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Making Cash Flow

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We’ve just passed the deadline for filing annual taxes. Are you feeling a little cash-poor? Should we talk about how to put a little extra $$ into the revenue column? I suspect that landing a big client will have the most positive impact on your earnings, but counting your pennies and smart planning are always a plus. You just need to discipline yourself to adopt those good habits. Once you do, they’ll become part of your regular routine, the standard way that you do things.

Price right

Don’t be afraid to request adequate payment for the valuable services you provide. Low-balling never got anyone anywhere. I understand that when the cupboard is bare you just want to get a project in-house, fast, and it may seem as though a bargain price will entice prospects to quickly hire you. The problem is, prospects inclined toward cheap labor tend not to respect those whom they hire. You could find yourself in the mix with a difficult client who’s not only a low-revenue client, but also a slow payer. Respect yourself and your abilities and don’t go there.

Pricing B2B services is tricky, though, and benchmarking your price range is difficult. You can’t go online and research what competitors charge for a similar service. Who you know and who knows you, along with work experience in your area of specialty, number of years in business, university degrees and professional certifications and your client list are among factors that potentially impact how you can price. Your unique way of packaging and selling your skills and experience can be another determining factor. You might refer to the March 15, 2022 post Is It Time for a Price Increase for more thoughts on pricing B2B services.

Invoice on time

Freelancers don’t get paid to invoice, but you don’t get paid until you invoice. You must get serious about collecting accounts receivable. Get into the habit of preparing your more detailed invoices a little at a time throughout the month and consider sending invoices during a certain week—like the first or last week of the month. On all invoices, state that payment is due upon receipt. In general, payment is due within 30 days, but a 15 day grace period is typically extended, meaning clients legally have 45 days to pay. If you haven’t received payment by day 48, resend the invoice.

Furthermore, track the time that you spend on projects billed hourly. It’s very easy to underestimate how may hours that you work. I recently reviewed the amount of time that I spend on a recurring hourly project and was shocked (and embarrassed) to realize that I’ve been billing slightly more than half of the time that I should be billing. Corrective action will be gradually taken. I don’t want to give my client sticker shock, but I will discreetly align my invoices with the time spent working.

When discussing the work agreement with a client, ask for a 15% – 20% upfront payment on projects that you’ll bill at $1000 or more. Schedule payments to align with project milestones and leave no more than 30% outstanding for the final payment. On your invoice, indicate how you would like the check made out. If you accept credit and debit cards, electronic checks , direct deposits , or PayPal, include those options on your invoice as well.

Anticipate expenses and set money aside

Create a spreadsheet to help yourself anticipate and plan how to pay predictable expenses, fixed (e.g., quarterly tax payments, utility bills, health insurance) and variable (business association dues, professional development courses you’d like to attend), to minimize the arrival of unpleasant surprises landing in accounts payable. Next, calculate your expected accounts receivable. The document you’ll create is called a cash-flow forecast and is used to predict and plan ahead for 12 months.

Are you coming up short now and again? Figure out how to fix the problem. There are near term and long- term remedies that may be feasible for you. I recommend that you look to money raising opportunities that are related to what you do. But if you must tend bar, for example, do so if the money is good and you won’t run into clients.

  • Are you qualified to teach? Becoming an adjunct professor at a local college pays fairly well and it’s an excellent addition to a Freelancer’s CV. Teaching implies expertise and will enhance your brand and perceived value. Most schools will require that you have a master’s degree, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be related to subjects that you teach. Entrepreneurial incubators also hire instructors to teach subjects such as finance, tech and marketing. Do some investigation. Your real world experience can be leveraged.
  • Do you have good writing skills? If so, there are a number of money- making avenues to explore, including blog or newsletter ghost writing and marketing content for websites. Writing social media posts is another possibility. Join and browse writing and editing Freelance gig work on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork.
  • Align the payment due dates of your significant accounts payable with the part of the month when you usually have the most money. If you have a payroll to meet, W2 or 1099, time your accounts receivable payments to paydays you must guarantee
  • Call the companies you must pay and ask to change the due dates to stagger them or schedule your payments to that sweet spot in the month when you have the most money. You can also apply for a business credit card that can be used to pay certain expenses, but do keep an eye on the balance because credit card interest rates are exorbitant.
  • As a long-term tactic, review your inbound marketing tactics and amplify that which is not bringing in good prospects. For example, do you have two good client testimonials on your website? If not, consider who might be willing to go on record to sing your praises. Re:outbound marketing, consider dropping into your local chamber of commerce to see if those you’d like to meet are known to attend events. If possible, join for a year and see who you meet and what you learn, Buy a small ad in the chamber newsletter to raise your profile and maybe get the opportunity to speak or present a one hour course.
  • The best move is to build up a rainy day fund when your cash finally starts flowing. My fund saw me through the barren early months of the pandemic shutdown. I was still skimping, but I made it. Aim to save for a 6 month cushion.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Cash-Flow Cures

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Cash-flow is the beating heart of every for-profit (and also not-for-profit) enterprise and it is imperative that business owners keep a finger on the pulse of revenues that flow in and expenses that flow out of the coffers and constantly monitor the venture’s fiscal health. Your ability to pay recurring bills, invest in the business and maintain operations depend on it.

