best invoice software for freelance filmmakers

By default, as a single member LLC, you will likely be taxed as a sole-proprietor where any income is reported directly on your individual tax return through Sch C. Once incorporated, you can select how the LLC will be taxed. This article might help you decide which route to take.Ģ. In addition, LLCs generally have more flexibility in how they operate, as opposed to corporations (Inc). This offers some degree of protection to the freelancer. As mentioned, an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is a legal entity with its own rights and obligations separate from the owners, who are usually not personally responsible for the LLC’s debts and lawsuits. Start by choosing how you want to organize:ġ. With this structure you are tax planning and using the tax code to your advantage. The balance of any profits are taxed as a return of your investment similar to a dividend from a publicly traded C Corporation but you can draw on those earnings when needed. Then, my LLC needs to pass some of the profits it received down to me as earned income - hence the term “pass through entity.” By structuring this way you do not have to treat all earnings as FICA taxable as you would if you were a sole proprietor ( Schedule C ). I invoice and run payroll through my Loan-Out, so that everything is paid to my LLC. Great! But I don’t invoice them as Derek Sepe, the individual. Over the course of the shoot, the production pays me $25,000. Let’s say Production X hires me both for my services as a sound mixer, and for gear rental. You might think there’s nothing out of the ordinary about that, but there is some degree of nuance involved when I send invoices. When I’m hired on a production, I come with all my own gear to work and record sound. Essentially, if you’re a sound mixer like me, it creates a paper trail to show that when a production contracts your LLC, your LLC then passes some of the income to you. A Loan-Out company is a legal business entity established to provide the personal services of its owner (the freelancer) to third parties (productions).

Best invoice software for freelance filmmakers