Bookkeeping Services for Artists and Creatives: Numbers Made Easy

Most artists and creatives would rather be chasing their muse than chasing numbers. 

But whether you’re a painter, writer, musician, or graphic designer, managing your finances is a crucial part of running a successful creative business. 

We get it, bookkeeping is a tough chore. But don’t worry, you don’t have to deal with it alone.

Bookkeeping services can simplify your financial chaos, leaving you free to focus on your craft.

In this guide, we’ll help you navigate the world of bookkeeping services with practical tips, top recommendations, and key bookkeeping insights tailored to creative professionals.

Book a free demo with our experts to understand how bookkeeping works differently for those in the creative business.

How to Choose the Best Bookkeeping Service for Your Creative Business

When picking a bookkeeping service tailored to your creative needs, look for options that align with the unique demands of your business. 

Here are the key factors to consider:

1. Income And Expense Tracking

As a creative professional, your revenue streams might include freelance projects, product sales, or royalties. 

A good bookkeeping service should make tracking multiple income sources seamless, while also helping you categorize expenses like materials, travel, and marketing.

2. Tax Preparation And Compliance

Tax obligations for creatives can get tricky, especially with deductions for studio space, equipment, and even client lunches. 

Look for a service that simplifies tax filings and ensures compliance, so you avoid penalties and maximize deductions.

3. Budgeting And Financial Forecasting

A bookkeeping service that helps you understand spending trends and forecasts future earnings can be a game-changer. 

These insights will empower you to make strategic decisions, whether it’s investing in new tools or scaling your business.

4. Mobile Accessibility

Creatives are always on the go — whether you’re traveling for a gig, sourcing inspiration, or attending an event. 

Choose a bookkeeping service that offers mobile-friendly tools so you can manage your finances anytime, anywhere.

5. Customizable Financial Reports

Detailed reports on profit margins, tax deductions, and expenses give you a clear picture of your financial health. 

Opt for a service that generates customized reports, helping you make informed decisions to grow your business.

6. Integration With Your Workflow

Your bookkeeping service should play nicely with the tools you already use, like PayPal, Shopify, or invoicing software. 

Seamless integration saves time and ensures data synchronization across platforms, so nothing falls through the cracks.

7. Cost-Effectiveness

A bookkeeping service should fit within your budget without compromising essential features.

Compare options and ensure you’re getting value for your investment, whether you’re just starting out or running an established creative business.

Top 5 Bookkeeping Services for Artists and Creatives

Now, let’s dive into the top bookkeeping services options:

1. doola Bookkeeping: The Perfect Fit for Creative Entrepreneurs

Tailored to meet the unique needs of artists, designers, and creatives, doola Bookkeeping is packed with powerful features that simplify financial management, so you can focus on your craft and creativity.

Key Features:

✅ Real-Time Financial Insights

Creativity doesn’t always come with predictable income, but with doola, you’re never in the dark about your finances. 

Every time you log in, you’ll see up-to-date insights into your income, expenses, and overall financial health. 

This clarity helps you decide when to cut unnecessary costs or reinvest in your creative ventures, like new equipment or marketing campaigns.

✅ Automatic Transaction Categorization

Sorting through expenses like studio rentals, art supplies, and travel costs manually? Put an end to it now. 

doola’s smart algorithms automatically categorize your income and expenses, ensuring your books are always accurate. This is a game-changer for creatives who juggle multiple projects or freelance gigs.

✅ Bank Integrations (Including Mercury)

doola syncs seamlessly with business bank accounts like Mercury, streamlining your transactions directly into its platform. 

This ensures real-time accuracy and eliminates the hassle of manual uploads, so you can focus on brainstorming your next masterpiece instead of reconciling accounts.

✅ Monthly Financial Reports

doola Bookkeeping generates clear, easy-to-read reports like income statements and balance sheets.

Whether you’re preparing for a client meeting or evaluating how much you can invest in your next creative project, these reports give you a full picture of your financial health.

✅ Tax-Ready Year-End Package

Tax season doesn’t have to be a horror movie story. With doola Bookkeeping, all your financial data is neatly organized and ready for filing. 

This includes customized tax saving tips for creative minds, ensuring deductions like travel, marketing, and equipment costs are maximized.

✅ Multi-Currency Support

For artists working with international clients or selling globally, doola Bookkeeping simplifies financial tracking in multiple currencies, ensuring nothing gets lost in conversion.