There are several Key Performance Indicator metrics that reveal the strength (or weakness) of aspects of the business—the number of active clients, the number of subscribers to your blog and/or newsletter, the conversion rate of sales leads and the percentage of clients who give you repeat business, for example, and each tells an important story. But in the end it’s about the money, how much comes into the business (accounts receivable and whatever additional income) and how much goes out (accounts payable, plus interest payments and taxes).

Follow your cash-flow

If you send only a few invoices each month and generate them yourself, why not create an Excel spreadsheet and enter your receivables and payables data there, at no charge? You can monitor invoices (accounts receivable) and update as payments are received. Each month, you can easily calculate revenue. Monthly bank and credit card statements, PayPal emails and updates from online payments, made or received, will verify your accounts payable activity and confirm receiveables that are paid.

You can record it all in Excel (and label it your Profit & Lost Statement) and understand whether you’re making money, breaking even, or losing money when you view the bottom line. With that knowledge, you can create strategies to capitalize on your financial situation or correct it.

If you’d rather pay for an invoicing and accounting service, there are several good options available, including Fresh Books, HoneyBook, Invoice2Go, Oracle’s NetSuite, QuickBooks, VCita, ZarMoney and Zoho Books. The platforms make it easier to send invoices, reconcile accounts, generate reports , track time spent on project work and more.

Evaluate expenses

Examine your company’s recurring monthly, quarterly, or annual expenses. Can you trim the cost of utilities, renegotiate commercial space rent or insurance payments? Why not terminate premium services or other subscriptions that don’t deliver as you anticipated? Ditto for organization memberships that you can’t find the time to utilize.

The work from home phenomenon should help you lower your rent for office or other commercial space. If your landlord balks at dropping the price, consider asking for more space, if you’ll find it helpful, or ask for perks such as a discounted maintenance fee.

If you have a history of paying bills on time, call your insurance, credit card and loan companies and ask for a lower interest or premium rate.

Demand a deposit

When a project fee reaches a mid 4-figure sum, request a 10% – 20% up-front payment at the contract signing. Link subsequent payments to the completion of project milestones. Aim to leave no more than 25% of the fee payable at project completion. In other words, help your monthly cash-flow and revenue by scheduling most payments before the client has what s/he wants. If the client is unethical and “forgets” to make the final payment, you’ll have most of the money in your pocket.

Invoice on time

The thing about being a Freelance consultant is that unless you are a big-league player, invoicing, proposal preparation and other administrative tasks are done on your time. Remember that when negotiating project fees and try to roll it in.

I find invoicing to be a chore, but that’s how I get paid. Within two weeks of the completion of whatever client work you’ve done, train yourself to invoice. On your invoice, state that payment is due upon its receipt.

No-problem payments

If you sell products or provide services at your clients’ homes or offices, enable on-the-spot invoice payments with mobile apps that use your smartphone or tablet to accept credit or debit cards. Investigate mobile payment platforms such as Helcim, Payment Depot, Square, Stax and Stripe.

Credit cushion

A business line of credit is a good insurance policy against cash-flow droughts. Talk to the manager at your bank and s/he will be happy to discuss options with you. Most likely, you’ll receive a business credit card, which will be very helpful as you track business expenses, whether you take a prospect out to breakfast, attend a professional development or networking event, or buy a new computer.

As well, if your credit score is good you may be able to more quickly collect receivables from good clients who are, unfortunately, slow payers, by applying for a NOWaccount. Both your company and the client’s company must be approved. You invoice the client as usual and NOWaccount pays you within 30 days, minus a fee. Client checks are made out to you, but mailed to a post office box belonging to NOWaccount. If you have a good client who is a 60 + day payer, you can be well-served with this option.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can (2002) directed by Stephen Spielberg

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Pricing: Retainer Fee, Flat Fee, or Hourly Rate?

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Congratulations! You’re in serious talks with a prospective client and it appears that the project is yours. As you listen to the soon-to-be-client discussing his/her must-haves and timetable, you’re also thinking about pricing and payment:

How many hours might this take to complete and how much should I charge?

What might the client be able to afford and what might s/he be willing to pay?

What value will I bring to the company—-how will my work enable the client to achieve important goals, enhance the company brand and status, or avoid trouble?

How should I suggest that we structure the billing arrangement—hourly rate, flat project fee, or retainer agreement?

