Work-life balance – Your money or your life?

Establishing a proper balance in life requires financial planning, says Anne-Marie McTavish.
What do artists want as they start their professional life? A chance to show their creativity? A sense of fulfilment? The opportunity to direct their own lives? How about a Unique Tax Reference Number or an accountant? Probably not, but you need them if you are not going to struggle with your finances. Go to any arts training establishment and look at what they teach. It?s pretty much centred on creativity. Yet many in the arts are sole traders and many received little preparation. In fact, the very mention of ?business? to artists has most rolling their eyes and nodding off within five minutes.

Everyone who is self-employed must plan the finances from day one. Being employed is easier because tax and National Insurance are deducted at source. When you are self-employed you have to plan for this. You need an accountant who can do your tax return and make sure you have all the allowances you?re eligible for ? but only if you have kept detailed records of all your financial transactions. Then you get your tax bill. If you have planned, you?ve put away a portion of all your earnings to cover it. If you haven?t? we all know how understanding the Inland Revenue is if you don?t have the money to pay your tax. National Insurance is a weekly commitment essential for retirement, but you have to set up the payments. None of these things will magically happen ? you have to make them happen.

Are artists ever ripped off? Exploited? Unfortunately, yes. But is is their lack of even the most basic business knowledge that is so often the reason why unscrupulous people get away with it. One of the attractions of working for yourself is that you can, ideally, decide when you work; but if you are chasing your financial tail all the time you will have to work all the time ? no matter how good you are. Is that why you became an artist?

Anne-Marie McTavish is Associate Senior Lecturer in Collaborative Work at Coventry University. t: 024 7688 7850; e: [email protected]