So You Want to Freelance?

Register your name and ABN

To operate freelance or as a small business in Australia each person/business must have an ABN - Australian Business Number. If you are thinking of going freelance you MUST have an ABN or a business cannot claim invoices as a deduction and must deduct 48% from your invoice to send to the taxation office. This is one of the reasons many businesses say "no" to offering work ... if there is no ABN it takes a lot more paperwork to follow up and take tax out.Having your own ABN is of benefit to both you and any prospective customers.

For more information on getting an ABN go to the government website www.ato.gov.auClick on Businesses and Apply for ABN for more information.

Registering for GST and registering your BAS every 3 months or yearly is a separate issue and is best read at the Australian Tax Office website www.ato.gov.au

Insurances and tax obligations

Running your own business or going freelance needs careful consideration.
Personal and public liability insurance must also be taken out. Currently a small business cannot employ anyone on premises if they do not have adequate workers compensation or liability insurance. This makes it very difficult for anyone other than large businesses to employ anyone. eg For a solo operator to offer part-time work to another person, requires them to pay workers compensation, superannuation, liability insurance, other insurances, wages and expenses. This makes it almost impossible for small operators to have employees. So it is best to approach the large companies with existing employees if you wish to do freelance.

Make friends with your accountant.

You need to have a good relationship with your accountant (or whoever does your tax and books) as you will need to contact them regularly throughout the year for advice, not just at end of tax year.

If you are a solo operator and would like some tips on Starting Out / Marketing & Promotion / Working Smarter / Traps to Avoid / Personal Buisness / Keeping Customers / Growing Pains / Money Issues etc, go to www.flyingsolo.com.au

Why does a studio often charge by the hour?

A design studio is a small business. Whether it is one person or a few the same expenses apply. For example: They must keep their computer equipment and programs up-to-date and have multiple copies of the software on their computer/s. Programs are updated every year and must be upgraded to keep the same as the rest of the industry. Computers have to be upgraded or newly purchased every second year to cope with the enhanced software, memory and ram requirements. Insurances and wages have to be incorporated, etc. Stock photos must be purchased. Professional programs* such as the Adobe Suites should be upgraded regularly. (*Prices depend on supplier.) This business uses the Adobe Premium Creative, Production and Web Premium Suites (currently the CS5 set of suites) on a Mac platform.
See www.adobe.com.au for more information. (For students, there is a special academic rate to help students get started.) It costs thousands each year to upgrade programs for each user which is also reflected in hourly fees.
Fees must be paid regularly for accountant services, GST and guidance if employees are involved. Registration of business fees, website fees, and servers are also required.
All usual expenses including phone, postage, electricity, rent, subscriptions, memberships of business associations and registrations, advertising & promotion costs etc, plus maintenance, computer upgrading and salary, must all be included, regardless of whether the office is in a business district or home office. This equates to an hourly figure. Once costs are taken out there is about 15-30% of the hourly rate actually retained.
If a studio is creating a long-term project, then many more people are involved or subcontracted, which increases the costs per hour. This is necessary to create many large campaigns.

Associated services

Many designers also sub-contract work to writers, photographers, printers which then charge the designer who then charges the customer. As the designer has to spend time supervising these other services, they have to put a markup fee on the cost to cover their time and supervision. This fee is usually far less than the value of the time they spend following up the services and usually the printer charges the designer much less than an outside customer, so the print cost is still less to the customer than if they arranged it themselves. Any photos used must be purchased or ones taken by the designer or customer themselves and be free of copyright. Any photos involving children (other than personal family photos) must also have permission to use because of the child protection laws. If you have done a nice job involving children for a client, it is best to ask their permission before using it in your portfolio in brochures or web presentation. It is often safest to use copyright free stock photos that have been purchased for the job at hand. Examples can be found at www.creatas.com.au, www.istockphoto.com and similar websites. "Comp" photos (the samples with the watermark) can be used for practise work or presenting to a client as an idea, then the actual photo purchased when the client has chosen the final version.

If you are using music on your website in any way, or in a public place or in your business, then APRA fees apply. www.apra.com.au

It is NOT acceptable and is an infringement of copyright to use pictures from magazines or books or elsewhere without permission for commercial work.

Update Skills & Memberships

A designer must also keep up with changes in the industry, attend business seminars, networking and continually improve their knowledge through subscriptions to design magazines and research. A good website to subscribe to for updating skills is www.lynda.com

Creativity and original design is not an "instant" thing - it takes time to evaluate and come up with the right concept and solution for a customer.



