Hiring a VA from the philippines (pay question)

[CatInTheWall]

Hey all,

Looking for some advice in regards to paying a VA. I'm located in the U.S and I've currently been using site such as odesk to outsource a good portion of my work. I now feel hiring a full time VA is in my best interest if I want to expand my current online and offline marketing.

I'm new to running a business and I'm still in the process of legitimizing my own business. Got my EIN, waiting for zoning to be approved and then I will register my business name.

So my question is, after my business is registered what is the process when paying a VA from the Philippines? Do I just have them send me an invoice? Are there any forms I must collect from them for tax purposes? I plan on using paypal to pay them and I currently use freshbooks to keep records. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[richelld]

The amount you pay them should be so little it does not need accounting for. see:

THE OUTSOURCING TRUTH:

I vacation and outsource to the philippines and $5/day is a lot to these people. If you pay more its just going to their pimp or your overpaying them.

any agency you run into is only paying its workers $5/day and keeping the rest, even if they charge you exorbitantly like $5/hour. When you call customer support for companies like paypal or comcast, the philippinos your speaking to are only paid $5/day, so it has nothing to do with experience or ability.

And they aren't worth much more than that, the majority of philippinos that have never lived in the US merely speak english but do not understand it (though they convincingly pretend to -- huge nightmare to train them). and they are also inclined to scamming; this is a place where there are no public restrooms because the philippino would steal everything in them including the bowl.

if your going direct and not through an agency, pay them a total of $7-$10/day = $5 wage + $2-$5 computer/internet expense.


you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.


and noone pays rent

 

[Dave welton]

What a very sad and somewhat bigoted response.

May I ask 1) How much experience do you have in out sourcing. 2) How old are you? 3) Do you not realise the resources like odesk, vworker are there so independant people can work.

Finally what on earth makes you think that $5 a day is a 'lot"

Sadened to see these type of posts.

By the way I am as western as they come, but your comments are wrong.

The amount you pay them should be so little it does not need accounting for. see:

THE OUTSOURCING TRUTH:

I vacation and outsource to the philippines and $5/day is a lot to these people. If you pay more its just going to their pimp or your overpaying them.

any agency you run into is only paying its workers $5/day and keeping the rest, even if they charge you exorbitantly like $5/hour. When you call customer support for companies like paypal or comcast, the philippinos your speaking to are only paid $5/day, so it has nothing to do with experience or ability.

And they aren't worth much more than that, the majority of philippinos that have never lived in the US merely speak english but do not understand it (though they convincingly pretend to -- huge nightmare to train them). and they are also inclined to scamming; this is a place where there are no public restrooms because the philippino would steal everything in them including the bowl.

if your going direct and not through an agency, pay them a total of $7-$10/day = $5 wage + $2-$5 computer/internet expense.


you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.


and noone pays rent

 

[Akkimik]

I live in the Philippines and I don't have an idea what this guy is talking about. $5 for a day?! Hell no! Come here to the Philippines and I'll give you $5 a day, lets see if its a lot!

The amount you pay them should be so little it does not need accounting for. see:

THE OUTSOURCING TRUTH:

I vacation and outsource to the philippines and $5/day is a lot to these people. If you pay more its just going to their pimp or your overpaying them.

any agency you run into is only paying its workers $5/day and keeping the rest, even if they charge you exorbitantly like $5/hour. When you call customer support for companies like paypal or comcast, the philippinos your speaking to are only paid $5/day, so it has nothing to do with experience or ability.

And they aren't worth much more than that, the majority of philippinos that have never lived in the US merely speak english but do not understand it (though they convincingly pretend to -- huge nightmare to train them). and they are also inclined to scamming; this is a place where there are no public restrooms because the philippino would steal everything in them including the bowl.

if your going direct and not through an agency, pay them a total of $7-$10/day = $5 wage + $2-$5 computer/internet expense.


you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.


and noone pays rent

 

[BigMarcusStud]

LOL at $5 a day. What a sad, misinformed individual. I'm not even going to try to correct your beliefs because there are a lot. $5 per day..that's funny.

For the TS, I've been working in oDesk for 3 years now and my clients don't get any form of invoice from me. I just work and they pay me via oDesk. That's it.

