Small Business News

Freelance Finance Tool Lili Introduces “Tax Optimizer” Toolkit

For small business owners, taxes can be a real headache. This can be especially true for freelancers and self-employed workers who might not even consider themselves business owners but need to for the sake of their filings. Because of this, some business owners might overlook deductions they qualify for, fail to set money aside for payments, or even botch filing out the required tax forms. With all of that in mind, the freelancer finance app Lili has just unveiled what it calls its Tax Optimizer toolkit.

First, the account — which offers both a free version as well as a $4.99 per month premium version — allows customers to plan for their tax payments using Tax Buckets. By entering their estimated income and other data, Lili will suggest how much business owners should be setting aside. Then, when deposits come in, the app will automatically move funds to Tax Buckets and reflect the adjusted available balance accordingly.

Another element of Lili’s Tax Optimizer toolkit involve deductions. As users make purchases with their Lili debit card, they’ll be able to categorize them as business or personal in the app (or split them if needed) and attach photos of reciepts. Customers can then export documents detailing their deductions. Moreover, now, the service can pre-fill business owners’ Schedule C, making it even easier for them to file their returns with all of the applicable deductions.

Lili’s big push comes as the freelancer and self-employed markets continue to grow. As the company’s co-founder and CEO Lilac Bar David points out, “People are turning their backs on the traditional workforce. There are well over 10M unfilled jobs because more people are freelancing now than ever.”

Bar David went on to note that this changing landscape could mean some unwelcome surprises for newly self-employed workers, stating, “[T]his upcoming tax season could be brutal for all the first-timers, who may have a rude awakening when they realize how tough managing their finances can be. Our research shows that the majority of Gen Z freelancers feel anxious about taxes. We want to remove this anxiety and help people get ahead of the curve so they are only paying what they owe and not scrambling this tax season.”

As Bar David rightfully suggests, there are sure to be many self-employed and small business owners who find themselves struggling to navigate the business tax world this April and beyond. Luckily, there are now several FinTech tools —Lili included — looking to make business taxes easier to understand and manage. Whether entrepreneurs ultimately elect to try bookkeeping software like Quickbooks, opt for all-in-one business account such as Lili, or outsource the heavy lifting to an accountant, what’s most important is that business owners consider their options to ensure that they’re making the best tax moves for themselves and their businesses.