It is always good to have one good “go-to” story that you can bring up at social events and such. Sadly, our best story only really works at Oscar Parties. You see our go-to story is all about how the process of making movies is the basis of the Freelancer Movement. Think about it. A team of contracted workers are brought together for a set time to create a final project.
Just because it is our go-to story doesn’t mean it is that interesting…what is interesting is that we were doing some QA on our snail mail invoices and we found two peculiar invoices that loosely tie into what this blog post is all about.
If you are a small business owner you may be wondering what type of business insurance
you need (unless you have it already – that calls for a 5 minute internet break). Two of the big questions are where to purchase it and how much it will cost, however, the first part of the equation is deciding what insurance you actually need.
While insurance can be a complicated topic it can be simplified if you do your research. The basics include assessing your business and giving consideration to the various types of unforeseen events and or catastrophes that could result in a loss of income or even the end of your business (let’s avoid that). Read the rest of this entry »
Freelancers face very different financial circumstances than salaried employees do. There is no guaranteed regular paycheck that comes every two weeks. Instead, the payments you receive depend on how much work you did and when you finished it. And despite all the advantages of being a freelancer, these erratic pay schedules can make it difficult to follow a consistent investment program.
Lifecycle Funds: The 80% Solution
In his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi explains that most people are so distracted by minutiae (interest rates, stocks vs. bonds, inflation, etc.) that they never actually take the first step and invest in something. As a result, all of their preoccupation with little details generates no action whatsoever. Freelancers are no exception – when you’re always up against a deadline, you may not have time to become an investment expert.
The good news: you don’t have to be. Instead, you can invest in what’s called a lifecycle fund. Very simply, a lifecycle fund automatically spreads your money across various investments according to specific goals you specify in the beginning: for example, when you plan to retire, how old you are and how comfortable you are with risk.
Ramit calls this “the 80% solution” because in a single step, you get 80% of the way toward the “perfect” investment plan other people spend their whole lives chasing.
We do a lot of cool stuff at FreshBooks and don’t take a lot of credit for it. Why you ask? Well, because most of the time we want to talk about things other then ourselves. That being typed, bragging is sometimes fun.
(FunFact: Any time you are in a fancy museum and see an “anonymous donation” it might be by us…or Larry David)
One of the things we should brag about more (because we are so proud to support it) is that we are one of the continuing sponsors of Creative Mornings NYC organized by the amazing Tina Roth Eisenberg (@swissmiss). We don’t brag about it because we aren’t really the bragging type but if we were we would say that Creative Mornings are amazing, it’s because of the quality of the speakers and attendees.
Here is a video of Emily Cohen. Emily spoke this past December about The Things You Need to Know as a Freelancer. We thought the talk was worth sharing and incredibly valuable…and for those not familiar with Emily Cohen, she has been a consultant to creative professionals for over 20 years providing confidential, best-practice insights and advice, so she really know what she is talking about. We thought it was awesome and hope you do too.
Ever want to automatically add a late fee to your FreshBooks invoice? With the launch of the Add-on Store, automatic Late Payment Fees are now available in FreshBooks. The Add-on works by adding a percentage or flat fee to unpaid invoices after certain amount of days from the invoice date. Also, if you have clients that should not be charged late fees, you can toggle this on or off for specific clients.
Caveat: Late Payment Fees may not be for all users. In some industries, they are not the norm. Also, according to a FreshBooks study on Invoice Payment Terms, adding late payments fees to invoices will help ensure payment, but may slow your payment.
Turning on your Late Payment Fees
If Late Payment Fees will improve your cash-flow, they are simple to turn on in the Add-on Store. To turn on your Late Payment Fees: Read the rest of this entry »
FreshBooks support is unavailable today (Feb. 21, 2011) as it is Family Day in Ontario, Canada. If you have a support query, please email us and we’ll get back to you tomorrow.
Awkward extended family portrait anyone?
The third Monday of February is celebrated around North America, albeit in different ways.
