Freelance life is full of financial swings and roundabouts. On the one hand, you have the freedom to boost your income, charge your own rates, and generally take control of your budget. On the other, you aren’t protected by minimum wage brackets, or by an employer who’s legally bound to pay you each month. Not to mention that, when taxes aren’t taken out of your pay before it reaches your bank, they can take far more of a toll.
For these reasons and more, many freelancers prefer to manage their finances themselves over paying an accountant large sums to do the same. And, certainly, when you’re first starting out, or are only earning a part-time income, managing things yourself makes sense.
But, when your income starts to escalate, and it becomes far harder to keep track of where your money’s coming from and going out, an accountant could transform your financial freelancer landscape. Despite costing anywhere up to £500 each year, the right accountant could also save you money. Keep on reading to find out how.
# 1 – Making more time for clients
The more money you make, the more time you’ll need to spend on things like financial admin, invoice chasing, and accounts. All of this will take you away from client work for at least a few hours a week. By comparison, sending everything straight over to your accountant needn’t take any large chunks of time out of your working window, which could free you to either increase your workload with existing clients or take on a brand new client in the time that you otherwise would’ve been grappling with figures while, ultimately, not earning a penny.
# 2 – Less risk of costly mistakes
While you might think the tax office doesn’t mind the odd £10 missing from your accounts, ongoing mistakes across your yearly tax returns could cost you greatly, not only in fines but also in the need to get a fraud solicitor if HMRC discover continual, albeit accidental, discrepancies on your tax return. By getting an accountant to not only manage your money, but also file those pesky returns for you at the end of each tax year, you can therefore save yourself money, and stress, in the long run.
# 3 – Insider awareness of potential savings
Many freelancers also forget that accountants are adept in every area of finances that you could think of. Unlike your rooky approach to your expenses and so on, they have the knowledge necessary to ensure that you’re claiming everything you can, and even that you’re benefiting from savings for things like hiring employees, and also any available government schemes. Over a few years of freelance life, this insider knowledge could save you substantial amounts of money, which will most often far outstrip what you’re paying your accountant in the first place.
While it seems like the decadent option, getting yourself an accountant could, therefore, be the secret to frugal life as a freelancer. Who would’ve thought it?
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