2010/08/04
Minor cosmetic updates in preparation for a major release in about two weeks. Features that are coming: The ability to add and remove expense fields and to save configurations along with some radical work on the backend that should make Skillserv even faster.
2009/12/05
Many Skillserv users have mentioned that checkboxes are often interpreted to mean "on/off" not "Employer covered / Contractor covered", as I intended. Even the addition of hovertext didn't seem to help here. So I have redone those inputs as "radio bottons" to make it clear that the fields are always on and that the only difference is whether you are covering the expense yourself (left-hand radio button) or your employer is covering the expense for you (right-hand radio button).
Try switching the configuration—from '1099 to Contrace-W2', for example—and see how the radio buttons change. (Thanks for the suggestion and the feedback Ben.)
2009/06/19
For this release a lot of work was done on the calculators, both to the interfaces and to the calculations themselves. Some of the things you'll notice:
Fewer Inputs — I've simplified the calculators by removing a few inputs that weren't being used, like the regional and local taxes. The plain fact is that tax calculations are rarely simply percentages, and so these inputs weren't realistic.
Marginal Tax — Originally, the marginal tax value was used to adjust net compensation to account for the pre-tax vs. post-tax cost of expenses, but this was never better than an approximation. The calculators now actually change formulas based on your contract basis and will deduct the cost of expenses from your gross income when appropriate. In the end, it's much more accurate.
Salary Calculator Results — A lot of Skillserv users were confused by the 'Effective' and 'Actual' result values where the former used the cost of employer provided benefits to offset employee covered expenses. I've corrected this by calculating three values: You're 'Net' comp (i.e., take-home-pay), your gross comp, and your effective comp. Check out the help pages for full explanation of each value.
Comparing Compensation — One Skillserv user asked: "How can I use the calculators to directly compare 1099 and W2 contracts?" Quite frankly it never occured to me that someone would want to do this. I've always decided on (or been told) the contract basis before making a bid. Nonetheless, this is an interesting way of looking at compensation. So I've added such a calculation to Skillserv's front page. Thanks Joe.
2009/02/11
A major conversion to the Spring Framework in the back end. Doesn't mean much to non-developers but will allow me to add new features more easily. And speaking of features...please let my know what features you'd like to see by filling out my Feature Survey.
The Rate and Salary Calculators now remember the configuration that you most recently chose or will display 'Custom' when appropriate. (See, I really do read those 'feedback' emails that you all send me.)
2009/01/18
I've updated the calculators with the 2009 value for the US Social Security maximum contribution.
2008/11/22
Created an all new front page with Quick Rate and Quick Salary tools (something useful to try when you first hit Skillserv). I've also retired the Rate Assistant because it duplicated too much of the functionality of the Rate Calculator
Next up I'll be switching to Spring on the backend and putting in a whole new batch of features that allow you to save tool configurations so you can use them again.
2008/03/09
A lot of work on the back end to make the applications leaner, meaner, and more elegent will hopefully translate into pages loading a bit faster.
In addition, I've made all the pages aware of whether one is signed on or not and added support for 'Marginal Tax' drop-downs that contain all the US brackets.
2008/01/15
I've updated the applications with the 2008 value for the US Social Security maximum contribution.
2007/12/29
I've added a PayPal donation feature to the front page and calculators.
2007/09/17
I've improved the Help and Frequently Asked Questions pages with better application descriptions and have removed the window resize feature that a number of users complained about.
2007/09/03
Skillserv goes live! Is that cool or what?