Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with selfemployed

Looking for online payroll service solutions

imabanana — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:08:32 -0800

Looking for an online payroll services solution for myself and two part time employees. I am self employed, a great deal of my income comes from one client in particular, but I have trickles of money coming in from multiple areas. I have two part time employees. I'm finding it really stressful budgeting for taxes, and would like to just incorporate, get a business bank account where all the incoming would go, and just have a payroll service cut myself and my two part time employees a check once a month, while taking out all local, state, federal taxes.

My questions:

1) Does anyone have a recommendation for who to use here? Google results are tough/spammy, I've been looking at surepayroll.com and will probably contact them with my situation, but would love to here other recommendations. I really want a solution where I could manage things entirely online if possible.

2) My part time employees are definitely independent contractors (they set their own hours, how much they work, etc. they meet all the qualifications), would a payroll services company issue them a check every month without taking out taxes? How much of a burden on me would it be to have the payroll service deduct their taxes? These are family members so I wouldn't mind making their lives easier if it wasn't crazy expensive.

3) Do I have the chain of events correct on what I need to do? Am I missing anything? (i.e. Incorporate so I have an EID, open business bank account, switch all incoming payments to business bank account, set up payroll services, relax as life gets way easier)

Thanks for any help you can give!

Self-Employment for dummies

explosion — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:13:06 -0800

(Self-employment-Filter) What should I know about / be aware of when contracting for a local university? I know you're not my accountant, so I'll get that out of the way now.

I have been temping at a local university in my current position for close to 6 months as an assistant in an administrative capability. My boss is leaving at the end of the month, and I am effectively taking over her job, but there's a snag: due to the economy, there is a campus-wide hiring freeze. I've been temping in total for closer to 20 months, so at this point I would like to cut out the middleman. Even after paying the employer half of payroll tax, the difference in gross pay is substantial enough to make it worth my time.

I will be meeting with my boss's boss to discuss employment arrangements, and at that time, I would like to propose that the department pay me directly as a contractor, paying me the same rate (or maybe slightly more to reflect additional responsibilities) as they paid the temp agency. I'd like to be armed with some knowledge about self-employment though. I know the basics, like filing Form SE, and paying quarterly, but I'm looking more for the pitfalls to avoid, and maybe a link or two to something less opaque and confusing than the IRS site. Can you tell me what I should aware of? Can you pass along mistakes you (or others) have made, so I might avoid them?

Relevant details:
Massachusetts resident
Newly married (this will be the first year filing as married)
Wife makes similar salary
Insured through wife's job (no insurance worries, really)
No kids
Renting an apartment
The job will be the same, just removing the temp agency from the equation

I'm self employed and can't get any love from the lenders

Scientifik — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:08:08 -0800

How do I get a mortgage if I'm self employed? I'm self employed, have been so for about 2 years, business is doing very well in spite of the economy, I work from (a rental) home and have decided its time to buy a house. Nothing too fancy just a little 2 bedroom where I can work and play and all that.

I have good credit, a good chunk to put down but whats killing me is lenders are looking only at my 1040 Schedule C which is my income after all of my deductions. Basically the amount I'm taxed at. I make all the legal deductions I can so I don't get brutalized by the IRS however this makes my income look significantly lower and basically impossible to provide funding to.

No one at the bank has any answers other than either "Make fewer deductions" which means I'll pay significantly more in taxes, which means I can't put any money into savings. Or "Save more money" even if I save every penny I won't be able to buy a house for at least 5 years at which point who knows where housing will be.

Are there any lenders who specialize in the self employed or are a bit more reasonable and take more into account than just your tax returns?

Are there any options I have other than "wait"?

Self-employment tax help for out-of-state web work

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:16:41 -0800

Self-employment tax help for out-of-state web work In late 2007, I moved from Ohio to San Francisco, leaving my full-time web-related job. In early 2008, the company I left started tossing freelance work my way. Lots of freelance work. So much that I never even needed to find local clients.

Questions:
1) Will I have to file an Ohio income tax form because the company paying me is located there? What about the city where the company is? (Yes, when I lived in Ohio we had city-level tax forms to file. I mentioned this to a SF resident once and it surprised them)

2) I'm assuming that I have to file a California income tax form since I live here, but are there any laws that say, for example, if the higher income tax state only gets the difference between the two rates? Or anything else pertinent?