Once you’ve asked the client about a ballpark project budget and more or less know how much you’ll request for an upfront payment (10% – 20% maybe?), which payment structure will best fit the project, guarantee that you’ll make a profit and not put you into the position of basically working for free and also support the client’s trust and confidence in you and your company?

Project fee

Charging a flat, predetermined project fee is common for larger projects and for working with clients with whom you’ve worked before, when you can more accurately estimate the hours needed to successfully complete the job. Often, a flat rate is based on an estimate of hours a project will take to complete, multiplied by your standard hourly rate for the type of work required.

In other cases, the value of the finished project is higher than just your estimated hours. For example, logo designs are often valued highly regardless of actual hours worked, because of their frequent use and visibility. Other factors that can affect the price include the number of pieces printed or sold, and whether the piece will be used once or multiple times.

Depending on the type of project, you might add a percentage to cover client meetings, unforeseen changes, email correspondence, and other activities that an hourly estimate doesn’t reflect.

The upside

  • The client knows what they are paying from the beginning (unless there are changes to the scope of the project).
  • You are guaranteed a certain amount of money, even if the job is finished quickly.

The downside

  • The job might take longer than expected (a possibility your contract should address).
  • Clients sometimes ask for extra revisions, etc. without expecting to pay more (again, cover this in your contract)

Hourly

The hourly rate is the most common payment arrangement for both W-2 and 1099-NEC independent contractors in America, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2017.

Consider not just what it costs you to do the work but factor in the value you bring as well.

The upside

  • You have a straightforward way to charge clients

The downside

  • You may get pushback from a client if the work takes longer than expected and they receive a large invoice

Retainer

Working on retainer means that you charge clients a monthly minimum, no matter how much work you do. However, for certain types of work, setting a monthly minimum number of hours or projects makes sense. Working on retainer ensures that you have enough revenue coming in every month to keep your business afloat.

The upside

  • You do ongoing work for your client and build a close relationship to help them achieve success.
  • You invoice clients regularly (usually monthly) without having to keep detailed records of your time.
  • You receive recurring payments, almost like a salary, which gives you more predictable revenue.
  • You can scale your business by hiring contractors or employees to manage multiple clients.
  • You create stability for your business without needing to upsell current clients or continually search for new ones.

The downside

  • You may be asked to do additional work that’s not in your agreement if you haven’t set clear expectations or an additional hourly fee.
  • Your total hours worked may fluctuate significantly from month to month, which may make it difficult to schedule time-sensitive work for other clients or leave you feeling suddenly overworked or underworked.
  • Your clients may request to renegotiate your fee when they do their annual budget.
  • Your income, while steady, may be lower than with other billing options.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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2021 Financial Tune-up

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We’re at the top of the year, after closing out a particularly trying nine months of the previous. It seems that rough sailing will continue but we know what to expect now, more or less, and our experiences will enable us to brainstorm and identify strategies to help ride out the storm.

Whatever you’d like to achieve this year, money is likely to be necessary. In fact managing money may be the singular focus of your plan for the new year. For example, a practical goal for your business enterprise may be to conserve cash as a risk management strategy as the pandemic economy grinds on and on. Alternatively, saving money that will make it possible to take aim at your personal bucket list, which may include buying a home or trading up, or becoming more diligent about retirement savings, are or her motivators for managing and saving money.

Create a budget

The ultimate money-tracking and management tool is the budget. A budget accounts for anticipated revenue, which Freelancers are advised to conservatively estimate, and balances that amount against expenses that will be due, be they predetermined obligations such as rent or mortgage, transportation and groceries or discretionary expenses, such as new clothing purchases.

It’s also necessary to factor into your budget room for mundane expenses such as routine or emergency auto maintenance, technology needs and occasional home repairs and accessories, as well as allowances for fun expenses such as holiday and birthday gifts, occasional dinners out, or a weekend trip.

If one is both prudent and fortunate, revenue will exceed expenses most of the time and you’ll be able to save a few dollars every month. So budgeting should not be viewed as punishment; to the contrary, your budget is your friend. Why wouldn’t you want to know how much money you can expect to earn in a month or quarter and compare that amount to the typical expenses you expect to pay in that time period?

We all need to keep close tabs on cash-flow. The idea is to make money and avoid deficit spending. Budgets can be monthly, quarterly, or annual but a personal budget probably works best on a monthly cycle.

Get started by finding your 1099s and adding them up to identify the previous year’s gross revenue. Because 2020 was a year of diminished revenue for most Freelancers and we don’t know how much of a bounce forward 2021 will bring, income averaging 2019 and 2020 revenue could be a reasonable predictor of 2021. If you have dividend paying investments or interest bearing accounts that actually amount to something, be sure to include that income as well. Who knows, maybe you have a modest trust fund to include as well (it must be nice!).

