as you can.
Bank statements.
If you worked on hourly basis at oDesk, then timesheet reports from oDesk. These would be very important to prove that you work full time.
Purchase orders or invoices.
Statement from your accountant certifying the nature of your business.
Income tax documents.
If you have registered a company, then all the company related documents (incorporation certificate, income tax related documents, service tax related documents, etc).

It is much harder to prove full time employment as a freelancer than it is as an employee somewhere, but is very much possible.

All the best.


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## rayanhamid (Apr 2, 2015)

Thank you. My work is not registered. I hope that doesn't effect. I can find clients that can give me reference letters. The only issue is income tax. There is no income tax on IT in my field. So what do I do in that case? 




KeeDa said:


> You will need:
> Self statutory declaration for your employment (type, dates, skills, etc) and roles and responsibilities.
> Statutory declaration (or reference letters on letter head) for your roles and responsibilities from as many clients as you can.
> Bank statements.
> ...


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## KeeDa (Sep 1, 2014)

rayanhamid said:


> Thank you. My work is not registered. I hope that doesn't effect. I can find clients that can give me reference letters. The only issue is income tax. There is no income tax on IT in my field. So what do I do in that case?


I am not sure about the outcome in a case where your business is not registered. I guess it shouldn't matter much. But, the main concern is about not paying taxes and not having an accountant looking after the books and finances. I would say try and provide as much evidence of your work as you can. All they want to know is:
- your skills matching the nominated occupation & proof that you indeed have these skills - your declaration, and client references.
- you having worked full time utilizing these skills & proof of the same - i.e. got paid enough, bank statements, income tax statements, timesheet reports from oDesk, etc.
- a third party (accountant) who can certify your business/ nature of work. If you are not liable for taxes, maybe hire an accountant now who can certify the same.

Please read Skills-Assessment-Guidelines-for-Applicants.pdf for more details.


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## imagine (Jun 2, 2014)

*Anyone who has already got assessed as self employed*

Hi Guys,

Is there anyone who has got assessed as self employed and got a positive result. Please help.

Thanks


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## KeeDa (Sep 1, 2014)

Hi imagine,

Post your queries here. Would be glad to help.


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## 3br4h!m (Apr 4, 2015)

imagine said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> Is there anyone who has got assessed as self employed and got a positive result. Please help.
> 
> Thanks


Yes please, I'd also like to know if anyone got assessed as self employed.


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## Gagan2015 (Jul 12, 2015)

Hi

I have been self employed (Director of pvt. ltd. company) for about an year now. Most of my business comes from 3 US based MNC. Unfortunately, none of these MNC can issue a client reference because of legal constraints and policy. I'm applying under ANZSCO - 263111.

Has anyone faced this situation? Any guidance on a way out is much appreciated.

Thanks


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## vish1989 (Mar 20, 2015)

Hi all, 

I was in a similar situation as well. I am working as a part time IT Contractor in Sydney for over a year. The problem is that I have multiple clients, so for tax purpose it was a bit easier to show it as a business. I have a sort of registered company. There are a bit strict about their requirements, but I managed to negotiate with them, and get a positive result. 

I will give you a list of documents that I had to submit:
- Reference letter from my clients - which clearly adheres to the ACS format, and mentions the number of hours I worked each week, plus my job role in a great detail. In my case, I have developed a very good relation with my client, who were more than happy to help me in any way they could. 

- Business Registration documents: In aussie, there is a an org called ASIC, which is the Australian Securities and investment commission. So an Australian business should have a registration here. In my case, I didnt since I was a tiny business and I didn't see a point of spending money to register here. I wrote them a letter on my company letter head, explaining why i havven't been able to provide my business registraion documents. After a profound research, and some 100 calls here and there, I found out that its not mandatory for a business to be registered under ASIC from 2012 onwards. Luckily, that saved my ass, and I was able to write them letter stating that, and citing the resources wherever necessary.
Alternatively, I also provided a document on my accountants letter head. 

- pay slips/ invoices that I had given to my clients

- notice of tax return documents

- Reference letters from all your clients - number of hours worked, dates, type of work done.


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## Gagan2015 (Jul 12, 2015)

For me producing any other document is not an issue; incorporation certificates, tax returns, invoices, purchase orders, bank statements.

It's the client references which is an issue. The clients are happy clients but being American companies they are constrained by legal processes to provide any references.

Is there any alternative to client reference. If I just provide contact details of the clients (along with PO, invoice, bank statement) will that suffice.

Thanks


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## KeeDa (Sep 1, 2014)

Gagan,

Unfortunately, that won't work out. Client references are a must.


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## BizTalk (Jul 14, 2015)

KeeDa said:


> Gagan,
> 
> Unfortunately, that won't work out. Client references are a must.


Hi KeeDa
Many thanks for helping all of us here.
May I know where is the source of this information on ACS website? Can you please provide a link of that ?
If you can give me a link, I can read and get all the documents sorted rather than asking here 
Many Thanks


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## BizTalk (Jul 14, 2015)

BizTalk said:


> Hi KeeDa
> Many thanks for helping all of us here.
> May I know where is the source of this information on ACS website? Can you please provide a link of that ?
> If you can give me a link, I can read and get all the documents sorted rather than asking here
> Many Thanks


Posted too quickly

Got it from your another post
"You will need all that is mentioned in chapter 12 "Self Employed Applicants" from the Skills-Assessment-Guidelines-for-Applicants.pdf"

Thanks


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## verynewuser (Jan 5, 2016)

@rayanhamid can you update us about happened with your freelancing experience.


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