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If you are using Paypal to request the funds and getting bumped up to higher surcharges, this would allow you to send invoices without charging you extra.
Plus, it makes nicer invoices lol.
Both of you should check out Wave Accounting, if you're interested in formally keep track of finances. It's free accounting software.
I run Whizkins to help with entrepreneurs. Both of you are too young to use my application right now, but I've only done that because of some legal processes I have structured in my site, and being a minor will make it difficult for counterparties to work with you on the platform.
For example, as you may have found out, being a minor can make it difficult for people to transact with you because most of your contracts by law are voidable (exceptions are contracts formed around basic necessities), which makes it risky for the other parties to enter into contracts with you since at anytime, you could say without consequences "welp, I don't want to do this contract anymore. I'm outty."
To second what u/rantow said, I use Wave to handle a lot of my books. It does a pretty decent job for being free. I can reconcile my payments, send invoices, and create a profit and loss to send to my accountant at the end of every year.
Wave makes money on payroll and if your customers pay via the invoice link.
Why not use an accounting product off the shelf? Or even a hotel specific piece of software?
I always consider if there is an off the shelf product that will meet the customers needs before doing custom development (despite the majority of my work being custom development!)
If you're just looking for something basic like tracking expenses, invoicing and just keeping an eye on your income vs expense I'd recommend WaveApp. I'm an accountant (though not practicing anymore) and I use it for my current freelancing work. It's free and super easy to use.
/u/Shes_the_cheese has it regarding the business name.
If you're looking for simple accounting, I use Wave to track my small business expenses and invoice. It's pretty slick.
With the $20k, it's a tax deduction, not a grant. But yes, if you buy up to $20k of gear, you can put that as a deduction on your next tax return. If you're still operating as a Sole Trader, that'll be on your personal tax return.
You don't need to worry about GST until you're earning over $75k a year.
I use Wave. One system for invoicing and accounting.
It has decent looking schedulable invoices, integrated online payments with Stripe, a helpful app (it's new and they're still adding features but it seems good so far), receipts, etc. The dashboard shows you your income over time so you can keep track easily (especially if you have your accounts you use for expenses hooked up– you'd be able to see your real profit). It's free and has ads.
Free, with additional accounting, credit card processing, and payroll services for a fee. Able to sync bank accounts for your accounting needs and receipt tracking. Have used it for a few years without any major issues.
/u/HolyPotato has written up an excellent guide for that exact situation. I recommend you read it all.
As far as software goes, I currently pay for Hiveage but will be switching to Wave which is free, has more features and I've seen recommended.
I use Wave for invoicing/payment/bookkeeping. It's good for my uses (wanted a free tracking app, since my freelance is a supplement to my day job). Their invoicing is handled through Stripe, which is dead-simple, and their report generating is pretty handy.
I was in a similar situation to yours this year for taxes—made enough to need to reliably track income by customer (to verify 1099-MISCs received), and had business expenses that would need to be written off—and Wave handled it all nicely.
No way. There are better and cheaper alternatives. You can even start with something simple like the Expensify app or Wave Money (no-fee business banking with built-in free bookkeeping and receipt tracking).
I know this is an Excel request, however I've been in your situation as well and I'd suggest you take a look at Wave - https://www.waveapps.com/
I work in accounting but I've set up non-finance/accounting people with Wave and had good success.
Free, online, their revenue model is based on charging for payment processing and payroll if it is ever needed.
I've been using it for my own personal small business, and
You can use Wave Accounting for free to keep track of your income and expenses. https://www.waveapps.com/accounting/
You can file your taxes yourself, Simple Tax makes it really easy because they give you a break down of things to write off. Simple Tax is also by donation. T2125 Statement of Business Affairs is the form you want to use. http://simpletax.ca
Congratulations! Landing your first client(s) is always a fun experience.
I would always recommend a contract, but the length and detail in the contract should depend on your relationship with the client. If you've never worked with the client, I would serve a much more detailed contract than if you've worked with the person before.
With that being said, I would always recommend a contract for the simple fact that it will clearly state what the scope of work is. You'd rather hash out any issues with client expectations prior to beginning work, rather than while you're trying to concentrate on actually doing the work.
Keep in mind that signing a contract will often be a new concept to many small business owners, so don't be caught off guard if they question the necessity of it.
As far as billing, I would recommend https://www.waveapps.com/. It's free, and allows you to easily create invoices/track whether they have been paid.
Deciding on your rate is a problem almost every new freelancer has. I would always start higher and negotiate if needed. You may be surprised with how much companies are willing to pay freelancers because of the trouble it saves them.
I would definitely suggest a termination clause, especially if this is going to be your sole source of income. My contracts always required 60 days notice prior to my services ending. This at least allows you time to look for a replacement client if the company can't afford to keep you on.
I looked into accounting software recently and decided to move to Wave
Haven't got too deep with it yet but it looks free and easy and covers all the basics of accounting that I was looking for. They make money off of their own payment processing so integrating with square may not be a huge priority though.
