What would you say would be the best 'starter' forms to have to get the VA business going? My biggest concerns are contracts and payment forms. I'm sure I should be concerned about other forms but I'd love a checklist and not sure where to go for that. Funds are low (bottom of the barrel) at start-up. Love this forum! Everyone is so nice here!

I'm sure you'll get some input from other members on this but for me, the only 'forms' I use on a regular basis are my invoice sheets (basic text docs), my bookkeeping system (a set of two, very simple ongoing XL sheets), and my client info sheets/agreements.
I created all of them on my own when I started up, have tweaked them a bit over time, but they're still working well for me.

Oh, and the dreaded quarterly self employment tax forms (the forms themselves are simple and straightforward, it's the amount of money that goes out with them that's painful )

Other forms I've had to deal with are business registration and that sort of thing, but those are generally one-time deals and are provided by your secretary of state and such.

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The forms I use most are my contract and my client info sheets, which contains contact names, phone numbers, mailing address, tax ID numbers, and login and password info. I also have another info sheet for bookkeeping clients that has most of the same info as the other one, but more detailed info about their business structure and accounting needs.

Unlike Tess, I use a modern form of bookkeeping which consists of myhours and QuickBooks.

Tess...self employment tax forms...you do these quarterly. I work for a virtual staffing agency which sends a 1099 every year. I pay taxes at tax time...is that why you pay quarterly so you don't have a lump sum in April? Also, do you provide your clients with weekly time sheets or some form indicating how much time you have spent on their work?

Yes, I pay quarterly because it would be insane (and WAY too painful ) to have to pay such a huge chunk all at once...this way it's spread out throughout the year. In fact, I have to pay again here in about two weeks..

As to my invoices, I invoice every other Friday on net 14 - my invoice sheets are basic text docs - these do show a breakdown of time spent each day and on what.

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The most important forms that I needed initially other then those mentioned were:

-Client info/profile sheet
-Retainer agreement and per project agreement
-Client Confidentiality & Non-Disclosure Agreement

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
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Thanks for this thread. This is one of the things that I was wondering about as well.

I'm still working on my client profile sheet but I also started a database on excel with company name, contact person, title of contact person, phone, email and internet address. I also added day started because i was thinking of sending a thank you on the anniversary day something promotional and not too expensive but a thought to say thank you for your business. My client profile sheet also includes passwords that were given to me for email and database accounts, stuff like that. I did just finish a policy statement and that would be part of the welcome kit that was talked about in another thread. Hope this helps!

All this info is so very helpful and I know I can use this info for my business.

good thread! It seems to me that client contracts/assignment agreements are pretty essential. Where do folks get drafts from these? At my last job we used those nolo books a lot, but there are some templates available online, too.