Rochelle Consultant Services LLC

I had an interesting query today, asking the difference between a consultant and a contractor, so I thought I’d share some insights here to demonstrate the difference between the two.

In general, the difference is that the consultant’s role is to evaluate a client's needs and provide expert advice and opinions on what needs to be done, while the contractors role is generally to evaluate the client's needs and actually perform the work.

In some organisation the two terms are used interchangeably but, usually, a consultant’s role is to evaluate their clients’ needs and provide them with expert advice on what work needs to be carried out, whereas a contractor’s role would usually be to carry out the actual work itself.

Generally, a consultant is a self-employed, experienced, independent professional who has a specific field of knowledge, expertise or skill. The consultant provides expert opinion, advice or services regarding information or materials in this field of knowledge or provides training to assist others in making decisions or in performing tasks. Organisations would usually work with consultants where they have an urgent issue that they, themselves, may not have sufficient time or capacity to resolve.

It would be relatively common for consultants to work on a fixed-fee basis where they would work as advisors to organisations, assessing either parts of the organisation, or the entirety of the business, and giving insights into how these areas could be improved.

Usually, a consultant won’t involve themselves in carrying out the actual work required, rather they would advise organisations on how best to implement their recommendations.

A contractor, on the other hand, would usually be a self-employed independent businessperson who agrees (contracts) to do work for another usually for a fixed price or a fixed period of time. The business hiring the contractor defines the desired results and the schedule. The contractor may supply labour only or labour and materials. A contractor generally retains control over the work to be carried out, including the means and methods used to do the job, the scheduling of the underlying work, who performs the work and determines how the work will get done within the standards and time requirements set. A contractor will generally use his own tools and work equipment and may employ others to do the work for them.

A contractor may, like a consultant, advise a business on what work is required, but their primary focus is to carry out the required work.

It is recommended that an 'arms length' transaction be carried out, as if a contractor works onsite at their client’s premises and they do so under direct supervision; if they’re also told what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to be done, then they could be deemed to be an employee.

There’s no real legal difference and the two terms are regularly used interchangeably, especially when the consultant, after having given his or her professional opinion or advice on what work needs to be carried out then enters into an agreement (contract) to provide the services required. At that point the consultant may be said to become a contractor. However, in essence, consultants are paid for their knowledge, contractors for their work