If you're outside of the EU, you can use wave. The accounting software is free, but transactions aren't althogh the price is fair IMO and, as already pointed out, you shouldn't trust a company claiming to be "free" in such matters.
Another solution could be Cognito Forms, you'll need a stripe account ad a little patience for building the form.
I recommend Wave Accounting
I use this to send invoices, it's free: Wave
It is kind of like Freshbooks, except instead of paying a monthly fee they do a % of the credit card charge. It wound up being the same as Stripe, and they can just pay with their credit card.
It is way more professional looking, and then I have the follow up feature from the invoices and everything - because I hate pestering people for money, or they think they paid me and they didn't... If it's automated there's no arguing.
I plan to switch to Freshbooks when I can pay for the highest tier, but for now I like the free (at least no monthly fee) options.
I tried Freshbooks and more recently Harvest for accounting. Freshbooks was too pricey and Harvest haven't improved their product in any meaningful way in years so I've switched my business over to Wave accounting and love it. It's free, integrates with everythings, takes payments, invoices, estimates, you name it. It's also free... https://www.waveapps.com/
What is your budget? Most industry solutions are designed for bigger HOA's and management companies. Buildium starts at $50/month. Appfolio starts at $280/month. Propertyware starts at $250/month.
At 6 units, you can probably get by with free software. Microsoft Office is free if you use the online versions. Wave Accounting is free.
I researched all the accounting apps for some work, and the one I am switching to at the end of the year (When I become an S Corp) is Wave Accounting - it does everything I need it to, and the only "fee" is what I pay for credit card processing anyway.
I agree with u/TheKingintheNorth819, the best free, easy to use, minimal to medium software is Wave. Invoicing is easy and can be recurring and there's tons of youtube tutorials available.
QuickBooks and Xero are fantastic, state of the art softwares, but unless you have needs for that level, stick with Wave. If/when you get big, I suggest getting a bookkeeper or accountant and they will probably use one of these. Changing from one to another might be a hassle later, but I don't know your goals.
Wave ( www.waveapps.com ) is free and has everything you need, including receipt capture, expense tracking, reporting, etc. Also some things you didn't ask for but are nice, like invoicing tools (including credit card/bank transfer acceptance for a per transaction fee). It can also handle payroll for a small per employee fee. So instead of just tracking expenses for taxes, you'll actually be able to do almost everything you need to manage your business. Xero is another option mentioned--not free, but not very expensive, either.
I would also suggest that /u/Krisasaurus_Rex look into Wave. It's a cloud-based invoicing/accounting platform specifically designed for small businesses, and it's free. It's Canadian, however, but I don't imagine there would be any issues with OP being in Australia.
I've played around with it in the past, and it's actually pretty decent.
The base invoicing and accounting is free, and can connect to your bank account allowing for automatic imports of expenses, but they also offer fee-based credit card processing (for online payments of invoices) and do payroll (again, for a fee).
Plus, a bonus—for me anyway—is that they seem to be pretty transparent; their ToU has all the standard legalese you would expect, but a "simple terms" summary of each section off to the side.
Definitely keep a separate account. Take it from someone who didn't think it was necessary until the long arm of the IRS punched me in the guts. Now, I have a biz account that's connected to Wave which I use for invoicing and accounting. So, bank and credit card payments from clients are automatically recorded. I can manually enter payments if I'm paid by check. Plus, anything I buy using that bank account is also accounted for by the app. At the end of the year, I can run reports on what money came in and what money went out by deduction category (office supplies, travel, etc.).
My current go-to invoicing app as a freelancer is <strong>and.co</strong>. Has a lot of features (proposals, invoicing, credit card processing, expense tracking, time tracking) and is completely free.
In the past, I've also used Freshbooks and Wave. Both of them are solid alternatives.
It'd be a bit of a mess if you don't account payments with active invoices, and have these recorded separately. Human error is bound to happen and if you're not vigilant, a customer may get away with not paying at all until you catch on. You would have to have a constant focus on it.
I'd recommend you match incoming payments with active invoices, even if there are several outstanding at the same time. Invoicing software such as Xero can do this (Maybe even Wave which is free).
Basically you issue out your invoices (e.g. 3 x $4,000 = $12,000 total) and whenever a partial payment comes in (e.g. $500) you offset it to an active invoice.
$12,000 - $500 = $11,500 outstanding via 3 invoices, and so on.
This gives you an idea of what's properly owed to you by running reports such as Aged Receivables.
Xero automatically matches a customer's details with the most likely invoice it belongs to (if the amount received matches the amount invoiced this is an obvious way Xero will detect it). Generally clicking 'OK' is all you need to do with its auto suggestion, otherwise you just need to enter which invoice the payment belongs to.
If you had a situation where a customer has overpaid you, you could create a new account specific to them on your general ledger, which contains the amount they have paid you. You match the payment from your bank account to this line on your general ledger. Then, later on when you invoice them, you deduct from this general ledger line until it reaches 0, and then ask for the rest from the customer.
Xero also has inventory management which may or may not be suitable for what you need.
