Self Employed Individuals & Independent Contractors

Self-Employed Individuals

As an individual conducting your own business, you may want some guidance along the way. For example, what taxes do you need to pay? To make sure you have the basics covered, here's a list of helpful resources.

Starting a Business

Follow these Steps to Starting a Business

Financing a Business

Federal and state government agencies do not provide grants to self-employed individuals for starting a business. However, there are a number of low-interest loan programs that help individuals obtain startup financing. Visit the this Loans and Grants Search Tool to get a full list of grant, loan and venture capital programs for which you might qualify.

Tax Information for the Self-Employed

Employer Identification Number

• Understand the Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a federal tax identification number, that is used to identify a business entity.

Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource

• Get a broad range of state and local tax information, including resources for specific industries, professions, self-employed entrepreneurs, employers and small businesses.

Online Classroom

• Participate in a series of self-directed workshops on a variety of topics for small business owners, hosted by the Small Business/Self-Employed online classroom.

Self-Employment Tax

• View information on the Self-Employment Tax, a Social Security and Medicare tax for individuals who work for themselves.

Sole Proprietorships

• Obtain a listing of tax forms that a sole proprietor needs to file, along with additional resources.

Visit this State and Local Tax page to learn more about your state’s taxes required for self-employed individuals.

Social Security

Social Security Information for the Self-Employed

• Learn how to report your earnings.

Work Activity Report - Form SSA-820-F4

• Access the Social Security benefit claim form for self-employed individuals.

How to Become an Independent Contractor

Commonly known as consultants, freelancers and self-employed, independent contractors are individuals who are hired to do a particular job, receiving payment only for the work being done. Independent contractors are business owners, and are not their clients' employees. They do not receive employee benefits or the same legal protections as employees, and are often responsible for their own expenses. If you think you want to be an independent contractor, explore the resources below.

Start Your Business

Like all other small business owners, you will need to follow some essential steps to starting your business. This includes getting the proper tax registrations, business and occupational licenses and permits from federal, state and local governments in order to operate legally.

As an independent contractor, you will also want to create a standard agreement for your services. You can find a number of other sample agreements on the Internet, but it is best to consult an attorney to draft one specifically for your business, since your agreement will be a legal document between you and your client.

Find Business Opportunities

Large and small businesses, organizations and government agencies hire independent contractors for a wide variety of jobs, from professionals such as medical billing specialists accountants and engineers to trades like construction and trucking.

Operate Your Business

As an independent contractor you are responsible for paying your own taxes, Social Security, unemployment taxes, workers' compensation, health insurance, and other benefits. In addition, you and your client should understand the differences between an independent contractor and an employee, as well as your legal rights and responsibilities.

Pay Your Taxes

Independent contractors must pay federal taxes on income and FICA; however, your client will not withhold taxes for you. As a business owner you will need to pay estimated taxes throughout the year instead of once a year on April 15.

The following IRS resources will help you understand how to pay federal taxes as an independent contractor:

Self-Employed Individual Tax Center

Get all the information you need on federal tax at this one-stop resource for independent contractors.

Federal Tax Forms for Sole Proprietors

Obtain a list of IRS forms frequently used by independent contractors.
Depending on the location of your business, you may be required to file state and local income and business taxes. Visit this State and Local Tax page for more information.

This article courtesy of: U.S. Small Business Administration
http://www.sba.gov/content/self-employed-independent-contractors

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ICD-10 DEADLINE OCT 1, 2014

The ICD-10 Transition: An Introduction

The ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. This fact sheet provides background on the ICD-10 transition, general guidance on how to prepare for it, and resources for more information.

About ICD-10

ICD-10-CM/PCS (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, Clinical Modification /Procedure Coding System) consists of two parts:

 

1. ICD-10-CM for diagnosis coding

 

2. ICD-10-PCS for inpatient procedure coding

ICD-10-CM is for use in all U.S. health care settings. Diagnosis coding under ICD-10-CM uses 3 to 7 digits instead of the 3 to 5 digits used with ICD-9-CM, but the format of the code sets is similar.

 

ICD-10-PCS is for use in U.S. inpatient hospital settings only. ICD-10­ PCS uses 7 alphanumeric digits instead of the 3 or 4 numeric digits used under ICD-9-CM procedure coding. Coding under ICD-10-PCS is much more specific and substantially different from ICD-9-CM procedure coding.

