billing-rate-calculationWork out the hourly or day rate you must charge for a target income by working backwards: take-home plus tax set-aside plus business costs (software, insurance, accountant, equipment, pension, health cover) and unpaid leave gives required revenue, divided by billable hours tracked for four weeks rat
cashflow-forecast-13-weekBuild a 13-week cash forecast for a small business or freelancer with lumpy income: a weekly sheet of opening balance, receipts, payments and closing balance; receipts entered at invoice date plus that client's actual median days-to-pay rather than the due date, unsigned pipeline weighted by probabi
client-offboardingClose a client engagement cleanly: acceptance confirmed in writing, final invoice issued with source files and credentials released only on payment, a handover pack (what was built, where it lives, renewals and domains in the client's name, known issues), an access audit of every account, key and re
client-profitability-reviewDecide which clients to keep, reprice or drop from a quarterly table per client: revenue, tracked hours including email and calls, effective hourly rate, days paid late, revision and scope-change count, share of revenue. Flag one client above about 40% as a risk to schedule action against, rank by e
estimate-actuals-reviewMeasure how wrong your estimates are and correct them. At every project close, log one row per task type (estimated hours, tracked hours, ratio); after 8-10 projects take the median ratio per task type, not the mean, and apply it as a personal multiplier in fixed-price-quote. Split overruns into und
finance-separation-cleanupUntangle personal and business money that have been mixed. Stop the bleed first: open a business account and card, route client payments there, move recurring costs to it. Then clean history in order: export 12 months of all accounts, tag each transaction business, personal or mixed, record a busine
fixed-price-quoteTurn a client brief into a fixed-price quote and payment schedule that survive reality: tasks of two days or less, best, likely and worst estimates combined as (best + 4 x likely + worst) / 6, buffer on the named risky lines rather than a flat percentage, separate lines for management and revision r
invoice-dispute-resolutionResolve a client refusing or disputing payment. Separate the dispute from the delay by asking in writing which line, what outcome and which clause; build an evidence pack first; offer the cheapest credible fix first (a defined correction in a defined window), then an itemised partial settlement paid
invoice-hygieneIssue invoices that get paid quickly and survive an audit: send on the day of the trigger event, not at month end, after checking a gapless sequential number, the client's legal name and billing address, PO number, an itemised description matching the SoW milestone, tax line and registration numbers
late-payment-chaseCollect an overdue invoice with a calm escalating sequence anchored on the due date: a friendly reminder three days before, a day-1 approval check asking for a payment date, a phone call on day 7 to the person who releases payments, a firm notice on day 14 citing the agreed late fee or statutory int
monthly-bookkeeping-closeRun a 60-minute monthly close on the same day each month: reconcile every account to the statement balance to the cent first, match receipts above a threshold, clear uncategorised items to zero, review ageing receivables and start the late-payment ladder, review subscriptions, record owner draws apa
prospect-qualificationScreen an inbound enquiry before any quoting effort: five written questions (who signs and pays, budget range, deadline and what drives it, what happens if the work is not done, who else was asked), then a red-flag score for signals that predict non-payment and scope creep, such as no budget, an unn
retainer-designStructure an ongoing monthly client arrangement. Pick the type: reserved capacity (paid whether used or not), hours bank (use it or lose it, or a one-month rollover cap) or outcome subscription with defined deliverables. Price reserved capacity above project rate: you give up flexibility. Write down
scope-creep-responseHandle a mid-project request that may be outside the signed scope without saying no and without silently doing it: classify it in one pass as in scope, clarification, or change; answer a change within one working day with a three-line note (what is new, hours and cost, date impact) and a choice to a
services-agreement-checklistCheck your own client contract for the clauses a freelancer needs, ordered by money at risk and marked present, weak or missing: payment terms, late fee, deposit, kill fee, IP transfer only on full payment, reuse of pre-existing tools, portfolio rights, confidentiality, liability cap, client-materia
stalled-project-recoveryRestart a project when the client goes silent, using a clock-based ladder that starts from the last client-owed item: day 3 a one-line nudge naming the exact decision needed, day 7 a second message with a default ('I will proceed with option A on date X unless told otherwise'), day 14 a call or othe
statement-of-workWrite the one-page scope document that governs an engagement: deliverables each with a testable acceptance criterion, exclusions (the three things a client most plausibly assumes are included), client responsibilities with dates and a single named decision-maker, a missed-client-deadline rule that m
subcontract-client-workPass part of a client job to a contractor safely: check the client agreement permits subcontracting, write the brief as a bounded deliverable plus acceptance check, run a paid 1-2 day trial on low-risk work for a first engagement, flag worker-classification questions for an accountant, flow confiden
tax-set-asidePut aside the right share of every payment for tax: derive the rate from last year's return (tax plus social contributions over profit) plus 3 to 5 points, or a conservative provisional rate checked after the first quarter; sweep it to a separate account within 48 hours of each receipt, on the incom
year-end-tax-packAssemble everything an accountant or tax return needs, in dependency order: reconcile every bank, card and payment-processor account to statements, reconcile total invoiced income to deposits and explain each difference, clear uncategorised and personal items, check receipts above your tax authority