Be a Boss Day 2: Records

This post is part of the Be a Boss series. To see more posts in this series, check out the list on this post. They’ll be linked as they are posted!

Records are the force that will drive your freelance writing business. They don’t have to be fancy-schmancy – they just have to work. Unfortunately, many people new to being a boss don’t realize exactly which records they need to track. Keeping track of everything, on the other hand, can eat up your time. So what do you need, and what is better left deleted?

Clients, Projects, and Ultimate Due Dates

Image by Collin Anderson via Flickr.

As a freelancer, you should already be keeping track of your projects’ due dates on some kind of personal schedule. When you’re handling other writers, though, you’re adding new levels of scheduling to your work day. You’ll want to keep track of the client, project size, and final due date – for you – on one spreadsheet. This will be slightly different from the due date you give your writers, since you’ll need to leave time for your own editing work and uploading the project. You might want to actually stagger the due dates for larger projects so that you aren’t hit with dozens or even hundreds of articles to review on the last day before you need to hand them over to the client.

As a freelance project manage, I keep one spreadsheet that has all of my personal projects, as well as the projects that I’ve handed out. To me, it was easiest to keep a single record of all the money coming into the business. For you, it might be easier to keep your personal writing projects separate from the company projects. I also know a fellow writer who keeps three lists – personal projects, company projects, and profit (personal projects + company projects – what you pay your writers). If all else fails, at least keep ONE spreadsheet, like I do.

Oh, and just a note: Yes, Quickbooks is worth the money if you really want to stay organized. Personally, I like using Excel spreadsheets better, but a professional accounting program could be perfect for you, especially if you have a high volume of work. Remember, there’s a learning curve, so you’ll need some time to learn the program. (Also remember – buying the program is a business expense!)

Writers’ Work

You absolutely need a second spreadsheet that keeps track of which writers took which articles, how much they are being paid, and when the work is due back to you (which is probably at least one day before the project’s actual due date). This serves not just for scheduling, but also tax purposes.

If a writer makes $600 or more from you, you’ll need to send them tax information at the end of the year, which will list how much they’ve made with you. You’ve probably already dealt with 1099s as a freelancer yourself, and your accountant will help you with this process – you just have to keep track of who earns what.

Of course, you also want to make sure you’re keeping track of who’s been paid for the work they did. You don’t want your writers to wait for work, and you REALLY don’t want to accidentally pay someone twice!

Business Expenses

Hopefully, you’re already keeping track of business expenses like professional subscriptions and home office costs. When you have a company with multiple writers, though, you’ll likely have more expenses. What you pay your writers is a business expense, since they aren’t your employees, and you’ll also likely have more banking/paypal fees, subscriptions to sites like Elance, and so forth. You may also want to create a forum or use another online service to allow writers to claim jobs, and usually you’ll have to pay for such services.

Contracts

Every writer you hire should sign a contract with you that outlines payment, quality of work expected, and more. The contract should specify the state where legal problems will be brought to court, and it should say what happens if the work needs revisions or the client cancels the project while they’re in the middle of work. The contract also needs to clearly state that the work they’re doing for you is as a contractor, not an employer, and they are responsible for all taxes. I recommend keeping a hard copy of all contracts, as well as electronic versions.

Backing up your Records

You should already be backing up your work, but make sure you back up your records as well. If you don’t, you could be in a real bind come April 15th. Without good records, you could be forced to guess when it comes to your taxes – and that’s going to get you in trouble with the IRS. If you don’t have another way to back up your data, email it to yourself.

Remember, if you have any questions, I’ll be answering them all at the end of this series. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at allison@abcontentonline.com with your “Be a Boss” question.

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