I mention Xero a lot because I use it myself. I have dabbled in Wave a little bit but not to the same extent as Xero.
P.S. I'm not an accountant but I'd suggest you speak to one for recommendations on how to set your specific circumstances up within whichever Invoicing software you end up using.
I have a very small program at the moment, so I use Wave Accounting. It is really easy and straightforward. It's also free. It seems to be a really good choice for people just starting out and who don't have a ton of transactions.
I also started my photography business recently. I tried many other services but nothing could beat what Wave (https://www.waveapps.com/) offers. It is free for the most part and you can add some cool features as you want. Disclaimer: I am just a user and has no personal affiliation with the service.
I'd add https://www.waveapps.com/
It's free. They generate revenue through advertising and fees if you set up to accept credit card payments through them.
It's great for solopreneurs because you can have your personal account and your business account in the accounting system but separate. It also makes it easy to move money between personal and business accounts.
I'm currently using https://www.waveapps.com/. I found it to work pretty well, altough it is a tad work to get to know the system, once you have figured it out it works great. Especially the reporting function to generate all sorts of reports is usefull for your administration.
Wave Apps might be a good solution: https://www.waveapps.com I've never used it for time tracking, but great for invoices (manual and automatic), processing credit cards (through Stripe), and accounting. It's almost the same as freshbooks.
This is the first year I used Wave. I really like it! I just enter in all my receipts, categorize what their for (supplies, office, show fees, etsy fees, etc), and generates reports and pie charts for you. Same with sales.
An alternative (and free) suggestion to Quickbooks is Wave https://www.waveapps.com/
However, if you find other resources on small business/contracting incorporation, I'm all ears!
The IRS has a couple good publications.
What I really wish someone could tell me is how tightly focused a business has to be. But that's another question...
There are apps that help you do this on your phone. Lemon Wallet used to do it with OCR, they got bought out and changed name but last I saw have no OCR.
Now there is wave receipts which does something similar. You just take the receipt of your purchases and take a picture of it with your phone. It then uses OCR to catalogue the data into one nice list for you. It doesn't seem to categorize it as nice as Lemon Wallet did but it will do the job for you.
Wave Accounting is free accounting software. It can integrate/pull in transaction from most banks.
You might see if a local CPA would be willing to help you with your 990 pro bono.
OK. GL with your new biz. I never regretted leaving Conglomo for my own small biz. Look, you're going to end up paying federal taxes one way or another. The easiest thing to do is to take out what you need when you can as a draw. See https://www.waveapps.com/blog/entrepreneurship/how-to-pay-yourself-as-a-sole-proprietor
Most payment processors charge fees that you're generally responsible for paying. You could wrap the fees into your rates but I think that comes off as looking really cheap, especially since most fees are ~3% (at most) of the incoming payment.
I use Wave for invoicing and payment processing, which charges 2.9% + 30c for credit/debit cards and 1% for ACH payments. In the US, processing fees are tax deductible, so I record and write off all applicable transaction fees at tax time.
I'm of the belief that it behooves you to make invoicing and payment as easy as possible for your clients. The less difficulty they have, the less likely you have issues receiving timely payments.
FYI This is what I'm referring to: https://www.waveapps.com/wave-advisors
"Accounting and payroll coaching" for $229
Xero and Quickbooks may have something similar. I didn't see something for Quickbooks, only hiring a someone for an ongoing basis but maybe I didn't look hard enough.
you can file even if you made 1$, actually you can (and even should) file if you made a negative amount, as a loss. the rule is if you make over 400$ in a year in self employment income you have to file, less than that you dont technically have to file, but you can. and for this specific circumstances of crazy 2020, you probably should.
but at this point you can only look to what you can do from this point moving forward- and i think thats to reconstruct books for 2019 and 2020. get some accounting software and whatever records/calender you have, get your bank statements that may show income and expenses and do books as best as you can remember from both years.
theres obviously quickbooks, but i don't recommend it, it isnt very intutive to use for a newbie. i recommend this free online accounting software ---> https://www.waveapps.com/
theres others too, and many of them are free to use. but yeah...you dont have to use something like that, you can do your books in a simple style with just a running document that has everything listed...but accounting software helps.
once you have done all the data entry, you can draw reports, and make a profit and loss for 2019, and one for 2020 while you are at it. the profit and loss report will draw from all the info you entered, and its basically a summary of all your business receipts.
it also adds up everything for the year...so you can use this to file taxes for 2019 and 2020. you can still file late taxes for both those years. once you do this...you will have a profit loss report, and schedule C and 1040 for both years. that should be acceptable for an appeal.
I've had a business account with paypal for a few years, and a personal account for many more, and never had any problem.
I mainly use Square now for the part of my business that need credit cards processing, as their readers are cheap, convenient and work quite well. You can se the details of their fees here: https://squareup.com/help/ca/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees
Wave Accounting also allows to pay via credit card when you use them to invoice the other party : https://www.waveapps.com/pricing
Whatever you choose, don't forget that the fees eat quite a bit of the money (around 3% of the transaction amount with either paypal, square or wave).
