Do you have a good system for billing, either for collaborative work or piano teaching, or both?
For the past two years I have used the free version of an online software called Wave for invoicing and all of my accounting. I have found it to be a great way of keeping track of my business finances.
Currently, my business activity consists of accompanying a weekly community choir, teaching a private piano studio of 11 students, selling digital products online, and collaborative freelance gigs. By using Wave for all of these activities, I am able to:
- Use a customizable invoice template with my logo and business information
- Save customer contact information
- Keep track of paid and unpaid invoices
- Record sales
- Record expenses
- View and print reports for accounting and tax purposes
- Duplicate past invoices for recurring charges
- Create categories and descriptions of recurring billable activities that Wave displays in a drop-down menu (45-minute piano lesson, 30-minute piano lesson, 30-minute rehearsal and Solo and Ensemble performance, 2.5 hour choir rehearsal, etc.)
There is some legwork on my end to get invoices to my clients. The free version of Wave only offers a link or downloadable PDF of invoices, so I have to email each customer when I am ready to bill. For now, I am willing to invest that bit of time in exchange for getting to use a free tool. Wave does have automations available for paid subscribers, so that is an option for those who want that feature. At any given time, I am able to view a report of income and expenses broken down by categories I have assigned. There are many reports available at the click of a button!
Wave is a great tool for collaborative pianists (or “accompanists” if you prefer the old school title!) and piano teachers to keep track of billing and payments in a professional, organized fashion. I encourage you to give it a try!
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Image credit: David Yonatan González from Pixabay