 

The transition to ICD-10 is occurring because ICD-9 produces limited data about patients’ medical conditions and hospital inpatient procedures. ICD-9 is 30 years old, has outdated terms, and is inconsistent with current medical practice. Also, the structure of ICD-9 limits the number of new codes that can be created, and many ICD-9 categories are full.

 

Who Needs to Transition

ICD-10 will affect diagnosis and inpatient procedure coding for everyone covered by Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), not just those who submit Medicare or Medicaid claims. The change to ICD-10 does not affect CPT coding for  outpatient procedures.

 

Health care providers, payers, clearinghouses, and billing services must be prepared to comply with the transition to ICD-10, which means:

• All electronic transactions must use Version 5010 standards, which have been required since January 1, 2012. Unlike the older Version 4010/4010A standards, Version 5010 accommodates ICD-10 codes.
• ICD-10 diagnosis codes must be used for all health care services provided in the U.S., and ICD-10 procedure codes must be used for all hospital inpatient procedures. Claims with ICD-9 codes for services provided on or after the compliance deadline cannot be paid.

 

Transitioning to ICD-10

It is important to prepare now for the ICD-10 transition. The following are steps you can take to get started:

 

• Providers – Develop an implementation strategy that includes an assessment of the impact on your organization, a detailed timeline, and budget. Check with your billing service, clearinghouse, or practice management software vendor about their compliance plans. Providers who handle billing and software development internally should plan for medical records/coding, clinical, IT, and finance staff to coordinate on ICD-10 transition efforts.
• Payers – Review payment policies since the transition to ICD-10 will involve new coding rules. Ask your software vendors about their readiness plans and timelines for product development, testing, availability, and training for ICD-10. You should have an implementation plan and transition budget in place.
• Software vendors, clearinghouses, and third-party billing services – Work with customers to install and test ICD-10 ready products. Take a proactive role in assisting with the transition so your customers can get their claims paid. Products and services will be obsolete if steps are not taken to prepare. 

 http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/index.html

  

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Do you want to be successfully self employed? Do you want to work from home?

Then you may want to start a career in medical billing. It’s certainly not a get rich quick scheme. You have a lot of learning ahead of you. But once you put in the time and effort to learn and get started you will find medical billing to be a very economical and rewarding career.
The world of medical billing is an ever changing one. Policies and procedures are constantly being updated. In this book I will teach you how to stay on top of them. Medical providers and their staff do not have the time or resources to keep up with insurance companies and their seemingly constant policy changes. Many medical providers outsource to professional medical billing services, like the one I will teach you to be.
This book will take you step by step to start your medical billing service. Including all the tools you need to get started, how to market a provider, writing a professional contract, determining your fees, and choosing software. I also share my secrets of medical insurance companies and patient collections with you. Throughout the book I discuss additional services you can offer to generate even more income for your medical billing service.
https://www.createspace.com/3977179

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I am the owner of my own medical billing service, Smart Billing Solutions, since 2005. I have been in the career of medical billing since 2002. I have seen the front and back of many professional medical offices. It is with this experience that I have collected all the dos and the don’ts of being a medical billing service. When I wrote my first contract I didn’t know what I was doing. I wish that I had all the knowledge I do today and that I have included in this book to share with you.

http://www.smartbillingsolutions.net/

The start-up costs are low and the keep up costs even lower. You can and will be successful!

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Looking for a new career? Want to be self-employed? Want to start a business with little overhead? Then stop searching, this is the book you want to read! This book takes you step by step through the process of starting your own medical billing service from your home. How to Start Your Own Medical Billing Service

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Legal Process Outsourcing Industry in India targeting to reach US$ 1 billion by 2015

Legal Process Outsourcing Industry often termed as LPO industry is targeting to reach US$ 1 billion in revenues in the next two years from the present levels of US$ 440 million. Of course this seems to be an extremely ambitious target as India is no longer the only preferred destination for outsourcing and countries like Philippines, etc. too have emerged as the best alternative destination for outsourcing. More and more business organizations across the globe are looking to outsource to only those countries that not only offer low prices but also have the necessary infrastructure in terms of qualified human resources, information technology and government support. But India is still considered to be the first choice for the Law firms in US and UK that wish to outsource legal services as India has more than 950 law schools that train approximately 60,000 law graduates and qualify them to join the legal profession who will join the 1.2 million registered advocates in the country. Many of the new law graduates prefer to join the LPO firms and the corporate sector rather than opt for judicial clerkship or litigation practice. The number of LPO firms has increased to 140 from around 50 in 2005 and this has led to increased opportunities for law graduates and these firms offer very good salaries. Litigation and judicial clerkship requires a lot of struggle to establish reputation which students today prefer to avoid, but many industry experts and seasoned lawyers believe that finally all the law graduates have to at some point go to courtroom and practice.

