Easy Guide to Reduce Freelancing Stress with Xero
When I started my website, brokeGIRLrich, about three years ago, it took me a while to earn any profit. I had to work around 5-10 hours a week and invested $400 to get the ball rolling. The income slowly increased over the years, and with the rise in income, my old way of dealing with invoices and receipts, by storing them in an email folder, became too unwieldy.
So, I found a solution – Xero. It’s an affordable, user-friendly accounting software aimed at small businesses. It handles invoicing, payroll, bill payment, expense tracking, and more. With various price options, Xero can grow with your business.
Some perks of using Xero include:
– Creating personalized invoices.
– Processing quick online payments.
– A mobile app for immediate receipt filing.
– Effortless quote-to-invoice conversion.
– Accessible and customizable cloud accounting.
– Detailed report templates for your freelance research.
– Seamless integration with PayPal.
Best of all, they offer a 30-day free trial. It’s worth exploring Xero if you need help with small business accounting.
Around tax time, I’ve found Turbo Tax to be extremely helpful. It can handle my stack of 1099 forms and makes claiming deductions a breeze. The service quizzes me with straightforward questions, making the confusing mix of W-2s and 1099s less chaotic to manage.
Another aspect of running my business is social media marketing, which took me a while to get the hang of. I started using Hootsuite to schedule social media posts in advance, which drastically improved my performance. Hootsuite has both free and paid options, depending on your needs, including connecting more social media accounts and accessing analytics.
Buffer is another similar tool with additional features, including Pinterest integration.
Lately, I’ve been getting paid via Venmo, and I couldn’t be happier as it doesn’t take a fee like PayPal. Plus, the payment reaches my bank account quicker than most PayPal transfers, while providing a transaction record.
In the end, these tools have been so valuable for my freelance work. Not just for my blog but also for my other freelancing gigs, mainly in stage management. Specifically, the accounting and tax tools have been godsends. How about you? What tools do you find helpful? Share your experiences!