7 Tips for the Self-Employed MTBC

If you are an independent contractor or have private pay clients then you are a self-employed business owner! Being self-employed comes with many benefits but it is also a lot of work. Here are some of the resources that I have found helpful in my first few years as a business owner:

1. Mileage Tracker: If you travel from client to client or facility to facility a mileage tracker will become your new best friend. I personally use MileIQ. Often, you can find coupons online to lower the price of a subscription. With MileIQ you can get 40 free drives a month or have unlimited drives as you pay the subscription price of  $59.99/year. Some of my favorite features are as follows: labeling locations, auto-classifying frequent drives. the ability turn off drive detection on the weekends or when you aren't working, and options add tolls and parking if applicable. There are so many additional resources with MileIQ so check them out!

2. Get a CPA: ***DISCLAIMER: I am not a certified tax expert. These are some lessons that I have learned from our tax professionals in the past as well as information gathered from family members who own their own businesses. I highly recommend that you reach out to a local tax professional to help you file your taxes and to answer any tax-based questions***

As a self-employed individual, you will have to pay more taxes than others who are W2 employees. However, you are able to take more deductions that W2 employees are. Deductions lower your net income and therefore lower the amount of taxes that you owe. Listed below are some of the deductions that I have found most beneficial for my practice:

• Home office: I found that my productivity level significantly increased since I officially established a home office. Not only am I more productive, but I also get to deduct some of my housing expenses on my taxes. For example, my office is 7.5% of the total square footage of my house. Therefore, I get to deduct 7.5% of my mortgage and utilities. Even when I lived in a tiny, 1 bedroom apartment I deducted 3-4% of my housing expenses in order to claim as many deductions as possible. 
• Mileage: This is by far my largest deduction as a traveling music therapist. Make sure you record your starting mileage at the beginning of each year!
• Instruments/office supplies/materials
• CMTE/Conference costs
• Part of phone and internet bills: I currently deduct 50% of my phone and internet bills since I work from home and use my personal phone for business purposes. 
• Subscriptions: Google BAA, HP Instant Link, Spotify, etc. 
• Shipping Services
• AMTA membership/CBMT dues

3. Music Therapy Business Owner Facebook Group: I have found music therapists to be extremely helpful people that share their experiences. Check out my other blog post here for more helpful facebook groups for music therapists.

4. Google Drive and BAA: When I was working for the ACU Music Department during my undergrad, my boss introduced me to the wonderful creation that is Google Drive. Now, I use Google Drive for 99% of my personal and business needs. My favorite benefit of Google Drive is the ability to be able to access your documents and resources from anywhere. I keep my expense tracking sheets, forms for documentation, and intervention and visual resources on Google Drive for easy access. I also share resources with other therapists and can download files for offline use. When I established by DBA last year I also set up a Google BAA account in order to be as HIPPA compliant as possible. A BAA (Business Associate Agreement) is used to protect both parties when health information is exchanged or stored. The cost to maintain the BAA is relatively low ($6.30/month for 1 user) and it is a tax deduction!

5. DBA: When I first started out as a music therapist I did not have an official business set up. However, after I went through my first round of taxes, it was suggested that I set up at least a DBA (doing business as) in order to make myself seem more "official" to the IRS. Creating a DBA cost $27 in my county and is also a write-off. (If you haven't noticed I am a big fan of write-offs and deductions!) At this point, since I am only a one MTBC show I did not establish an LLC. My business consultant and CPA recommend that I should start one only if I start hiring contractors or employees and/or reach an income of over $80,000.

6. Business banking account: This is has been one of my most recent business ventures. I always thought that I kept such great records and therefore why should I go create a separate business account? However, I have found it to be a lot more helpful for keeping things organized and straight forward. You will need a DBA (in my experience) to set up a business banking account.

7. Hotspot: This is also a more recent addition to my business. As a traveling music therapist, I often spend time in coffee shops, libraries, and Panera working on documentation. While these places all provide internet, it is not secure. Therefore, I found myself just typing in my notes app and working on documentation that was not as time-sensitive. Therefore, I started looking into what it would cost to add a hotspot to my plan and it was only $5/month. This simple change has helped me become much more productive.

Do you have any business owner tips that you would recommend? Share below!