Collective Blog — Collective Hub

Inspiration and advice on leveling up your business-of-one.

Why Bookkeeping Is Important: The Basics

You may be wondering what bookkeeping is – and how it can help your business, before and during tax season. One thing to know right off the jump: bookkeeping is essential. The first step in many critical business tasks, it allows you to have a better view of your business’ finances at any given time. […]

Tips for Creatives to Overcome Isolation and Loneliness

Being a business-of-one has plenty of perks (hello having full control over when you work and where you work)! You get to be your own boss and be 100% in charge of the creative direction of your business – and that is empowering! But with so much responsibility on your shoulders, it’s easy to convince […]

How To Use Financial Reports To Run and Scale Your Business

Every month, companies large and small work to compile monthly financial reports – basically the 411 on your business’s money status. Accountants and bookkeepers use the latest business results to generate reports for owners and managers to make the best, most informed decisions, plan for taxes and prepare the business to meet short and long-term […]

How to Choose an Online Bookkeeping Service as a Business-of-One

Running your business-of-one comes with tons of benefits – and freedom in the way you work. It also comes with some serious business-y responsibilities a lot of us aren’t fully prepared to shoulder. You thought you were finally going to get to be creative or focus on your services or create your products – then you […]

Accounting and bookkeeping for your business-of-one

As Director of Accounting at Collective, I’m proud to lead a team of accountants whose primary goal is to support the success of your business. And what better way to help you grow your business than by including Bookkeeping within our core offerings. Today, I’m thrilled to announce that all Collective memberships now come with […]

How to Turn a Referral Program Into a Main Source of Income

When I discovered Collective almost three years ago, I had little idea of what an incredible impact it would have on my life. At the time, I was a little over two years into my full-time freelance career. My business was flourishing. But the process of filing taxes and keeping up with my books was […]

How to improve your payments workflow

As a creator, doing the work is often the easy part. Getting paid? Well, that’s an entirely different subject. And where it gets hard. Creating endless invoices, tracking everything in spreadsheets, sending payment reminders to clients, and paying fees just to get your money – it’s exhausting. When you have to operate in every role […]

4 Retirement Savings Options For The Self-Employed

Retirement accounts are important for anyone who wants to retire someday. When you work for a big company or organization, you may have access to a 401(k), 403(b), 457, or similar retirement account, and perhaps an employer contribution. When you run your own solo business, retirement planning is on your shoulders. But that’s not necessarily […]

Want a sustainable business? Try diversifying your income

I’m sure you’ve heard that the average millionaire has 7 streams of income. I know, not EVERYONE dreams of being a millionaire. So, why generate new revenue streams? The more you diversify the ways you get paid, the more money you can make. Why generate more revenue streams? As entrepreneurs, we are hit with many […]

7 Tips for Successfully Hiring Your First Freelancer

Learning how to find and hire the right help to scale my business has been one of the most difficult aspects of my career. Hiring help was never part of the original plan when I launched my small graphic design business in 2017 as a solo freelancer. But just a few months in, I found […]

The Self-Employed Guide to Health Insurance

When you’re self-employed, you don’t have a human resources department to pick your insurance plan. As the boss, it’s up to you to choose your own health insurance and make sure that you and your family, if you have one, are adequately covered for anything from a minor ear infection to a catastrophic illness or […]

5 Personal Finance Best Practices for Six-Figure Business Owners

You must be doing something right since your business is scaling to the multi-six figures. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back for the work you’ve put in so far. As you grow to a new level in your business, thinking about the personal side of things is just as important. Whether there are other […]

Tax Tips

5 Outstanding Tools that Make Filing Your Self-employed Taxes a Breeze

Expert Tips for Tax Time: 6 Solo Entrepreneurs Weigh In

Are you making one of these self-employed tax mistakes?

Self-Employed Taxes 101: How they work and what you need to know

14 Self Employed Expenses You Can Write Off On Your Taxes

Should I Pay Someone to Do My Self-Employed Taxes? Here’s How to Know

5 Self-Employed Tax Mistakes that Cost You Big Time

What You Need to Know About the 2020 Tax Deadline Extension

7 Things You Need to Do to Prepare for Your Self-Employed Taxes

10 Tax Deductions that Creatives Needs to Know

How to File your Freelance Taxes (and Save Money)

Are You Sure You’re Legally a Freelancer?

