Question about freelancing

[Rallispec]

To make a long story short, I quit my old job, and until I get a new job I'm doing some freelance work to bring in a few dollars. Finding work isn't that hard, but since I'm new to this I still have some questions.

First, how do I go about creating a purchase order / invoice. I've been looking at invoices I've recieved from ordering things in the past and figure I'll use those as a basis for mine. I figure the PO# is pretty much whatever I want it to be as long as its unique to me and I keep track.

Second, How do I go about insuring I get paid. I'm worried about doing the work and then having problems receiving payment. Should I not be worried about this or is it a legitimate concern?

My last question is about taxes. Since its not like a situation where i'd be getting taxes taken out of my paycheck - I'm assuming that i'll just have to keep track of it all year and pay it all back next spring. What all can I claim on my taxes-- everything job related? travel, meals etc?


Any thoughts or advice on this will be greatly appreciated. LIke i said, i'm new to this and hopefully won't be doing it long until a full time job comes along.

thanks for the help-~!

--danny

 

[pyonir]

I don't have any advice really, but i wanted to say HI RALLI! Long time no see.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I don't have any advice really, but i wanted to say HI RALLI! Long time no see.

:heart:

 

[DaveSimmons]

You should be making quarterly Estimated Tax payments (form 1040-V), based on a guesstimate on the profit from your Schedule C business. At the end of the year you'll fill out the Schedule C, form SE (self-employment tax), and possibly form 4562 (depreciation) and form 8829 (home office). You can get the 2003 forms and instructions at www.irs.gov as PDFs.

For my consulting I just did an invoice in Word, but I've mostly worked for people I knew through my previous employer (MicroCase) and haven't had to worry about collecting. Be sure to put in something about late fee / interest for late payment.

 

[Ness]

You'll want a contract typed out if at all possible that you can fill in certain things, like the job being performed, the quoted cost and a place for the other person to sign it. If they don't pay up, just march into a small claims court with that and you should be able to get it out of them. And just to protect yourself, write in a clause about if it comes to that, you will charge an extra 10% for time, and the costs of court to cover your expenses in recovering what you are owed or something to that effect.


As for an invoice, just toss something in word or excel. You can look at the layouts and information most online vendors use and go by that for a more professional look.

 

[Rallispec]

thanks for the info

anyone else with advice out there?

 

[FrustratedUser]

Last but not least:

Income > expenses = success.