The admin side of locum work, explained plainly.

• Making Tax Digital for locums: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax started in April 2026 for sole traders with income over £50,000, and reaches £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028. What it means for locums.
• How to invoice as a locum: What a locum's invoice has to include by law, what workplaces also expect to see, and when to send it so you are paid on time.
• Getting paid on time: How locums can agree payment terms, chase an overdue invoice politely, and what the law lets you charge when a business pays late.
• Locum expenses: The costs self-employed locums usually keep records of, how mileage is recorded, and how long to keep receipts. With links to HMRC's own guidance.
• Agency, platform or direct: How locums find work through agencies, booking platforms and direct arrangements with workplaces, what differs between them, and how to keep one record across all three.
• How to become a locum pharmacist: What a pharmacist needs in place before a first locum session: registration, working for yourself, indemnity insurance, checks and documents, and finding work.
• Self Assessment for locums: The Self Assessment dates a self-employed locum needs to know, how payments on account work, what happens if you are late and which records to keep.
• Sole trader or limited company: The practical differences between working as a sole trader and through a limited company, for locums deciding how to set up.
• IR35 for locums: What IR35 is, when the off-payroll working rules apply to a locum working through a limited company, and who decides your status.
• VAT for locums: When a self-employed locum has to register for VAT, what counts towards the £90,000 threshold, and why healthcare work needs a closer look.
• DBS checks for locums: Which DBS check locums are asked for, why you cannot apply for an enhanced check yourself, and how the Update Service keeps one certificate usable.
• Your first session at a new pharmacy: What to confirm before you arrive, what to do in the first ten minutes and what to settle before you leave, for a locum's first session at a pharmacy.
• Self-employed or employed: How employment status works for locums, what HMRC looks at, and why it is decided booking by booking, not by what the work is called.
• CPD and revalidation records: How locums in regulated professions can keep CPD and revalidation evidence through the year, without one workplace or a manager to prompt them.

Try Locbase free for 1 month. Then £14.99 a month or £119 a year.