Soulpreneurship Part 2: Getting Paid

In part one of our series, we covered the essentials of establishing your brand and creating a digital presence. Now, let’s talk the practical side of running your wellness practice: getting paid. Managing bookings, payments, bookkeeping, and taxes can be daunting, but if you get organized upfront, you’ll have more time down the road to focus on your practice and your clients.

Booking

Your time is sacred, and as a wellness practitioner, you likely already give a lot of it to your practice. So an efficient booking system is crucial for both you and your clients. Instead of telling clients to call or text you to schedule their sessions, we highly recommend an online booking system. This not only makes it easier for clients to get on your schedule, but you spend less time managing your calendar. 

For small business owners like you, we recommend either Acuity, Square Appointments, or Calendly. Acuity lets clients book appointments, complete intake forms, pay online, and get appointment reminders, all in the same system. Square Appointments is best if you use the rest of the Square suite, since it integrates easily with the other Square tools. And if you want to keep it simple, Calendly is a clean, straightforward booking calendar that’s great for those just starting out who want to get booking management out of their hair.

(BTW, none of these are sponsored - they’re just our favorites!)

Taking Payment

Many in the wellness industry start their businesses as cash-based operations. But managing through mostly cards is both more convenient for clients and safer for you, especially if you encourage clients to have a payment card on file. They save the trouble of physically managing payments, and you have the autonomy to require deposits or charge no-show fees. 

Think carefully about how you want to manage these payments: Will you swipe cards or handle everything online? Will you accept cash? Will clients pay at time of booking, at the end of their service, or a combination? Every wellness practice is unique, so what works for others may not be the best policy for you. 

Our faves for taking payments are Square, Stripe, and good ol’ Venmo. Again, Square is a great resource if you’ve bundled booking and payments together. And Stripe makes it easy to accept credit card payments through your website. For many clients, though, the ability to pay through Venmo is a major convenience, since so many already use it for quick and easy mobile payments.

Bookkeeping

The most important thing to remember in your wellness practice bookkeeping is to keep your business finances separate from your personal ones. This may seem like a hassle if you’re just getting started, but it’s a crucial habit that will save you tons of time, headache, and even money as your practice grows. 

The first step is to create a separate business checking account to keep your finances organized. You’ll need a business license to do this, which means some paperwork and a small fee. Just Google “[your state] + business license” to get started. But, if you’re a sole proprietor (i.e., your business is just you and no other employees), you don’t have to get an employer identification number, or EIN.

Next, find a bookkeeping tool you like. QuickBooks is a classic that lets you categorize expenses, scan receipts with your phone, etc. It can keep all that money entering and leaving your business account beautifully organized so you’re not swamped at tax season. Speaking of which…

Taxes

We know. Dealing with taxes is the absolute least fun part of running a business. But a couple of small habits can take the edge off of the headache. 

First, figure out your net revenue each month. That means add up all your business expenses and subtract the total from your business income. Whatever is left is your net revenue, and about 20% of it should be immediately set aside for taxes. You may owe more than this, but it’s a good start.

Then, start paying your taxes monthly. Businesses are often required to submit quarterly tax returns, but if you pay every month, it’s easier to recalibrate if your calculations are off, and you’re less likely to get slammed with a massive bill you didn’t expect. 

For business taxes, try TurboTax online. It’ll walk you through the process so you can stay on top of your tax liability. If your tax situation is complex, or you just don’t trust yourself to file correctly (because who among us is really confident we’re doing our taxes right?), consider hiring a professional to handle your filings. It’s a little more money, but for some it’s worth it for the peace of mind.

As mind-numbing as the spreadsheets and tax forms can be, dealing with money is a necessary part of running your business. But you don’t have to do it alone. Use the tools above, work with professionals, and find a community of other healers so you can figure out your wellness practices together. We know of a great place. 

(Oh, and memberships are tax-deductible, obvi.😉)