I use BlueVine + Wave to achieve what you are asking for.
BlueVine is the bank account, and has the banking features you list. It has no built-in accounting module, but you can use Wave for that (www.waveapps.com). You can link your BlueVine account to your Wave account, and transactions automatically import. Wave has a little bit of a learning curve, but it is a very powerful package (especially for free).
Good luck!
I invoice via WaveApps. With most invoicing software, you'll likely have some fees depending on how you receive payments, and those fees are generally comparable between services. For example, Wave charges a few fees for incoming payments which I document in my bookkeeping software (QuickBooks Online) so they can be written off come tax time.
Wave accepts credit/debit card payments and bank transfers, all without either party having access to one another's full payment details. Clients can save their payment info on Wave so that you can automatically charge them, but that's not really an option I exercise for all but a few of my clients who essentially have retainers in place.
I'm pretty happy with Wave's interface and options for customizing the layouts of my invoices. I have it set to send automatic reminders that invoices are due 7 and 3 days before their due date, with a final reminder on the due date.
As for logo design, my current freelance logo was designed by a random artist whose name I've since forgotten, but a friend of mine has handled all of my art and logo requests since (most of which you can see on her portfolio).
Wave + Integromat to connect Shopify to Wave.
You can use Integromat for free, but most likely you'll need a plan (don't panic, as plans start at $9)
Links:
- Wave
You could try Wave. https://www.waveapps.com/payments
I used them for a business and it was great. It's free to do things like invoice and send receipts. In your case I think you would only pay when accepting payments.
You're welcome!
I'm not a lawyer so I can't help with any of that insanity, but if you have questions when you get to setting up your books let me know. My fav free software is Wave, but some people like Freshbooks. Wave also has a ton of tutorials done for it on YouTube and its simple. If you get big one day, QuickBooks or Xero.
QuickBooks isn't really overkill, since even small HOA's need to track income and expenses, produce a balance sheet, stick to a budget, and track accounts receivable and payable. This means you need real accounting software, not just a spreadsheet.
You might try Wave Accounting instead, it's a free online accounting package designed for small businesses. It even integrates with your bank to make reconciliations easy.
Remember, the goal of a HOA treasurer is not just to keep track of who's paid this month, it's to keep accurate records of all financial transactions in a form that can be understood by owners, prospective purchasers, your auditor, and your successor.
The app you're looking for is Wave. https://www.waveapps.com/
Waze is a traffic app.
Wave is free. It charges you 2.9% plus .30 per transaction if you process a credit card payment through them. A flat 1% if the client elects to pay using ACH bank transfer (some clients absolutely love this).
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I use it myself. It's very easy. I never notice the cost since it comes out of the client's end from my perspective.
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You aren't trapped into monthly billing, the invoices look professional, and best of all everything works over email. You create the invoice, Wave emails the client, client pays, Wave puts the money in your bank account.
Doesn't matter to Wave if you send one invoice a year, or invoice clients every day.
Wave also allows you to run credit cards. The client can provide you with the information, you run the card, Wave deposits the money into your bank account.
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It's good practice to keep all the client's billing information, but you don't need to. Wave only needs the client's email.
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Also, you should get paid up front. Or do staggered payments. Half up front, half on completion or something like that. There's no point in having to chase someone for money you've worked for.
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Invoice and Payments can all be done inside the site and it's easy to manage several clients for repeat business as well. However, I feel like they take their sweet time paying out the money to your account (if paid between Wednesday or Friday, you'll usually get your money on Monday-Tuesday)
Definitely check out Wave (https://www.waveapps.com/) they have an iOS and Android app as well that is very clean.
They also have an option to allow for payments to be made through them (they take a small fee if done this way) which makes you look professional, makes it very easy for clients to pay, and you can track paid/unpaid invoices in their dash.
Reference: Me. I use Wave for all my web development freelance work.
I'm currently using [Hubspot CRM]{https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm} and [Wave Accounting]{https://www.waveapps.com/} (both free) to solve these two functions but I'm interested to see if [Startable]{https://www.startable.co.uk/features/} will be the right solution to marry these two together.
Haven’t used quickbooks yet. Going to make the switch for 2018. Currently use Wave for invoicing and bookkeeping. I like it. It has an easy learning curve. Accountant said it would be fine for his part in filing taxes, he just prefers QB because it’ll import into his Intuit software.
I’m switching to QB because I’m electing S-Corp next year and need to use the payroll feature. Since it’s a paid feature for Wave, I figured I might as well make the switch now.
I run a small corp also.
- You don't need to hire a bookkeeper unless you have a lot of transactions and can't keep up with entering them.
My accountant offered the bookkeeping services but I have minimal transactions every month.
- I use https://www.waveapps.com
It's free but you have to pay for features like payroll.
But again it depends on the number of transaction/usefulness that you would get out of paying for bookkeeping software.
- You don't really need a business credit card. You can charge them to your personal card and expense them. Business credit cards can be expensive.
