Working From Home: Factors to Determine if It's Worthwhile

Working from home is a wonderful experience, but you need to think of a few different angles before making this venture. There are a lot of wonderful at-home jobs posted everywhere from newspapers, magazines and online forums and other boards. How can you decide if this or that particular at-home job is for you?

Independent Contractor or Employee

First of all it is important to think of all the repercussions of being a independent contractor. Some of these repercussions are that you have to handle your own taxes, your contract can be ended without notice, and of course what materials will you as the independent contractor become responsible for. The tax end of being an independent contractor is not all that difficult if you know the tax laws for your state. Also, knowing what you can and can not deduct will help you with knowing what receipts you should save, and what receipts are really not needed. It is best when trying to save receipts for deductions at the end of the year to have a special folder of some sort to keep track of these. After all if you do not have enough deductions as an independent contractor you may be hit with a hefty tax bill at the end of the year. Being an independent contractor also means that your contracts with companies can be terminated without notice at the drop of a hat. Unlike a "regular" away from home job where you maybe given a few weeks or even a few days notice to your job coming to an end. A lot of work from home jobs make the independent contractor responsible for all materials that are needed for each job. If they say you need a noise reducing headset that comes out of your pocket, if they tell you that you must have a regular land based phone or fax line for this job, all of those cost fall to you. Once again this is where saving receipts for each purchase or the cost of running an at home office comes into play. Most of those things become a deduction of some sort at the end of each tax year that you are operational.

If your considered an employee you may have some benefits even though you are working from home. Instead of being paid by job or by completion, it is possible that you may be paid by the hour. You may have to adhere to a strict schedule as an employee just like if you were driving into an office everyday. Usually the offset with pay and benefits makes this very worthwhile. Being an employee you will receive a W-2 form instead of a 1099 form which means taxes are removed from your check, lessening the chance of owing a huge tax bill at the end of the year.

Home Office Requirements

When looking into an at home job, read carefully and ask questions. Ask the prospective employer what you are responsible for as far as your office goes. Do they require you to have a designated room with locks for the job that you are interviewing for? Do you need to have dedicated phone and fax lines for nothing but that job? Are you required to purchase special equipment to complete your job such as the noise reducing headset? Anything that you think would go with this particular job, or anything that you read but do not quiet understand you should ask about.

Some companies that hire work from home employees or independent contractors will actually send people out to your home to inspect your home office, and to verify that you have each thing needed to comply to their standards. Be prepared for some companies to look at you through a magnifying glass and to inspect anything and everything. Another thing that they may be asking is if you have children home during the hours that you are available to work. If you say yes to this, they may not hire you. Companies want even from their work from homers that very professional atmosphere and expect it at all times.

Commuting

Another possibility is that you may have to commute once a week, every two weeks, or once a month to a location in your "area" for sales meetings, or meetings in general. Ask if they cover your cost for this or are you responsible for all expenses. If you are responsible for the expense of these commutes be sure to save your receipts for your end of year tax records.

Basically, working from home can be very rewarding and be best for some families. If you are lucky enough to find a position that is work from home, take the chance. You may find that you enjoy working home more then you do driving into an office everyday. Then again you just may learn that you are not meant for the work at home lifestyle and go back to your job outside of the home. Either way know what to ask before you begin and do plenty of research into your at home ventures.