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Today is countrywide Freelancers Day, and with many people pressed into self-employment by the lack of opportunities elsewhere – about 4 million people are now operational for themselves – some struggle to chase invoices and pay tax bills while looking for work. According to website Anchorpeople.com, design, web development and writing account for most freelance jobs with software development, social media and conversion the biggest growth areas. But whatever line of business you’re in, here are six tips to help freelancers stay alive financially. Most freelancers will be paid gross – before tax – and it’s up to them to make sure the taxman gets the correct amount of both income tax and classes 2 and 4 national insurance contributions (NI)class 2 NI is a fixed amount each month while class 4 is a percentage of your profits each year. The golden rule of freelancing is to make sure you save enough money to pay your tax and NI when it’s due, and stash it away in a separate, preferably high interest, savings account every time you get paid. Some freelancers use an accountant to complete their accounts and submit their self-assessment tax return to HERC.Elaine Clark of Cheap Accounting says: “Depending on how you set up your business (sole trader or a limited company) you’ll need to file accounts, tax returns, real time information on salaries and potentially VAT returns if you exceed the registration threshold or register voluntarily. Having an accountant on board will help to avoid costly mistakes and errors in all of these areas.”