I use Kerry Dwyer. She does both my business and personal taxes. I settled on her because she was listed as an accountant in my area who work with clients who use Wave Accounting. Turns out it's just me and one other client who use Wave, but she's still good.
She's also the only accountant that I've ever used.. So take that as you will.
https://www.waveapps.com/ is a good alternative to Quickbooks to get your started. It is also very intuitive.
Also, depending on where you live in Texas, you will have different resources at your disposal. Your local Small Business Association, or SCORE mentor can help quite a bit.
Lastly, contact your municipality or library to find about any free business resources.
Best of luck
You're using the software to send invoices, and enter bills (I assume that's what you mean by incoming invoices). What else do you need to do with the tool? I don't know much about Zoho Books, but I know that QB SE is designed specifically for independent contractors (like Uber drivers) who simply need a good place to enter income and expenses with very minimal tracking or reporting. If you want to be able to look at things like accounts payable (for your bills) our accounts receivable, QB SE definitely won't work. Can't say about Zoho. If price is a primary consideration, you may want to check out Wave Accounting https://www.waveapps.com/. It's free and offers a decent set of features.
My first thought was waveapps, as it's mostly free and pretty loaded with features! But I see that doesn't fit what you need. Gnucash is also free, but I honestly couldn't get past the horrible interface. There are simpler solutions out there like 21Books; $35 flat, has most of the things you're looking for; inventory, up to 10 employees, and it can integrate directly with your Gmail.
I've tried each and would recommend :
Wave for it's design and so many integrated features. But it is slow.
21Books for its one-time price and features.
But I think within a year or two I may switch over to
3 . Quickbooks, once I have a little more money, because it does have just about everything you will need.
I believe you can operate as a sole proprietor. As long as you keep your book-keeping under control. Check out https://www.waveapps.com as a financial tool. (I'm not associated to them in any way, if not you'd see a referral link :P )
It seems to me that if you were not having taxes (US or otherwise) deducted from your earlier "pay", you were effectively working as a contractor. You mention at the bottom of your post that you might be interested in doing that anyways. I personally think that's the way to go in your situation.
You can work as a sole proprietorship under your own name without having to set up a proper company or anything. It's just a small switch of mindset. They are not your employer, they are now your clients. You must send them invoices for work performed, and they will thus be able to deduct your invoices in their business expenses. They should pay you directly the amount on the invoice with nothing deducted.
Save a third for taxes, and come tax time you will fill out or have your accountant fill out a T2125. On that form you enter your revenue as well as any expenses to deduct.
If you eventually make $30k or more for 4 consecutive quarters, you have to register for GST / HST even if you don't charge US customers that tax.
I highly recommend you read /u/HolyPotato's Guide to Canadian Taxes for Freelancers if you decide to go down that route. You can make invoices using Word or Excel but Wave is a good free solution otherwise, and has other goodies for tracking expenses etc.
Best of luck!
Absolutely. Hence the reason I asked how the current records is being kept. Investing in a good Accounting Package and taking some training courses on it is a decent investment. You don't have to be a pro at bookeeping as long as you know your debits from your credits.
I use Wave, it's not as integrated as Quickbooks but it's a asffordable and easy to use bookeeping system. The basic functions are free but you can add credit card processing and payroll functions to it for an additional charge.
I agree, rather spend the money on a good corporate accountant. :)
I use This for the majority of all my bookkeeping, though I suspect Wave would grow less efficient if you generate a mountain of activity. Even if you don't make use of them regularly, I'd talk with an accountant to make sure you're following a plan that covers all that it needs to.
Hey there! I'm in the same boat as you. Just landed my first contract gig 2 weeks ago, and also trying to "fake it til I make it."
Not sure how much advice I can give you other than to connect with more experienced IDs, as you're hoping to do here. Here's some info about 2 other e-learning communities worth being a part of: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-e-learning-communities-you-should-participating-ashley-chiasson
As for tracking your time, I've been using Timely and I've liked it so far. https://timelyapp.com/ Best of luck!
Edit: I've also started using Wave for keeping track of finances and for estimates and invoicing. It's free, which is great. https://www.waveapps.com/
I have been using Wave for just about a year now. I am only using it for invoices and keeping track of receipts. It's done the job for me. The plus side is I can log in on any computer and print out or send an invoice.
I am a freelance web consultant and in the same boat as I am working to become a "real" business. For reference, I've been using MS Accounting for several years (and it doesn't even exist anymore).
I have just signed up with WaveApps (https://www.waveapps.com); I haven't used it long enough to truly recommend it, but it looks like it does basic accounting, receipts/expenses, plus invoicing. It's free to sign up, although they charge for some features like accepting payments. Might be worth a look for you.
I was looking for options this week as well and am trying out Wave. It integrates with Etsy and Paypal. It was easy to set up but I haven't used it long enough to have any real feedback about it (just signed up like three days ago!), but it might be worth looking into! Also, it is free.