✅ Proactive Customer Success Team

Beyond bookkeeping, our customer success team is available to guide you through the onboarding process, ensure smooth transitions, and address any concerns along the way.

Price:

Starts at $25/month for the bookkeeping software.

Book a free demo now to experience doola

2. FreshBooks: Simplified Invoicing and Bookkeeping for Freelancers

FreshBooks is known for its invoicing capabilities, complemented by essential bookkeeping features suitable for freelancers and small creative businesses.

Key Features:

✅ Time Tracking and Expense Management: Track billable hours and expenses, crucial for project-based creatives.

✅ Customizable Invoices: Design invoices that align with your brand, enhancing professionalism.

✅ Collaboration Tools: Share financial information with team members or clients, facilitating transparency and collaboration.

Price:

Starts at $15/month.

3. Bench: Simple Bookkeeping for Creatives Who Want Human Support

Bench provides a straightforward bookkeeping solution that pairs you with a dedicated bookkeeper.

While it offers a reliable and user-friendly experience, its features are more basic compared to doola’s comprehensive bookkeeping suite designed specifically for creative businesses.

Key Features:

✅ Dedicated Bookkeeper: Bench assigns a dedicated bookkeeper to handle your monthly financials and manage your basic bookkeeping tasks. 

✅ Monthly Financial Statements: Bench provides essential reports like income statements and balance sheets..

✅ Year-End Tax Assistance: Bench ensures your financials are organized for tax season. However, it doesn’t provide the same tax-ready year-end package with creative-specific deductions and prep that doola excels in.

✅ User-Friendly Dashboard: You can also access an intuitive dashboard that simplifies complex financial management tasks.

Price:

Starts at $249/month.

4. Wave: Cost-Effective Bookkeeping for Emerging Creatives

Wave offers a free, user-friendly platform ideal for creative business owners starting their financial management journey.

Key Features:

✅ Free Invoicing and Receipt Scanning: Send professional invoices and scan receipts at no cost, streamlining income and expense tracking.

✅ Integration with Payment Platforms: Sync with platforms like PayPal and Stripe to consolidate financial data.

✅ Basic Financial Reports: You can generate essential reports to understand your financial position and make informed decisions.

Price:

Free for bookkeeping but there are additional costs for payroll and premium support.

5. Xero: Comprehensive Accounting for Creative Professionals

Xero offers a robust accounting platform with features that cater to the needs of creative businesses.

Key Features:

✅ Invoicing and Quotes: Create and send professional invoices and quotes, helping you get paid faster and maintain a professional image.

✅ Bank Reconciliation: Connect your bank accounts to Xero and reconcile transactions effortlessly, ensuring your financial data is always up-to-date.

✅ Expense Tracking: You can monitor your spending by capturing bills and receipts, making it easier to manage project costs and claim expenses.

✅ Financial Reporting: Just like doola, the tool generates comprehensive financial reports, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets

✅ Mobile App: Manage your finances on the go with Xero’s mobile app, allowing you to stay connected to your business anytime, anywhere.

Price:

Starts at $2.90/month.

Benefits of an Online Bookkeeping Service for Your Creative Business

Creative businesses run on passion, not spreadsheets. So don’t waste time hunting bookkeeping hacks on google.

Here’s how an online bookkeeping service can simplify your financial life:

Track Expenses Without Tiring Your Eyes and Fingers

You don’t need to waste time organizing receipts or risk forgetting to log a major deduction.

An online bookkeeping service keeps tabs on every expense — automatically categorizing it into neat little boxes.

Get Real-Time Insights Into Your Finances

As mentioned earlier, creative businesses often deal with irregular income. One month it’s a big gig; the next, it’s crickets. 

Bookkeeping services provide real-time insights into your financial health, so you’re never blindsided.

Make Tax Season (Almost) Painless

You can claim every deduction you’re entitled to — studio space, art supplies, even travel to that gallery show — without the last-minute scramble.Bookkeeping services organize your finances year-round and prep your tax data for easy filing.

Skip the Manual Bank Reconciling

Matching your bank transactions to your income and expenses sounds like a circle of hell. 

A bookkeeping service automates this process, keeping everything accurate without making you file endless paperwork.

Handle International Payments With Ease

Working with clients overseas or selling art globally?

