Money Matters for Freelance Design
Are you in business to make money? Do you have an accounting plan? Get help setting prices, getting paid, paying taxes, and tracking income and expenses for your desktop publishing or graphic design business.
Do you have an accounting plan? If you're doing business every day you're probably incurring expenses and (hopefully) generating income everyday. One mistake of small business owners is not properly tracking the money from day one. Freelancers doing graphic design and desktop publishing may focus more on the design and page layout aspects of business but accounting and bookkeeping are necessary to stay in business.
Develop the beginnings of a business plan by developing a description for your business and a basic financial projection.
Part of doing business is getting paid. But getting paid for your time and talents is something some designers struggle with. Whipping out fresh, original logo designs or doing the layout for a 500 page technical manual are a snap compared to asking a client for a deposit or following up on late invoices.
If you're in the business of graphic design or desktop publishing you expect to get paid for your time and talents. However, some designers don't get paid or get paid much less than they deserve and it's nobody's fault but their own. Avoid these pitfalls of non-payment.
Just like an ad in a magazine or a flier distributed door-to-door, your invoice needs a call to action to be effective.
It takes more than an attractive invoice to get paid. Guide Susan Ward describes what should go in an invoice.
