Issue #6: Mastering Your Business Finances 🪄

Hi there,

You probably didn’t go into business for yourself to live the life of an admin worker, living and breathing spreadsheets and numbers. But, as a business owner, even a creative one, there is an unavoidable amount of administrative work demanded of you.

But it doesn’t have to be stressful and overwhelming. Really, if you set yourself up right, managing your business finances and completing your taxes can be a breeze!

So we’re gonna show you how!

6 Strategies To Unlock Financial Zen 🧘‍♀️

Read time: ~2.5 min

#1: Understand ALL of Your Expenses 🤔

This means:

• All of your online services

• Your website and email hosting platform fees

• Any digital subscriptions (such as Canva or Calendly)

• Any membership/coaching/training you have used to help learn and grow in your professional realm

• Required physical goods. This can mean things like a ring light, a microphone, a high-quality camera, a phone, a computer, etc.

• Various at-home office expenses. Sometimes, you can get portions of your rent, wifi, select furniture pieces partially covered, and much more!

Check out what Danielle has to say for the scoop on entering tax season, along with other small business tips!

» Tip: Sift through your online charges to see what you’re spending $ on. Don’t forget to include annual costs that only appear once a year in your charges.

#2: Track Everything! 🔎

Incoming, outgoing, cash expenses, even things you’re unsure if they’re coverable. Track it ALL to figure out the finer details later easily.

Make it all clearly tracked in a format that can easily be shared with an accountant. You can easily create a tracker in Excel sheets, but there are also excellent services, such as Wave, that help you understand the comings and goings of your money.

Also, other leading expense/invoicing apps such as:

• QuickBooks 

• FreshBooks 

• Expensify

• Emburse Certify

» all offer free plans or trials so you can test out which is best for you!

#3: Create a Firm Budget 💪

This is the foundation of any good money management. As they say, if you can’t budget with $100, you can’t budget with $100,000 🫠. Setting up firm boundaries with your business money will safeguard you, especially as your business grows (‘cause that’s the plan, right!?)

If you want to feel empowered to implement budgeting boundaries, check out Tori Dunlap from Her First 100K!

#4: Understand your Taxes 💼

Ah, tax season, the least Instragram-able season of them all. Tax season is a nightmare for so many individuals and business owners, but really, only the ones that fail to understand their tax obligations and methodically set money aside for it. Familiarize yourself with your local, state, and federal tax obligations - head to your local tax office, or set up an initial consult call with an accountant.

The biggest question is, how much tax should I set aside?

Again, it depends on your particulars, but 20-35% is generally “safe”. The more you set aside, the better prepared and protected you are come tax time. And if you over-save, no worries, you can essentially give yourself a wee tax return when you know you’re covered. #goals

Also, a lesser-known fact: Do indeed have to disclose brand gifts as income?

The answer is YES. By accepting the gift in exchange for services, you have entered into a barter agreement, and the gift (both digital and physical) still counts as income. For further info on this topic, check out this article from einnews.

🤑 MOVIG PERKS: We have partnered with FlyFin to make taxes easy for UGC creators. Check out the special offering for the tax season!! 

#5: Focus on Growth Actions 🚀

• Monitor and unpack your profitability. Create a regular meeting with yourself in your calendar (every month or quarter) to assess your costs and their value.

• Consult professionals. If you feel like you’re scrambling, overwhelmed, or uncertain, turn to a bookkeeper, accountant, or alike.

• Look into financial opportunities for new/solo business owners, such as banks offering deals for biz owners or grants from the government or independent organizations.

Want to feel confident and excited about your money management? Listen to Tori Dunlap’s Financial Feminist Podcast - it’s more than just budgeting!!

If you have questions or comments hit Reply on this email, we’re always happy to answer :)

Movig New Platform 📣

Get ready! We're thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new platform on March, 4th, designed to revolutionize brand outreach and convert outbound efforts into inbound opportunities.

We've almost finalized the first batch of early access creators, and we'll be inviting more on a rolling basis in the upcoming weeks. So, if you haven't already, sign up for our waitlist to secure your spot!

Join us on this journey and take your UGC game to new heights!

All the best,

Ibrahim & Luca