Guide · 6 min read
You don't need an accounting degree. You need 15 minutes a week and a system simple enough you'll actually do it. Here's the one we recommend.
Free business checking accounts exist at nearly every major bank. Route every client payment here. Pay yourself by transferring to your personal account — never mix the two.
The IRS lets you deduct any 'ordinary and necessary' business expense — but only with proof. Use your phone camera + cloud storage (or an app that does both).
15 minutes every Friday to confirm every bank line matches a logged transaction. Estimated tax payments on April 15, June 15, September 15, January 15. Year-end report to your CPA in March.
A Google Sheet is enough at $20k revenue. At $50k you'll forget to log expenses for a week and lose deductions worth more than a year of accounting software. At $100k you need a real tool that produces a P&L on demand for your CPA. Switching late costs more than starting early.
SnapBooks is built for solo operators. $15/month, 7-day free trial, AI assistant that answers tax questions.
Start free trialBookkeeping is recording transactions — every payment received and expense paid. Accounting is interpreting those numbers: producing reports, filing taxes, advising on next quarter. As a freelancer, you do bookkeeping monthly and outsource accounting once a year at tax time.
Once a week, 15 minutes. Logging expenses while you remember what they were for is 10x faster than reconstructing them in April. Set a recurring calendar slot — Friday afternoons work for most freelancers.
Yes. Open a free business checking account and route every client payment through it. Mixing personal and business money is the #1 reason freelancers fail an audit and lose deductions.
Anything 'ordinary and necessary' for your work: software, hardware depreciation, home office, mileage to client meetings, professional development, business meals (50%), health insurance, half of self-employment tax, and a portion of phone and internet.
If you expect to owe more than $1,000 in federal tax at year-end, yes. Quarterly payments are due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. Miss them and the IRS charges a small underpayment penalty — usually $50–200 for a typical freelancer.