Next, document 2020 expenses. Consult credit card statements, ATM withdrawals, mobile payment apps and checking account statements. Be honest with yourself about all the little ways that you spent money, from impulse purchases in the grocery store check-out line to chocolate therapy ice cream emergencies.

You will soon need to consider how to format your budget. Some will like an Excel spreadsheet and others will download a budgeting app such as what’s shown here. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/budgeting-saving-tools/ I find The Balance website to be very helpful. https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-make-a-budget-1289587

Watch your caffeine

In life, so often it’s the little things that matter. Small expenses can easily add up to a bigger drain on your income than you realize. In other words, beware the $5.00 caffeine drinks. The most frugal option is to buy a good coffee maker or tea kettle + accessories and make your own brew. However, if stepping out for a break helps you to be a more effective work from home professional, find a local restaurant to visit. You may be able to save money as you have the pleasure of supporting a local business.

Monitor other expenditures as well. Not all of your small but life-enhancing pleasures will have to end, but making note of their impact on your finances may change your mind about a few things. If possible, maintain a couple of indulgences that mean the most and let the rest go.

Pay on time

Late fees for many bills are $25.00 or more and some companies consider them to be a line of business. You don’t want to go there. Late paying clients can force a Freelancer into that trap and I’ve been there. Help yourself by invoicing on time and finding the courage to send a gently worded reminder email to collect unpaid receivables that are approaching 60 days.

Moreover, when discussing a project with a client, ask for 20% – 25% of the total fee before you commence work. Tie subsequent payments to successfully completed project milestones. Avoid leaving more than 30% due at the project’s completion and therefore leaving yourself vulnerable to an unscrupulous operator who decides not to pay the full amount, now that s/he has want they want.

Finally, you may notice that planning to save money may inspire you, Freelancer Friend, to become more ambitious and disciplined about keeping your sales pipeline filled, enacting client retention strategies and even devising a campaign pitch to move regular clients to retainer agreements. When you make a commitment to yourself to manage money, you’ll want to be able to predict, and ideally increase, your revenue in order to achieve the savings target.

Thanks for reading,

Kim


			

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Virtual Assistant Technology to Support Your Business
		
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Enter the New Year with a mission to explore and utilize virtual assistant technology as part of your strategy to create operational efficiencies and competitive advantages for your organization competitive in 2021 and beyond.  The negative effects of the COVID economy should lend some urgency to your efforts.





You already know that Intelligent Virtual Assistants can quickly answer common questions posed by website visitors because you’ve most likely used chat bots yourself. You’ve probably also pulled out your phone many times to ask those voice-controlled Intelligent Virtual Assistants named Siri and Alexa questions like where you can get an ice cream cone, or the location of the nearest hardware store. In other words, you’re comfortable with Intelligent Virtual Assistants and you’re ready to brainstorm how to use them in your business.





IVAs have many uses, including pairing with artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to guarantee secure business transactions and contracts, a benefit that has become more valuable in the work from home virtual communication-dependent COVID environment.  Along with tech-enabled administrative, operational and customer service functions, IVAs can seamlessly supply an array of other services.





IVA and LeadGen





Use IVA to stimulate both online and in-store sales by suggesting purchases to online shoppers who’ve either previously bought items on your site, or merely visited the site. You get to select the triggers, the contact schedule and the manner of marketing outreach—an ad or a marketing email, for example.





Have you ever visited the website of a grocery chain and a minute later discovered ads for grocery delivery in your online feed? That’s IVA- driven drip marketing at your service. There are other time-saving and money- making possibilities that IVA can deliver. For a not overwhelming sum each month, depending on the service, you can position your company as being at the technological forefront and build confidence in your organization and its operations as a result. 





IVA and email marketing 





Hunter.io will ferret out those elusive email addresses of decision-makers you’d like to contact and engage with as you lay the groundwork for selling and brand building or opportunities. Just enter the company name and the person you’d like to reach and receive a list of email addresses that contain that domain name. Try the no-pay trial option and receive 50 free email searches or sign on for 500 email searches, verifications and several more useful email marketing campaign services for just $49/month.





IVA and PR/ Marketing 





Maybe you want to be a guest on the right podcast? IVA technology will search podcasts that should be a fit for your products or services. IVA will also create your email marketing pitch for the targeted podcast hosts to launch a campaign to get you on a broadcast or two. The email will be sent from your business account and will suggest topics you’d like discuss that would appeal to the podcast listeners and add value to the show. 





If you’d like to get on the radar screens of blogger- influencers in your location or industry, or introduce yourself to key print or digital journalists, the same tactic can be applied. Furthermore, IVA technology can be used to help you effectively recycle still relevant content marketing posts from your blog or newsletter into social media posts, whether text or video format.





