O W WANT TO WORK FOR YOURSELF? Here s Your Financial Crash Course In Making It Happen R If the thought of being your own boss, making your own hours and choosing your own projects is appealing then we want to help. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH x K PAGE 1
PAGE 2 Let s admit it, we ve all dreamed of breaking out on our own. And if you ve got a set of skills and a work ethic, then stepping out on your own path career-wise might be the right choice for you. Might is the key word though, as the freelance life isn t for everyone. However it s for more and more people. According to our partners at QuickBooks, self-employed workers have grown to 36 percent of the US labor force, and are expected to reach 43 percent by 2020. This is a handy, realistic guide that ll make sure you have all the information, resources, pro tips and know-how to make the decision and leap into being your own boss and never look back.
SHOULD I GO FREELANCE (A Flow Chart To Help You Decide)??? PAGE 3
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DELIVER ON YOUR OWN? Nope Yeah, I know the drill Absolutely! DO YOU HAVE SKILLZ? Maybe? I m not sure DO YOU HAVE 3-6 MONTHS EXPENSES SAVED? Yes Uh, not so much Start doing market research. Get to know the competition and identify what makes you better. Start saving DO YOU HAVE A SOLID NETWORK? What s that? I m more than connected ARE YOU SELF-DISCIPLINED? Discipline is my middle name I m not sure Not so much Put together a list of people you know in your industry that you can reach out to for work/advice Give freelancing a shot! Keep your job and try a side hustle to see if freelancing is right for you Keep working until you feel confident PAGE 4
Figure out your why When times get tough and let s be real, in the freelance world, you re going to go through some tough times keeping the reason you decided to strike out on your own in your mind will help you persevere. So when the going gets tough remember you made this choice because you love to be the boss and are ready to take charge to make your dream a reality. Remember why you got off the corporate track to make this happen and you ll see yourself through any rough patch. Study up DO THIS BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING: A checklist for the self-employed. Lots of people think about doing things differently, so take the time to fully understand the problem you re working to solve and where you ll deliver value. Next, get to know the competition and ultimately identify what makes you and your business, service, or product unique. It s important to understand the value you bring, because you can t be the best unless you understand how and why you re better. Be the woman with the plan Every business needs a business plan. For some, the idea of a business plan causes hives, but if you really think about it, a business plan is nothing more than a list of your goals and the ways in which you think you can get there. Not only does that plan help you, but it helps when it comes to asking for help. Speaking of help, QuickBooks can help you write your plan. Know your opportunities What s the demand for freelance work in your market from businesses, agencies, and media? Get to know the landscape of available work, how much others are charging, and where you fit in best. PAGE 5
Who needs rosebuds? Gather ye industry contacts Start making a list of everyone you know and kind-of-know that are related to your industry (e.g., current and former bosses and coworkers, people you worked on projects with etc.) Basically, if they might be a client, or might be able to put you in touch with someone who could become a client, put them on this list. Once your list is filled with contacts, let them (with the exception of current coworkers, if you re not ready) know what you re up to. Fight against that instinct to keep your new hustle a secret until you re successful. Because in the freelance world the only way to get there is to ~work. Save, save, save Even with a healthy personal savings account, you ll still need to save up before making the leap. Startup expenses like travel costs, office space, and marketing materials can creep up on you. Start putting money away now and thinking of ways to cut costs like working from home until your business takes off. Also, put a little money away for self-care. To get started saving, create a monthly budget for your business. Calculate all of your expenses (i.e. e.g., rent, utilities, food, clothing etc. as well as health insurance, retirement fund, and other benefits currently provided to you by your employer). Then, giving yourself a cushion to account for emergencies, weigh that number against your savings and other forms of income. If your savings can cover your expenses for three to six months, you re in a position to give it a go. Play the name game and register your business Whether you re doing business under your own name or under a brand name, be sure to register your business with your state. If you re a freelancer who takes on projects here and there without a lot of reliability, then a sole proprietorship (SP) is probably right for you. If you re using a name other than your own, you ll also need a doing business as (DBA) registration. If you re working freelance with more regularity and/or with larger companies, then you might consider registering as a limited liability company (LLC). An LLC comes with a steeper fee and a lot more paperwork, but it protects you personally from debt and legal liability. Register your company, pay the fees, buy your domain name, and get going. Contact your local Small Business Association office for a step by step guide to registering your business in your state. Give your notice Pretty self-explanatory, but suffice to say: Be brave, be professional and give plenty of notice if possible. *Trumpet noises* Charge! Just because you re new doesn t mean you re cheap. Set your rates with your worth in mind. Charge a fair fee for your services because underselling yourself at the start only makes it harder to raise your rates later. PAGE 6
PAGE 7 HOW TO STAY ON TOP OF YOUR $$$ WHEN YOU RE THE BOSS: A beginner s guide
M O N E Even those in the most creative fields, it s never too late to think about the money side of your business. Basically, to make money working for yourself, you need to be on top of your money. Thankfully, there s no need to buy ribbon for your accountant calculator and fish out that green visor (unless it s to make a fashion statement) because with careful planning and tools like QuickBooks Self-Employed, staying organized to make a great living has never been easier. PAGE 8
