The big Wise glossary of terms
As a technology business, we know first-hand how acronyms and technical language can often be quite difficult to keep up with, particularly when you’re operating in a niche sector like the logistics industry.
We thought it would be best to clarify all of this once and for all by creating a Wise glossary explaining all of these key terms. Hopefully, whether you’re a self-employed individual or a business looking to engage with its workforce, this will be equally useful.
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| DSP | A DSP is a Delivery Service Partner, a term used within the logistics sector, primarily by large online retailers. |
| Main contractor | A Main Contractor is another term for a logistics firm – these firms will often have multiple depots and engage a workforce of self-employed contractors to deliver their parcels. |
| HMRC | HMRC is an acronym of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs – the UK government department in charge of taxation and areas such as National Insurance. |
| UTR | A UTR refers to a Unique Tax Reference number. This is a 10-digit code that HMRC uses to uniquely identify each individual or business from one another. |
| Flat Rate VAT | The Flat Rate VAT (Value Added Tax) Scheme is a method where a business or self-employed subcontractor pays a fixed rate of this Value Added Tax to HMRC. This can often mean self-employed subcontractors keep slightly more cash in their pocket on a weekly basis. |
| Compliance | In business, the term compliance relates to how a company adheres to laws, rules and government guidelines. Within the logistics sector, a lot of this focus is on how companies engage with their workforce of self-employed subcontractors and subsequent tax matters. |
| Documentation | When we, or a main contractor refers to documentation, this relates to the series of items which you need to submit evidence of to a new firm before you can become a subcontractor. This can cover everything from evidence of your driving licence, passport and national insurance number to a toxicology test and your UTR. |
| Sub Contractor | A subcontractor is a self-employed individual who has an agreement in place to work for a main contractor for a set period of time. For example, the logistics sector engages with a large volume of self-employed subcontractors to drive delivery routes all over the UK. |
| Onboarding | The term onboarding describes the processes and stages that an individual has to go through during the recruitment process and as they begin to work for a new main contractor. This can cover everything from supplying banking and payment information to passing company inductions and other tests. |
We hope that the above glossary is useful, but if you would like to speak to an expert from the Wise team about how our software can save you time, money and stress then click here.
