Posts filed under 'She's the boss'
According to IRS Form 1040-ES, which is glaring at me from the pile of papers on my desk, the fourth and final of my 2006 tax payments is due on Tuesday, January 16. If you don’t know about quarterly tax payments for freelancers and sole proprietors, this IRS page will get you up to speed. As will this one. And this page from my archives may also shed some light on the situation.
Uncle Sam does offer instructions on how to estimate your quarterly tax payments, but because I have not been mathematically inclined since college calculus, I rely on my friend the accountant to keep me in check. My income last year was a bit different than it’s been in past years (and not in a positive way), so I checked in with my friend the CPA recently to see if I was estimating my tax payments correctly.
I get a lot of Google hits from people looking for info on how to estimate their quarterly taxes, so I thought I’d summarize our conversation. (Know that I am not a legal or financial pro, and you are not my CPA pal’s client, so we take no responsibility for what you do with your taxes. If you have questions, see a tax pro. Seriously.)
OK, now that I’ve covered my hide, let’s get on with the quarterly tax recap.
Me: Is there some magic formula for figuring out how much of a quarterly tax payment I should make?
CPA pal: There’s no precise formula because taxes owed will vary with annual business expenses as well as state income tax. [Anti 9-to-5 note: Income tax varies from state to state. For example, Washington state, where I reside, has none. However, California, where I used to reside, does have a state income tax.] However, here’s a rough way you can estimate:
If your freelance income for the year (minus any major business expenses) is less than $50,000, you would pay approximately 25 percent to the IRS — “approximately” being the operative word here. $50,000 to $100,000, you would pay about 30 percent. And more than $100,000, you would pay about 33 percent.
Me: If I did the work in 2006 but the check doesn’t come till 2007, I pay taxes on that amount in 2007, right?
CPA pal: Bingo.
Me: If I want to hire a subcontractor to help me when times are busy this year, the only tax forms I need to send them are a W-9 to fill out before we start working together and a 1099 come January 2008, yes?
CPA pal: Oh, wise freelance friend of mine, I have taught you well. You are correct again. And for a small fee, I will even send out that 1099 form for you.
January 15th, 2007
While we’re still in new year territory, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a little myth busting. If you long to give your job or career a facelift but find yourself riddled with more excuses than the Bush administration, this list — modified from a 2006 Seattle Times article by yours truly — is for you.
Myth: I should do something practical that comes with a fancy title and fat paycheck.
Okay, and I should wear makeup and skirts and try to not swear so much because that’s what “ladies” do. Not. Whose life are you living — yours or your parents’?
Myth: By the time I pay my dues in a new career, I’ll be well over 30, 40, even 50, and too old to start at the bottom.
But you’ll be happy.
Myth: I can’t start a new career now. I’ve already invested so much in getting where I am.
See above. Otherwise, vow to never whine about how you hate your current career again — for the next 20, 30, 40, or however many years you have till retirement.
Myth: I need to succeed before I breed. Once I’m raising kids, it will be too hard to zoom up the ladder or change fields.
Harder, yes, but not impossible. I’ve interviewed plenty of moms who changed careers and/or went solo after having kids, a number of them without a spouse or money in the bank as a cushion. In fact, mompreneurship may be the way to go, given all the workplace bias against mothers out there. (I’m not a mom, so I welcome the moms reading this to weigh in with their two cents.)
Myth: I can’t afford to live on less money.
Life is about choices. Your choices: premium cable TV/new shoes/$15 lunches with coworkers, or a lower-paying but infinitely more rewarding job. (Hint: I don’t miss HBO, that extra pair of black boots that could be collecting dust in my closet, or those greasy, overpriced lunches.) Besides, a starting salary isn’t forever.
January 11th, 2007
Did anyone see the piece about Betty Ford on 60 Minutes Sunday night? I didn’t realize she was such a badass. Besides founding her infamous clinic, she was a leader in the push for the Equal Rights Amendment, outspoken on abortion rights, and frank with the media on everything from battling breast cancer to sleeping in the same bedroom as her husband (pause a moment to imagine a time when mentioning either of these topics was taboo). Betty, had I been old enough to have a clue in the seventies, I woulda had your back.