Eyes wide open Before you get started working for yourself, it s incredibly helpful to get a handle on your personal finances, and know what you need to make in order to, you know, live. Freelancers are often surprised that they don t take home as much as they expected when they first start out. Remember, your total annual tax burden will include additional self-employed (SE) tax, plus your federal tax and state taxes. Of course, how much of your income you put aside (as well as how much you re ultimately taxed) looks different for everyone. But generally speaking, putting aside between 15 to 30 percent will be enough to cover yourself. Check out this resource to estimate your own tax needs. Also, the self-employed are responsible for all of their healthcare expenses, as well as any retirement savings, read: No more corporate matching, boo! You ll need to have money on-hand and enough cash coming in to seed expenses, save for taxes, contribute to a retirement account, and still meet your personal financial goals. Head of Communications at QuickBooks Self-Employed, Kimmie Greene, knows all too well about the importance of starting out your freelance path on the right foot. By no means should the amount you need to live today, limit what you should make in a given year, she says, but knowing this baseline is helpful in figuring out what you need to charge, so you aren t surprised down the line. PAGE 9
$ Accounts, accounting, accountability In the immortal words of that punk band you used to like, You gotta keep em separated. And by that, we mean your personal and business bank accounts. Open a business bank account (do NOT use your personal account. Why make a mess that you ll need to clean up later?) Keep tabs on your finances right from your smartphone. Sort business from personal with a swipe and track your progress on the move, by connecting your checking account to QuickBooks Self-Employed. Added bonus: Everything being in one place will make tax time less of a crunch. Join the track team % Why walk 500 miles when you can drive and get a tax deduction? Writing off your tax expenses and asking yourself, Can I expense this? will be a big part of your self-employed life, my friend. As long as an expense has to do with your business, it s fair game come tax time. That means stuff for your home office, the bill for your coworking space, work-related travel, and much more, could be totally redeemable. That means keeping the receipts, figuratively and very literally. Use the automatic mileage tracking feature on the QuickBooks Self-Employed app to automatically track your miles without draining your battery. By using Mileage Tracking you can find an average of $7,393 in potential mileage deductions per year. Snap photos of all your business-related receipts with an app like QuickBooks Self-Employed s receipt capture (it s as easy as taking a selfie!) for on-the-go tracking and a much less painful tax prep experience down the road. PAGE 10
Make money moves A recent Freelancers Union survey found that 71 percent of soloprenuers have, at some point, had issues getting paid. Want to avoid being among that percentage? First things first: set your terms upfront. Make sure you have a clear written agreement about the work you ll perform, with the payment terms spelled out clearly. It s your job to protect future you s neck by being transparent about payment terms including late fees your client will incur if they fail to pay up on the agreed date. Make sure you follow up with a phone call, and if necessary, send a notification of non-payment and work. You can also send formal letters of demand in the event of non-payment. Need more pointers? Stay on top of your invoicing by sending them directly from QuickBooks and use their tracking to keep tabs on open invoices and send overdue notifications. Also, make sure you ll get paid faster by enabling online payments accepting payments through PayPal, Venmo, or through QuickBooks itself. If all of the above strategies fail you, your last recourse might be hiring a lawyer to draft a collection letter. Check out the Freelancer s Union for more information and resources. PAGE 11
T Tax on, tax off A Let s be real, doing your taxes when you re self-employed is a battle, but by tracking, saving, plus some good advice, it doesn t have to be a war. A general good rule of thumb offered by most experts is to start by saving at least 15 percent just figure that money is someone else s and that someone else is Uncle Sam, plus the state you re in. Save for taxes every paycheck Save a minimum of 15 to 30 percent of each paycheck to cover federal taxes, state taxes and social security/ self-employment tax. Though, depending on your income level, that number may be higher. Check out your estimated percentage here. Be sure to save for your state taxes as well. You can see your state s rate here. Pay up Generally, in addition to filing taxes by April 15, freelancers also pay quarterly taxes based on quarterly estimates. QuickBooks Self-Employed will create those estimates for you making file taxes a breeze. Deduct away As a freelancer there are a lot of things that you have to pay for that most full-time employees don t. Everything from gas, to business cards, to your rent, can be a tax deduction. Keep careful records of all these expenses in QuickBooks and you could save a lot of money when you file your annual taxes. Intuit Turbotax can help you identify a lot of these deductions, and it might also be a good idea to work with an accountant to get a full idea of what you can write off. X PAGE 12
Save for retirement According to recent research conducted by Wells Fargo, 41 percent of Americans between the ages of 17 and 35 haven t started saving for retirement yet. Considering the fact that even the self-employed among us (eventually) want to retire, those are pretty disturbing stats. Don t be one of them. Of course, it makes sense that young people aren t as focused on retirement. As a generation, we have more debt, and the cost of living is higher. That s why setting aside contributions to a simplified employee pension plan or SEP, as a self-employed worker, is so vital. For 2017, the SEP contribution limit is lesser of up to 25 percent of individual compensation, with a maximum of $54,000. That amount increased for 2018. The 2018 SEP contribution limit is lesser of up to 25 percent of compensation, with a maximum of $55,000. In other words, for someone who makes $50,000 in 2017, they can set aside up to $12,500 and ditto for the 2018 tax year. The new max only kicks in for those making over $220,000. Oh, and that reminds us; saving for retirement can be confusing. There are times when paying for an accountant is worth the money. This might be one of them, for you. And if it is, that s totally OK! Working with an accountant can help you to determine how much to contribute to your future self. Here s how to find an accountant near you. PAGE 13
YOU GOT At the end of the day, freelancing isn t for everyone. But for some, it can be everything. If you re still not convinced the life is right for you or don t feel fully prepared, here are some resources that might help. EDUCATION: Skillshare General Assembly Open Campus The New School JOBS: Upwork Fiverr THIS Now, COMMUNITY: QuickBooks Community Freelancers Union Alice the only thing left to do is leap. PAGE 14