Notes:
a. I have not been keeping up with estimated quarterly payments. Yeah, I know that's not really smart. I'd never intended to be a full-time freelancer. If I wasn't in the sweet situation of getting a steady stream of work from a company I was at for a decade, I don't think I'd have the temperament for it.

b. If it matters, we're talking about $73K of 1099 income.

Tax help for self-employed Portlanders?

gottabefunky — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:55:10 -0800

Tax preparer with experience helping self-employed folk, ideally in Portland, OR? Two married writers with lots of deductions in 2008 (travel, new house, new baby).

We're looking for someone who'll do more than just hand the 20-page questionnaire we filled out to an assistant to stick into a program and spit out our returns. Someone who has some, you know, advice to offer. Someone affordable, too.

We'd even consider someone elsewhere if they're absolutely awesome with the self-employed magic.

Should I join the National Association for the Self Employed?

GarageWine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:06:57 -0800

Should I join the National Association for the Self Employed (NASE)? I got an offer to "join" the National Association for the Self-Employed. The premier level cost $480 a year. From the website, it is not entirely clear whether the benefits justify the expenses.

Does anyone have any experience with NASE and their services? Is it worth the money?

How to choose comprehensive health insurance plan?

annabellee — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:43:11 -0800

What should I do about the drastic increase in my freelancer's health insurance? I've had health insurance covered by HIP through Freelancer's Union in NYC. Freelancer's Union is switching its plans to Empire and raising their premiums significantly with little change in their offerings. Members have until 12/31 to choose a new plan or will be uninsured come 01/01/08.

I checked out eHealthInsurance and found what appears to be a better deal on individiual insurance from Atlantis.

Quick comparison:
Empire through Freelancer's Union: $382.63/mo
Atlantis through eHealthInsurance:$308.18/mo

Neither has a deductible for in-network care. The doctor visit copays are slightly lower with Atlantis. Empire has a $50 deductible for Rx which Atlantis doesn't have.

I feel like there must be a catch or fine print I'm missing as it seems odd that a group plan wouldn't offer a better deal than an individual one. Is there something I'm missing? Do individual plans skyrocket after a year? Is Atlantis a shady company? Are there a limited number of specialists on Atlantis? Is there some unspecified waiting period that I should know about?

I am in my 30s and healthy. I do not qualify for Healthy NY. I am looking for the most affordable plan re: premiums, co-pays, prescriptions that includes full coverage for hospital stays (deductible/co-insurance plans for hospital stays seems too financially risky).

How can I get health insurance even though I have ulcerative colitis?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:25:12 -0800

How can I get health insurance even though I have ulcerative colitis? I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis the summer following my freshman year of college. Flash forward four years. I still have it and require daily medications to keep it under control but recent colonoscopies have shown things have not changed for the negative or positive.

I have run my own business for years but upon graduating college and coming off of my parents' insurance plan, I was unable to obtain any health insurance when seeking it directly as an individual due to my condition (I tried all of the big companies). Approx. 1 year ago I took a full time job just to gain health insurance (pay was good too).

Well, the job is a mess and the company lacks direction, so I want to part ways with this company fairly soon. I am torn as to what to do, as my business still does well on the side and I would be able to support myself if I returned 100% of my "work" time to it.

With UC, not having insurance is not an option. It gets expensive really fast.

So, if I did insurance through my business (with only me as the employee, but it is a fully formed LLC) could I bypass the normal underwriting BS that gets me denied on a personal level? Or is there an insurer out there that will accept me with my UC? Or do I just need to find a less stressful position at another company to keep me insured?

Please help me as the job stress doesn't make the condition any better and I really don't want to feel so exhausted and down anymore. I want to run my business but I must have insurance.

And yes, I know nothing says the next job won't suck too if I have to go that route, but almost anything would be better than this mess.

Tax planning advice for the self employed.

