You've escaped the corporate world and made the leap to being self-employed. Or you never lived in the corporate world and are making a living. You may be a writer, a blogger, a photographer, or any of a wide array of professions. You have the freedom to work while wearing yoga pants, and you can be home when your kids get home from school. You have more freedom than when you worked 9-5, but you also have to be in charge of the administration of those dollars that get deposited into your bank account.
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The accounting and organizing side of being self-employed can be overwhelming, especially if you are not an accountant. Luckily for you, the year is 2015, and there are so many things right at your fingertips that can help you streamline that side of being self-employed. Here are five apps that will take the stress of administration down a notch or five.
1. Freshbooks. I am a CA, and use a higher-end program, but I have a number of friends who use Freshbooks and they love it. Let's keep it simple. It's designed for those who may not have an accounting background. It's intuitive, and it lets you easily track your revenue and expenses. You can take a photo of expense receipts and enter them via your phone. For invoicing, you can accept payments from major credit cards and PayPal.
2. Evernote. I have read many posts about Evernote, and I downloaded it, but haven't put it into play. HOWEVER. My husband is taking his Masters course in Leadership. He downloaded it, learned how it works, and now has our entire church staff on board. I need to catch up, and you should as well. This one stores notes, lists, to-dos, and virtual slips of paper.
3. Kindle. Again, Mr. Masters has shone the light on this one. Paper books are great, but having a Kindle with all of its features is something you need to have at your fingertips. If you buy a Kindle Fire (tablet) it will read to you, which is handy if you spend a lot of time commuting.
4. Cam Scanner. Scanning documents is huge, whether you are self-employed or not. You don't own a scanner? Cam Scanner has your back.
5. Kingsoft Office. We (I) may live in an Apple world, but Microsft Office is the go-to software for documents and spreadsheets and presentations. Sometimes you have to lay down the sword from the white side.
Do you have any apps that you'd like to share for the rest of us?
If you like this, check out Top Five Tax Tips For Freelancers and Bloggers and 5 Smartphone Apps that save you money
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