Indian LPO firms offer services like reviewing documents and basic due diligence, to automation and process efficiency, review contracts, process loans, provide expert witness advice on data-collection, draft patent applications and conduct litigation-readiness assessment, etc. One of the major challenges for the LPO industry is that every country has a different legal system and the LPO firm employees have to be trained accordingly and Indian law is mostly based on the British Legal system so there is a basic understanding of the British law and they can also easily understand the American Law too which is major competitive advantage for Indian Lawyers.  Another crucial factor is the low cost and subsequent low pricing that Indian firms offer, for example for drafting contracts and legal memos a US Lawyer can charge somewhere between US$ 300-400 per hour but in India same work can be done with US$ 10-30 per hour. This is a major cost advantage for the US and UK law firms and corporate legal departments in business organizations who need to cut costs constantly to survive. The availability of skilled lawyers along with the government support the LPO industry is hoping to cross the billion dollar revenue mark in the next couple of years. Most of the private Universities and big educational groups in India are offering dual degree programs like BBA-LLB, BA-LLB and are also offering Masters Programs in Law with specialization focused on Intellectual property rights, financial and Business laws, etc. which will also help the LPO firms to offer even more specialized services to their clients. Many law students are coming from middle class families who take educational loans for studies and Indian Law firms are majority family owned Law firms which do not provide much opportunity for fresh graduates and everyone cannot enter into Judicial services, corporate legal departments and practice litigation, the only option they have is Legal Process outsourcing firms.  

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Finance & Accounting Outsourcing market maturing & seeing stable growth in 2013

According to Everest Group, Financing and Accounting Outsourcing: Annual report 2013, the global multi-process FAO market grew at the rate of 10% to reach ACV of US$4.3 billion which highlights the fact the market is matured and stabilizing and is further substantiated by the fact that over 65% of the ACV growth in 2012 was contributed by contract extensions/renewals. Cost reduction and process improvement are the primary drivers for adoption but standardization, scalability and flexibility drove FAO adoption further, emphasizing a cost+ value proposition highlights the Everest Group report. As the traditional markets matured the vendors are forced to move to under-penetrated markets but Europe led the market increased FAO adoption and mid-market and small buyer segments also increased their adoptions significantly in 2012 led to moderate growth in 2012. Competition in the FAO market is intensifying as the share of the top three service providers declined from 68% in 2002 to ~50% in 2012. Some of the key players in the FAO market are Accenture, Aditya Birla Minacs, Aegis, Capgemini, Cognizant, Datamatics, EXL Services, Genpact, HCL, HP, IBM, iGATE, Infosys, IQ BackOffice, NCO, Quatrro, Serco, Steria, Sutherland Global Services, TCS, Wipro, WNS, Xchanging, and Xerox. ( Data Source: Everest Group)

One of the significant trends is the rise in Adoption of end-to-end process but buyers continue to remain cautious and adopt a phased approach to F&A outsourcing. Some of the new focus areas that are emerging are Analytics, risk management & compliance and F&A services are increasingly getting industry-specific. The Everest report also highlights buyers are increasingly adopting non-advisor-led competitive bidding route for sourcing F&A services. India continues to be the predominant hub of offshore delivery and most of the vendors both global and Indian are striving to build a balanced onshore-nearshore-offshore model. Technology augmentation model is becoming the predominant approach where in the vendors are developing technology infrastructure and also adopting emerging technologies like cloud computing, mobility, social media and big data analytics to offer innovative service offerings to clients. Outcome based pricing model and platform-based solutions are also gaining traction. Service provider performance is up-to-the-mark against the metrics important to FAO buyers, resulting in high satisfaction levels. However, buyer organizations have highlighted some areas of improvements for service providers to work upon. Vendors are shifting their focus to building technologies and service offerings through adoption of emerging technologies like cloud computing and offer cloud-enabled F&A technology that can be delivered as a BPaaS solution.

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