When you freelance to earn money, you are self-employed.
Freelancing typically involves providing services such as graphic design, bookkeeping, writing, tutoring, or Web design for clients.
Many professionals enjoy the ability to earn money with a flexible schedule and the freedom to work from almost anywhere. Although freelancing puts you in charge of your hours and your earnings, it also involves some administrative responsibilities for your own payroll accounting and bookkeeping to ensure that you’re adhering to tax regulations.
You may also face challenges if you need to provide proof of income for housing or loan applications because you won’t have the typical pay stubs that most people accumulate from their employers.
What Is Proof of Income?
Proof of income is documentation that shows your earnings.
Most people with traditional employment can present proof of income by providing copies of pay stubs. Other methods of verifying income include bank statements, copies of federal income tax returns, or tax documents such as W-2s or 1099s.
Proof of income might also be provided with self-employment ledger documentation, bookkeeping records, or a year-to-date profit and loss statement.
Sometimes, a proof of income letter can be submitted to verify income and employment. This letter might be written by an employer or client, by you as the income-earner, or by an accountant. The letter must include all relevant information to prove income, including weekly hours worked, hourly wage or annual salary, and projections for sustaining or increasing the earnings in the future.
The Need for Proof of Income
Proof of income may be required in a number of circumstances.
Generally, you should expect to have to prove your income to show your ability to make ongoing payments.
Proof of income is typically required when applying for a loan, when applying for housing, or when applying for a service that will require regular payments. In some cases, you might also need to provide proof of income when applying for subsidized health coverage such as Medicaid or a children’s health insurance program.
Online Payment Service
You can solve the problem of not having a pay stub to prove your income by using an online payment service. An online payment service receives funds from employers or clients, depositing the funds into your bank account.
You can then receive annual or monthly reports of the payments you’ve received.
Download and print the reports to use as proof of income you’ve earned during specific periods. You might not earn all of your income via a single online payment service, but this can be an effective way to prove some of your income to a potential lender or landlord.
Generating a Pay Stub
A number of services also enable you to generate a pay stub. Simply fill in the necessary information about the payer, payee, salary, and pay period.
The pay stub generator will perform the required calculations to produce a pay stub, which you can then download and print.
Generating regular pay stubs for yourself makes it easy to track your income and provide proof of your earnings at a moment’s notice.
- Proof of Income: What it Is and What You Can Use
- 15 Ways a Renter Can Show Proof of Income
- What Kind of Proof of Income Do Lenders Need for Personal Loans?
- Six Ways a Renter Can Show Proof of Income and How Landlords Use It
- Accepted Forms of Income Verification and Documents of Expenses
- Proof of Income for a Mortgage
- What Can Be Used as Proof of Income When Buying a Car?
- Other Ways to Prove Income Without a Bank Account or Check Stubs
- What Can Be Used as Proof of Income?
- Proof of Income: A Freelance Problem
- Freelance Taxes 101
- How to Prove Income as a Freelancer
- How to Apply for a Mortgage if You’re a Freelancer
- Common Freelance Mistakes
- Apartment Hunting for Freelancers: What You Need to Know
- Self-Employed? Here’s How to Get Your Apartment Application Approved
- Taxes for Freelancers: Seven Steps to Getting it Right
- Freelancers: What Can You Deduct?
- How to Save for Taxes if You Are a Freelancer
- Tax Tips for Freelancers
- Freelancers, Here’s How to Do Your Taxes
- What Is a Paycheck?
- How to Read Your Paycheck: Understanding Your Pay Stub
- Generate Pay Stubs With Templates
- What’s on a Pay Stub?
- Your Paycheck
- How to Read Your Pay Stub and W-2 Earnings Statement (PDF)
