Tools for Freelancing
I've already mentioned how being a freelance designer doesn't mean I'm drawing puppies and rainbows all day long. There are a few more components that make up my job - like project management and billing/financials that take up quite a bit of time. I want to share with you guys how I stay on top of this stuff.
Project Management:
This includes everything from managing my work flow, establishing timelines/deadlines for myself and my clients, and juggling multiple projects at the same time. While I still utilize old school post-it notes and sketchbooks full of lists, I also use a few other tools to help keep me organized:
• Teux Deux - This super simple web and iPhone app streamlines your to-do list and keeps your desk and monitor from becoming cluttered with a million post-its.
• Google Calendar - I keep all of my business and social obligations scheduled in my Google calendar and share it with Jeremy - otherwise, it's easy to double-book.
• Gmail - I'm not the best at keeping my inbox immaculate but I do star emails that need my attention and label emails to be archived.
• Folder Organization - On my computer I keep my work organized in 3 different folders: Complete, Estimating and In Progress. It's simple but helps me picture my overall work flow on days when things become overwhelming.
• iPhone - I always insisted on keeping my computer as my computer and my phone as my phone but all of the tools I use (online) to keep myself organized also synch up to my iPhone. So my iPhone will actually TELL me that I have a meeting in 10 minutes. Or if I need to jot down a quick to-do on the road I can just plug it into my Teux Deux list on my phone.
Billing/Financials:
For some reason, I always thought this would be no big deal to keep track of. It's just money in and money out. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. I'm still a little confused about taxes, social security and write-offs but I'm doing the best I can to capture all the information as accurately as possible. That way I can just hire an accountant (or get Jeremy) to figure out the big picture for me.
• Freshbooks: When I first started freelancing Jeremy and I played around with Bento and a Google spreadsheet to help me keep track of my finances but it wasn't streamlined enough and I wasn't in the mood to reinvent the wheel when it comes to bookkeeping. So I finally gave in and bought a monthly subscription to Freshbooks. It's really easy and intuitive. Now, if only it would do my quarterly taxes for me.
Are you making estimated tax payments or at least saving 30% of what you are making? The social security thing gets figured out by the self employment tax. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98846,00.html
Read that.
I think you should probably get an accountant to sit down with you and explain those things and maybe even do your return. It will be money well spent. This is coming from someone who does taxes for a living.
I've had an accountant for the last 7 years. Self-employed taxes are a pain in the ass and I don't even want to bother dealing with them. Plus I can write off his expense, too.
And as much as I hate paying 4 times a year, it hurts a lot less than one big lump sum at the end.
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