Bookkeeping tools with multi-currency support simplify your financial tracking, so you’re not struggling with exchange rates

Bookkeeping Tips for Artists and Creatives 

Here are some practical tips to avoid bookkeeping challenges:

Separate Personal and Business Finances

Mixing personal and business expenses is like using the wrong brush for a painting — it’s messy and inefficient.

Here’s what you should do:

✅ Open a Business Bank Account: This makes it easier to track expenses, prepare taxes, and see how much your business is actually making. Services like doola Bookkeeping can even help you integrate business bank accounts seamlessly with bookkeeping software.

✅ Use a Dedicated Credit Card: Charging all business-related expenses to one card simplifies expense tracking and ensures nothing gets missed.

Track Expenses Consistently

The “I’ll do it later” approach rarely works for bookkeeping. Make tracking expenses a habit.

✅ Leverage Apps or Software: Tools like doola Bookkeeping or other platforms automatically categorize expenses, saving you time and reducing errors.

✅ Schedule Weekly Check-Ins: Dedicate 15-20 minutes each week to review expenses, invoices, and receipts. It’s less overwhelming than waiting until the end of the month — or worse, the year.

Save for Taxes Year-Round

Taxes can be a huge pain, but they don’t have to kill your creative mojo and drain your energy.

Set Aside 25-30% of Income: This ensures you’re prepared for quarterly or annual tax payments without scrambling for cash.

Understand Deductions: Keep track of deductible expenses like studio rent, equipment, travel, and even home office costs. 

Use Bookkeeping Tools That Fit Your Workflow

Trying to do everything manually is a recipe for burnout. Let technology lighten the load.

Find Intuitive Tools: Choose bookkeeping software that integrates with your existing systems, like invoicing platforms or payment apps.

Automate What You Can: Automatic bank syncing, expense categorization, and report generation will save you hours of grunt work.

Organize Financial Documents

Use cloud storage platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox to save invoices, contracts, and receipts.

Plus, create folders by month or category to make retrieval easy when you need specific records.

Plan for Slow Months

Creative businesses often have unpredictable income. Planning for lean periods can keep you afloat.

Create a Budget: Break down your expenses to see where you can cut back during slower months.

Build a Financial Cushion: Save extra during busy periods to cover essentials when income slows down.

Know When to Call in the Pros

There’s no shame in asking for help — especially when it comes to your finances. Hire a Bookkeeper from doola who can handle your unique needs as a creative professional.

Be Consistent

Whether it’s updating your expense tracker or reviewing your financial reports, consistency keeps everything manageable. 

So, set weekly routines to review your financial data.  Remember, the longer you wait to handle finances, the harder it becomes to catch up.

Creativity Meets Clarity: Let doola Handle the Numbers

We’ll come straight to the point.

When you choose doola Bookkeeping, you’re not just outsourcing the numbers — you’re partnering with a service that understands what it’s like to run a creative business. 

We’re here to make your life easier, help your finances flow as smoothly as your creative process, and keep up with you as your business evolves.

In summary,

💡 We get your world: Unpredictable income streams, tax deductions for creative tools, global payments? We’ve got it all covered.

⏳ We save you time: No more spreadsheets, no more late-night “Where did that receipt go?” panic attacks.

🚀 We grow with you: Just starting out or leveling up? doola scales alongside your vision.

Ready to make room for more creativity?

Let doola Bookkeeping simplify your financial life and give you back your time, energy, and sanity. 

Book a demo today and see how we make bookkeeping as seamless as your best work.

FAQs

What’s the best way to track irregular income as a creative?

Using a bookkeeping service like doola that offers income tracking and categorization can simplify managing irregular payments from multiple sources, like freelance gigs and product sales.

Can bookkeeping services help with tax deductions specific to creatives?

Yes, many bookkeeping services help identify tax-deductible expenses common in creative fields, such as studio rent, art supplies, travel, and marketing costs.

Do I need a separate bank account for my creative business?

While not required, a separate bank account is highly recommended to streamline bookkeeping and separate personal and business expenses, making tax filing easier.

Can I do my own bookkeeping as a creative freelancer?

Yes, you can manage it independently using basic bookkeeping software, but hiring a service may save time and improve accuracy, especially if you’re unfamiliar with financial management.

What should I look for in a bookkeeping service as a creative professional?

Look for a service (such as doola Bookkeeping) that understands freelance income, integrates with the platforms you use, and offers expense categorization and tax assistance relevant to creatives.