You’ve made the leap to freelance work and professionalized your business by establishing an LLC. You’re officially a business owner. Congratulations!
As you embark on this new adventure, there are some unique considerations that come with owning your own business:
- Understand the difference between legal and tax entities. Joe LLC and Joe are two separate entities. Don’t mix the two. You should have separate bank accounts or digital wallets for your business, and for your personal activities. Once you set up your LLC with an EIN, set up your business account so there is no co-mingling of funds.
- Put aside your quarterly taxes. As a freelancing business, you’ll need to pay taxes four times a year. These dates are roughly January 15th, April 15th, June 15th, September 15th. Make sure you’re paying tax dues as they’re due. If you’re receiving income in cryptocurrency, one suggestion may be to sell the amount you need to pay in taxes. This is a risk-averse approach and mitigates the chance of not having the monies when its due. Visit Irs.gov/payments to remit your taxes.
- Try not to overpay the government. Everyone loves a good refund at tax time, but this essentially means that you’ve overpaid and provided an interest -free loan to the government. Your business needs that money. So take your time to ensure you’re making the correct calculations for your quarterly taxes.
- Don’t fall behind on bookkeeping. It’s easy as a solopreneur to fall behind on bookkeeping. Good financial recordkeeping is key as a new business owner. Simple accounting tools like Xero, Zoho, WaveApps and, of course QuickBooks can help you keep track of your income and expenses. For those dabbling in crypto: cointracker.io is a great tool for crypto taxes, while those investing in heavy de-fi activities should look at cointracking.info
- Establish business credit. Thinking of scaling your business? It’s important to establish credit. Opening a business credit card, taking loans out in your business name, and registering with Dun & Bradstreet are all steps you can take to establish business credit.