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How to work IC and Ref Materials - Kaitemae

Posted: May 23, 2011

I have a couple of questions. For those of you who work IC, do you think it's better to get an EIN number, or not? Also, what Medical Acronyms, Eponyms, and Abbr. reference book do you recommend?

Thanks!

Personally, I have all of the Stedman's Word - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Books, from my point of view they are the best on the market. If you are in a specialty, you should get that specialty, the medical & surgical equipment word book is invaluable and worth the money. As for an EIN, I don't have one, but I also work as an employee full-time and the IC job is my part-time job.

Stedman's - izzy

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree, Stedman's has the best line of reference material out there.

As for having an EIN #, I personally think it's best to have your own business rather than being a sole-proprietor. In my opinion, it makes you more accountable for the monies coming in. As a sole-proprietor, once you get paid, that money gets spent, it's easy to forget to set aside at least 28% to pay your quarterly taxes. Having your own business set up you would draw paychecks and pay those taxes as you go. It's much easier but you have to be diligent in your book keeping.

I almost agree with you but I think you can do better than Steadmans in some cases - if you select carefully

[ In Reply To ..]
There are better resources if you have the time to choose, for example, the very best option for medical abbreviations, or the very best resource for pathology, etc. Steadman's makes it easy and fast, which is great, but you can do better if you work at it. That said, nothing wrong with fast and easy.

Izzy - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Just a clarification: Being a sole proprietor does not preclude "having your own business." Indeed, many businesses (including MT) owned by individuals operate under the sole proprietor model. For liability issues, you might consider becoming a LLC (limited liability corporation); however, you need to speak with your attorney AND your CPA. Everyone's case is different based on many things. For many yeas, I was a sole proprietor, had my own business, which had a separate bank account, etc. My account did those books separately than he did my household maintenance accounts. I just wanted to clarify that there all kinds of ways of owning a business from being a lowly sole proprietor to being a CEO of a corporation that you take public.

Whoops! - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I meant my ACCOUNTANT did my books, NOT my ACCOUNT. Can you tell that the Old Pro has not driven down to Starbucks yet today? :)

Working IC--Holy Cow - Kaitemae

[ In Reply To ..]
I can't believe how much there is to know/consider with this! I ordered a book recommended to me by another IC...I forget what it's called, but it sounds like it should cover a lot of the basics. Now I'm looking at buying something like Quickbooks to start keeping track of everything. Regardless, I'm excited to start working some! As an old boss used to say..."If nothing else, it's good experience!" :0)

Kaitemae - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Just a suggestion: Have a CPA set you up. The savings will be well worth it. You will know your tax parameters, how much to put aside monthly to pay taxes, etc. Also, there is an organization called SCORE which is made up of retired businesspeople and they give free seminars for people going into business. Those are invaluable, as are the (oftentimes free) classes offered by different groups of businesswomen. I don't know where you are, but in California, there are tons of those kinds of classes and they are free. The CPA will not be free, of course, but his or her advice can save you lots of problems down the road. Good luck to you in your new ventures!

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