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Taxes: the one word every new freelancer/business owner dreads hearing.
2018 was an absolute roller coaster, especially with the start of our new business. I didn’t get to focus as much on the blog content here, between that and creating the new course. (But just getting the Blog Starter course done was a win in my book—it was a lot of content in so little time.) Taxes were the last thing on my mind. They tend to sneak up and by the time you remember to do them, they’re right around the corner (or in my case, past due, when I was filing for the first time).
It’s also a little scary making that jump from regular employment to doing your own thing. The 7.5% on taxes doesn’t seem like much extra to pay, but when you get hit with that initial 15% on paper, it’s a daunting number. It’s not just the benefits your employer covers—it’s half your taxes, too.
Luckily, QuickBooks self-employed makes it super easy to track your earnings and guides you through all the proper tax deductibles. If this is going to be your first year on any sort of self-employed income, check out some of these helpful resources:
- Accounting Basics (and some forms you’ll want to download)
- Self-Employed Expenses and Deductions
- The Complete Guide to Filing Self-Employment Taxes
It sounds like a lot, but QuickBooks Self-Employed does so much of it for you. Depending on your bank, you can easily and automatically import all your transactions and set up rules to separate them into personal/business, and then into the various tax categories. It’s very much a set-it-and-forget-it type thing until it comes time to make the payments. (And even the payments are easy! Just double-check your payment accounts against QuickBooks and file the estimated payments.)
This is the first year my partner will be on mostly self-employed income, so it’s a bit of a leap. But having intuitive software lifts a lot of the stress of having to deal with numbers.
Trust me, if I had to pick one thing that stresses me out more than everything else, it’s the financial side of things. No amount of hugging pillows, binging on your favorite comfort foods, or crying in a corner will help. So my advice: don’t procrastinate, invest in good bookkeeping software, and don’t be afraid to reach out to tax professionals for advice. Many of them offer free consultations to give you some direction. If you decide you want to hire someone, you can assign them to your QuickBooks account so you both have visibility to your finances.
The resources listed above will guide you through an otherwise convoluted filing process. Intuit’s blog and help center have a wealth of resources, and if you still have a question about anything, they have professionals you can reach out to for help.
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