Six Pro Tips for Freelancers to Save Big on Taxes

How an S Corp Could Save You $5,000 (or more) on Your Freelance Taxes

The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Freelance Taxes Right

Bookkeeping

Why Bookkeeping Is Important: The Basics

How To Use Financial Reports To Run and Scale Your Business

How to Choose an Online Bookkeeping Service as a Business-of-One

How to Write Off Your S Corp Mileage using QuickBooks Online

The Best Payroll Provider for Freelancers

Setup Your Business

Collective makes setting up and running your freelancing business simple and affordable while saving you some serious money on taxes. See how much you could save with Collective.

Business Setup

How to Setup an LLC for an Online Business

Should you start an LLC or S Corp? Here’s How to Decide

6 LLC Setup Mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Self-Employed and Moving to a New State? Here’s What You Need to Know

Here’s How Starting an S Corp Leveled Up my Online Business

LLC vs S Corp: The Difference and Tax Benefits

When is the best time to switch to an S Corp?

Can you afford to be an S Corp?

Why are you still a sole proprietor? It’s time to switch

Started an LLC? These Are the Most Important Things to Do First

12 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a New Business

Business Entities for Freelancers: Which One Is the Best?

Getting an EIN is Easier Than You Think- Here’s How

Everything You Need to Know about Registered Agents

Money Management

4 Retirement Savings Options For The Self-Employed

5 Personal Finance Best Practices for Six-Figure Business Owners

How to Account for Health Insurance, Vacation Time and Other Benefits in your Hourly Rate

How to Save When You’re Self-Employed and have Inconsistent Income

How to pay yourself when you’re self-employed

How to Run Payroll for an S Corp

How to Use your Personal Financial Identity to Grow your Business

9 Reflection Questions to Help Your Business Level Up Next Year

How the 80/20 Rule Helped me 3x my Revenue in Less than a Year

How to Create an Authentic Budget for Your Business

Create a Better Business Using Values-Based Spending

Level Up Your Freelance Finances with These Expert Tips

How to Pay Yourself When You’re a Freelancer

What Is an S Corp “Reasonable Salary”? How to Pay Yourself the Right Way

How to Open a Business Bank Account for Your New Business

Small Business Hacks

Tips for Creatives to Overcome Isolation and Loneliness

How to Turn a Referral Program Into a Main Source of Income

How to improve your payments workflow

Want a sustainable business? Try diversifying your income

7 Tips for Successfully Hiring Your First Freelancer

Community Spotlight

The Post-Production Company Working With Brands Like Netflix

An Influencer’s Journey From 200k in 2 Weeks to 2m Followers

Building a business-of-one in the Bahamas

Terence Yang on leaving tech and stepping out as a coding teacher

Mané Bailey on how discipline fueled her 7-figure business

Faith Storey on taking risks in your business

Garrett Yamasaki on website success – and Doodles

Mark Griffo II on new projects as stepping stones to success

Teena Thomas on starting a business during a pandemic

Priscilla Cornwell on taking care of your mental health

Kenzel Fallen on the importance of nurturing relationships

Tyrone Marshall Jr on how to create a solid foundation for your business

Stephen Larmer on knowing when to hire the right help

Michael Nguyen on embracing failure

Stephanie Wong on evolving with a rapidly changing industry

Brian Stanton on working on your business — not just in it

Garrett Oden on going from coffee shop manager to agency owner

Tallia Deljou on staying in her zone of genius by asking for help

Shirley Ansley on creating systems to simplify your business

Nikki Venus on using her mistakes to empower others

Estimate your tax savings

With Collective, freelancers save an average of $16,845 or more in taxes every year. Plus they never have to worry about the legal or tax side of running their business. See how much you could save with Collective.

* Based on average estimated tax savings of active Collective users with over $80,000 net revenue in 2019 ($12,217) and potential savings declared by Intuit Quickbooks TY17 US subscribers that have identified >$10,000 in income and >$0 in business expenses ($4,628)