Home What is Graphic Design? The Design Process So You Want to Freelance? Piracy Affects You Understanding Copyright Design Training Unicorn Graphics Unicorn Art & Design Design Blog Please remember to click Refresh of F5 to view the latest updates		So You Want to Freelance? Register your name and ABN To operate freelance or as a small business in Australia each person/business must have an ABN - Australian Business Number. If you are thinking of going freelance you MUST have an ABN or a business cannot claim invoices as a deduction and must deduct 48% from your invoice to send to the taxation office. This is one of the reasons many businesses say "no" to offering work ... if there is no ABN it takes a lot more paperwork to follow up and take tax out.Having your own ABN is of benefit to both you and any prospective customers. For more information on getting an ABN go to the government website www.ato.gov.auClick on Businesses and Apply for ABN for more information. Registering for GST and registering your BAS every 3 months or yearly is a separate issue and is best read at the Australian Tax Office website www.ato.gov.au Insurances and tax obligations Running your own business or going freelance needs careful consideration. Personal and public liability insurance must also be taken out. Currently a small business cannot employ anyone on premises if they do not have adequate workers compensation or liability insurance. This makes it very difficult for anyone other than large businesses to employ anyone. eg For a solo operator to offer part-time work to another person, requires them to pay workers compensation, superannuation, liability insurance, other insurances, wages and expenses. This makes it almost impossible for small operators to have employees. So it is best to approach the large companies with existing employees if you wish to do freelance. Make friends with your accountant. You need to have a good relationship with your accountant (or whoever does your tax and books) as you will need to contact them regularly throughout the year for advice, not just at end of tax year. If you are a solo operator and would like some tips on Starting Out / Marketing & Promotion / Working Smarter / Traps to Avoid / Personal Buisness / Keeping Customers / Growing Pains / Money Issues etc, go to www.flyingsolo.com.au Why does a studio often charge by the hour? A design studio is a small business. Whether it is one person or a few the same expenses apply. For example: They must keep their computer equipment and programs up-to-date and have multiple copies of the software on their computer/s. Programs are updated every year and must be upgraded to keep the same as the rest of the industry. Computers have to be upgraded or newly purchased every second year to cope with the enhanced software, memory and ram requirements. Insurances and wages have to be incorporated, etc. Stock photos must be purchased. Professional programs* such as the Adobe Suites should be upgraded regularly. (Prices depend on supplier.) This business uses the Adobe Premium Creative, Production and Web Premium Suites* (currently the CS5 set of suites) on a Mac platform. See www.adobe.com.au for more information. (For students, there is a special academic rate to help students get started.) It costs thousands each year to upgrade programs for each user which is also reflected in hourly fees. Fees must be paid regularly for accountant services, GST and guidance if employees are involved. Registration of business fees, website fees, and servers are also required. All usual expenses including phone, postage, electricity, rent, subscriptions, memberships of business associations and registrations, advertising & promotion costs etc, plus maintenance, computer upgrading and salary, must all be included, regardless of whether the office is in a business district or home office. This equates to an hourly figure. Once costs are taken out there is about 15-30% of the hourly rate actually retained. If a studio is creating a long-term project, then many more people are involved or subcontracted, which increases the costs per hour. This is necessary to create many large campaigns. Associated services Many designers also sub-contract work to writers, photographers, printers which then charge the designer who then charges the customer. As the designer has to spend time supervising these other services, they have to put a markup fee on the cost to cover their time and supervision. This fee is usually far less than the value of the time they spend following up the services and usually the printer charges the designer much less than an outside customer, so the print cost is still less to the customer than if they arranged it themselves. Any photos used must be purchased or ones taken by the designer or customer themselves and be free of copyright. Any photos involving children (other than personal family photos) must also have permission to use because of the child protection laws. If you have done a nice job involving children for a client, it is best to ask their permission before using it in your portfolio in brochures or web presentation. It is often safest to use copyright free stock photos that have been purchased for the job at hand. Examples can be found at www.creatas.com.au, www.istockphoto.com and similar websites. "Comp" photos (the samples with the watermark) can be used for practise work or presenting to a client as an idea, then the actual photo purchased when the client has chosen the final version. If you are using music on your website in any way, or in a public place or in your business, then APRA fees apply. www.apra.com.au It is NOT acceptable and is an infringement of copyright to use pictures from magazines or books or elsewhere without permission for commercial work. Update Skills & Memberships A designer must also keep up with changes in the industry, attend business seminars, networking and continually improve their knowledge through subscriptions to design magazines and research. A good website to subscribe to for updating skills is www.lynda.com Creativity and original design is not an "instant" thing - it takes time to evaluate and come up with the right concept and solution for a customer.


Copyright Unicorn Graphics 1997-2010 - Disclaimer: All information is of a general nature and we recommend getting independent advice.