‘A La Carte’ Resources for Independent Contractors

In the traditional 9-5, salaried workforce, your financial options are served to you on a platter, regardless of what you want, need, and can afford. One of the great parts about being an Independent contractor is that you can choose your resources a la carte, building the best combination for your needs. The best ICs will be the ones with the best collection, but with dozens of options and compliance requirements out there, this can be hard to figure out on your own. To make things a little easier, here’s a 5-star menu of services for independent contractors to help you build and protect your company.

Taxes

Painless 1099

True to its name, Painless1099 takes the headache out of managing your tax withholdings. No one wants to withhold money from their paychecks. That’s why your employer does it for you. If your employer is you, it can be a scary line to walk, especially when your revenue is coming from multiple sources with varying tax codes and profits. Painless1099 acts like a payroll company, automatically withholding taxes from your revenue, and depositing what’s safe to spend into your personal checking account. CEO at Paineless1099, Ace Callwood, described the company saying, “As a team of former freelancers, we built a tool that allows our peers to focus on the work they love while we automate the rest.” When it’s time for your quarterly estimate, Painless1099 can send a direct deposit straight to the IRS. You can choose to set a fixed withholding, or use their software to create an estimated withholding rate based on your projected annual income. Once it’s set up, you just direct your payments through the software and relax, knowing your taxes are taken care of.

Visor

Taxes are a nightmare for everyone, even if your income has come from a singular source for years. Add multiple employers and new tax rules into the mix and it can become impossibly overwhelming. Visor’s goal is to save you money by harnessing every possible deduction. But more than that, they strive to turn the chaos of tax codes into a transparent, personable experience. As the company states, “We partner you with a tax advisor year-round to not only file your returns but take care of all your tax needs.” Connecting with one of the app’s advisors simplifies the world of tax codes, and can save you real money in the process.

Insurance/Compliance

Bunker

Bunker is a digital broker for independent contractors and small businesses that need specific coverages to secure a contract. They’re changing the point-of-sale for commercial insurance by seamlessly embedding it directly into the contracting process. Bunker offers policy terms as short as three months, rather than the industry standard 12 month terms, offering products like usage based insurance which ensure you’re only paying for the coverage you really need. Bunker’s policies are not only up to 30% less expensive than any other commercial broker, but can be filed in as little as 2 minutes. The quick, easy, flexible insurance option guarantees that insurance will never be a barrier to success.

Accounting

Quickbooks Self-Employed

Quickbooks is an accounting software that helps independent contractors keep track of everything from invoicing to mileage tracking. Freelancers can upload photos of their receipts and the software will automatically log expenses in the app. When tax time comes around, you can choose to sync your information to TurboTax, or simply reference your projected quarterly taxes to get an idea of how much you’ll owe.

Written by Bunker for Kalo – September, 2018.

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