As Freelancers and all business owners and leaders continue to grapple with the challenges presented by the COVID economy and its impact on activities we once took for granted, incorporating IVA technology into your company will become essential in what will be an increasingly digital world.





Thanks for reading,





Kim





Image: George and Jane Jetson with Rosie, their IVA household help. Animated sitcom The Jetsons (Hanna-Barbera) aired in prime time on ABC from September 1962 – March 1963, then spent many years in syndication.






					

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Time-Tracking Options for Freelancers
		
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We’re back with a review of more time-tracking services that are especially useful for Freelance consultants. Accurately documenting the time spent on project assignments is important in many ways, primarily to ensure that billable hours charged to clients are correct.  Plus, most time-tracking services will generate an invoice that you can click and send and some will also allow you to accept online payments with bank-level security.


In addition, time-tracking services generate useful reports that show the number of hours you spend on certain types of assignments, information that is useful when creating proposals for projects that you’d like to take on, since it will be necessary to predict the time you expect to spend on the proposed project, which will impact your pricing and determine whether it will be most advantageous for you and the client to choose an hourly rate or project fee payment arrangement.


Harvest


Track time spent on projects easily and efficiently with Harvest, even when you need to follow several projects that contain different tasks that are priced differently. Furthermore, when coordinating a team project, you’re able to assign and time-track various tasks within a project for specific team members.


Reporting is a strength: raw time sheet data will be presented in a visual summary that depicts how your time or the team’s time has been utilized, with key project metrics collated into intuitive reports. The service also generates professional-looking invoices based on your project fee or hourly rate, as determined by the time you’ve logged.  Click and send invoices to clients and receive online payment, confident that site security is bank-level.


Harvest is free for one person to track maximum two projects/month and $12 for one person to track an unlimited number of projects/month.  Harvest


RescueTime


Freelancers who’d like to document how they’re spending time when working on a project and who are not kept on a short leash by a manager will appreciate RescueTime.  It’s not possible to send reports to your client, but you can nevertheless track your time and obtain an accurate picture of your productivity.  You will also receive detailed reports that show you the apps and websites you visited.


As well, RescueTime will record time spent on email and the amount of time you linger on any website. If you’d like to limit the time spent on non-work related websites, then ask the system to block your browsing on any chosen site after a certain amount of time.  Further, you can set goals to inspire yourself to stay on schedule with your project. The premium service plan also allows tracking of off-line time for activities such as telephone calls and meetings. RescueTime Lite is free and RescueTime Premium costs $9.00/month, or $72.00/year.   RescueTime


Tick


Each time you submit a time entry, Tick updates your project and task budgets in real time and reports back to you.  If you regularly track time against an hourly rate determined budget, or a project fee that involves an important deadline or penalties for late completion, then Tick may be your ideal time-tracking solution. It’s also possible to track time on multiple projects simultaneously.  While the service can be used by a solo Freelancer, it is especially suited for a team.


Tick is free if a single user employs the service for one project per month, $19.00/month for an unlimited number of users who’ll track a maximum of 10 projects/month and up to $149.00 /month for an unlimited number of workers to time track an unlimited number of projects.   Tick


Toggl


If you neglect to click the session start button, the service will allow you to enter your working time after the fact, which is helpful for those who are very busy and prone to forget. The service is structured with a team in mind, but it works well for solo professionals.


The service works on all devices, desktop and mobile. Helpful analytic reports will be generated, so you’ll get the big picture of where your time is spent, depending on your assigned tasks.  There is a free version, plus Starter and Premium.  The $9.00 /month Starter package appears to give the best value to Freelancers.   Toggl


Klok


Most helpfully, the service lets users recall and analyze data from previous projects, information that enables you to develop proposals for future projects that will more accurately reflect the time needed to reach key milestones and achieve deadlines. The historical time-tracking data will also help you to price at a level that is fair to both you and the client.


The basic package includes a visual display of your time as you work, plus screenshots, exporting of time sheets, dashboard reporting and invoicing all for a one-time purchase price of $20.00 for up to three users.  Klok Cloud Sync, Klonk Pro and Klokwork Team Console are also available.   Klok


Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading,


Kim


Photograph: Orloj, the famous 15th century astrological clock in Prague, Czech Republic		


			

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Time-Tracking Freelance Work
		
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How many of you use time-tracking so that you can accurately count your billable hours when on assignment? I still count hours the old-fashioned way and I know that I cheat myself out of no less than an hour or so every week. My bad! I’ve occasionally thought about time-tracking assistance, but I never knew where to begin. A new year will soon welcome us and that’s a traditional motivator to set goals and improve work habits.


