The Simple 4-Part Financial Stack That Powers My Creative Business

One of the least glamorous—but most critical—parts of running a creative business is managing the money. When you're a solo entrepreneur, you're not just the artist; you're the CEO, marketing department, and, yes, the CFO. For years, I have dreaded the financial side of things, struggling to keep up with the learning curve of how to manage cash flowing a small business for the first time. I have been a freelancer before, I have been an employee and a manager and a consultant, but this is the first time I have needed to figure out ALL the tools to run a small business financially as a creative entrepreneur.

It took me the last 2 years to learn each step, but I wondered if it might help someone out there if I gave you a basic outline of what I decided on to save you time and stress. Everything changed when I found the right support tools and built a simple, reliable "financial stack." This is just a term for the set of tools and services that work together to keep my business finances organized. My system has four key pillars that allow me to focus my energy on what I do best: creating.

1. The Foundation: A Local Credit Union

Before you can track a single dollar, you need a place for your money to live. I bank with a local credit union instead of a large national bank. The reason is simple: service and simplicity. Credit unions are member-owned, which often translates to lower fees, better interest rates, and personalized customer service where they actually know your name. I will say the credit union website experience isn't any better than our national bank account websites. You will have to keep up with changes in how they process passwords and security, handle transfers, and when the bank or credit union switches software in ways that need some upkeep linking ACH accounts to your billpay and the like.

One side note: we have two bank accounts because we started with two small businesses that linked together when we joined real estate investment with media and publishing to pivot Cronicle to focusing on helping people follow this path of creating a healthy remote business lifestyle. There are some downsides: more paperwork, more complexity with debit cards and transfers and tracking finances in two bookkeeping accounts. But it does make sense for our situation to have one business account managing the rental house and real estate side of the business and another distinct division for publishing. If I could do it again I might combine these. Jury's still out. If you don't have a local credit union, just bum around on bank websites until you find one you can stand. Some of them really are that bad that it will cause financial hiccups in your business.

2. The Engine: QuickBooks Online

This is the digital hub of my financial world. QuickBooks Online syncs directly with my credit union accounts, automatically importing every transaction, and it allows me to create "rules" that set patterns for the software to auto-categorize expenses and income. This leaves me with the simple task of working with our bookkeeper and accountant to clean up the rest: owner capital infusions to help pay for the rental house need manually added transactions and uploaded receipts, and sometimes I have to clean up how the system categorizes transactions to keep the books neat, but the bookkeeper has the know-how to handle how Quickbooks works and I just check in monthly, which saves gobs of time and stress. My primary job is to tell the accountant how we are structuring our business so she can do the rest.

But it’s more than just a ledger. I use Quickbooks to handle payroll for contractors, automatically send tax forms at the right time for employees, to send professional invoices if needed, track mileage and depreciation for tax deductions, and run profit and loss reports with a single click. When tax season rolls around, there’s less of a frantic scramble. My entire financial year is already organized, categorized, and ready to go. We keep receipts on a cloud drive as a backup just in case for tax documents each year, and only have to upload receipts and forms that aren't automatically pulled from bank transactions to keep everything neat and tidy. It's so much better than the system we used at first I just couldn't recommend anything other than learning Quickbooks and finding a bit of support now so you don't have to change systems later. One caveat: Quickbooks requires you to keep up with reconciling the books each month, so unlike another portal like 1800 Accountant, you can't let the bookkeeping pile up (which is why I hired help).

3. The Guardian: LegalZoom

To truly separate my business and personal finances, I needed the right legal structure. I used LegalZoom to form my Limited Liability Company (LLC) and act as representative to send paperwork to the state on time and as required for the state I'm in. It was a straightforward, relatively cost-effective process that provided the essential legal barrier between my business liabilities and my personal assets, like my home and savings. This was a massive step in de-risking my career. While it’s not a tool I use daily, it provides the foundational legal protection that every serious business owner needs. Please note that Legalzoom is subscription based and will prompt you and guide you through filing annual reports and other required paperwork for your business, but it can only connect you with legal advisors locally if you have additional questions and that costs extra. Still, if you don't have a board and funding behind you to give you service providers to get your business set up, Legalzoom will save you all kinds of worry not knowing the requirements of your state for business structure and reporting.

4. The Strategist: A Local Accountant

Software is powerful, but it can’t replace human expertise. The most valuable part of my stack is my local accountant, who specializes in small businesses and real estate. She’s more than just a tax preparer; she’s a strategic partner. We meet quarterly to review my finances, have a separate team member to prep for taxes, and the team can identify potential deductions I might have missed. Because they understands the specific nuances of real estate investing/depreciation and creative sole proprietorships tax benefits and liabilities, their advice is tailored to my unique hybrid business model. This professional guidance is an investment that pays for itself many times over, though it is more expensive than a simpler service. Our service came recommended from a friend also in real estate investment who runs a bed and breakfast with several partners, so it's just perfect for us. I recommend interviewing a few local options and picking one that can work with your software, personality, and is easy to communicate with because you will have lots of questions at times.

By combining these four elements, I’ve built a financial system that works for me, not against me. It runs quietly in the background, giving me the clarity and confidence to pursue my creative goals. I am still getting started getting this business cash flowing, but these tools plus a simple income tracking spreadsheet for expenses, income, rental house occupancy rates, and tax rates given to me by our realtor helps me track our progress and stay focused. I hope this helps you get started!