Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator: How to Price Your Services
The five-step formula for calculating a freelance hourly rate that actually covers your expenses, taxes, and target income.
The Best Invoicing Tools for the Self-Employed to Streamline Payments
How QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, Wave, HoneyBook, Stripe, and Zoho Invoice compare for getting paid faster as a freelancer.
5 Late Payment Email Templates for Freelancers (That Get You Paid)
Five email templates, from a friendly first reminder to a final notice, for getting a late-paying client to actually pay.
Best Accounting Software for Self-Employed Professionals (Ranked)
How QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Xero, Wave, and Zoho Books compare for self-employed bookkeeping — ranked by what each one does best.
How to Calculate Quarterly Estimated Taxes for the Self-Employed
The four-step process for estimating your quarterly tax payments, plus the safe-harbor shortcut that avoids an underpayment penalty.
How to Register as Self-Employed Without the Stress
What actually requires registration when you become self-employed — and what doesn’t need any paperwork at all.
LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship: Which Is Best for Freelancers?
Why an LLC doesn’t give you a tax break a sole proprietorship doesn’t already have, and when the liability protection is actually worth it.
How to Become an Independent Contractor: A Step-by-Step Guide
The five real steps to becoming an organized independent contractor — from understanding your classification to finding your first clients.
Can You Deduct Moving Expenses for Your Business?
Quick answer: It depends entirely on what’s moving. Moving yourself for business reasons is not deductible — that personal moving expense deduction was suspended in 2018 and hasn’t come back, aside from a narrow military exception. Moving your business’s equipment, inventory, or office is a different story, and that’s generally still a normal, deductible business … Read more
Can You Write Off Haircuts as a 1099 Contractor?
Quick answer: Almost never. The IRS treats haircuts as a personal expense, not a business one — you’d need a haircut whether or not you worked, so it doesn’t count just because you’re a 1099 contractor. There’s one narrow, genuinely rare exception, and it’s easy to misread it as broader than it is. The general … Read more