Guide · 5 min read
Retainers, hourly clients, software, and home office — clean books for VAs and OBMs.
Five clients on five different platforms (Stripe, Wise, PayPal, direct deposit, check), recurring SaaS for each client, and a home office. Without simple tagging, you can't tell who's actually profitable.
Route Stripe, Wise, PayPal, and direct deposits to one checking. One credit card for software so it auto-categorizes.
Net-7 for retainers, 50% upfront for projects. Tag each payment to client + service type. Cuts late payments and makes per-client revenue obvious.
Sq ft method ($5/sq ft up to 300) or actual (% of rent, internet, electricity, renters insurance). Actual usually wins for most VAs.
25–30% to tax savings per payment. Pay April / June / Sept / Jan. SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) on top.
SnapBooks tracks every retainer, software charge, and client payment automatically.
Start freeMost states/cities require a basic business license for any self-employed work, even fully remote. Cost is usually $50–$200/year and 100% deductible.
Income from international clients is still US-taxable. If they pay via Wise/PayPal/Stripe, just track in USD. No special form needed unless they request a W-8.
100% — Notion, Slack, Loom, ClickUp, Calendly, Canva, ChatGPT, Zapier, password managers. If you use it for client work, it's deductible.
Fully deductible. Coworking, day passes, and even Starbucks if it's clearly work-related (occasionally, not daily lunch).
Not required, but worth it once you cross ~$40k/year for liability protection and to look more professional on contracts. Tax-wise it's neutral until ~$60–80k net.