January 8th, 2007
Since the blogosphere probably won’t crumble under the weight of one more tipster-ish new year’s post, here’s what I’d like to propose all the entrepreneurs, creative types, and hopeful cubicle expats reading this site do in preparation for the remaining 357 days of the new year:
Write an informal business plan. Really. Even if you’re artistically inclined, gainfully employed, or doing pretty dang well in your current business. Even if you’re just fantasizing about changing careers or starting your own business.
Why? As Rhonda Abrams, a business plan guru I interviewed for an article a couple weeks ago, says, putting your M.O. in writing frees you from feeling like you have to leap at every thrilling opportunity that comes your way. Sure, volunteering to help put on a high-profile fundraiser for the symphony may sound sweet, but if there’s no way the gig will benefit that fledgling clothing line you’re trying to get off the ground in your spare ten hours a week, is it really worth your time?
Besides, everyone knows putting your goals in writing and breaking them into digestible nuggets is the first step toward moving from this fuzzy mindset:
Someday I will write an award-winning novel / get a job I like / start my own business on the side…
to this one:
Well, I ain’t getting any younger, so it’s time I started meeting that infamous “someday” head on. And here are the steps I’m going to take to get there…
I used to be a serious “someday” kind of gal. Then I turned thirty and realized I suddenly had a lot less somedays left than I used to. If I kept drifting along at my current state of aimlessness, I’d be forty before I knew it, and still not writing or published to my satisfaction, then fifty, sixty, seventy, and then quite possibly, dead. That scary realization catapulted me straight into goal world, where I made my master plan for world domination, which I revisit and refine each new year.*
A business plan doesn’t have to be a formal thirty-page tome (unless you’re looking for bank or investor financing). It can just be a page that says what you want to accomplish and what steps you’ll take to get there. The wise women at The Renegade Writer offer this priceless advice on creating a writer’s business plan, which I think will serve any creative, alterna-career type well. And if you get hives just saying the words “business plan,” call it a Reality Check Plan, as I do in my book.
*Lest you think I never share anything with you, I’ll give you one hit off my 2007 Reality Check Plan, which by the way, is all of 300 words long:
Goal #4: Apply for more writing residencies like this one.
Steps: By March, pinpoint three to five 2008 residencies I can apply to. Start working on applications in spring/summer, so that they’re ready to submit by summer/fall.
January 8th, 2007
Rather than break from all the holiday hoopla to rant about the wage gap, opt-out myth, or maternal profiling, I thought you’d enjoy this winter wonderland tidbit. Evidently in Colorado, teaching women to ski and board is a snowballing industry.*
This Rocky Mountain News article lists some of the women-owned, women-centric skiing, snowboarding, and backcountry clinics in the state. And if you check out the Babes in the Backcountry website, you’ll see that at least one of these companies has expanded into other locales, seasons, and sports. Yeehaw.
*Paging Jill Rothenberg: This post is dedicated to you.
December 27th, 2006
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that many independently owned businesses rely on the holiday shopping season to bring in a significant portion of their annual sales. Bad news for those Seattle area stores that recently found themselves closed for days on end due to flooding and power outages.
ParkPlace Books in Kirkland, Washington, is one such store. According to an email from the two owners (both women), the store was flooded and in the dark for many days. But they’re up and running now, back to business as usual — except for the fact that they have a lot of sales to catch up on. So if you’re near the east side and have some lit gifts to pick up, show ParkPlace Books some love.
Store coordinates:
ParkPlace Books
Kirkland’s Community Bookstore
348 Parkplace Center
Kirkland, WA 98033
Phone: 425-828-6546
Fax: 425-739-6876
parkplacebooks [at] integra [dot] net
December 21st, 2006
If the holidays snuck up on you like they did me, you may be scrambling for gift ideas for your star clients or fave freelance pals. To help, we here in anti-nine-to-five-land have assembled a handy-dandy Procrastinator’s Gift Guide.* We can’t guarantee that if you order these gifts today they’ll arrive by Monday, but hey, didn’t we already discuss the beauty of the new year’s gift last week?
Desk makeovers. The See Jane Work site is brimming with desktop accoutrements for every budget, from these retro-looking file trays to this precious mousepad. And if you need help picking out the perfect gift for a business associate, check out their office gifting etiquette guide.
Business card holders. You can never get one of these too soon — or have too many. Whether she’s no-frills or fancypants, there’s a card holder with her name on it at See Jane Work. (Geez, I should write copy for these people.)
Boss Lady products. What fempreneur can resist a lunchbox, compact, or bottle of bubble bath emblazoned with the words “Boss Lady” and a feisty cowgirl graphic? Not I. And probably not the sassy self-employed women on your list either.
