The Billable Blog
Money, made simple for a business of one.
Practical, no-fluff guides on invoicing, pricing, cash flow, taxes and keeping the money side of your solo business in order.
Export All Your Data, Whenever You Want
Everything you've put into Billable — invoices, clients, time, contractors, the lot — is yours to take out as plain CSV, one file per type, downloaded on the spot. No support ticket, no waiting, no lock-in.
A 20-Minute Monthly Money Review for Solo Businesses
Most solo businesses only look at their numbers when something's already wrong. A short, fixed monthly review turns that around — here's a simple checklist you can run in twenty minutes and actually keep up.
Kill Fees: Getting Paid When a Project Gets Cancelled
A client cancels halfway through, and suddenly the work you'd blocked out and partly delivered is worth nothing. A kill fee fixes that — here's how it works and how to write one clients will happily agree to.
A Fairer Price for the Way Freelancers Actually Earn
We're cutting Billable to $9 a month. Here's the thinking — freelance income comes in waves, and the tools you rely on shouldn't cost the same as a good month when you're having a quiet one.
Handling Scope Creep Without Losing the Client
Scope creep rarely arrives as one big demand. It's a run of small, reasonable-sounding asks that quietly turn a profitable job into a loss. Here's how to hold the line without becoming the difficult freelancer.
Should You Ask for a Deposit? Upfront Payments, Explained
Asking for money before you've done the work feels presumptuous the first time. It shouldn't. A deposit is the single cheapest way to filter out bad clients and protect your cash flow — here's how to set one that sticks.
Getting Paid by Overseas Clients Without Losing Money on the Way
The invoice said $2,000. Your account says rather less. Here's where the money goes on an international payment, how to stop losing it, and what to record when it finally lands.
When One Client Is 60% of Your Income
A single client paying most of your invoices doesn't feel like a risk while they're happy. It's the most common way a healthy solo business goes from fine to frightening in one email.
Presumptive Taxation for Freelancers: Should You Use 44ADA?
Declare half your receipts as profit, skip the books and the audit, and pay advance tax once a year. For most laptop-and-brain freelancers it's a genuinely good deal — but not for everyone.
What Your Payment Provider Actually Keeps
You billed $9,000 and a smaller number landed. Some of the difference was a fee they told you about; most of it usually isn't. Here's how to work out the real cost of getting paid — and why one payment tells you nothing but a year of them tells you everything.