This article is written by Quin Hoskins. Having studied law and several science-related subjects at degree level, this has provided him with the perfect foundation to cover an eclectic range of topics in his freelance writing career. From the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs to countless travel sites, he is proud to be associated with companies and organizations that are definitely at the top of their game. The flexibility of his freelance writing business allows him to devote a significant proportion of his time to study and is finishing his last course – out of 6 – towards his LLB (Hons) this year. He is also an avid traveler and has proudly visited 40 other countries to date, with much more planned for the future.
Can you believe you have come this far? You are now preparing to start up your very own freelancing business and are looking at how best to keep yourself organized when it comes to dealing with any orders that you might be able to secure. It is imperative you ensure your order tracking system works flawlessly and after nearly nine years in the game, I feel I will be able to offer you some valuable help in this regard. Here are the 6 best ways to record your freelancing orders!
1. Sensible and Basic Admin Procedures
I am the first to appreciate that you have enough on your mind at this moment in time. You’re about to launch your very own freelance business, so you’re bound to be feeling apprehensive and filled with a mighty amount of trepidation. With this in mind, I do want to attempt to offer you a straightforward and flawless admin system that will help you to run all the administrative features of your new business. To this end, I am going to share my entire ordering system with you and explain the main features as we go along.
|
Pr # |
Date |
Client |
Project Description |
Qty |
2. Recording the Main Project Details
The first half of the main Spreadsheet I use (these two sections are joined together to form one long line) records all of the main project details for me. As soon as an order comes in, I allocate a project number in chronological order (Pr #). The numbering system you utilize is entirely up to you. I then make a note of the date the order was confirmed; followed by the client’s name. Importantly, I then record a brief description of the work involved in the project, which is followed by the number of items ordered.
|
Gross Pay |
Costs |
Net Profit |
Status |
Deadline |
Inv |
3. Dealing with the Financial Details
So, in the furthest left-hand column, you will record the total rate you are paid for the project. Next, the full costs you are being charged (this could be anything from PayPal fees, to freelance platform costs, etc). Once you have deducted these outgoing costs, you will be left with the profit from this project – this is the ‘all-important’ figure and what you are doing this all for in the first place.
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4. Recording the Status of the Project
I like to be able to look at my project file and see what is going on, instantly, just by glancing at a single page in front of me. The project file is where my handy ‘Status’ field comes into play. I have a traffic light system in operation here: I use red for a project problem (this could be anything at all but will mean that you are not able to work to a schedule on this project for some reason). I use orange for when the project is running smoothly, and everything is on track; yellow for when the project has been submitted to the client, and I am awaiting payment (this changes to red after a week with no communication from the client in this regard); and then green for when the project has been completed successfully, and everything has gone through.
The deadline field is self-explanatory, but it's imperative for you to respect it. Finally, the ‘Inv’ field is where you will place a ‘Y’ once you have closed the project and printed off your invoice for tax records.
5. Keeping the Details Up-to-date
It is all very well implementing an ordering system that comes with all the bells and whistles; however, this will prove to be futile unless you set some time aside each day to keep the information fully up-to-date. Once you get used to dealing with your ordering system, as soon as a project detail changes, you will become accustomed to quickly recording this new detail on your admin system; it takes just a few seconds to change the status color from yellow to green, for example.
6. Off to the Best Possible Start
Of course, I fully appreciate that this business is your baby and you will want to proceed in whichever way works best for you. However, I do hope the explanation and ideas for an order recording system have proven to be of some use to you. Trust me when I say that it took a very long time to find an admin system that works best for me but in the end, this one did seem to tick all the right boxes.
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