Editor’s Observe: Since this publish was initially printed again in 2015, FreshBooks has rolled out newer variations. This publish has been up to date in 2024 to replicate perks, suggestions and tips obtainable for the newest FreshBooks platform — which is what you’ll get if you happen to join a free trial at present.

In case you have been paid for each hour you spend working in your freelance writing enterprise, you’d be wealthy.

However once you work for your self, there’s rather a lot you should do to hold your corporation working easily. Administrative duties like invoicing, holding monitor of funds, shopper administration and bookkeeping can eat up a great deal of time — and also you’re not paid to do them.

The extra effectively you may handle these duties, the extra time you may spend on paid work. And if you happen to can automate just a few issues, even higher.

Enter FreshBooks, the freelance author’s time-saving and money-saving dream.

It’s possible you’ll already be conversant in this on-line invoicing software program that makes it straightforward to ship invoices and obtain funds. However do you know FreshBooks also can prevent a boatload in invoicing charges? And that it might probably show you how to keep on prime of your corporation bills? Or that there’s a time-tracking function?

Learn on to find out how you should utilize FreshBooks to extra effectively handle your corporation and release time to deal with paid freelance writing work.

1. Monitor your time

Whether or not you have got purchasers on retainer, are paid a flat charge per undertaking or invoice hourly, it’s all the time a good suggestion to maintain monitor of how a lot time you spend on every shopper.

Why? Since you may very well be logging extra time than you thought. And when precisely how lengthy you should full a specific process, you may higher consider the initiatives you tackle and charges you cost.

For instance, it’s possible you’ll suppose you want two hours to write down a weblog publish, however by monitoring your time you uncover it takes three. Say you’re being paid $50 for the publish. Meaning you’re making $16.66 an hour, not the $25 you thought — an enormous distinction.

Monitoring your time when you should be doing precise work could appear to be a drag, however the FreshBooks app for iPhone, iPad and Android makes it tremendous straightforward.  Simply choose your shopper and undertaking, then begin the timer — or pause it once you want a break — and also you’ll be effectively in your approach to time monitoring bliss.

FreshBooks can be suitable with a number of desktop widgets reminiscent of ChronoMate for Mac OS-X and Toggl, so you may monitor your time even once you’re offline.

FreshBooks additionally makes it straightforward to notice which of your providers you’re utilizing for any given undertaking. For example, maybe you’re a contract author who gives running a blog, copywriting, and search engine optimization providers. Noting which of those abilities you’re using on every timer you set might help you uncover which of your providers is most profitable — and thus, which elements of your corporation to speculate extra time and vitality into.

Professional tip: To set your freelance writing charges, it’s useful to know precisely how a lot time you spend on each single facet of your corporation. To get a deal with on how a lot time you spend doing stuff that doesn’t usher in money, create a brand new shopper: your self. Then monitor any time you spend on advertising, enterprise improvement or administrative duties.

Having a full 360-degree view of the place your time goes may very well be eye-opening. It’s possible you’ll notice it’s time to lift your charges as a result of you should account for that unpaid time you’re dedicating to your corporation every week. (Want a bit of extra encouragement? Try FreshBooks’ book on the right way to cost what you’re actually value.)

2. Improve your probabilities of well timed fee

Each freelance author fears the unpaid bill. To assist keep away from this uncomfortable scenario, every bill ought to remind purchasers of the fee phrases you agreed to in your contract. (In case you don’t have a freelance writing contract, it’s a good suggestion to begin utilizing one.)

FreshBooks has completed the heavy lifting right here and analyzed what language for fee phrases works greatest. They discovered that being well mannered, telling purchasers precisely what number of days they need to pay and including curiosity for late funds enhance the chance that you just’ll be paid on time.

Professional tip: It’s possible you’ll not have the identical fee phrases for all purchasers. You possibly can edit the default language on every bill to make sure the phrases you and a specific shopper have agreed upon are right.

3. Handle your incoming funds

“I like holding tabs on all my purchasers to verify they pay on time,” stated no freelance author ever.

While you’ve received handful of invoices out for fee, it may be laborious to maintain monitor of when every fee are due — and which purchasers could have missed their deadlines to pay.

With FreshBooks, it’s straightforward to maintain monitor of who owes how a lot and once they owe it — all you must do is click on on “Accounts Getting old” on the backside of your own home display screen to generate a full report.

Professional tip: You possibly can arrange your FreshBooks account to mechanically ship a reminder to purchasers who’ve missed their fee deadline. Arrange a late fee notification, personalize your message and purchasers will obtain a mild nudge in the event that they unintentionally neglect to pay.

4. Calculate bills and tax deductions

Come tax time, you higher consider you may deduct each $5.50 almond milk latte (effectively, technically half of every one) you sipped whereas doing shopper work out of your favourite espresso store. Use FreshBooks to trace your corporation bills all year long and even add images of receipts in case the IRS desires them later.

Whilst you’ll need to be diligent about logging and categorizing every expense all year long, this can turn out to be useful once you want it most. FreshBooks will calculate the precise quantity you’ve spent in every class, making it a breeze to fill out these pesky tax types.

Professional tip: Do you should submit bills to a shopper? No drawback: FreshBooks makes it easy to mark an expense as billable, so you may bill it to your shopper down the road.

5. Professionalize and personalize your invoices

There are just a few different small issues you may to to customise your invoices and exhibit to purchasers how amazingly organized, skilled and wonderful to work with you might be.

In case you’d like your invoices to look a bit extra skilled, merely drag and drop so as to add your emblem. You possibly can even select from quite a lot of preloaded templates, colours and fonts to offer your invoices some pizzazz.

Use the notes part to begin constructing relationship with a brand new shopper. A brief-and-sweet thank-you notice by no means hurts. In actual fact, FreshBooks claims that together with a well mannered “please” and “thanks” will increase the probabilities of your bill being paid.

Have a shopper who communicates another approach than electronic mail? You possibly can select to export your bill as a sharable hyperlink as an alternative of sending it by means of the FreshBooks shopper, which lets you ship it whichever approach your shopper prefers — which could show you how to get paid in a extra well timed trend if you happen to work for somebody who doesn’t try for Inbox Zero.

6. Pitches, proposals and pricing

Customisable proposals and pitches give your purchasers all the main points, supported by photographs and attachments. Scope it out, define their wants and the way you meet them, the press ship and win that enterprise.

With in-app commenting, on-line approval and eSignatures, Proposals assist your purchasers take motion. Align timelines and simply convert Proposals to Invoices to avoid wasting time billing.

In progress, considered, or accepted. You all the time know the standing of a Proposal. Shopper questions? Reply proper in FreshBooks. Want an previous Proposal? Monitor all of them in Shopper Profiles.

Wish to study extra? Strive FreshBooks free for 30 days or get 50% off for the primary 3 months!

Do you utilize FreshBooks to handle your invoices and bills? Did we miss any of your favourite hacks or methods?

This publish incorporates affiliate hyperlinks. Meaning if you happen to join FreshBooks by means of our hyperlinks, you’re supporting The Write Life — and we thanks for that!
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