 

[Blackprizm]

... What is a VA? BTW I'm from the Philippines.

 

[GTB2012]

very sad to see stereotypes being used here!

 

[seomusic]

The amount you pay them should be so little it does not need accounting for. see:

THE OUTSOURCING TRUTH:

I vacation and outsource to the philippines and $5/day is a lot to these people. If you pay more its just going to their pimp or your overpaying them.

any agency you run into is only paying its workers $5/day and keeping the rest, even if they charge you exorbitantly like $5/hour. When you call customer support for companies like paypal or comcast, the philippinos your speaking to are only paid $5/day, so it has nothing to do with experience or ability.

And they aren't worth much more than that, the majority of philippinos that have never lived in the US merely speak english but do not understand it (though they convincingly pretend to -- huge nightmare to train them). and they are also inclined to scamming; this is a place where there are no public restrooms because the philippino would steal everything in them including the bowl.

if your going direct and not through an agency, pay them a total of $7-$10/day = $5 wage + $2-$5 computer/internet expense.


you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.


and noone pays rent

if you are thinking 5 dollar is big enough in the Philippines I don't think so
you been in the Philippines and you know how much you can buy for that and also what about the payment for the internet connection and electricity

 

[DrJekyll]

VA= Virtual assistant

Depending where the VA is located in the Philippines then $5 a day can be achieved. Getting through the cultural nuances and finding someone that can do the job and get them trained can be difficult.

I do have a contact of one VA that was building 5 websites a day for me (wprobot) until I changed my business for a larger project (paid $300 a month if interested contact me for the VA contact [not hiring atm])

Trying to hire a programer proved difficult as their image of a programer and mine are quite different so went through a lot of interviews.

I have been to the Philippines 7 times, and have inlaws there so I am familiar with the place and the culture (lived there for 7 months)

 

[lpoint]

useXOOM to pay your VA

 

[DoorKnocker]

The amount you pay them should be so little it does not need accounting for. see:

THE OUTSOURCING TRUTH:

I vacation and outsource to the philippines and $5/day is a lot to these people. If you pay more its just going to their pimp or your overpaying them.

any agency you run into is only paying its workers $5/day and keeping the rest, even if they charge you exorbitantly like $5/hour. When you call customer support for companies like paypal or comcast, the philippinos your speaking to are only paid $5/day, so it has nothing to do with experience or ability.

And they aren't worth much more than that, the majority of philippinos that have never lived in the US merely speak english but do not understand it (though they convincingly pretend to -- huge nightmare to train them). and they are also inclined to scamming; this is a place where there are no public restrooms because the philippino would steal everything in them including the bowl.

if your going direct and not through an agency, pay them a total of $7-$10/day = $5 wage + $2-$5 computer/internet expense.


you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.


and noone pays rent

let me start by saying fuck you.

and you think you know people from philippines you cant even spell it properly its called Filipino's.

let me tell you this MOST americans are not even using proper grammar and its their mothertongue. seriously ive had more clear conversations on some of my clients that doesnt speak well english.

you must know that here in PH people can buy a bread-roll for 2 american pennies, so $1 feeds the whole extended family.

oh you're in the philippines you must have seen a lot very poor people that cant even eat 3 times a day. And you're earning $ that must make you feel like you're some kind of a king huh?



TO OP: if you're thinking of paying paypal i think its a good idea ive received more than $500 in a month using paypal. i didnt have to deal with any taxes no problems so far been using it for years

 

[CatInTheWall]

Thanks for some of your comments and obviously that one poster was a douche. I've been working with filipinos for a while now through odesk and most are just great.

I've always used Odesk and the reason I want to change is because they charge 10%. That's why I'm wondering when using paypal to pay them if I need to collect any information from them. From what I've read I can just have them send me an invoice? I don't have an accountant yet and I'm trying to make sure I'm collecting all the correct documentation so when I do hire one to file my taxes I have all the info they need.

Thanks for the referral but i'm looking for a VA that is an exceptional writer. I've been using bestjobs.ph to find VA's. After the interview process if I can't find anyone who stands out I may use virtual staff finder.

 

[keytenx]

Thanks for some of your comments and obviously that one poster was a douche. I've been working with filipinos for a while now through odesk and most are just great.

