When it comes to being a side hustler or an entrepreneur, there are tons of tools available to you on the internet. You can find anything and everything from resources on how to get more traffic to self-care for entrepreneurs.
But who is there to help you when it comes to choosing and setting up the necessary accounting tools for entrepreneurs?!
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There are definitely not enough resources on this, and I think it’s because everyone is so afraid of being sued for misinformation!
Well, of course, I’m no lawyer or accountant, but after struggling with sorting out my side hustle finances for years, I have finally found some tools that have not only helped me get my brand new business rolling in the black from the first month, but that I feel confident enough to share with you!
After all, I would hate to give you bad advice, so without further ado, here are my favorite tools for organizing your finances as an entrepreneur.
Table of Contents
finances for side hustlers: Catch
Benefits and money, in general, can be a confusing topic, just Google search “finances for side hustlers 2019” and you’ll see countless hits – and they aren’t even all that helpful!
There are so many benefits to being self-employed and having an entrepreneurial spirit! The problem though is that employers sometimes take advantage of the “independent contractor” tax category even when the work you’re doing for them isn’t independent contractor work. They’ll basically hire you as an “independent contractor” but treat you like their employee!
Yuck.
Can you tell I’m not a fan? ?
But whether you’ve landed yourself a w9 and 1099 because of a sketchy boss or through your own hustling spirit, you have to make sure you are taking care of yourself financially and in every way.
After all, employers are usually responsible for some, if not all, of the following for their employees:
- Health insurance
- Disability
- Retirement
- Family leave
- PTO, including vacation and sick days
- TAXES!
So if you don’t receive a w2 come tax season, you may end up in a world of pain if you aren’t a good planner around money. After all, the last thing you want is to shell out thousands of dollars you don’t have in order to pay for taxes! Or having to rack up credit card debt if you have to get serious car maintenance or a medical emergency.
That’s where Catch comes in.
Catch is a tool I discovered recently and fell absolutely in love with. Honestly, it was damn near love at first sight!
Catch basically helps you budget your 1099 income as if it were w2 income by setting aside money from each paycheck for the things usually covered by employers.
I’ll be sure to write a more in-depth post on setting up a successful Catch account in the near future but since it’s free to sign up, I encourage you to get started with Catch today!
finance for entrepreneurs: Keeper Tax
One of the perks of being self-employed is all the tax deductions available to you come tax season because: hooray for nontaxable income!
One of the downsides of being self-employed is all the tax deductions available to you come tax season because: how the heck do you track them all?!
That’s where Keeper Tax comes in!
You connect Keeper Tax to your bank account and download the phone app and every time it registers an expense, it sends you a notification asking if the expense was business-related. That’s it!!!
At tax season, you’ll have an organized record of your tax-deductible expenses and filing taxes will be infinitely easier!
It does cost a few bucks monthly but given how much Keeper Tax saves you in both time and money in taxes, I’d say it’s the easiest money I’ve ever spent on Tutor in Tinseltown and StephanieCristi!
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accounting tools for entrepreneurs: Bonsai or Zipbooks
Bonsai and Zipbooks are tools for tracking your income and expenses. They also let you create and send out invoices to clients, categorize expenses, predict patterns in your cash flow and so much more.
Plus, they are cheap/free alternatives to QuickBooks so why not!?
organizing your finances as an entrepreneur: Get Upside
Does your business require that you practically live out of your car?
I know that Tutor in Tinseltown keeps me on the move on a daily basis! That’s certainly why I opted for incorporating more remote work into my income (more on that coming soon) but whether you’re driving for business or for pleasure, you should absolutely download Get Upside!
Get Upside gives you anywhere from 1c to 25c back per gallon of gas you purchase for your vehicle, making it by far one of my favorite accounting tools for entrepreneurs.
I’ve only filled up 3 times since downloading the phone app and have already accumulated almost $10 in cash-back from Get Upside! Depending on how you want to cash out there may be a minimum amount in order to withdraw, but if you choose PayPal, the minimum withdrawal amount is only $15. Not half bad, I’d say.
accounting tools for entrepreneurs: accepting digital payments via Square
I enjoy Square because it gives you the flexibility to accept credit and debit cards as well as checks and cash. Plus, it gives your customers the convenience of avoiding a trip to an ATM! It’s a win-win scenario. I use my Square for tutoring sessions sometimes and parents are always appreciative for the accommodation.
TL;DR
What are your favorite accounting tools for entrepreneurs?
Do you have any recommendations you think I should take a look at?
Let me know in the comments below!
And if you have any tips for organizing your finances as an entrepreneur or side-hustler, definitely share those as well!
StephanieCristi’s Top Recommended Finance and Accounting Tools for Entrepreneurs
- Benefits for the self-employed: Catch
- Keeper automatically monitors your purchases for tax write-offs! Use this link to get a free month ?: www.keepertax.com/invite?Stephanie5330
- For cashback on your gas expenses! Use this link for an additional 15 cents per gallon: Get Upside using my promo code BJZY4
- For processing digital payments: Square (use my referral link and receive free processing on up to $1,000 in sales)
- For managing your accounting: Bonsai
And for more of my recommended tools, feel free to check out all the Tools I Use and Love!
With all my love,
SC xo