As I suspected, time-tracking systems have their differences. Some are designed with remote teams in mind; others make a department manager’s life easier. Certain time-tracking systems have been created to address the needs of Freelancers and we’ll sort through a sampling here:


Due Time Tracking


Due Time is free and easy to use—just create a task, start the timer and launch your session. You can click and add notes to detail the project you’re working on. Due Time also includes an automatic idle time detection feature, so you’re able to make allowances for stepping away from your project now and again and still remain accurate in tracking your work hours.


You’ll be pleased to find that Due Time will generate hourly rate or project fee invoices when you enter the rate. Due Time makes it easy to organize client information by name, address, or even payment currency.  Due Time


TopTracker


Along with tracking the number of hours you spend on project tasks, Top Tracker offers screen shots and webcam shots that document your work. Screen shot pages can be deleted or configured to automatically blur before uploading, so that the image is recognizable to you but all text is obscured. The service works with nearly every freelancing platform and will produce a detailed project activity report to document your performance. The service is free.  TopTracker


Sighted Time Tracking and Invoicing


Sighted Time Tracking seamlessly integrates the functions of time-tracking and invoicing, packaged in either the free Basic Service plan or the Premium Plan at $4.00 /month. You can make detailed project notes for every session and also automatically send invoices for hours worked that are customized for billable hours or project fee.


Furthermore, users can send out quotes to prospects when invited to bid on a project and accept credit or debit card payments online and issue a receipt to the client. Plus, you can do it all on your desktop or mobile device.  Sighted


Tick


Each time you submit a time entry, Tick updates your project and task budgets in real time and reports it back to you.  If you regularly track your time against an hourly rate budget of project fee that involves an important deadline or penalties for late completion, then Tick may be your ideal time-tracking solution. It’s even possible to track time on multiple projects simultaneously.  While the service can be used by a solo Freelancer, it is especially suited for a team.


Tick is free if a single user employs the service for one project per month, $19.00/month for an unlimited number of users who’ll track a maximum of 10 projects/month and up to $149.00 /month for an unlimited number of workers to time track an unlimited number of projects.  Tick


Four more time-tracking options will be examined in the next post. Have a good week!


Thanks for reading,


Kim


Photograph: Sundial at the Gate of Honour at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridgeshire, England		


			

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Who Gets the 1099?
		
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The year is drawing to a close and we’re crossing into the 11th month. Before you become enmeshed in the celebrations and obligations that the holidays demand of us, do yourself a favor and commence your tax planning. Create an accounts receivable and  invoicing strategy once you’ve decided when it would be most advantageous to receive payment for services rendered in this calendar/ tax year or the next. IRS Form 1099-MISC will be at the center of the action; understanding when you’ll need it and when you might avoid it is your goal.


The payment in question is $600, whether it was paid or received by your organization. Review the accounts receivable history of clients for whom you performed small jobs earlier in the year.  If a client paid you less than $600 in this calendar year, you will not receive or need to file a Form 1099-MISC for the money earned on that assignment.


Start with the easy stuff.  If you find yourself in mid-contract with a client as December approaches and the project isn’t urgent, might it be possible to work until just before Christmas and then resume work in the first week of January, if it appears that will allow you to cap your billable amount at less than $600 for the client in this calendar/ tax year?  That can be one less 1099-MISC to file and a little more money added to your P & L.


If the client has a deadline don’t even think of such a thing but if there is no urgency, why not ask the client if s/he might find it more convenient to take a “holiday break” starting in mid or late December? Many employees take vacation days at the end of the year in a “use it or lose it” strategy and offices can be short-handed just before Christmas and through the end of the year.  I suggest that you refrain from mentioning the tax implications.  Frame your suggestion as a way of being sensitive to what may be going on in the client’s office, i.e., customer service.


Similarly, might you be able to defer until the New Year certain invoices, as a way to keep a lid on this year’s income and taxes and wait until the first week of January to send accounts receivable for work that was performed in December? Let a couple of hours work spill over into January and make your New Year invoice legal.


Now let’s consider the 1099-MISC forms that you will generate and send.  Did you hire any sub-contractors to help you fulfill the terms of a project? Have you hired a part-time bookkeeper or social media expert or editor for your newsletter? If you paid $600 or more to anyone for business services or rents in this calendar/ tax year, then you must send that individual/ company a Form 1099-MISC no later than January 31 of the upcoming year.


So that you will have the information to complete the Form 1099-MISC, it will be necessary to request that all of your vendors and other business services providers complete a Form W-9, ideally before the work they perform commences.  Download Form W-9


Among the important pieces of information that the W-9 will surface is if your service provider’s business is incorporated as a chapter C or S entity, or an LLC or partnership that is taxed as a C or S corporation.  Along with commercial rent paid to or through a property management company (instead of the property owner), a 1099-MISC will not be required for those types of entities when payments for services rendered meet or surpass $600.


Payments for services rendered made by gift card, debit, or credit card are not to be included in the 1099-MISC tally.  Instead, the card issuers will send a Form 1099-K to your subcontractors, vendors, or you when the amount paid for business services rendered meets or surpasses $600.