In the United States, a federal holiday titled “Presidents’ Day” honouring George Washington, the first President of the United States is celebrated. Though it’s called differently depending on the States you’re in. For example, the state of Alabama observes the day as “Washington and Jefferson Day”, while in the state of Virginia calls it “George Washington Day”. Read the rest of this entry »
After launching the new website redesign, we all took a moment to reflect and reminisce about classic FreshBooks, and in our moment of silence we all picked one thing about the old blog that was their favorite. By almost unanimous decision we decided that our favorite memory was a post Mike wrote on August 27, 2008 about how he almost killed FreshBooks. In honor of our old design we figured we would reach in to the old FreshBooks vault and share that post with you again, because like NBC says, it may be new to you.
7 ways I’ve almost killed FreshBooks
I’ve often said, “were it not for Joe and Levi, I would have run this company into the ground long ago”. The fact is, truer words were seldom spoken.
Here’s a list of ways that I’ve almost killed FreshBooks over the years:
1. Thinking we had to move faster than we did
I remember back in 2005 feeling that if we did not blow our lights out and spend every penny we had on marketing “right now!” someone would obliterate us. I had this impending sense of doom for *years* based on our speed. Turns out I was wrong, and I owe Joe and Levi a world of thanks for repeatedly pulling me back from the ledge.
2. Placing my faith in a spreadsheet
Rocking a spreadsheet is important in my books – it gets you thinking about your business. But trust me, whatever numbers come out of your Excel jockeying, they’re wrong. If you saw our business plan from 5 years ago you’d see what I mean…
It’s really easy to stare at a spreadsheet and say, “that’s it! I totally get this business…I understand how it all works and look at that year 5 revenue!”, when the reality is it will take 10 years to get there, cost you twice as much as you thought, and you’ll probably be running a totally different business by the time you get there. All of that is okay in my books, just so long as you don’t actually delude yourself into believing what the spreadsheet tells you.
One of the best things about working at FreshBooks is that everyone is passionate. We’re passionate about our customers and service, but no one is just passionate about one thing.
What does that mean? It means we don’t only get to pursue the business and career goal, but also our personal goals as well. And we tend to take others along for the ride. One very common personal goal, is healthy living. Here are some of the ways that plays out at FreshBooks:
There are a number of hockey players at the office, so they organized and now play shinny (Canadian for pick-up hockey) every other Friday at 4pm (that also means leaving work early).
Two days in a row I have woken to amazing surprises. Yesterday I learned that Big Audio Dynamite have reunited and will be touring again and this morning the first thing I saw when I turned on my computer was FreshBooks very own John Coates (of the Leeds’ Coates) was interviewed by the amazing web site Expert Angle on “How to get paid faster”.
Please give it a watch below and let us know in the comments section what you think.
Yesterday was Valentines Day. While most use this as a day to give chocolate and cook for a loved one (or have them cook for you), I’m a little different and use Valentines Day to quietly reflect on advice I’ve received from people who I love and admire.
One such example is from a man I call Alistair. I call him Alistair because well, that’s his name. Alistair Morton is one the principles behind Peapod.ca and possibly one of the best graphic designers in the world.
The advice he gave me was pretty simple: If any freelance job starts with a client saying two out of three of the following, you may want to re-consider the gig.
“It’ll be great for your portfolio!”
You know what kind of stuff is great for your portfolio? Big Brands and high profile stuff. Usually this means people who can afford to pay you and yet you are still being asked to work for free or far below your value. That’s not good, you’re a professional and need to acknowledged as such. This sort of stuff may be attractive if you’re starting out but, if your client is going to make money off it, then you need to get a cut. If you’re trying to run a business, working free means you will not get far. Read the rest of this entry »
FreshBooks is an online invoicing, time tracking and expense management service that helps people save time, get paid faster, look professional and focus on what they love to do - their work.
will send an invoice and a dolphin will swim the length of a 
