Trouble and Freelance
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- Bio
rumors spread thru marketing. we hear that the entire branch might be laid off. this includes the graphics department. all to save a buck and farm it out to some other company who cant produce quality work.
so, freelance questions.1. how do you handle taxes? how do you record everything?
2. do you find that cold calling is the best way to break into a new market area? (this seems the best way to start).
3. do you have any info that will help me with the legal/business end of freelance.
i have a good contract, so that is not an issue. i know i don't come round NT as much, but i hope the gods of the PVAN still remember their faithful son.
this could all very well be a false alarm, but i'm off to start burning dvds of my shit just in case.many thanks for any info you have.
-e
- BXCAR0
BUMP
anyone?
might be handy for a lot of ppl
- Bio0
well i'll be damned.
someone responded.
thanks for the
bickety
bickety
bickety
bump,
bxcar.
- ER0
i dont do this much but what i know is when you freelance, you can write just about everything off. keep EVERYTHING (recipts, etc..) make sure you set some money aside because you do need to pay taxes. this kinda stuff is less designer-centric and more accounting-centric. talk to one.
you will have sucess getting gigs as long as you have been social with your clients and peers (asuming youre talented). its all about the networking. thats calls, emails, visits. whatever.
- Mimio0
- Quick Books for accounting/billing
Also, try going to local Ad-Club events and fishing for freelance gigs/contract work. There's plenty of work to be had.
Good luck, man.
- Bio0
mm. good stuff so far. i will most likely be consulting some accounting type folks, but i would rather hear what you guys as designers do.
how you go about your daily freelance legal shit.i have a tremendous lack of talent, yet i think clients will be easy enough to find. har har.
what kinda special tax forms do you have to fill out when it comes the end of tax season? do you have to do anything special or do you just take everything you have documented to a tax assesment company?
i figure that would be an option. like H&R Block (what we have lots of in the south at least).
- jevad0
fuuuuck dude - sorry to hear that - you were stoked to move on too : (
- GreedoLives0
i've been freelancing for a while, and i do my own taxes online ( http://www.turbotax.com ).
Yeah, basically save receipts for everything (trips, gas for car, anytime you go to dinner with someone else....). Try to buy something large business-related every year (new box, scanner, whatever), gives you a nice deduction and you can claim depreciation over the next five years. Set aside some money that you can throw into IRAs, that comes off your pre-tax income, so that's a major deduction (i think the top limit is around $4500 a year for two varieties of IRAs).
As for gigs, it's really about who you know. If you want to do some work for some place that you like, send them samples every month. Something memorable. Go to events and meet people, bring business cards or something small and cool to give away.
If you have health insurance now, you might be able to keep it for another six months through your old plan, check into that. It's gonna be more expensive by yourself.
Other than that, good luck.
- Bio0
nic, all of this is still only rumor and if it takes hold, it could be a little while still before they could "do it".
but i wanna have my bases covered and even if it all turns out to be bullshit, i'd still like to start bringing in some extra cash to put into savings n shit.
besides, it would help get rid of my student loans a little quicker. =)greedo, thanks for all that info man. that is good shit. i'll be looking into all that tonight after i get done working. . .
anyway, i DAMNED sure appreciate the info guys.
- skonge0
Wow Bio..I'm kinda in the same boat. Rumor of a company merger that will cost me my job. Been working on the portfolio and sendin out resumes.
Find an accoutant, save receipts. Alot of companies will send 1099's at the end of the year. I have my accountant figure it out. Don't go to H&R Block. You will end up paying taxes. They don't try to find breaks for you like a CPA will.
Good Luck!
- Bio0
good shit skonge. sorry to hear about your predicament though.
i'll be checking into all this stuff.
thanks again for all the responses guys.
- balb0a0
I agree with skonge on the CPA vs H&R Block thing.
Used to file my on taxes, but I pulled in enough freelance last year to call in some professional help.
I found a CPA through word-of-mouth. She's accustomed to working with artists and designers. Better than a take- all-comers kind of accountant.
Cost me $240 for everything, but without her help I would have taken a huge beating. I even pulled in a small refund.
Trust a professional. Unless you're really into keeping insane accurate records, and researching little tax law tidbits. I'd honestly rather shell out a little ca$h than deal with the stress.
- DeLeon0
This is my first year bringing in more than 2k on freelance gigs (I have a fulltime job).
Right now, I have an excel file with two sections, one for expenses, one for revenue. I just keep listing each item on there, give every receipt/invoice a number and keep all that shit in a folder for the end of the year.
Gotta find an accountant!
- IRNlun60
sorry to read about you losing your job , Bio.
My brother is a CPA and has helped me file my taxes. He's also suggesting that I start my own company on paper, for tax saving benefits. I'll try and find out more details and post them at a later date.
Good Luck!
- mrdobolina0
eric, good luck in whatver happens. If I can do anything, give me the high sign.
- skonge0
well it went down and i'm jobless.
yay! any job openings in the LA area?
- Waste0
do billing and record expenses in quickbooks
find an accountant you like, and send him or her the quickbooks file Or printouts of reports
save as large a chunk as you can stand of every client check in a separate account for paying taxes
We bill and pay state sales tax as well, even though after all these years I've never found out for sure whether we have to pay it
- JazX0
speaking for myself only, I worked for two years in the freelance world and it more or less sucked. Yes, I would keep track of your intake for tax purposes. That could come back to haunt you in the future if the company you are freelancing for reports your name to the IRS. They seem to like to bust the little guy today and their software tracking and DB skills get better and better. Shit, I would cold call, apply online, whatever. The economy is still pretty shitty if you ask me. I hope they keep you and you can forget this shit, it pretty much is jive as hell. I'm starting to outsource my old freelance work to developers in Moscow. Also thinking about setting up a call center in India. Hey, if that's how the game is played with outsourcing then I better damn well adapt, that's how I see it. :)
- BXCAR0
hail to jazx