Here’s how freelancers can manage their finances to combat erratic inflow of cash

• More people are adopting freelance work to engage in diverse fields, thanks to the freedom to choose, flexibility of work hours.
  
• Managing finances is one of the major pain points in a freelancer’s career.
  
• Accounting software and mobile applications help organise payments and track expenses.
  

From software developers to content writers and even graphic designers--the number of freelancers are ballooning as gig economy grows. As freelancers enjoy flexible work hours, freedom of choice--they also have to deal with erratic cash flow.

Most of the domains of freelance work comes with project deadlines and hence the payday can be extended. Since freelancers have to deal with multiple income sources, they have to be ready for all kinds of people — those who pay quickly and those who extend it to the end of the year. They could either be paid the very next day of submitting the work or a month after execution.

Given that, the ability of a freelancer to make ends meet depends on their ability to manage finances. Since they also juggle between multiple projects, organising heap of invoices is also a tedious and time-consuming task.

Here are five things that can help manage the finances.

Go digital

Accounting softwares are a lot of help. For instance, Free Agent — which is a cloud-based online software — helps to collate the taxes and payment invoices at one place. In fact, mobile apps like ePayments, Invoice Maker — are a great way of organising payments and track expenses.

Keep business account separate

Having a separate business account saves the hustle of micro-managing your personal expenses against your business payments and transactions. It helps to plan the budget well — from expenses to tax filing. This way, it is easy to track the expense on freelance work and the cash flow.

Set deadlines

Following up with the client is a daunting task. Having a clarity on submission and due dates eases it. For longer projects, it is also good to set breakthroughs and even charge an upfront fee, to ensure timely payments.

Save for taxes

The drawback of working as a freelancer is saving up for taxes. As a freelancer, set a portion of your income aside monthly, for tax obligations.

Credit cards to the rescue

Use credit cards for payment of bills and other work-related expenditure. So, it doesn’t haunt you when clients delay payments.