tips on home office startup costsThere is a subtle difference I think between situations in the US and here in the UK however. I have copied this to both responses to keep some common continuity. I have already been through interview 1, have interview 2 to see the operation first hand at the coalface so to speak. My original pitch was in 38-40k, which is OTE with my current employer, (sadly about a do-able as kissing frogs and creating princes I didn' t realize you were writing from the UK, (we were there last April - found a delightful pub in Mayfair called "The Rose and Crown"), I' d be very curious to know how your negotiation goes, if you care to share it. Not sue if these apply to your particular situation in the UK but ... Employers often need to control access to their internal networks. Allowing employee-owned machines access to those internal networks can be a significant security risk. Similarly, customer data on your own machine may violate company policy and/or external regulations -- such as the US HIPAA act for medical information. Privacy, etc. IT staffs may not want to support an employee-owned machine -- too many variables as to OS, software apps, licensing issues, etc. Much easier/safer/cheaper to insist on company-only. As a long-time consultant working inside and outside of various companies, I feel their pain even if it adds some pain for me. I' d love to be able to use my own system all the time but it' s increasingly impractical IF you need extensive access to internal fileshares, app development, CRM or other functions run behind a firewall. Companies that are standardizing on Web-based applications that offer external access and strong privacy/security controls will be ahead of the game when it comes to using distributed or mobile staffing on a freelance or contract basis. I have a home office set up by my company. They let me buy my desk, table, etc. but they purchased a computer, laptop and fax machine for me. The computer had to be configured by our IT department. Once that was done, I was given the computer, printer and laptop to set up in my home. Your company probably wants you to have similar equipment their other employees have because if there is a software program problem, their IT techies wants to know exactly what configuration you are have and how to solve it. I hope to be offered a job next week where there will be need for me to set up a home office to carry out part of my duties due to the company being based some 200 miles away from my home. I already have the trappings that constitute a home office setup, i.e desk, chair, broadband, phone line, printers etc etc. But my current employer does not expect me to use any of this to do my current job. My question is whether it should be part of the salary negotiation to argue that as I have all of these, they should pay a rate per month as part of my salary to use these. What would be a reasonable monthly home office allowance? Potentially the firm I hope to join will be offering a laptop, whilst I already own a perfectly suitable laptop which would be more than capable of performing the tasks they want me to perform. Should I be offering this into the equation as a capex sweetner for them? Obviously I appreciate there is a level of 'how long is apiece of string' to this question, but I'd like some suggestions from others currently operating a home office for an employer to compare notes. I think you need to have a conversation with your accountant or CPA about the value of using your own office equipment to help you do this new job, assuming you receive an offer of employment. There are also some tax savings you can take advantage of - another topic to discuss with your accountant. One way to approach this question - not the only way, but one way - is to figure out what it would cost to rent the stuff you already have and use that cost as a reference point for negotiating a monthly fee for the use of the equipment you already have. Regardless, I think you have to wait and see what sort of job offer is made. If it' s a very attractive offer that you' d otherwise be happy to accept, you may not want to rock the boat by trying to negotiate additional dollars for the use of your equipment. Check with your accountant and get his/her advice. There' s a fine line here: it' s sort of like asking how much you should charge your employer for using your own car to drive to and from work, or the cost of clothes that are suitable for the work place - no employer would agree to reimburse employees for expenses like that - so make sure that if you' re going to ask for a monthly equipment use fee that it' s limited to stuff that the company would otherwise have to provide you to be able to do the job. I doubt you can actually factor in a monthly allowance for you using your current equipment in lieu of the company purchasing these for you. You may be able to simply negotiate a slightly higher salary to cover the expenses of using your home as your office, and just take advantage of the tax benefits (which you can take if your employer does not physically provide an on-site "space" for you to work in. If, however, this potential employer has already budgeted into the position the cost of home-office equipment, they may just insist you use whatever they deem is necessary--which is their right, of course. Maybe they get a discount for purchasing X number of Y-brand computers; maybe they already have equipment from somebody else's home office that they are expensing on taxes and need to keep in use. There may be other tax benefits for them in providing you with equipment. But, as Paul says, just wait until you see what the offer is, if you receive one. If it's a good offer, then don't be nitpicking for more money so you can use your own equipment. After all, it may look to them as if you are looking to them to pay for stuff you already own and would otherwise use anyway. There is a subtle difference I think between situations in the US and here in the UK however. I have copied this to both responses to keep some common continuity. I have already been through interview 1, have interview 2 to see the operation first hand at the coalface so to speak. My original pitch was in 38-40k, which is OTE with my current employer, (sadly about a do-able as kissing frogs and creating princes | |
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