You are an artist.
Your job is to create.
From breathtaking paintings to beautiful prose, the job of an artist is to bring imagination to life and convey stories, emotions, and ideas through a canvas, a dance, a piece of writing, or a musical instrument.
Yet…behind the scenes, managing the financial aspects of an artistic career can be daunting.
From tracking your taxes to tracking your expenses, keeping up with the pragmatic part of personal finance is not usually an artist’s favorite part of their profession.
Key Takeaways
- Just like other professions, artists need to find ways to track expenses, understand their spending, and find ways to save.
- Whether it's supplies, promotional materials or even rent, artists have plenty of expenses they need to make sure they are capturing.
- Good expense tracking software can help an artist make sure they feel as good about their finances as they feel about the art they are trying to create.
As an artist, you know how to make colors, words, and other forms of creativity come to life.
That said, making your expenses follow suit can be much more challenging.
The reality of managing finances often feels worlds apart from the creative process, but it’s essential to maintain the health and sustainability of your artistic practice. Finding the right way to track your expenses will help you know where your money is going, plan for future projects, and can even highlight the areas where you might be able to save on some costs.
Balancing creativity with the practical side of tracking expenses might feel like a tedious task — but it’s going to be a crucial part of sustaining a successful art practice.
The Cost of Creativity: What Constitutes an Expense?
As an artist, your primary focus is on creating beautiful, impactful work that speaks to your audience.
And in order to do that, you probably need to spend some of your hard-earned money.
Whether you run an art studio, write children’s books, or create pottery in your own home, you will have expenses in order to keep your business going.
Let’s look at some typical expenses most artists will incur:
Art Supplies:
This includes paints, brushes, canvases, clay, paper, and any other materials needed for your creative process.
Studio Rent:
If you rent a space to create your art, this is a significant monthly expense.
Marketing Costs:
Promoting your work through websites, social media ads, print materials, and gallery fees.
Professional Services:
Hiring photographers, graphic designers, or other professionals to help showcase your work.
Travel Expenses:
Costs associated with traveling to exhibitions, shows, or client meetings.
Shipping and Handling:
Sending your artwork to buyers, galleries, or exhibitions involves packaging and shipping costs.
Education and Training:
Fees for workshops, courses, or conferences to improve your skills and stay updated in your field.
Utilities and Office Supplies:
Electricity, internet, phone bills, and basic office supplies like pens, paper, and ink.
Finding easy ways to identify and manage your expenses will help you better understand your financial health and not feel intimidated by it.
By keeping detailed records and regularly reviewing your expenses, you can make informed decisions and balance creativity and practicality.
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The Art of Expense Tracking: 6 Ways to Better Manage Your Expenses
Many artists claim that they aren’t good with money.
Perhaps it’s the lack of creativity that goes into the budgeting process, or maybe it’s the frustration of dealing with numbers and financial jargon.
Let’s look at 6 ways you can better manage and track your expenses:
#1: Create a Visual Budget
Transform your budgeting process into your own creative activity by using visual tools.
Many artists will use pie charts, bar graphs, and other visual aids to represent your income and expenses.
Color-code different categories like supplies, travel, and marketing to make it easy to see where your money is going.
You may also want to design spreadsheets that are visually appealing and intuitive. Include images or icons that represent different expense categories. This makes the process more engaging and less monotonous.
#2: Set Regular Financial Check-Ins
Schedule weekly or monthly sessions to review your finances.
Dedicate a specific time each week or month to update your expense records. This could be as simple as setting aside 30 minutes every Friday afternoon to review and categorize your expenses.
Think about these check-ins as a way to assess your progress toward financial goals. Are you saving for a new piece of equipment? Wanting to move into a new creative space? Tracking your expenses regularly helps you see how close you are to reaching that goal and whether you need to adjust your spending.
#3: Keep Your Receipts Organized
Thanks to the world of technology, there are lots of opportunities to use digital tools to scan and store receipts electronically..
You can find plenty of free and paid plans that allow you to take pictures of your receipts and store them digitally. This reduces clutter and ensures that you have a backup of all your expenses.
Another option is to invest in an expense tracking tool like Timesheets.com to help. This software offers a range of features designed to make expense tracking simple and efficient.
For physical receipts, set up a simple filing system with labeled folders for different categories of expenses. Regularly transfer these receipts to your digital storage to keep everything organized.
