By Kate Stohr

The perks of working from home are well-known: all those client meetings conducted from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy, the chance to wear slippers all day long, no one there to see you. But when the printer starts speaking in tongues and simple tasks like tracking expenses become all-day affairs, you start to wish you weren't quite so alone after all.

With the right gear and some well-chosen Internet bookmarks, however, you can banish that dangerous nostalgia for the old corporate cubicle. Here's our guide to the essential components of almost any home office. While these products and services may not be able to replace an actual office manager, they can make working at home a lot less work.

First things first: make sure you have a PC that is up to the task. Any number of good, newer desktops have the memory and processing capacity you need. But if you're generating a lot of reports and documents, you'll definitely want more than a home-style printer. And an office-quality scanner is sure to come in handy for storing and sharing paperwork.

Whether you're selling a product (recyclable widgets) or a service (armchair consulting), you'll want some reliable accounting software. One of the most popular packages is MYOB, as in Mind Your Own Business. It's easy to use, comprehensive and generates a wealth of information about your customers and inventory. If you're planning out complicated jobs with clients, Microsoft Project can be a huge help. It quickly tells you how much a delay in one part of a project will set back the whole undertaking. For the basics, like word processing and spreadsheet analysis, Microsoft Office is the standard.

The Web offers plenty of resources. Novices might turn to AllBusiness, which answers the questions that plague small-business owners, from the general (How do I write a business plan?) to the nitty-gritty (Is it worthwhile to recycle printer cartridges?).

Managejobs.com is great for independent contractors and free-lancers. It helps to establish payment provisions, calculate cost estimates and generate invoices. If you need to work with people outside your office--sharing documents, contracts and schedules--go to Intranets.com, which is just like working on a corporate computer network.

Interested in e-commerce? Microsoft's bCentral will help you launch, manage and promote a business website. Nora LaBrocca of Medford, Ore., uses it to run Room On Earth, which sells copper trellises and other garden accessories she makes. "It's great to be able to sell stuff online without having to build the website yourself," she says. The charges: $400 to get started and $30 per month for hosting, with additional fees for services like customer tracking.

Finally, if what you need is not more tools but more people, try AssistU.com. It hooks you up with "virtual assistants" who work by e-mail or phone. They'll handle everything from basic administrative tasks to desktop publishing, for $15 to $100 an hour. "If it's my mother's birthday, my virtual assistant sends flowers if I forget," says Val Williams, an executive leadership coach in Edison, N.J. Now, if only you could stock the supply cabinet automatically.


KATE STOHR is senior producer for RosieMagazine.com.
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