Let’s be honest: we freelancers like to think of ourselves as a pretty intelligent lot. And yet, when it comes to dealing with our tax affairs, we can suddenly feel pretty stupid.
But we are here to reassure you. No, you’re not stupid. And you’re not alone in struggling with taxes either.
A staggering 73% of freelancers say managing taxes is the biggest strain on their mental health. And it’s not at all surprising. In truth, the UK’s tax system is old-fashioned, overly convoluted, confusing and very user-unfriendly. More than a third of Britons (36%) say it is the subject in life they understand the least.
If only there was an easy-to-use app that could guide you through the process from start to finish, with people on hand to advise when you get stuck. Well, now there is!
Pie: the app to solve your tax problems
Pie is simply the app freelancers have been crying out for. And that’s because it’s the UK’s first ever digital solution for managing your whole the tax process, from start to finish.
With an attractive and super intuitive interface, Pie makes it easy to manage your invoicing, accounting and tax matters – all in one place. It’s a bit like having an accountant in your pocket, available to you 24/7, wherever you are.
So rather than constantly stressing about how much tax you owe, what happened to the electronic receipt, when that customer invoice was resolved and a million other things you’d rather not think about – you don’t have to.
Instead, Pie keeps everything managed and organised, from invoicing your clients to submitting your tax returns to HMRC. You can see your tax bill, forecasts and income in one place when you need. And it frees up huge amounts of time for you to focus on making money instead of stressing over boring and stressful admin.
It even looks good, thanks to a brilliant visual identity designed by one of our favorite agencies, Output!
Perhaps most importantly, there are no unpleasant tax surprises at the end of the year because Pie keeps track of how much tax you owe in real time. And at a time when prices and rents are rising, client budgets are being tightened and freelancers are being pressured from all sides, it’s not to be snorted.
Let’s dive into some of Pie’s key features…
1. Integrated invoicing
Pie goes beyond tax management by enabling you to manage all the different parts of your freelance business in one convenient interface. This means, for example, that you can create and send digital invoices, track payments and manage your earnings, all within the app.
Automatic payment reminders save time and make it more likely that customers will pay quickly, while revenue tracking helps you keep an eye on how much you have going out and coming in. How cool is that?
2. Stress-free accounting
Let’s face it: you don’t work in a creative discipline like design, illustration, photography or animation because you like boring, boring bureaucracy. Instead, you want to spend as much time creating cool stuff as possible, and boring tasks like bookkeeping tend to take a back seat.
“I’ll fix it when I have a quiet day,” you tell yourself. But that day never seems to come; the magnitude of the task only increases, and you become increasingly reluctant to tackle it.
Pie is here to change that by taking most of the grunting out of your hands. For example, the app easily imports and categorizes your bank transactions to identify eligible expenses for reimbursements. It also stores all your expense receipts, ensuring compliance in the event of HMRC audits.
All of this makes bookkeeping much easier, helps you keep track of what you’re spending, and speeds up the tax filing process overall.
3. Organize multiple sources
Juggling multiple sources of income can be a real problem if you’re a creative freelancer with many strings to your bow and/or other income, such as property and equity income. In these scenarios, Pie’s ability to consolidate income and expenses from different accounts is a real game changer.
Whether it’s investments or various freelance gigs, Pie automatically highlights expenses that are eligible for reimbursement, providing clarity when — if left to yourself — you’re likely to end up hopelessly confused. That alone makes Pie a must-have for any multidisciplinary creative or aspiring freelancer in the future.
4. Seamless HMRC submission
In the UK, a staggering 600,000 people were fined £100 for filing their tax returns late last year. And even if you weren’t one of them, there’s a good chance you might be in the future. Because with the best will in the world, life gets in the way, and most of us end up scrambling to submit in the last few days before the deadline.
Then inevitably the system crashes and you spend the better part of a day trying to log in. So even if you manage to submit before the deadline and avoid the fine, that’s time you could have used to create stuff and earn freelance income… so it’s really just another type of financial penalty.
With Pie, however, you’ll never have this problem. Because pie is not just a tool; it is a registered tax agent. This means that all aspects of the tax return process can be carried out in the app, with submissions sent directly to HMRC.
Therefore, missing deadlines due to confusion or procrastination will be a thing of the past. And through Pie’s live return tracker, you can monitor the progress of your tax returns every step of the way. This transparent view provides a sense of control and visibility that has long been absent from the tax journey.
5. Tax insights in real time
Unlike traditional methods of accounting, which essentially leave freelancers in limbo for up to 20 months, Pie keeps you updated with your current tax position 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This means you can easily check the amount of tax you owe at any given time, along with current income, expenses, deductions and credits.
With the recent Making Tax Digital initiative making quarterly income reporting a requirement, this opportunity is more useful and important than ever.
6. Live tax support
Of course, no matter how good an app is, sometimes there’s no substitute for talking to an actual human expert. So it’s great news that Pie provides it through a live support service staffed by assistants who can guide you through the tax process at your own speed.
These experts are industry-specific, with years of knowledge and experience, meaning that whatever your specialty, you’ll get tailored advice that makes sense. This personal assistance is available 24/7, making those frantic last-minute calls to HMRC in the days leading up to the filing deadline a thing of the past.
Get started with Pie today!
So what are you waiting for? With higher living costs taking a toll on our daily finances, it’s never been more important to stay up-to-date with all aspects of your personal finances and tax management.
Pie makes this super easy, freeing up your time to make more money doing productive work and helping you stay on top of bills, rent and more. Get started today by visiting the Pie website.
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