Nothing — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:57:55 -0800

Tax planning advice for the self employed. The web is full of articles, the bookstores are full of guides. But there is so much "get rich quick" and "pay zero taxes" crap out there that I am not sure where to go for good, solid tax planning advice. Is it better to operate as an LLC? An s-corp? What expenses are deductible? What is a good system of recordkeeping? What records should be kept? If I have two related business pursuits, should I keep track of them separately or together? And so on. I know I need to see an accountant, but I'd like to be as educated as possible. Right now I am paying a rather high percentage of a rather small income in taxes. I'm not anti-tax, but I am very pro-eating.

So, what books do you recommend? What websites have accurate, useful articles? What has helped you better understand managing finances as a self employed person?

Let's do some billing!

Cardinal Fang! — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:26:11 -0800

Help me figure out how to compare employee pay/benefits with self-employed pay/benefits? Math may be required. Please show your work. Start... now: I'm looking at two jobs.

One is as a regular employee for a large software company, where my salary would be ~100K and I would have full benefits: complete medical, mediocre dental, 3 weeks paid vacation, matching 401K up to about 4.5%.

In the other, I would be a "contractor" of sorts - in fact, I'd be a self-employed vendor. I would have to pay self-employment taxes/my own social security, make my own health insurance arrangements, etc.

The second job would only last about 8 months, and then I'd very likely proceed to the first job. I'm sort of doing the second job as a favor to a smaller software company that temporarily needs a hand.

How do I determine how much I will need to bill hourly in the second job to roughly match the income I would be missing by not taking the first job immediately?

Is there a form coming?

schwap23 — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:00:51 -0800

Self Employed Tax Question: I worked as a freelance carpenter for half of '05. Should I be looking for a form from the place(s) that I worked for in the mail? Or do I need to crack out my bank statements and a calculator? (I'm in Chicago, if that makes any difference)

Looking for Toronto self-employed mortgage advice

pasd — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:47:33 -0800

My partner and I are thinking about buying our first home in Toronto and are looking into mortgage options, but it gets a little complicated as I'm self-employed. Looking for advice on self employed mortgages or good brokers in Toronto. Between us we made about $60k each in 2006, and expect similar in 2007 and onwards. The complication comes in the fact that I'm a self-employed web developer, I left my permanent government job in January 2006 so I'm just approaching one year self-employed and expect to remain that way. My partner has a steady, professional job in healthcare.

From mortgage calculators, it looks like with our relatively low debt ($10k of student loans) and incomes we could expect to borrow around $400k from a bank *if* we were both employed.

We don't actually need that much, we're looking at condos around the $250-280k mark and expect to have a 10% down payment.

So, my specific question is regarding Canadian self-employed mefites mortgage experiences. I've googled up plenty of self-employed mortgages, but all seem to want you to have been self-employed for 3 years+, and we're not up for waiting another two years to meet that criteria. Anyone know good alternatives to this? Any advice on good, trustworthy mortgage advice in Toronto would also be appreciated.

No Healthcare. Bad idea?

Ferrari328 — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:46:42 -0800

No health care! Is this a really bad idea? I have been on Cobra for the last 18 months so that will be over now. I'm thinking of not signing up with anyone but continue to put away the $400/month that I currently pay and gamble that I don't need healthcare for another 3 years at which time I would have $15K in the bank for medical needs.
I'm self employed, single, 50ish, never needed any medical services, no family history of any health problem. I can afford to pay for any (reasonable) emergency that would in the next three years. This is in MA.
Is this a really bad idea?

How much to charge an ex-employer?

dogsbody — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 10:45:36 -0800

How much should I charge as a consultancy rate to my ex-employer? I've recently resigned (amicably) from a full-time job to become self employed. My old boss has raised the possibility of my coming in from time to time to help out, whilst I get my own business up and running and the extra cash will certainly be helpful. My quesetion: should I just charge my old salary divided by 365? What sort of mark-up could/should I add on in consideration of my changed circumstances?

Oh, I'm in the UK.

Health insurance plan reviews for the self-employed?

vraxoin — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 09:22:50 -0800

Is there a reputable site that reviews health insurance plans for the self-employed? Everything I've Googled that appears to offer comparison shopping set off my scamdar. Who's the trusted source for this kind info? And who are the key players in this market?

Getting Started with Self-Employment

oissubke — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 22:09:12 -0800

Are you self employed, or a small business owner? If so, what do you do, and how did you get started?