Virtual Temp Services: Who You Need, When You

Virtual Temp Services: Who You Need, When You Need Them

If you don't have the time or the inclination to go through the hiring process yourself, you can enlist a virtual temporary placement agency to find employees or contractors for you. Most virtual employment agencies screen employees and match their qualifications to your need, thereby taking the guesswork out of the hiring process for you. You will probably end up paying a slightly higher rate than you would hiring someone yourself, as these companies take a percentage of their contractors' earnings as a fee for placing them. However, if you need to save more time than money, a virtual employment agency can be just the ticket.

Paying with Virtual Money

Like traditional employees, virtual assistants and contractors must be paid. You can opt to mail a paper check to your virtual employees, but this is often just one more hassle in an already complicated home office setup. It also costs extra money in printing and mailing costs.

A better way to pay virtual employees is through the internet. Monetary transactions online are much safer than they used to be, and there are several large companies who deal specifically with electronic funds transfers. The most popular of these is PayPal, which allows any two individuals with (free) PayPal accounts to exchange money online. You can register checking accounts, savings accounts, and even credit cards with PayPal, and most virtual telecommuters and freelancers already have PayPal accounts. Paying them is a simple matter of signing in to your account and allocating funds from your checking account-and PayPal takes care of the rest.

You can also set up online transfers between checking accounts, or direct deposit for permanent employees. Most banks will allow you to do this right from their web site, without ever setting foot in a branch office.

Hiring a virtual employee or contractor is a great way to expand your virtual corporation, and the process will help you learn more about online business. A good virtual assistant can be invaluable in making your company look bigger, and you won't have to spend a fortune to get one. The reference section in the back of this book provides several popular online job boards to help you get started in your search.

LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO

As much as we'd all like to forget about taxes of any kind, if you're running or planning to start a virtual corporation, you have to deal with them. Many of the tax issues for online businesses are the same as those of regular businesses: you must file quarterly sales tax reports (even if you haven't sold anything!), keep up with employee-related taxes (if you have employees), and file an income tax statement every April.

There are some tax concerns regarding online businesses that differ from traditional business. The good news is: most of them are to your advantage as a business owner. So, what do you need to know about the wonderful world of taxes in order to keep your virtual corporation free from audits and penalties?