#4: Separate Personal and Business Finances
Yes, you’re an artist.
But you’re also a business person.
Having a dedicated bank account for your profession is an essential part of taking yourself seriously while also making it easier to track expenses and streams of income.
You may also want to consider getting a business credit card that offers rewards or cashback for business-related purchases. This can help you save money and gain additional benefits while managing your expenses.
#5: Seek Professional Advice
When the expenses, income and budgeting tasks get too complicated, you may want to consult with an accountant or financial advisor to help you get a handle on things.
A professional who works with artistic types (or at least those with irregular streams of income) can provide personalized advice based on your specific situation and financial goals.
They can teach you how to use certain online accounting software and/or specific invoicing and accounting features in software you may already have. They may also be able to steer you toward free business tools that will help you manage your work without costing anything.
A good financial advisor can even run financial reports to get a better idea of where you stand and ensure you’re taking advantage of any tax deductions for expenses related to your profession.
#6: Utilize Expense Tracking Apps
For the ultimate level of control and organization over your expenses, invest in expense tracking software that will take all the pain out of your expense tracking.
Even the most tech-adverse artists will find that expense tracking software can be a huge perk.
It can allow you to break down your expenses into categories, assign certain expenses to certain clients or projects, and help you keep complete and accurate books no matter how large or small your art business is.
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Here are a few scenarios of how expense tracking software can work for an artist:
Entering Art Supply Expenses:
Imagine you’ve just purchased a fresh batch of canvases, paints, and brushes for an upcoming exhibition.
Expense tracking software can help you quickly log these purchases, categorize them under “Art Supplies,” and even attach photos of the receipts. This makes it easy to see exactly how much you’re spending on supplies over time and helps you stay within your budget
Flexible Project Management:
Suppose you’re working on multiple projects simultaneously, such as a series of commissioned paintings and a public mural.
Good expense tracking software allows you to assign expenses to specific projects, providing a clear picture of the costs associated with each one. This flexible project management feature ensures that you can track and manage expenses accurately, without getting overwhelmed by the details.
Travel and Exhibition Costs:
As an artist, you might often travel for exhibitions, workshops, or client meetings.
Expense tracking software helps you log travel-related expenses, such as transportation, accommodation, and meals, in real-time. This keeps all your travel expenses organized and easily accessible for when you need to report them or seek reimbursements.
Studio Expenses:
Running a studio involves various ongoing expenses, from rent and utilities to internet and maintenance costs.
Using an expense tracking system, you can categorize these costs and monitor them regularly. This helps you identify trends, cut unnecessary expenses, and ensure that your studio operations are cost-effective.
Marketing and Promotion:
To promote your art, you probably spend some time and/or money investing in marketing campaigns, social media ads, and promotional materials.
Expense tracking software allows you to log these costs under a specific category and generate reports to analyze the return on investment. This way, you can make data-driven decisions about where to allocate your marketing budget for maximum impact.
Creative Collaboration: Why Timesheets.com Is an Artist's Perfect Partner
As an artist, balancing your creative energy with the practical need to run a business can be challenging.
This is where Timesheets.com steps in.
At Timesheets.com, we can offer artists of all types a seamless blend of functionality and ease to ensure your financial management is as inspired as your artwork.
Timesheets.com is not just an expense tracking tool. Our software is a comprehensive solution that supports your artistic journey every step of the way.
From tracking expenses to managing the hours you’ve worked on a project, our tools help you maintain financial clarity and efficiency, both of which will allow you to focus more on creating and less on bookkeeping.
Yes, you can use many free business tools to try and get your expenses and finances in order.
But at Timesheets.com, we have more than a few valuable features to share with you:
- Categorize Expenses by Project or Client: Allows for detailed tracking of costs specific to different projects or clients.
- Upload and Store Digital Receipts: Ensures all receipts are organized and accessible for easy reference and record-keeping.
- Generate Detailed Reports: Provides comprehensive insights into your financial health, helping you understand spending patterns and make informed decisions.
- Tailored Expense Management: Features are customized to meet the unique needs of your art business, ensuring thorough and efficient financial management.
In today’s digital age, cloud-based accounting tools are essential for keeping your financial information secure and accessible.
Timesheets.com offers the type of cloud-based solutions that you need to keep your financial life as inspired as your creative one.
Are you ready to find out how expense tracking can be almost as fun as creating art?
Then reach out to Tiimesheets.com today!
