If you’re like me, you find the chore of financial upkeep a terrible nuisance. Staying on top of invoices, tracking time spent on a project, managing payments, and prepping for taxes can be a total time suck. As I’ve been taking on more freelance on top of my day job, the struggle with dedicating time solely just to write is real. It sometimes feels like a tiny part of me dies every time I have to track an invoice instead of working on an article. As I’m personally wading through the muck, here are some suggestions on how you can get a grip on your financial upkeep:
First things first:
Create a schedule and stick to it.
Designate a specific time just to tend to these tasks to prevent pile up. Below are some suggestions on how frequently you should tend to the following tasks along with some resources to get you started.
Invoicing
Frequency: Once a week
Unless you need the money as soon as possible, scheduling time aside once a week to send invoices and follow up on outstanding payments should be sufficient.
Resources: Right now I’m keeping track of my invoices in a spreadsheet in Google Docs, but as my freelance ramps up I’ll eventually check out GoDaddy Bookeeping . Toggl is a free time-tracking software which I’ve used in the past. For time-tracking and invoicing tools, there’s FreshBooks, which is extremely popular and you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.
Tax Stuff
Frequency: Once a month.
Not only should you ideally keep track of anything that you can write off if you’re self-employed, but include donations made to charity.
Resources: When it comes to tax deductions, my two favorite resources for the self-employed are the Freelancer Union’s “Ultimate Tax Guide for the Self-Employed” and the Tax Toolkit for Self-Employed Biz Owners by Carrie Smith of Careful Cents. Both are free and are comprehensive guides to helping you get the most out of tax deductions.
As being a freelancer can be more expensive (i.e., medical insurance, self-employment tax) you have to be super ninja about mastering the art of the tax deduction. If you want to get deep in the weeds, the IRS also has made available a bunch of forms and resources.
Updating Your Portfolio
Frequency: Varies.
If you work on long projects you might only need to update your portfolio after the project has been completed. If you don’t have your own website, you can do something simple like post your work on Tumblr. For someone like me, who does freelance work as a content writer, blogger, and proofreader, I update every week or so.
Resources:
Writers: I love Contently and Skyword. It’s super easy to add articles.
Designers: Behance and Coroflot
Motiongraphers + Film Peeps: Vimeo.
By sticking to a simple schedule, you won’t have to worry about your financial chores turning into a monster. And I’m sure as you wade through the muck you’ll get into your own rhythm and find some shortcuts of your own. Remember: You’ve got this!