I'm not a big fan of excel spreadsheets. You are probably better off using an online accounting system - like Xero, QBO or Wave {free - https://www.waveapps.com/). The system links your bank account to your books which means you don't miss out on expenses - you just need to identify each expense and categorize them each month. At the end of the year, you can print your Profit and Loss Statement and give it to your accountant for tax purposes - you can also use your P&L statement to estimate tax liability throughout the year.
Alternatively, we are in the process of offereing a bookkeeping service for less than $50 per month - what are your thoughts?
Take a look at Wave. I'm on mobile so no link right now but Wave is free to use and can help with expenses and invoicing. Not sure if it works for your specific needs but probably worth 5 minutes to investigate. Otherwise someone with some Excel experience could probably make this without much difficulty.
Edit: Here is the link -- Click to go to www.waveapps.com
The only one I know of that is free is Wave Accounting, but I have no idea how good it is. You might want to head over to /r/accounting and see what folks over there have to say.
It sounds like you should really try to start at the bare minimum. Probably recommend Wave Apps, which is free and has the following: * Able to send basic invoices * Transactions auto-tracked (as much as can be) * Able to accept CC's & some other payment methods, such as Stripe * Also, some good reports so you can see how much more $$ you're making from saving time & streamlining.
Other alternatives, as some folks mentioned, are good, modern, cloud-based options, with good support communities and plenty of free Youtube videos to learn from, include Freshbooks (which also has a very basic free level), and Quickbooks Self-Employed, that's only $10 / month or less. ...Xero, might also be good, but is likely to have a bit more than you need.
One other thing about Wave, it's really a great place to start out, and since it's free and no subscription, etc., you can get a feeling for how to handle the process. It could very well have everything you'd need, certainly at a basic level:
Have a look at wave apps https://www.waveapps.com I use it for a startup I'm erm starting up.. :-) It's free and should do all you need. They make money on the invoicing side but if your just using it to reconcile accounts etc it's completely free. I've also found it easy to use and similar to Xero. Enjoy. Edit looks like your already on to it. Great. Good luck with your business.
As someone who has been doing both invoice and cash transactions.. the key component to a positive working relationship is communication. Whether that be with your contract, your weekly follow-ups / progress reports (good news or bad, they want to know), and setting expectations.
Invoicing, it's free.. haven't used it too much though: https://www.waveapps.com/
I'm with everyone else with the "protect yourself" clause.. get a contract. Something in writing in case something happens.. maybe your client is fantastic, but outside forces make things toxic. "Fuck You, Pay Me" look it up.. it'll change your life
This is going to sound like an advertisement -- I swear it's not. I've been using Wave for about a year now to manage invoices, keep records for taxes and also to double the information I have in my Google calendar about session scheduling. I try to invoice immediately after, because it goes fast and then it's logged. It's free with the option to pay for expert financial advice, which you can use, for example, at tax time.
I opened a business account and connected it to Wave, all the transactions in and out are my studio/freelance dollars. I can even swipe credit cards in to pay invoices and then send an instant receipt.
It's a really good fit for musicians/engineers/artists.
I used to use this at a design firm I worked for, roughly 15 people. It's the best! I would get it now but not at the point to have so many monthly plans, but this is the next step.
To add to this time management/invoicing, I would highly recommend WaveApps It's an online invoice management service. I love it because now all of my clients pay through Credit Card and the payment goes through stripe, automatically into my bank account.
The invoices also look very professional and are easy to setup and configure.
Seriously, doing payroll yourself is not the way to save money. The headaches and penalties involved do not compensate for the low cost of a service.
If you really want to go on the cheep, WaveApps does payroll and it only costs $9 per month for a single employee. This covers the state and federal filings, direct deposit, reports for your accountant, and integrates into their free online accounting if you don't have software to track your expenses yet. Considering that most half-assed software packages for payroll start at 100+ it is a very small price to have someone else worry about it for you.
Idea #1
A "website manager". Vague, but I can't think of a better term... By this I mean a web based system where I keep records of all my:
- servers
- websites
- domain names
- SSL certs
- clients
- keywords
This is something that would be useful to many of us web developers, and should be pretty easy to develop. A nifty feature would be generating a network calendar file (that you can access from outlook/thunderbird/google calendar etc) that contains all your domain and SSL expiry dates, with some reminder settings. The expiry dates can be automatically scraped from whois records for most TLDs.
The keywords could be used to scrape Google etc to check your SERP rankings.
Idea #2
There doesn't seem to be much in the way of (self-hosted, web based) easy to use accounting systems for the basic task of importing bank transactions, categorizing them, then generating some reports.
Everything I tried had one of the following problems:
- Too simple: many just generate invoices and that's it, not made to handle your expenses etc
- Too complex: Big ERP type systems
- Tedious interfaces for basic tasks such as just looking at your full ledger. Many small annoying details like having to constantly enter common dates, rather that just listing everything by default, or showing current/previous financial year.
Here's some good examples of closed source web based systems:
They're all easy enough to use for non-accountants, and cover the functionality most small businesses need.
In the end for my contracting work and personal finances I just programmed my own ugly, but extremely straightforward/fast system in PHP, which categorized transactions based on the regex rules automatically. From there, the reports are easy to generate with a bit of SQL.