Obtaining the 1099-MISC is an adventure. You must order forms from the IRS, or visit an IRS service center and pick up a few. The form is not available for downloading.  Click here to order Form 1099-MISC.


Thanks for reading,


Kim


Image: The Tax Collector, 1542   Marinus van Reymerswaele (1490 – 1546)                  Courtesy of Alte Pinakothek Museum in Munich, Germany		


			

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Invoicing Inertia: The Cure
		
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Freelance consultants are no strangers to cash-flow crunches and as quiet as it’s kept, the problem can be of our own doing, or not doing.  The reason for our cash-flow problem could be a slow-paying or, horrors, a non-paying client (an acquaintance who is a business accountant estimates that 5-10 % of professional services providers’ receivables will be uncollectible in a given year).  But we can be our own worse enemy in these matters and it is time to tame our invoicing inertia.


As example last week, I sent an invoice to a client that was worth four figures and was four months late.  Why was I so negligent, when I had important accounts payable to resolve? Why is it so hard for so many small business owners and self-employed professionals to stay on top of our accounts receivable and send out invoices on time?


In my consultancy, and I imagine this is true for most, client work, both performing it and networking to bring more of it in, are the priorities.  Billable hours are the name of the game. Then there is content marketing activity (this blog!) to send to my preferred social media platform (LinkedIn) and my website.  Other revenue streams—teaching twice /week, which entails responsibilities to my students, and producing a monthly post for the online magazine for women entrepreneurs where I am a staff writer—claim another chunk of time and creative energy.  Being in business requires considerable mental and physical stamina.


The invoice was for hourly work, rather than a project fee, meaning that detailed information was expected (and not unreasonably so).  The very thought of generating the thing nearly made me nauseous, so I found several avoidance-behavior activities that on the surface appeared to be ambitious, but in reality served mostly to enable my procrastination.  Then the client asked me about the invoice.  I was so embarrassed!


As I worked on the detailed, multi-page invoice, I thought about what I might do to simplify the process, so that I could easily generate scheduled invoices and would be motivated to do so.  Invoicing for a project fee is much easier than the hourly rate version and it was project fee invoices plus the job income  that sustained me while I neglected the hourly invoice.  Here’s what I recommend (my business accountant friend approves):


Collect in advance


Whether the assignment is paid by hourly rate or project fee, collect a percentage at the contract signing or email-documented agreement (20 % – 35 % of the project fee, or an estimate of the first months’ billable hours).  Discuss with the client a mutually agreeable invoicing schedule and honor it.


Create two all-purpose invoice templates


In the top left of a Word document, type in your name and/or DBA as the vendor, tax I.D. and contact info. This will become the permanent part of your template.  Below that, type in separate lines  for the client name, date, project deliverables, total amount of the project fee and the amount of the invoice.  All you’ll need to do is copy the template, drop in the specifics and presto! You’ll have an invoice to send.


The hourly rate template will have a cover sheet that is similar to the project fee template, but with the lines for rate (the dollar amount you’re charging/hour) and hours (total billable for this invoice) substituted for the project fee info.  A second page of the hourly rate template will have lines for four “week of” headings, ready for you to insert the dates and specifics of your weekly client work.


Either invoice can be used for retainer contracts.  If you are brought in to work a standard number of hours per month for a particular client, or you’re asked to perform predictable functions as needed throughout the year and you can reasonably estimate how often you’ll be asked to perform those services and your cost to provide them, then you can calculate invoice amounts in advance and determine a retainer fee.  If this is the case, then suggest a retainer arrangement at the next contract signing and bolster your income security.


BTW, it is not unusual to invite a client to pay the year’s (or quarter’s) retainer in advance. Offer some attractive incentives for yearly or quarterly advance payments, like a good discount or service add-ons.


On all invoice templates, indicate how the check should be made out (your name or DBA) and indicate that the invoice is due immediately (although it is accepted practice to pay invoices within 30 days). Finally, state that it is a pleasure doing business with your client.


Invoice on time


Whatever the agreed-upon payment schedule, be sure to follow it (not more than one week late). When you honor the invoicing schedule, you communicate to clients that getting paid within 30 days, if not sooner, is what you expect and deserve.  Timely invoicing also benefits your clients, who will be able to better manage their own accounts payable and cash-flow.  If you start to bring in more lucrative assignments, investigate the process of accepting credit card payments.  You’ll be paid faster, but a small processing fee will be deducted.


Invoice as marketing collateral


To date, my invoices are created on an unembellished Word document, but that is about to change.  I plan to align my invoice design with my other marketing collaterals.  Very soon, I’ll design an invoice PDF that contains a scan of my (lovely) business card, that will appear at center top.  All the other info will be written as described here.  You can also investigate free invoice templates in an online search.


