In this series of blog posts at Chinwag Jobs, we present Secret Diary of a Freelancer, brought to you as part of Xchangeteam’s Freelancer of the Year 2008 awards.

Welcome to my secret diary. It’s secret because I want to be candid and give you the inside track on what my life is like as a freelance gun for hire. It’s warts an’ all but hopefully inspiring in the main, highlighting the highs and the lows of my profession. We freelancers are the future: hear it here first.

Always be invoicing

Our digital marketing freelancer is busy billing

The new VAT tax rate came into effect this week has upset some retailers who need to change all their price stickers – but it’s got me thinking about invoicing!

It’s pretty awful: nobody likes doing it or receiving invoices, but it’s a job that has to be done and regularly.

It’s no good generating all that income and then not receiving any of it, after all… But it’s not always as straightforward as that, as most of us freelancers know all too well. Yes – I mean that fun experience when you’ve undertaken lots of work for a client, start wondering when your bank account indicator will go back up to “full” – and they start querying it.

I once made the basic error of billing someone at the end of the project, rather than during it (and on a monthly basis, natch). It made sense because it was project-based work; the issues arose when the project was extended – and I became financially extended as a result. When I presented my fairly chunky (because I hadn’t billed for so long, remember) invoice, there was an enormous amount of amount-querying on their side and amount-justifying on mine. Not a pleasant situation – and to be fair, not really the client’s fault. People forget. A month is probably as long as your client can be expected to be totally on top of what you are doing for them.

Conversely, I have sometimes been in the joyous situation of being able to bill on a weekly basis. No queries on invoices whatsoever: wonderful brimming cash flow to boot. Unfortunately, this blissful arrangement came to an end because the client baulked at the admin involved (mutter, mutter).

Based on my experiences: if you are involved in doing business that is not especially high value (the client or the project do not immediately appeal) and perhaps the daily rate does not appeal too greatly, then perhaps think about payment arrangements such as weekly ones to make your life simple.

The greatest problem for a freelancer is financial insecurity. Your greatest asset, by contrast, is your creativity and ability to think outside the box. So why not apply your creative powers to your payment terms and contractual arrangements?

Keep up the invoicing in the meantime!