Year-End Tasks for Freelancers (And How To Prep for Next Year!)
As the year winds down, freelancers are wrapping up client and personal projects as well as planning time off for the holidays. They’re also laying the groundwork for a successful year ahead. If you’re new to running a small business or simply want to overhaul your year-end routine, this checklist is for you!
I’ve been running my writing business full-time since 2009, and freelanced as a side hustle to my daytime newspaper job before that. Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years.
1. Update Your Accounting Files
Set aside time to review your invoices, client files and accounting reports. Do you need to follow up on any delayed payments? Have any addresses, contacts, phone numbers or emails changed? Make those updates!
I also use a feature in QuickBooks to apply tags to each of my clients and payments so I can pull reports that allow me to see my income/expenses by category and clients. For example, it’s nice to know how much I’m making from content marketing versus affiliate marketing. This helps me understand where I’m making money and influences how I want to spend my time in the year ahead.
