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Shibley Smiles

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Bloggers Let’s Get Organized and Get Paid

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So now that you know how to get organized using a calendar and how to organize your email let’s take that knowledge a little further and organize our receivables, what we are owed. Another question from bloggers that comes up often is, “How do I keep track of what I am owed?” There are several times when I have had to follow up on a payment so image if I forgot I was owed payment and never followed up. It is like throwing away good money. I’m going to share with you what I use to keep all my blogging financial information in order.

bloggers-organized-paid

What I use can be used for more than just blogging, it can be used for any small business or even personal use. I wanted something that I could create invoices, keep track of my expenses, and especially keep track of who owes me what and when it due. I use a FREE online accounting software called Wave. Yes it is totally FREE I’ve been using it for two years now and haven’t paid a thing.

It is very user friendly and I don’t want you to be scared off by my use of the term accounting software. There really are two parts of this software you will use but today we are only going to talk about one and that is the accounts receivable which is money you are owed. If you record everything that is owed to you, you will know when everything is due and at the end of the year you will have your yearly revenues for tax purposes.

How to Create an Invoice

I will be posting more detailed instructions on how to use the software for those that are interested, including how to customize your invoice. Today we just want to enter our invoices for recording purposes. When you have created a free account and are logged in you will be sitting at your dashboard. On the left hand side is a list of actions you can take.

wave-accounting-invoices

You will select Invoices and then select the +Create and Invoice and you will see the below screen.

wave-create-an-invoice

Select your customer (who you are billing), if you do not have any customers set up you can select add new customer and put in any information you wish to enter. As long as you have a name it will let you advance. I try to put in as much information as I can for my customer such as: name, address, phone, email. Select the date of your invoice and the due date. You can put in your own due date or select payment terms such as 30, 60, 90 days. The information in the right hand column (subheading, footer, memo) will populate if you have customized your account (again I will post more about this later).

You may select a service if you have one set up, if not you may set one up. This is simply a list of what you bill and you are telling it what account you want your revenue to hit. For example I may want to distinguish the difference in what I receive for sponsored posts vs ad revenue.

wave-accounting

Next enter a description for your customer, quantity, and amount. Once this is done you can save the invoice. The invoice is now in your software and you can export an invoice for sending to your customer/client. Here is a copy of a fictitious invoice I created (with logo customization)

Send an Invoice

invoice

This invoice can be exported to pdf or emailed right from the software. I choose to export it and save a copy on my own computer. The great thing is you now have a record of all invoices owed to you and when they are due. This way you will never miss a payment owed to you. Here is an example of the dashboard when you login. If you have any overdue invoices they will show in the left hand corner. For the purpose of this screenshot I have blurred out the amounts, however you can see I have some invoices that are showing overdue that I need to follow up on.

wave-dashboard

Once you receive payment you log your payment and your invoice will be marked as paid. One of the best things about this software is that it is FREE and is online so you can access it no matter where you are at home, work, or even while you are relaxing at a coffee shop catching up on blogging with no kids around. There are reports you can run that will show you how much each customer owes you, what is due, etc. Basic accounting reports.

This software has been instrumental in me being able to keep track of what is owed to me and making sure it makes it way to me.

What do you use to track payments owed to you? Do you have any tips?

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Comments

  2. I’m going to have to look into that, it is very neat! Right now I just have it set up in my digital calendar and e-mail folders. Since I don’t have to send out a lot of invoices I’ve never thought to create them for just my own purpose to keep track of payments.

    Reply

    • It is great, you can still use the system and not really create an invoice but basically just log it into the system so it will tell you when it is due.

      Reply

    • I got to a point where it stopped working for me mainly with one company that would always tag on to an email and I would just lose track of what campaign I was working on me and what was owed.

      Reply

  5. I have never even thought to make invoices to keep track of payments I am owed! I love this idea and am off to check out this software. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my income/expense but this would really help me remember who owes me what. Right now, I would probably overlook a missed payment with my disorganization!

    Reply

    • It really helps. I use to have it all in my email but then I would get reps that start talking about different campaigns on one email string and I was getting lost. This is great to both invoice someone if they need an invoice and keep my accounting of it.

      Reply

    • I still use the emails but when it comes to knowing what is owed the software is a huge help. The emails are more for if I need to file up, my paper trail so to speak.

      Reply

    • I do mine on a “as I go basis” meaning when I finish a post I immediately create an invoice if I need to send it to someone I will if not it is recorded. When I receive a check or paypal payment I log it in. I use the app to take a photo of my receipts and log them in immediately. For other things like domain costs, paypal fees, etc. I just do them once a quarter or when I make time.

      Reply

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