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It’s critical to keep the money coming in on a steady basis and to be paid for your work when it’s complete. Here are some ways to keep your cash flowing easily.

Take deposits.

Requiring a 50% deposit isn’t necessarily about a lack of trust in the client’s ability to pay on time. It’s more of a “good faith” deposit to guarantee my time. It shows the client is serious about the work and won’t back out on the project because they share in the risk, too.

I typically require a 50% deposit on orders that are larger than $100. Orders less than $100 are payable in full upfront. There are a couple of exceptions, but for the most part, those are my payment terms. You can choose to require 50% deposits on all orders, or only orders that are above a certain amount. Choose what you’re most comfortable with.

If you take deposits, let the client know you won’t start working on the project until the deposit has been received.

To be on the safe side, I don’t spend the deposit until I’m done with the project. I don’t necessarily anticipate problems, but I like to err on the side of caution. I always want the ability to easily refund the client’s deposit if there are extenuating circumstances.

Split the project.

If you have a large project that’ll take time to complete, you can split it into parts and have the client pay you as you complete each part. For example, 50-50 payments required at the start of the project and before the second half of the project. Again, this keeps you from being stuck with a large project that you may or may not be paid for. Let the client know that proceeding with the project is contingent upon timely payment.

Another reason for the split is to accommodate clients who don’t want to pay you upfront. I’ve worked with professionals who do charge upfront and others who bill you as the work is being completed.

Set short payment terms.

Set a rule that payment is due no more than seven days after the project is sent. Anything longer than seven days is just enough time for your clients to forget that they owe you money.

Let clients know payment terms upfront and when they see the payment due date on the invoice, there shouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, you can set the payment due date that at the start of the project if you’re working on a fixed deadline.

Invoice immediately.

The longer you wait to send your invoice, the longer it’ll be before you get paid. Get in the habit of sending invoices right after you finish a project. I suggest sending the invoice separate from the project so there’s no confusing the invoice with one of the project documents.

Invoicing isn’t fun, but it shouldn’t be a chore. If you don’t have an invoicing system, check out The Freelancer’s Quick Guide to Accounting and Bookkeeping to get one started.

Explain your payment methods.

Help your clients pay you on time by letting them know exactly how they can pay you. Include it in your initial communications and print it on the bottom of your invoice: “Payment should be made via Paypal to payments@ myemail.com.”

If you accept checks and money orders, state to whom they should be payable and to where they should be sent. Side note: If I were accepting check payments, even eCheck payments, I’d require the complete payment be sent and cleared before work started.

Should you make exceptions?

Not every client will comply with your payment terms. Some have their own rules and will push back saying, “We only pay 30 days after receiving the finale project.” You can choose to make an exception or you can stick by your terms. Will you lose the project if you don’t bend? Perhaps, but a client who gives you grief about your payment terms could be problematic down the line, so losing them early on could be a good thing.

Instead, I’m going to give you some easy-to-follow tips on managing your records throughout the month so it takes less work to figure out how much money you’ve made.

Keep track of your invoices. If you’re not invoicing your clients, start now. An invoice is just a bill that says “you owe me this much money by this date for this work.” It’s sort of like what the plumber sends after fixing your leaky pipes.

Don’t have an invoice template to use?

1. Jenn includes an invoice template in her Web Writer’s Guide workbook.
2. You can find invoice templates online by doing a search for “invoice templates.”
3. There is software specifically designed for invoicing. For example, I use MacFreelance.
4. Use Paypal’s invoice tool.
5. Create your own invoice template in Microsoft Word. (Tip: save as .dot file.)

Prepare and send your invoices soon after your project is complete, or before the project is done if you require advance payment. Make sure your clients get their invoices and make sure you keep a copy for your records. I keep both electronic and hard copies for added security. (You never know when your computer might crash or your house burns down and hopefully they don’t both happen at the same time).

Follow up on unpaid invoices. Get a file folder and label it “2009 Invoices.” (You need a new folder every year.) As you receive payments from clients, mark your invoices as “Paid” and file them away. Periodically review your invoices and follow up on those that remain unpaid.

Track your expenses. When you shop for your business items, like office supplies, shop only for business. Save your personal shopping for another trip and expense tracking will be much easier. Keep receipts for all your purchases, even if you have to print them from online.

I put all my receipts in an envelope until the end of the month when I total them up. After that, I file them away based on their tax categories, e.g. Advertising, Travel, Food, etc. (See About.com Tax Planning for a list of tax-deductible business expenses.)

Add up your net income each month. Earlier, I talked about all those useless spreadsheets you might have learned about in your college Accounting class. I still use a spreadsheet, it’s just far more simple than anything I’ve ever learned about in school. My spreadsheet has 4 rows, 13 columns, and looks similar to this:

It’s such a simple chart, you could just draw it out on a piece of Notebook paper. (But then, you wouldn’t be able to put in a formula to calculate your Net Income.)

At the end of each month, I add up all my paid invoices and all the expenses I’ve paid. Then, I subtract expenses from income to get my net income – that’s how much money I made that month. I try to generate income two months in advance of spending it. For example, what I make in October is what I pay myself in December. It gives me peace of mind knowing the bills are covered for the current and next month.

Writer You Are, Accountant You May Not Be

Of course, DIY accounting is not for everyone. Some of us need accountants and there’s nothing wrong with that. Make sure you get someone who has experience working with self-employed individuals and that it’s someone you can afford. Ask for referrals from friends and family members. When you find someone you like, get a few references to see how satisfied their other clients are.

Making the System Work for You

Doing your own accounting and bookkeeping can be time consuming, especially in the beginning as you’re working out a system. Once you pass that hump, you should be able to cut down your accounting time to 4-8 hours a month. Filing things away during the month makes the process a lot easier than having to spend an entire day looking for receipts and invoices only to spend another day sorting and adding them.

As your business grows, continually evaluate whether it makes sense to continue doing your own accounting or if it’s time to get some outside help.

Are you your own accountant? What are your accounting and bookkeeping practices like?

I hope you’ll give LaToya a warm welcome!

If you have any specific finance-related questions as a freelance writer, feel free to ask them in the comments here or on any of her posts. Even if they aren’t used in future posts in the series, I’m happy to respond myself when I can help or bring in another writer on a one-off basis to tackle specific issues.

We are seeking two types of writers. First, we’re looking for people that are experts in the fields of economics, politics or the financial markets and have experience writing in those fields. We are also seeking any experienced writer that is willing to investigate a particular story related to economics/politics/financial markets and write about it based on that investigation.

Pay will be determined by experience of the writer and quality of article.

For more information please contact Tim LuCarelli at 646-350-0089 or by e-mail:
tlucarelli@globaleconomistreview.com.