Agreed. Im a Filipino and whenever i read such post i want to flame and rant with the one who posted that. But it is a waste of time. We are professionals.
Try looking for onlinejobs.ph buddy. you will find a lot from there.

 

[CatInTheWall]

Agreed. Im a Filipino and whenever i read such such post i want to flame and rant with the one who posted that. But it is a waste of time. We are professionals.
Try looking for onlinejobs.ph buddy. you will find a lot from there.

Thanks keytenx, I'll go check that out

 

[LBrown]

So my question is, after my business is registered what is the process when paying a VA from the Philippines? Do I just have them send me an invoice? Are there any forms I must collect from them for tax purposes? I plan on using paypal to pay them and I currently use freshbooks to keep records. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here's what I do: I pay my VA through odesk. She makes $150/week. She was one of my writers that I promoted and is Filipino. For taxes, I have a DBA and an EIN#; I am a sole proprietor and I file a schedule C for my IM business. There is a line on your schedule C that says something like "Contract Labor." Every penny I pay through odesk and fiverr and to service providers on BHW gets put on that line. It is all tax deductible but the IRS only gets the grand total, not a list of everyone I hired and what they did. If they audit me they can have that list. I keep the info organized in a list in dropbox in case of an audit.

 

[hunar]

I used to use onlinejobs.ph and I've had a lot of success from there. I actually hired around 8 workers from there. I had to go through about 20-25 to find some that I was able to train on exactly what i was looking for. The far majority that I tried to train were basically like "Ok, That's great but i'll do it my way"

But the 8 VA's I have are great people. To that guy that said they could live off $5 a day? Did he ever even talk to his workers or just read some ebook and assumed? I know internet there depending on Area/City can be anywhere from 2,000php to 2,500php. Anyway, I saw this and just had to leave a comment.

As far as paying I pay all my workers through paypal Weekly and cover the costs that paypal takes out. Also, when I had asked my accountant about if there was anything they need to sign or fill out she basically just said no but it can be counted as a business expense. So it's deductible.

hope that was kinda what you were looking for.

 

[Loony Larry]

I'm not an accountant but I have owned a business with employees for 11 years. If they were located in the US you would have to get their EIN or SS number and send them a 1099. So that the IRS had a record and could collect taxes from them. Because they are from another country they are not subject to US taxes. Therefore you should be able to write it off as a business expense. I would recommend that you have an invoice from them for your records.

Off topic. The Phillipine's are known for some of the best pool (billiards) players in the world. Having met and gambled with many Filipino's before believe me when I say $5 isn't s*** to them.

 

[terry02]

A decent Filipino telemarketer/program tester... working a full time job for a multi national Company is making anywhere from an avg of 12k - 30k (PHP) per month plus benefits and 13th month pay for a normal 40 hr work week. 30k being the high end and doing very well (the peso (PHP) is about 43 to 1 right now). That is for Metro Manila, so it might be slightly less once you get outside the city; and even less, once you get into the provinces.

(That is gross pay less taxes)

The Philippines is just like anywhere else, you have to be selective on who you hire and you'll might go thru several contractors before you find the right fit.

 

[marusia]

A decent Filipino telemarketer/program tester... working a full time job for a multi national Company is making anywhere from an avg of 12k - 30k (PHP) per month plus benefits and 13th month pay for a normal 40 hr work week. 30k being the high end and doing very well (the peso (PHP) is about 43 to 1 right now). That is for Metro Manila, so it might be slightly less once you get outside the city; and even less, once you get into the provinces.

(That is gross pay less taxes)

The Philippines is just like anywhere else, you have to be selective on who you hire and you'll might go thru several contractors before you find the right fit.

Thanks for the clarification. I usually pay in USD. I don't go lower than $4-5 an hour though, as I hear that's a livable wage in the Philippines and if you just keep trying to lower their pay, it lowers morale and gives you a higher chance of getting shittier work done. At least that seems to be the case in most countries. I'm not gonna bust my ass for you if it's not even paying my bills.

 

[reallife]

I pay my Filipino worker via Western Union, works out pretty well. If you're going to hire your own VA (not through an agency) be aware that (as another poster alluded to) it's customary to pay them a 13th month's pay as a Xmas bonus, so the overall amount you end up paying per week or month is actually higher than it seems when you average it out.