Comments on: Hate Bookkeeping? Why You Should Learn to Love It

By: Freelance Advice from the Blogosphere | Freelance Parent

Freelance Advice from the Blogosphere | Freelance Parent — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:56:09 +0000

[...] has some good thoughts to share about why you should learn to love bookkeeping. You can find him all over the place, but this great article is on Freelance Writing Jobs. [...]

By: James Chartrand

James Chartrand — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:56:31 +0000

@ Amy – My pleasure to see you as well

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:17:26 +0000

Nothing to add except nice to see you here, James.

By: Alik

Alik — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:27:59 +0000

Every quarter I make a comprehensive budget broken down into each month that tells me what I can afford for advertising, office supplies, utilities, etc etc. I create this budget based on last months sales numbers (post-tax of course) so I know that I can definitely afford what I have budgeted for. I always make sure that I have at least enough money in the bank to cover this quarter’s expenses and whatever I make in this quarter covers next quarter’s expenses. I also formulate a sales quota based on how many projects I think I can reasonably close, and try to overshoot that by a bit. It gives me a goal to keep in mind and keeps me motivated. When you’re a freelancer you have to remember that you’re in sales and marketing as well. I treat myself as a salesman (I used to do sales and marketing for a corporation).

Keeping an actual spreadsheet that breaks down where my money is going (and where I can allow it to go) really keeps me on top of my business finances. As a freelancer, it’s easy to forget that you’re essentially running a business, and you have to treat it accordingly. It’s not a good idea to live check-to-check when you have no idea when your next check is coming in; especially when clients pay late (or not at all sometimes), and there is no regularity to rely on.

By: James Chartrand

James Chartrand — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:47:17 +0000

@ Fiona – I work like that myself, transferring info to QuickBooks as it comes in. I’m always on top and it just takes a few minutes a day.

@ Jamie – Ha! Caught you! Yeah, I think the first year of tax reporting for any freelancer is a tough one. That’s when you start to learn quickly how you need to work!

By: Fiona

Fiona — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:39:39 +0000

Excellent post James. I keep a spreadsheet on my desktop and add info as I need to. That way it’s very simply and I don’t find myself feeling as if it’s a huge chore that I have to do at the end of the month.

By: Jamie Simmerman

Jamie Simmerman — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:40:31 +0000

The taxes are what always gets me. I wanted to strangle my account last year when she told me how much I needed to send to the IRS. PayPal offers some neat tools to help you track expenses and income. You can even download your records straight from PayPal into an excel sheet.

I procrastinate bookkeeping too often. I usually end up devoting an entire day to straightening out everything about once every three months. I wouldn’t recommend it.

HA! I just read the little tag at the bottom: written by James! I am NOT following you around today, I swear! Thanks for the post.