Non-Staff Necessities: A Guide To Managing Freelancers

This time you perfected the hiring process so that each member of your start-up is matched to their position. In addition to reviewing resumes, you asked for samples of their work and even researched their work history to make sure they were reliable employees. You have done everything short of standing over their shoulders to make sure they were the conscientious professionals they claimed to be on paper. You have handed out assignments to the entire team, and everyone has met your expectations.

Now, it is your turn. However, you are having issues creating an office infrastructure that is consistent, that keeps track of invoices, that pays your contractors, and that can accurately calculate and store all of your business financials. Fortunately, you are managing staff in a day and age when freelancing has become a popular way to work, and the apps available to managers can make the administrative part of managing a simple process.

Continue reading to learn more about how you can successfully manage your freelance workers to ensure ultimate productivity.

Utilise Invoice Apps

One of the ways to effectively manage freelancers is to use an invoice app, which allows your business to keep track of work completed and payments made. Regardless of the size of the company, there is an invoice suited for your business. Small businesses might benefit from using invoice apps because they have apps for businesses that do more complex functions, i.e. auto-billing, branded invoices, receipt scanning, and the ability to accept deposits and partial payments.

Online Platforms

While invoice apps can help you manage tasks related to billing clients and receiving payments, online platforms can make managing a team of freelancers effortless. Many of these management systems take care of all tasks associated with running a business. Upwork, Workfast, and Freelancer are some of the more prominent online platforms that help match managers with prospective hires.

Depending on the platform, you can communicate with staff in an online platform by messaging them, sending screen shares, or calling them on the phone. In addition to making payments, these platforms help track payments to freelancers and include invoices related to the work completed. These platforms make it easy to give assignments and get submissions from your contractors. Finally, these platforms can also track time for those managers who pay freelancers on an hourly basis.

Time-Tracking Apps

For those looking for a way to accurately track time for freelancers who work on an hourly basis, time tracking apps allow managers to set up a system for paying them. Some apps allow businesses to manually enter time and others have auto-tracking. Hubstaff, Toggl, Harvest, and a number of other applications can be useful for businesses who have a handle on the bookkeeping part of managing freelancers but need help with keeping track of time.

Payment Platforms

There are a few ways that managers can pay freelancers. The first is through an online platform that makes payments directly to the freelancer’s bank account. The second is to make payments through an online payment centre, for example, Paypal, Google Wallet, Payoneer, and Skrill. After receiving an invoice from the contractor or freelancer, simply calculate payment and pay the invoice through one of these accounts.

Keeping Track Of Business

In managing freelancers, you can approach administrative tasks in two different ways. The first is to compile a list of apps that can help you accomplish needed tasks, and this works for a small staff. For businesses with more than ten employees, online platforms might be more appropriate because they house many apps under one umbrella, which can make managing freelancers much simpler and more efficient.