As a self-described minimalist freelancer, I’m really reluctant to sign up for new apps and tools to run my freelance business. That’s because I feel like there are only so many things you need. It’s far too easy to get bombarded with the latest apps or tools claiming to save you time and money and the like.
So why get caught up in that madness when you can get by just fine with the bare necessities?
In the last year and a half I’ve been self-employed, I’ve only found I needed to pay for two services: data backup and cloud accounting.
Data Backup
If there’s anything I need to protect, it is all the documents on my computer. Now that I work for myself, there’s no IT person I can call when my computer is on the fritz, and if my documents get wiped out, it’s pretty much over.
Besides saving my documents on the regular on an external hard drive, I use Carbonite, which is pretty simple to install. I haven’t had a data crash thus far (knock on wood). From what I know it doesn’t scramble my data, so if I need to recover my files, they should remain in the same order.
Carbonite came in handy when I switched out my SSD drive last year. Carbonite costs $60 a year (well, $59.99 to be exact), and you can test it out with a free 15-day trial. On occasion I’ll come across a 30% off promotion, which is pretty sweet.
Cloud Accounting Software
Xero the Hero
I’ve been playing around with Xero and the first thing I noticed was their clean interface and easy navigation. If you’ve used Quickbooks in the past, you can convert your files from Quickbooks.
Plus, you’ll be able to integrate with more than 500 apps to help you further streamline your accounting stuffs. I took a gander and you can integrate Xero with apps for time tracking, billing and expenses, inventory, and financial services. And when you invoice through Xero, you can receive payments via Paypal and set up an automatic Paypal bank feed to keep track of transactions.
Xero has also has a separate section for Payroll and Inventory, which is pretty sweet if you have several employees and need to keep careful track of your products. You can also reconcile bank transactions to make sure your records are up to date and accurate.
Right now Xero is offering 30% off your first 6 months. And the pricing is as follows:
Starter: $6.30 for the first 6 months, $9 a month thereafter. You can send 5 invoices and quotes, enter 5 bills, and reconcile 20 bank transactions.
Standard: $21 a month for the first 6 months, $30 a month thereafter. You can enter unlimited invoices and quotes, enter unlimited bills, reconcile unlimited bank transactions, and process payroll for 5 people.
Premium: $49 a month for the first 6 months, $49 a month thereafter. You can enter unlimited invoices and quotes, enter unlimited bills, reconcile unlimited bank transactions, process payroll for 5 people, and handle different currencies.
You can try Xero out for free for 30 days.
Creating Your Own System Using Free Tools
Now you can certainly create a makeshift system. I have some friends who don’t use many tools and they aren’t really missing out. Of course, it just takes more time and work. If you’re just starting out, you may need to use accounting software just yet.
Here are a few ways on how you can create your own system for invoicing and tracking expenses:
Time tracking: Because I do mainly writing and copyediting and I charge either either hourly or per article, I don’t really need to track my time per project. I still like to track my time, just so I can get a sense of how long things take and I can figure out my bandwidth when new opportunities arise. I am a big fan of Toggl, and use their free version.
Inventory: While I don’t have too much experience keeping track of inventory, there are a few free systems for keeping track of your inventory. You can check out Stockpile, which is 100% free and offers customer support. I think the catch is that the company that created Stockpile is building out other tools that they’ll be charging for. InFlow Inventory also has a free plan.
Tracking assignments: I still use good ‘ole Excel to keep track of my assignments. I include the outlet, assignment name, whether I’ve sent over an invoice, if payment is received, and how much I should sock away for taxes (I’ve heard you should save anywhere from 25-50% for your taxes as a solopreneur, and I save 40%).
Staying on top of deadlines: I use Trello to stay on top of my deadlines for assignments. I’ve also created little cards for each publication I write for with logins, links to editorial guidelines, “pitch banks” with story ideas for each outlet, and other details such as my main contacts, editors’ emails, how and when to invoice, method of payment, and the like.
Tracking expenses: Keeping tabs on your business expenses will save massive headaches come tax time. You can use Expensify, which has a free version, or keep track with an Excel Spreadsheet. I would probably create separate tabs for each month, and organize by date, the amount of the expense, how you paid for it (cash, credit card, debit) and which expense category it falls under.
To figure out which categories are eligible for tax deductions, you can check out a blog post I wrote about the most common tax deductions for freelancers, and Paco of The Hell Yeah Group also has a great post on business expenses that are tax deductible.
Invoicing: You can send free invoices with Invoice Generator. It keeps a history of the invoices you’ve created, which is pretty helpful. I’ve used the free version and have no complaints.
So there you have it. If you want to go barebones with tools and software when you’re going self-employed, it’s definitely doable. You might want to go this route if you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of beans to spend on running your business.
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links to FreshBooks, Carbonite, and Xero. I only endorse and write about products I know and love.
This was an extremely helpful article! Thanks sharing with us such valuable information on what self-employment and freelancers should use when it comes to the essentials!
Thanks for checking it out! I know it can be a struggle to go overboard with the tools, but it can really just take up brain and physical space, and be a royal waste of money.