By: Fiona White (fionawhite.net) is a Freelance Journalist based in Waterford. Having studied media at Ballyfermot College of Further Education and Independent Colleges and having worked at 98FM, TodayFM, and in Community Radio in Dublin has moved to her hometown of Waterford.
Accounting for freelancers: I can be my own accountant!
So you’ve decided to become a freelancer? This is a big moment, and a daunting one. There is so much to think about now, what type of work you want to find, where to find it and so on. One area that can be more daunting than the rest is the area of finance.
You no longer have a company accounts department that looks after your wages, and now you will also have a client list. Especially when starting out its possible that you won’t be able to afford, or want to spend the money on hiring an accountant to do this for you. The good news is you may not have to…
There are a number of online companies offering accounting software, that’s easy to use, uncomplicated and cheap. Most of them offer a free trial so you can try out a few of them before deciding which one is best for you.
Some of the services available include Freshbooks, Free Agent Central, and Big Red Book.
Freshbooks
Freshbooks, which can be found on www.freshbooks.com is a U.S. based company which offers online accounting services from $0-$149 (€0-€110) per month. Most freelancers starting out should only need to pay $0-$19 (€14) per month which allows you to manage up to 25 clients. Using this software, which can only be used online (i.e. you don’t download it to your computer) you can create estimates, send invoices with your own logo, track expenses and assign them to projects, and use timesheets to track your time. You can also track related taxes.
Your clients can login to view their invoices or alternatively you can print and send them to them via snail mail. Freshbooks also automatically generates a profit & loss report as well as others.
So as long as you don’t mind some data entry and record keeping, it can be very simple to keep up with the business side of things while working as a freelancer!
Free Agent Central
Free Agent Central, which can be found at www.freeagentcentral.com is a U.K. based company offering similar services to that of Freshbooks, with a few added features. This time the pricing (which is in US Dollars on their website as they are marketing internationally) is €15 per month or €147 for a year. This allows you to manage unlimited amounts of clients. With this software you can add each of your contacts and manage dealings with them from this list. Another pro of this software is that you can invoice in many different currencies. The customizable homepage is another plus, which allows you to see vital information including bank account information, upcoming tasks and a mini profit and loss account as soon as you log in. It also allows the use of charts on the homepage so that the information can be seen clearly. You can keep account of other business expenses too for example the purchase of hardware, or the payment of utility bills.
This software is slightly more complicated than Freshbooks but is a more complete version, going the extra mile with some simple features. One of these features includes the ability to upload and sync bank statements from your business account with the accounts that have been drawn up on the software. It’s a bit difficult to explain this here but there is a comprehensive demo available on their website showing an overview of all attributes of the software.
Big Red Book
Last of all we will take a look at Big Red Book, which differs from the other two as you download it to your computer and work with it from there rather than online.
If you would rather not keep all of your information online or you rather using a program on your computer, and can afford to pay a bit more then big red book might better suit you.
It can be found at www.bigredbook.com and is an Irish run company that offers various accounting packages to small businesses in Ireland. Depending on your needs you can buy different software packages including general accounting software, payroll software, business planning software and more. The accounts package alone costs €300 so it is a bit pricier than the others. As I said before it really depends what type of software you are looking for specifically.
All of these accounting solutions could be very useful for freelancers, whether you are just starting out or have decided you would like to get to grips with your own finances in order to save money or just because of an interest in the area. Whether you are a computer whizz or not these packages are easy to use and all provide support for their customers. To find out more visit the above websites and view the demos.
Some of them also allow you to avail of a free trial. That way you can find the perfect solution for you!
Comments
If you have any tips for freelancers looking for accountants or would like to see updates to this article, why not post a comment and let it be known. Also, if you’re interesting in contributing yourself simply email info@freelanceireland.ie
Fiona White (fionawhite.net) is a freelance journalist based in Waterford, specialising in all aspects of radio production and print services. She has worked at Today FM, 98FM and has written for online and print publications. For more information visit her website www.fionawhite.net. 
