34-b).Track Your Hours Worked

This is easily overlooked by rookie freelancers but has to be done to 1) Keep you on track and not goofing off and 2) Make sure you are earning what you want/need to earn. Here is a simple strategy for tracking your hours:
• First, make sure you determine the number of hours you plan to work on a project before you even start it. This will be your “budgeted” hours.
• Each day you work on the project, keep track of the time spent on it to the nearest quarter on an hour. If you are working on multiple projects, note the time spent on each one. Total these hours by project on a weekly basis.
• Upon project completion, compare the total hours worked on a project with the budgeted hours you set. Is it higher? Lower? Just about the same?
If the total hours worked is higher than the budgeted hours, this indicates that maybe you weren’t working as hard as you could or your bid price was too low on the project. Either way, you need to take note of this and make adjustments in your work habits or pricing. Your goal is to be productive as possible and earning as much as possible and hour tracking is your best measuring stick.
Next I’ll cover some strategies to earn more money in freelancing.

34-a).Track Income and Expenses

This should go without saying but you need to know how much you are making and how much you are spending since you are a business. It is highly recommended you hire an accountant to do this for you since this can overwhelm you from time to time. If you decide to do it on your own, then here is the bare minimum you must do:
• Create an Excel spreadsheet or use a notebook to track all income received from freelance work. Make sure you jot down every cent earned. If you can, track your income by job/project too.
• Also using a spreadsheet or notebook, track every expense made as a freelancer. This includes rent, utilities, subscription fees, equipment, office supplies, etc. Be sure you have a receipt or somehow be able to account for each expense, too.
• Make sure you set aside part of your income for taxes. The best method is to create a savings account specifically for tax withholding and deposit 30% - 40% of your received income into it. Please refer to your country’s tax tables for an idea of what your withholding should be. Do not ignore income taxes! The last thing you want is trouble with “the man.”