Charlotte Foust
cfoust at infostatsystems.com
Wed Apr 2 19:40:59 CST 2003
No, it's the same in the US. However, if you just got a contract in California, you can get a dba while you wrestle with the details of creating a corporation. Charlotte Foust -----Original Message----- From: Software Design & Solutions Pty Ltd. [mailto:SDSSoftware at Optusnet.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 3:27 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT Got it: Was... Rate for first time Just on that note, Charlotte. One of the biggest advantages of forming a company (proprietary limited) in my view was that according to advice from my accountant, should I be sued then my company's assets would be under fire, not my personal ones. It may be different in the U.S. Kath ----- Original Message ----- From: Charlotte Foust <mailto:cfoust at infostatsystems.com> To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 6:44 AM Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT Got it: Was... Rate for first time You don't have to be incorporated for most contracts. All they want is an actualy entity, rather than a private individual, and a registered fictitious name (dba) serves that purpose. With a dba, all you need is your personal tax id number. You don't need a different taxpayer's ID unless you have employees. Charlotte Foust -----Original Message----- From: MartyConnelly [mailto:martyconnelly at shaw.ca] Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 11:09 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT Got it: Was... Rate for first time Hollis,Virginia wrote: >Well I got it for 60.00. The only thing, they said I would either have >to get a tax number or go through a temp agency. Well everyone knows >what happens when you go through an agency... I would end up with >probably 30 of that. > >So, how do I go about getting a tax number?? Is there anything else I >would need to do? > >Virginia > > > Hmm a temp agency should take no more than 15 to 20 % for administering a contract. Years ago I could get it for 10%, so shop around, I remember getting it for as low as 5% when I had to get my contract assured under a government master standing offer.. Generally there are 3 major steps to take 1. Either incorporate your self or form a limited liabilty partnership (can be a partner of one). Takes a week. If you set your self up as a numbered coporation it is quicker. They dont have to do a name search, if you decide to name your corporation as Virginia Hollis & Associates. Once you have incorporated or whatever level of business is allowed in your state you go to step 2 2 Take your State assigned incorporation number to a bank and open a Business or Commercial Account. You will have to show a physical letter with the number. Takes a couple of days. 3. Take your Bank Account and State Corporate Account number. and get your various tax account numbers from state and federal authorities (This is fairly straight forward unless you are hiring other people then you get into withholding taxes.) Could be a week (who knows?) Things to consider: It will cost you more to fully incorporate say 500 to 700 dollars I do it cheap (have a kid brother who is a lawyer). In Alberta you can incorporate online (just fill in the forms). They will even UPS your minute books and corporate seal. Fully incorporated, you have less liability, a limited partnership may leave you open to a legal suit where your house may be up for grabs. So you need Business Insurance or E&O (Errors and Ommissions) insurance. I don't know rates in US, in Canada its about a 3 - 5 hundred dollars a year per million depending on your business. At least you don't need K&R insurance from Lloyds at 3000 a month per million ;) You will probably want to hire an accountant who will do your taxes and books, don't skimp on this, in fact he can probably advise you on the best form of incorporation for your situation and what intial steps to take. Also he will tell you whether it is better for your corporation to pay you via monthly dividends or a direct salary (which may mean withholding taxes, unemployment insurance (more forms) etc depending on your state. You can probably sign your contract saying your government assigned numbers are pending. Knowing how long some companies will take to pay an invoice, some can be longer than 90 days, you will probably be okay. If this is a problem you might want to amend you contract to a shorter time frame once you have had a lawyer look at it. Discuss this before you sign. I have done 3'd party subcontracts to IBM where it has taken more than 6 months to be paid. If this is the case you may want to establish a good line of credit with your bank. You will not get this for your business for 2 years and established a banking record and have a written business plan, so it will have to be personal line of credit. I might be inclined to say go the temp route intially if your finacial situation is such that you don't have several months salary in the bank as a nestegg. Take this with a grain of salt because I am speaking from a Canadian perspective. _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://databaseadvisors.com/pipermail/accessd/attachments/20030402/94233c50/attachment-0001.html>