It’s interesting to set yourself an assignment. It’s another to realise just how powerful it is. When I originally pitched the idea of speaking to Rounded about my finances, I was looking for:

• Accountability with my own finances
• A tangible demo model of freelancer financial management to inspire other freelancers by offering the transparency you just don’t get
• An offering that had a longer journey than a blog or webinar
• A Freelance Jungle sponsorship – and case study (I’m an anarchist, but I still want room service!)

What I didn’t expect is identifying something I think we all need as freelancers – which is better financial literacy and greater transparency about money. And more knowledge and advice via sharing our lived experiences.

It’s strengthened me in ways that I didn’t expect and validated a lot of my processes.

Here’s what spending six months up close and personal with my freelance finances has done for me

A word of caution: I am not the person you need for financial advice. That’s your accountant. Always check the information before implementing.

Reaffirmed my limits

In my fourteen years of freelancing, especially in the last six months, I learned the importance of self-confidence in decision-making. Nobody knows your limits except you. Rounded has shown me the value of these limits and using automated versions of them wisely.

So for me, that means:

• I have seven-day payment terms
• I’m not afraid of chasing on the eighth day via an automated reminder
• I negotiate the terms, even if it’s the client’s contract, so I know what is coming in when without looking up email

Clients need boundaries. Rounded helps me enforce them without feeling the cringe.

Achieve profitability through efficiency

Freelancers shouldn’t be penalised for efficiency. But how do we know what’s efficient if we don’t know where we’re spending our time?

Tracking what I do has helped identify patterns. I can state with certainty now that:

• Project-based billing discourages freelance clients from micromanaging. It teaches them that the value in what we create is the work product, not the time that it takes to make it
• It’s also more efficient for the client. And I have reports to prove it
• We don’t have to put up with (quite so much) inefficiency if you use better reporting. For example, you can discourage meetings if you have the data to show how much they derail productivity
• Small items benefit from upfront billing to cut down leg work and admin. For example, my coaching, teaching, or projects under $1000 in value

 

Charge more for high maintenance clients  

Our clients want longer and more frequent meetings when:

1. It’s the culture they are used to
2. It’s what customer service looks like to them
3. They need more communication for their team
4. They lack confidence in the work
5. They’re not used to working with freelancers
6. The project is a big deal or a big risk
7. That’s who they are

For a long time, I was resentful of some clients needing more. Now, I just realise certain clients, industries, and projects need different things.

And that it’s OK to ask them to pay for it because I am:

• Proving these inefficient habits are taking away quality project time
• Meeting their doubts with greater transparency and choice instead of more hand holding
• Understanding where the fears are coming from and tailoring the response
• Charging for high touch customer service if it’s needed

Identify bad habits

Dog help me but I am a giver. I open the barn doors to my brain and my heart, unleashing a torrent of insight and assistance that I believed to be immensely valuable.

Now I realise I was making clients responsible for my self-doubt and:

• Creating problems by stuffing projects with extras rather than giving a clear path to what the client asked for
• Stealing much needed brain space and time from my clients, potentially increasing delays and frustrations
• Confusing them with my processes by not having a proper, consistent system, in the financial side and elsewhere

Do more fun things

One of the interesting side benefits of looking at my earnings, outgoings and time tracker data alongside analytics from other sources meant I could see my Patreon and marketing clearer.

What it’s given me the opportunity to do is:

• Have more fun with my social media and take the pressure off there
• Back myself to make much needed changes with the Patreon
• Create new offerings – and offer freebies to my Patreon supporters to get the case studies I need to make them successful

Help me plan my future

It’s easier to let projects, clients, and services go when you see they are not sustainable.

Now, have an overview of:

• Lead acquisition costs
• A clearer path to client onboarding
• The rates clients will pay
• The time taken to complete the project
• How often the project turns into a butt pain
• Opportunities for upselling and referral

It reminded me to take other aspects of my freelance finances and business more seriously, like:

• Understanding if I need the shiny tool, software or toy – or if I can go without
• What my super is going to look like if I continue down the (less than ideal) trajectory I am on
• How to survive the current financial climate
• What I want to be doing in twelve to twenty-four months’ time
• How sustainable the Freelance Jungle is in an AI driven world <insert knee knocking here>

At the risk of looking like I am having some major existential crisis; it’s highlighted a serious need for futureproofing. For me – and for the freelancers I interact with.

Working with Rounded has highlighted we really need to integrate client management into freelancing to avoid most of the issues that we have. And that’s good for future advocacy.

Accounting is part of freelancing

We can’t remove ourselves from the capitalist system, and I can’t hold accounting at arm’s length and poke it from the sidelines with quarterly and yearly disdain.

I’m responsible for my business – and my money mindset. And this has been an exercise in embracing change.

I can:

• Embrace radical transparency with my freelance finances
• Use time tracker data to make intelligent business decisions
• Reduce the chance of making the freelance accounting mistakes
• Stop scrambling to finish my accounting for BAS every quarter
• Make sure EOFY is something I can leverage effectively

I want:

• Good pay rates
• Profitable jobs
• Clients to value the work that I do
• To avoid jerk clients
• Satisfying work

So, that means getting chummy with the other aspects of freelancing that I didn’t expect. And not only learning how to do them but also enjoy them, too.

If you want a friend in the accounting trenches, check out Rounded’s (Freelance Jungle exclusive) four-week free trial now 

Please note: This blog post is sponsored by Rounded as part of an ongoing exploration of Rebekah Lambert’s approach to her freelance business. The idea is to open up Rebekah’s finances so she can improve – and help you, too. Any financial information provided serves as a general guide and should not be considered professional advice. For personalised guidance, consult with your accountant or financial advisor.