$200 start up fee - but no catch up fee? Both of those effectively mean the same thing. The $180/month is to cover software and some data entry. I'm sure you could get your EOY accounts and taxes done a bit cheaper if you shopped around.
I'm not too sure which country you're in, but go and get yourself either Xero or Wave Apps. Wave apps is free, and that's what I'd recommend until you're actually making money. When you can afford it, transfer it to Xero.
You can do all of the basic data entry and accounting yourself. Software is very intuitive these days, the only way you can fuck up is if you put the wrong number in the wrong place, but even that's easy to rectify.
And then when you're making a bit more money, employ a bookkeeper a that pops in for one day every month just to go over your books.
Credibility: I've worked at an accounting software provider previously and dealt with startups, SME's and even bigger companies.
*Disclaimer: I do not, and have never worked for any of the accounting software providers listed in the post. It was a competitor in fact.
What you are looking for is this: Wave, no need to reinvent the wheel.
About learning, Lynda is one of the best online places to learn programming, audio, photography, video etc.
If this is an area that you want to study for, that's great, But its a long way and as you learn, you discover how much more there is to know. Most people forget is not just about what a program can do, is about security, performance and stability, management and this is just about the program. Then goes to the server side, for setup, maintenance, again security etc etc.
https://www.waveapps.com/ is completely free and you can link to your bank account.
There is no need to manually track income because you can export all your Airbnb payments from Airbnb in a spreadsheet format or you can directly link most accounting software products to the bank account. You definitely want to have a different bank account just for the Airbnb payments, as this make tracking much easier.
Beyond tracking the income you just track any expenses you have. Overall accounting for an Airbnb is probably about as easy as business accounting gets. If you’re having issues then I’d say you are probably over thinking or over engineering it. Please don’t take that as an insult just sharing a perspective on what to expect in terms of the accounting complexity for Airbnbs.
Completely free. I have it linked to the bank account my Airbnb funds are deposited into, so the income side of the accounting is pretty much automated. All I have to do is go in once a month to record expenses.
You're looking for accounting software.
MYOB, and QuickBooks are the Australian software packages historically used.
Xero is a modern web app that does it too. MYOB also got into the cloud game after that.
Personally I use https://www.waveapps.com/ as I only needed to track invoices and payments.
Biggest thing I can suggest to you is don't use spreadsheets for keeping track of things, too easy to make a mistake. Leave spreadsheets to manipulating the data you export from whatever amounting system you use.
Check out Wave. They are a free (they make their money on credit card and payroll processing fees) accounting package. In addition to their web-based desktop software that does invoicing very well, they have an Android invoicing app that's integrated with the accounting app. Though I mostly use the desktop app, I like being able to create invoices on my phone, on the spot, while out of the office and with my clients.
For accounting, I discovered Wave Accounting. It seems to have everything you need for basic invoicing and expense tracking
The only thing they charge for is collecting credit card payments.
Used Freshbooks for 12 years and just switched to Wave. I have 100+ monthly clients and Freshbooks got fairly expensive with that configuration. When I signed up in 2010, Freshbooks cost ~$300 a year. Last years bill was $540. That's just a bit much for the services I need: sending invoices and tracking the payments.
Wave offers a similar feature set at a much better price point ($0 + transaction fees). Like Freshbooks and others, Wave makes a reasonable fee off credit card and ACH payments.
Have used Wave for a number of months and all has gone well.
It's hard to be Stripe or Square for low-volume transactions. 3% isn't bad (Visa charges about 2% interchange fee). I also recommend wave apps. In addition to all the management tools - they offer online payment processing via credit card or bank transfer for about the same fees. It's the best free invoicing system we've found in 20+ years.
Just judging by the TOS at https://www.waveapps.com/legal/wave-payments-terms-of-service-united-states, it seems like you can't run any sort of business without it being declared "high risk." 🤣
If I had to guess, you fell under the collecting payments and sending them to others. Or you may provide tech support that might potentially happen online, apparently that's banned too under the high risk business.
I do consulting for healthcare companies and the payments usually run into the $8k to $15k range with the oddball higher than usual payment. For the first year the bank held every single payment for a week regardless of if I had money in the account to cover it or not. Drove the banking manager nuts (he'd just approve it) but suspected it's because I'm a consulting business.
I highly recommend the Book Profit First. It helped me a lot with planning for taxes. IN general, I would transfer 5-10% each time you get paid to a savings account that is only for tax payments, and never touch it until it's time to pay the tax bill. Use an app like Wave, which integrates with Etsy to help with your books.
I used Wave [https://www.waveapps.com/] for a few years when I ran my own small biz. It pulled in bank accounts and credit cards pretty easily. You can import CSV or have it connect directly to your accounts, whichever is your preference.
That said, you can easily import that data into Google Sheets or Excel as others have said.