Not your mother’s day planner. With their 2007 pocket calendar and slightly-larger spiral calendar, the rabble-rousing folks at Slingshot Collective don’t just give you 52 weeks of scheduling fun. They also give you DIY tips for homemade hygiene products, advice on dealing with Government Repression, and a great recipe for vinaigrette. A must-have.
Digi-greetings. Not only are these simian-happy e-cards free, they’re hysterical. Great for last-minute holiday wishes. Warning: Not suitable for humorless clients.
*Special thanks to my ever-resourceful pal Traci for helping assemble this list. More installments to come throughout the week.
December 19th, 2006
I am probably the last person on earth to realize this, but the Washington Post recently featured a special section on home-based careers, with emphasis on twentysomethings and moms who want to start their own service-based businesses. Other topics include how to spot a scam (hint: the ad reads something like this, “Make $$$$$$ from home!!!!!!!!!”), the joys of eBay, and fun with franchising. You’ll also find nifty tips on everything from researching a business idea to setting up shop. Check it out.
December 19th, 2006
The New York Times ran a long piece in its business section yesterday called “How Suite It Isn’t: A Dearth of Female Bosses.” Among the reasons given for less women at the helm of U.S. Fortune 500s: Being herded into dead-end staff positions in departments “like HR and communications” rather than groomed for operating roles. Having a hard time penetrating “the thick layer of men” crowding U.S. boardrooms and corner offices. Not wanting to sacrifice their home life for an extreme job that requires living at the office.
The article interviewed a number of generous women CEOs who were more than willing to share their experiences, like Carol Bartz, who was one of the first female CEOs and recently stepped down from her role as head honcho of Autodesk. I especially like how Bartz said that in her career, she’d found networking more helpful than any formal mentoring programs. Since a good mentor relationship is hard to find (and no one really knows what one is anyway) but networking opportunities abound everywhere you look, I have to agree.
Curiously the Times piece mentions that spokespeople for nearly all the female CEOs contacted claimed their bosses were “too busy” to do an interview or that they didn’t want to participate in a piece on women CEOs because they wanted to be recognized for their achievements, not their ovaries. Perhaps reporter Julie Creswell didn’t give her sources enough time to respond, though I think that’s being generous to the CEOs in question. Considering so many women at the top had no role models to speak of, you’d think more of them would want to tell aspiring female execs what unique challenges and triumphs await them.
So if you want to hear what it’s really like at the top, trot on over to this SmartMoney article profiling eleven fearless women who bought or started their own company and have since become wildly successful. Yeah, you’ll get more touchy-feelie cheerleading in this piece, but if you want to run your own show, you’re going to need all the pep talks you can get.
December 18th, 2006
In the online class I’m teaching this month, the question of whether to send holiday cards and gifts to clients — and if so, when and how much — came up. If you’re self-employed, holiday cards for smaller clients and gifts for larger ones are a must. Besides, it’s a tax write-off ($25 per client, per year, last time I checked).
This New York Times article outlines many of the do’s and don’ts of giving holiday gifts to clients. I second the article’s suggestion to avoid sending your gifts at the height of the holiday season when key contacts might be on vacation until long after your carefully selected fruit basket has gone moldy. Since I’m always late getting my holiday cards and gifts out, I just send ‘em during the new year. Even better, I’ve been known to hand-deliver them to my local clients. Doing so gives me a chance to check in, and people seem to welcome the distraction (and then call me the next week or month with a project they need done).
The NYT also advised thinking outside the gift box and getting something more unique than the tried-and-true (not to mention gross) fruitcake, something that ties in with your business model if you can. For example, I’ve been known to send newspaper and magazine editors books, journals, and stationery. However, I’ve also been known to make my own gift baskets filled with toys or bath products, which have little to do with writing but seem to be a big hit.
Curiously, while client gifting in December is here to stay, the Christian Science Monitor reports that cash holiday bonuses for employees seem to be going the way of the dodo. Well, at least those luckless employees can swill on all that wine, cheese, and chocolate their vendors and freelancers send them by the truckload every holiday season. I usually just get some rumpled, coffee-stained cards in the mail.* My dog can’t even eat those.
*In all fairness, I did get invited to several client holiday parties this year, which made me feel ultra-loved. Thank you, warm and fuzzy clients.
December 13th, 2006
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