expenditure, I record who I paid the
money to.
My transaction category column
enables me to allocate my income
and expenditure to specific
categories. My income categories
include articles, book royalties,
photograph sales, author talks,
workshops and so on. Expenditure
categories include subscriptions,
stationery, travel and research.
This is where I record all of my
writing income and expenditure
over the year. I use a spreadsheet
because the filter options enable me
to extrapolate how much money I’ve
received from one particular customer,
or how much I’ve spent over the year
on stationery. (Lots – I’m a writer!)
Even at its most basic, this tool
allows me to tot up all of my income
and expenditure over the year, to
determine whether I’ve made a profit
or a loss from my writing.
I send a copy of this spreadsheet to
my accountant, because this makes it
easier for him to finalise my accounts.Cash flow forecast tool –
income
A cash flow forecast can be a really
useful tool because, as we all know,
our incomes can fluctuate considerably
over the year. As a writer with some
traditionally published books, I get68 NOVEMBER 2019 http://www.writers-online.co.ukA
re you a creative? Or are
you a spreadsheet nerd?
Do you know what a
cash flow forecast is, or
would you much rather
study the weather forecast?
When it comes to the business of
writing, it’s easier to focus on the bit
we enjoy most – the writing. The
numbers can get a bit confusing and,
if we’re honest, as individual writers
it’s not as though we’re a FTSE
100 company trying to please our
shareholders, is it?
Having said that, we are the most
important shareholder in our writing
business, and if we want to keep
doing what we enjoy then having
the right money management tools
can put us in good stead. It doesn’t
matter whether we write in our spare
time, part time, or full time, number-
crunching is an important aspect
of running a writing business. The
question is, which numbers should we
crunch, and what’s the best tool for
the job?
Data collection
Hands up how many of you record
the number of words you write every
day? Most of you. Just as I thought.
(You can put your hands down now.)
By recording our word counts, we’re
collecting accurate data. If I were to
ask you how many words you wrote
last month, most of you could go to
a spreadsheet, or a list in a notebook,
look at your records and give a precise
figure, with confidence.
Those writers who don’t keep such
records may find this exercise more
challenging. They may feel they’ve
had a productive month but, without
this accurate information, can’t say
definitively. It’s so easy to be busy
without actually doing anything.
(Did you spend fifteen minutes
writing, or fifteen minutes browsing
social media websites?) Therefore,
keeping accurate information gives
you a greater understanding of your
writing business. Money management
tools do exactly the same thing for a
writer’s business.Income and expenditure tool
The one tool in every writer’s
money management toolbox
should have is an income and
expenditure spreadsheet. It needn’t
be complicated. In fact, it needn’t be
a spreadsheet. All you need is a table
with six columns: date, customer/
supplier, transaction category,
expenditure, income and notes.
The customer/supplier column is
where I record the business name.
If it’s income, I record the name of
the organisation who paid me. If it’sBusiness
tools
Don’t be a bad workman blaming your tools. Simon Whaley
finds the right money management tools for your writing business.