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ARTISTS' PROFESSIONAL TOOLBOX ::
Getting Finances Organized As a freelance artist, trying to keep your finances straight can be a juggling act, especially when it comes to tax time. Here are some simple tips to help you get your financial paperwork organized. Keep your personal and artistic finances separate. Dedicate a separate checking account and credit card just for your artistic income and expenses. Use these separate accounts to pay for artistic supplies, research materials, marketing expenses, licenses, etc. Deposit any income you make from your artistic endeavors into this checking account. Mark all of your receipts. Whenever you purchase anything for your artistic freelance work, make a notation on the receipt immediately as to what the purchase is for (painting supplies, resumé copies, audition parking, dance shoes, film editing workshop.) Create a file called "Receipts to file" and make it a daily habit to put all receipts into that folder. Use an accounting program or set up a simple spreadsheet in Excel to track your income and expenses on a regular basis. Set up income and expense categories that make sense for you. Examples: Artistic Supplies, Marketing Expenses, Research, Office Supplies, Job Search Expenses, etc. A simple format to track expenses might be: Example:
Check off each receipt as it is entered into your accounting program. Then at the end of the year, you can easily use your accounting program to sort your expenses by "Income" and "Expense" categories and quickly calculate total amounts to enter directly into your tax forms. Set up a simple filing system using the same income and expense categories used in your accounting program. Then file all of your entered receipts, contracts and pay stubs on a regular basis. Make a weekly appointment with yourself to file all the receipts and paperwork you've accumulated. Doing this regularly will save you much time and stress at tax time. |
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