If you don’t want to pay for quick books you can look at some of these freemium accounting tools: https://www.waveapps.com/accounting/
For the basics of accounting you can watch stuff like this: https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/accounting-and-financial-stateme
In terms of tracking transactions you don’t really want to do it in excel. It’ll be a pain. And there is free accounting software, like what I linked above, or you can go with quick books which has a monthly subscription.
Wave. High quality software and I believe it's totally free as long as you're only using it for accounting and not invoicing, payroll, etc. https://www.waveapps.com/accounting
As with most accounting software, it's much easier to manage if you if you keep all business expenses separate from personal with a dedicated business cards and bank accounts. All expenses are then imported automatically so you don't really have to do much.
Not sure if this is helpful or not, and it's tangentially related, but I've started to use Waveapps (free) to invoice my wife for her half of expenses - you can set up regularly monthly scheduled ones if you like, and is very customizable. Your ex could even pay via credit/debit card right through the system if she wanted.
This might come in really handy to help categorize stuff throughout the year. I do this and I ensure a copy of the receipts are in a shared Google Drive folder. I paste the link to the specific receipt in my invoice.
Also, as others stated, keep track of EVERYTHING and since you paid her before, make sure you have those tracked too - otherwise, her attorney may try to classify them as 'gifts,' and you'll be on the hook to pay some sort of court-recognized agreement based on those years you were doing it unofficially. In my experience, even though we are 60/40 for custody, we are 50/50 when it comes to expenses, so this could go the other way too - your attorney, if things get heated, could use this as a way to get her to reimburse you for that 10% difference over the years.
I will assume you will also be drawing up an official parenting plan, if you don't have one already. If you have 50/50 legal custody, you'll need to discuss expenses with her before you lock yourself into those expenses. I keep trying to ask my ex to work with me to budget for stuff, but she won't have any of it, because reasons, but maybe you'll have better luck with your ex.
Just some thoughts.
Wave Apps is a great accounting/invoicing solution that is completely free except for their invoice payment processing. You can link as many bank accounts as you want, run reports, and it really helps for year-end summaries come tax time.
I freelance for many adult entertainments websites based out of the USA and the UK since 2003 and I also earn affiliate commission income from companies based out of the USA.
Filing taxes now I use Turbo Tax, in the past, I've used HR block and even money mart, I file my income on Form t2125 any performance bonuses I get are claimed as other income.
I convert all my earnings into Canadian Dollars from US dollars, I Save 10 to 25% for taxes if I do not owe taxes it goes into maxing out my TFSA or RRSP for the current or following year.
I typically earn under $30,000 in revenue so I am not registered for a GST/HST number right now but when I am I will be hiring an accountant. to make sure the GST stuff is done properly. it's not yet my expertise until I am done college for accounting.
I track all my bookkeeping using wave accounting www.waveapps.com I will create invoices and update them when I am paid so it can convert my revenue and bonuses into Canadian dollars so it's easier for me at tax time.
The US companies already had me fill out the W-8BEN forms because they need them for the IRS I just keep a copy.
No. You don't need an LLC. Report the income. Pay self-employment tax. All on schedule C, no problem. You may want to try Wave Apps. They have payment and CC processing if you chose, but for invoicing and estimates and light bookkeeping - it's great. All for free. It's the best system we've used in many years.
How about Wave Accounting? https://www.waveapps.com/
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Hey u/Vh4n,
I would suggest using a really easy to use small business accounting tool. Many are free these days for small guys. You can keep track of your clients, create invoices, AR\AP, small business expenses, etc. All that fun accounting stuff. Many of them will allow you to collect payments for a fee. Something like this for example:
You would typically want to keep track of the fraction hours worked on a project in a log (or service module like NetSuite's) and when you invoice a client that will be the supporting detail of the invoice. The invoice lines will generally contain date, hours billed, rate and line total.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Just in case someone takes this advice....Bullet #1 isn't Wavve, but it's Wave. The website is https://www.waveapps.com/
Also consider square...They not only have a website service like Wix, but ability to take appointments, payments, payroll, etc. We used to use Wave for payroll but they didn't support automatic payment of state payroll taxes for my state and it was a pain in the butt.
We could work with you on a possible solution. As for upkeep of all the infrastructure, you would be better served with a provider that manages the details for you when turnover happens. You can also check out Wave Accounting (free). It's typically used by freelancers but you could setup auto-recurring invoices for each person to pay online or by check only.
I was using wave accounting https://www.waveapps.com/, but moved over to Crater App https://craterapp.com/ and self hosted on docker.
My key requirements were a mobile app and web UI and a clean interface.
Not any one specifically! I was just curious if people had used it for businesses ever. I have a tiny side gig that I manage using a combo of Google sheets and https://www.waveapps.com/ (free version), which both work great for me…but I do like the idea of budgeting specifically for the biz!
I’m thinking for now, I will create a separate section for my business expenses and just budget that way. Including setting aside $ for taxes. At this point, my personal and business finances are intertwined so I think that would work ok!
https://www.waveapps.com/accounting
Check this out it’s free and very easy to use. Yes you can receive payments from US customers. Customers can pay by credit card or however you want to receive payments.