<Savvy

I work as an independent contractor. ICs are a very attractive option for companies as they require significantly less HR time; all HR has to worry about is cutting them a check every-so-often. ICs are not employees, therefore they don’t receive key benefits, such as healthcare.

 

The biggest headache of being an IC, besides having to worry about healthcare, is having to do your own small business taxes. Figuring out small business tax laws, navigating the IRS website’s section for small business owners, and estimating how much you owe the IRS and how much you owe your state for income tax, social security and medicare is frustrating and time consuming.

 

This is where Bootstrap comes to help. Bootstrap is a free (for the time being) online software tool that helps you keep track of business income, expenses and estimates your tax liability. It was originally developed due to the struggling of small businesses, but works for anyone or any business that doesn’t have a team of financials figuring tracking these things them.

 

From the Bootstrap website: 

 

"The goal is to keep it as simple as possible, while helping entrepreneurs track all of their income and expenses to get their taxes done accurately."

 

And indeed it is simple. I particularly like the tax estimation function, and the fact that it takes in to account business expenses and deductions.

 

 

(Picture taken from bootstrap online software tour–you didn’t think I’d let you see my measly income, did you?)

 

Bootstrap also boasts a great UI and sleek aesthetic. Not only is it a handy tool, I don’t dread having to stare at it.

 

My only gripe is that it doesn’t offer more guidance for small business tax deductions. You can enter a deduction as an expense, but Bootstrap won’t tell you what to deduct. Also, it doesn’t yet estimate state taxes, but the developers have promised that this feature will be available in the future.

 

Despite these shortcomings, Bootstrap is still the best financial tool a small business owner or independent contractor can use for bookkeeping. I’ll continue to use Bootstrap until this country can wise up on tax laws.

 

Bootstrap was developed by Kevin Reeth and Ben Curren in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is currently in Beta.

Bootstrap blog

Ben Curren’s blog