Money money money! ABBA was totally right… that’s why today I’m bringing you 5 smart money moves to start ASAP as a creator!

Having the money talk is something I love to do on the blog because I truly wish that I had these resources a lot earlier on. SO today, we’re talking 5 smart money moves to start ASAP as a creator! From invoicing, smart tax practice, and more… today’s blog is me sharing all my insider secrets and tools. Let’s get it going!

**disclaimer** Please note that this blog post is my own personal thoughts on business and finance. I am in no way a financial expert or have any formal training in finance, accounting, etc. Please do not take this as direct financial advice and always consult a financial expert.

5 Smart Money Moves To Start ASAP As A Creator

1. Get An Accountant

Outside of my agency, an accountant was the first hire in my business.

If you follow me over on Instagram you’ve probably heard me talk about my time in business school. Specifically, about the way I failed entry-level accounting 3 times in a row…. It is because of that I knew I needed an accountant as early on as possible. And you know what? I’d recommend it every day of the week!

Unless you’re super great with accounting it’s a way wiser decision to hire someone who is. Taxes, write-offs, and the CRA/IRS are all super intimidating. Literally, one of my biggest fears is fucking up my taxes and having them come for me. Instead, my accountant takes care of all of those things! Additionally, she also does my bookkeeping month over month for my sole proprietorship and my corporation. I love it this was so that when it comes to tax season she has everything she needs!

2. Incorporate As Early As Possible

Speaking of sole proprietorships and corporations… INCORPORATE EARLY! Okay, in reality, this is a case-by-case basis but if you are at the level where being a creator is your full-time job I would highly consider it.

Here’s the TLDR on the differences (shoutout to my Law of Shareholders Corporations class! And they say influencers don’t use their degrees!):

• When you’re a Sole Proprietor the liability on you and you only. Additionally, the money you make is sole income. Meaning that you’re taxed as an individual.
• When you’re a Corporation the liability is on your company (in most cases. Please actually consult a lawyer for specifics). The money that you make is paid to a company bank account and it’s taxed at a corporate rate.

So you might be thinking… “okay Karly but why does this matter?”. Let me tell ya! Taxes are the bane of my existence and incorporating helps to mitigate that. Instead of getting taxed at (example) 48% as an individual, your company could only be obligated to pay 16% as a corporation.

Long story short, incorporating cuts down on your taxes, frees up your cash flow and makes doing business a lot easier.

4. Put Money Away For Taxes & Remit It Quarterly

Remember when I said taxes are the bane of my existence? I meant it! One part of business that a lot of people fail to think about until it’s time to pay is taxes. Specifically income taxes.

When you’re self-employed you don’t have the company taking taxes and contributions off of your money. You’re making 100% of what is owed and it’s up to you to pay those taxes when you file every year. And trust me, they add up. And QUICKLY.

When I was first stepping into full-time content creation I would just put 30% of each invoice into a savings account in my bank. It worked for a while. Until I started seeing money pile up that I technically couldn’t touch but really wanted to. So I did. Suddenly I had even more money that I needed to save for taxes because it was just sitting there looking pretty. If you’re like me, I don’t recommend this.

Flash forward to now and what has been working for me is quarterly remittance. Essentially, I still take 30% off of every brand deal and put it into a savings account. But when the end of the quarter comes, I send that money to the CRA and it stays with them until I file my taxes. This ensures that I’m not spending that money and also that my tax bill is not one giant mountain when I file at the end of the year.

3. Pay Yourself A Salary & Issue Dividend Bonuses

This is a money move that I’m still really trying to make and figure out but here is the wisdom I can offer you so far.

Remember when we were talking about getting paid 100% of your invoice? Or about the difference in taxes between a sole proprietorship and a corporation? This is the reason!

Something I wish I would have set up early (if I had incorporated earlier) is paying myself a salary. Essentially, now that I am incorporated I can be an employee of my own company. This means I run payroll through my corporation and pay myself like a regular employee. I take off all the income taxes and contributions before the money hits my bank accountant and it gets remitted directly to the CRA. Doing this also helps me pay less in taxes as I am in control of how much money I pay myself and what tax bracket I can put myself in.

Okay so what about a dividend?  This is a strategy I have yet to implement but here is my vision.

TLDR: when you issue yourself a dividend it doesn’t count in the same way as a salary. Meaning that you’re not getting room to contribute to your RRSP as you would with a salary. For this reason, I love the hybrid salary + dividend strategy.

Essentially, you pay yourself a regular salary every single month and at the end of the quarter, you issue yourself a bonus dividend. Similar to how I save a percentage of my invoice for taxes, I also save it for bonuses. This strategy allows me to have a salary that allows me room to contribute to my retirement while also being able to take advantage of the benefits of dividends.

I know this strategy might seem complicated. This is personally what works best for me. If you’re unsure what works best for you please contact a financial professional to discuss what strategy is right for you.

5. Utilize Fintech Tools

Something I always here creators talk about is the business side. Specifically on invoicing and finances. So for the last of our 5 smart money moves to start ASAP as a creator, I’m going to share with you a list of financial technology tools I love that make my business run so much smoother!

Wave Apps for invoicing

Wave Apps is a free invoicing software that I use for both my corporation and my sole prop. It’s extremely user friendly and allows you to simply plug and play. I’ve seen creators use things like Canva and Photoshop to create invoices and personally, I think that’s a lot of work. Wave makes it 10x easier to create and share invoices and also hooks up to your banks and credit cards to run as a bookkeeping software as well.

Wagepoint for payroll

Wagepoint is a god send for payroll! Because I pay myself as an employee of my company, I needed a payroll system. Wagepoint makes it easy to schedule payments with a few clicks and the money is sent directly to my bank account. They charge a percentage on every transaction based on the amount of the invoice but I eat that fee for its ease of use. Additionally, Wagepoint automatically remits the taxes taken off of employees cheques to the CRA/IRS so you don’t have to do it yourself!

Dext for receipts

Dext is a software I use with my accountant for receipt tracking. Write-offs are huge for the self employed world and being able to have a place to organize them is incredible. I simply scan my receipts from the Dext app and it auto-populates things like which card I paid with, the total amount, and what category it belongs to. You can also use Dext (like I do) with your accountant and bookkeeper who you can issue access to.

Peblo for Canadian payments

If you’re a creator the idea of “Net 30” is no unfamiliar to you. And if we’re being honest, it’s rarely Net 30 anyways! Peblo is a payments company that gets you paid ASAP. Peblo pays out your invoice so you don’t have to wait for the companies to pay you. Instead, they pay you directly and wait for the companies to pay them. They charge 1-3% depending on how late an invoice is paid but I love it if I need access to more cash ASAP.

Willa for American payments

Similar to Peblo is Willa! Based on the same payment model, Willa is the American version of Peblo. Essentially, Willa pays you out ASAP and the companies pay Willa. If you’re American and looking at speeding up your invoicing process, Willa might be for you.

I don’t dance now, I make money moves!

Miss Cardi said it best and I hope you feel the same way! I know money and business can be a tricky topic amongst the creator community so I truly hope that you found this post valuable. I love being able to help creators with the knowledge I’ve learned along the way and I can’t wait to see us all thriving very soon!

before you go…
+ check out 8 Ways To Push The Reset Button On Your Life Every Single Month

xo! your girl, karly