Administrative Assistants

[AuditorTurnedGood]

All,
I am giving thought to delegating out some of my administrative work, and am wondering what your expereiences are. I am a one man show, and I want to devote more of my time to my clients, while having the "back of the house" get the attention it deserves, instead of whatever I have left to throw at it. I am thinking scheduling, bookkeeping (nobody laugh, I do it for the clients, but can't seem to do it in a timely manner myself) as well as filing/organizing in the office, and billing. I office from my house, so I'm a little concerned with that, as I would likely not be home when they were working, though my two ferocious attack mini-greyhounds would. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

ATG

[taxmandan]

Several thoughts...

I don't about about MN but here on the left coast most towns prohibit a home-based business from having employees. You'll want to check on that. I would have serious reservations about someone at the house while I am gone, unless your office is seperate from the living area and a locked door between the two locations.

[BOB W]

If your only concern is having someone in your house when you are not there, there are two solutions.

1- Have your AA work at night when you are there.
2- Set up access to your computer from the AA house where the AA is logging in through a secure internet connection. Programs like Pcanywhere or GoToMyPC would work.

A third option is a combination of both.

[AuditorTurnedGood]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I think the remote thing might be best for now. We're planning a move in a year or two to a home with an office that can be secured from the rest of the house. I could also try and schedule a time where I can be in the office during the day as well for an AA to work.

Any idea what this stuff costs?

[BOB W]

Here is "gotomypc" web site. They are not listing their fees so you should call them. I pay about $26 a month. I like it because I can work from my home and scan documents at my home and transfer them to my office PC.

https://www.gotomypc.com/en_US/entry.tmpl

PCanywhere is probably a one time fee of $300 -$400. Google it for costs.

[Lion]

Aa

I've had three people doing clerical work (and in one case, data entry into tax returns) over time. All were women I already knew from other situations: two from my tenure at HRB (non-preparers) and my stepdaughter. Actually, I've had friends of my stepdaughter work for me also, moving office furniture, repairing my laptop, one-time projects, etc. So, I've been comfortable with them before they even came into my home. The non-family members didn't really want to work when I wasn't here. One might arrive here before I was home from a client's, but she knew that I or my husband was due shortly. I have a client who's hired summer interns for his home-based business from the babysitters his wife has entrusted with their children, so already screened and probably familiar with the interns' families. I found it especially helpful to have filing done, so I could lay my hands on a return when I later received a call from the client. You might consider people you already know or know their families from church or organizations or around the neighborhood, young mothers who'd like to work but need to be back at home before their kids arrive home from school, someone retiring but wanting to work part-time, a high school student...