In our hyper-competitive business environment, where clients hold the keys and seem to be looking for reasons to cancel projects that Freelance consultants depend upon, it is imperative that we project professionalism.  All interactions with clients, from the first meeting, to the excellence of our work and concluding with an accurate and timely invoice, must reflect well on our brand.


Thanks for reading,


Kim


 

			

	


				
					


			

						
							
						
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Kill the Deadbeats!
		
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“Businesses don’t fail because they are unprofitable.   They fail because they get crushed on the accounts receivable side.”  Brian Hamilton, CEO  Sageworks, a  financial research firm in Raleigh, NC


A  2005  survey of American Express  small business customers found that  49%  had cash-flow concerns, with accounts receivable as the primary concern,  and  9%  of  that group worried that their cash-flow troubles were sufficiently serious to impede their ability to compete for new business.


A  2007  survey of  2000  Freelancers found that  77%  of us have had trouble getting paid at some point in our careers as independent workers.   Of  the  77%,  late payments have been endured by   85%  at least once;   42%  have been stiffed at least once;  and  34%  have received less than the invoiced amount at least once.   The survey also found that Freelancers  spend 4 hours/month on average pursuing late or unpaid receivables.


Since Freelancers are  excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which would require  the Department of Labor to assist us by investigating claims of involuntary unpaid labor (slavery!) and would authorize the Commissioner of Labor to bring criminal proceedings to recover wages owed,  we are more than a little vulnerable to this growing phenomenon.


Our options are weak.  Hiring an attorney is costly and does not guarantee payment of monies owed.  Small Claims Court is time consuming and winning a judgment does not guarantee payment.  Writing a  thorough contract,  which specifically details  services requested,  pricing,  invoice due dates and late fees doesn’t help much either if  a  client lacks the ability to pay,  or simply refuses to pay within a reasonable time frame (big corporations are infamous for this).


Smaller businesses may be caught between a rock and a hard place:  they can’t pay you until someone pays them.  Big corporations have the power to dictate payment terms favorable to their own cash-flow objectives.  Over the past several years,  including the so-called  “booming economy”  years,  many big corporations brazenly increased the turn-around time on accounts payable to their small vendors —because they could.


So what’s a Freelancer trying to maintain respectable cash-flow to do? Take every precaution and watch for signs of problem clients.  Before taking on a new client,  maybe ask around and find out if you know who’s done business with the company.  Maybe check out the BBB and find out if  a complaint has been filed and its resolution.


Milestones and money


Establish project milestones and attach an invoice to each one.  First,  discuss your project with the client and get agreement on the scope of the project and the time table.  At the contract signing,  get a deposit of 10-25 %.  At key junctures in the project,  get another 20-25% payment,  if possible.  The goal is to avoid the trap of  waiting for a large sum of money at the project’s completion,  when the client possesses the complete deliverable.  Hint:  if  the client is unable to make the initial deposit on time,  brace for trouble!


Deadbeat radar


Pay attention to client motivation—are they looking for quality work,  or the cheapest price?  If  a customer comes to you primarily for price,  then price is what will make that client leave you.  Moreover,  they will use price to manipulate you.  So do not be desperate!  It’s hard, I know, when you’re just trying to be solvent.  But customers like that pay the least money,  cause the most headaches and may not pay what they owe,  on time or otherwise. They are best avoided.


Beware the client who is in a big rush, frazzled and frenetic.  This person will appear suddenly and may also be overly concerned with price.  Once the deliverable is in hand, your invoices will be ignored,  as he/she is always  “too busy”  to deal with annoying things like paying you.  Insist on receiving as much payment up front as you can (try 50% down, including a premium for speedy delivery). You may never see the rest of the money,  or you will have to chase and wait.


Beware also the OCD type who is hyper-controlling and fussy.  If you must go there,  be excruciatingly clear about the project scope,  deadlines,  expectations,  project milestones, etc.  Put everything in writing and make sure they agree,  sign off and are prepared to make all milestone payments.  This client will be tough to satisfy and will pick you apart,  demand revisions and may withhold payment,  claiming that you haven’t delivered satisfactorily.


Put into writing how many revisions are included in the project base price plus the price for revisions.  Consider adding  25-30%  to your usual quote to make up for the time you’ll spend responding to incessant emails,  phone calls,  criticism and demands.


Recurring nightmare?


If collecting receivables is a persistent problem for you,  then it is likely that you are not qualifying clients properly or your product is considered deficient.  Clearly define your deliverable.  Set expectations for your services and make sure that you understand what the client wants and the client understands what you will deliver.  A verbal agreement should precede a written proposal/contract that specifies the work you will do,  the timetable and payment due dates and should be signed by both you and the client.


Thanks for reading,


Kim