KimHaas.com Transcription Coaching, Blogs and ArticlesTranscriber Toolbox: Step 8 - Financial tracking
Step 8:
It’s Payday!
Okay, now that you know how to track your files, it’s time to collect! Once you’ve completed a file, you will need to bill your customer. You can download an invoice template on the net for free; just simply Google free invoice template and you should find one that suits your needs.
You can choose to bill your client once a week, once a month or even after every file. This is something you’ll need to work out with the client in advance. Don’t let your invoices go unpaid too long because the longer you wait, the more difficult it is going to be to collect. If you let your accounts receivables go until one of your clients owe you $2,000.00, you’re going to have to deal with collection actions and all that mess. It’s normally best to bill quite regularly and in shorter time spans. That way you won’t be out a huge sum of money if the client doesn’t pay you.
An Accounts Receivable form has been provided as a way for you to keep track of who hasn’t paid their bill yet. You may or may not need to use this depending on the number of clients you have and your own personal billing preferences. Again, you can play with the form but be sure to save it to your PC where you can edit and save it.
Wrap-Up
I haven’t gone into much of the financial aspects of working from home because frankly, I got a “D” in my secretarial accounting class in college and I can’t say that my knowledge has improved a lot over the years. The tax laws change regularly and I just don’t have the time (nor the desire) to keep up with them. Just remember to track everything; your expanses and your income, and then find yourself a good tax person to handle all the dirty work at the end of the year.
I’ve pretty much covered all the basics. If you can think of additional tools that would benefit you as a professional transcriber, feel free to let me know.
At any time if you have questions, do not hesitate to check my help center or PM me here in the forums.
Posted by Kim Haas on 01/03 at 03:51 PM
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