Expert advice for freelancers, from something that won't just agree
Freelancing means being the person who chases the invoice, sets the price and works out the tax. Clearspace is somewhere to put those decisions first. It tells you when you've got one wrong, shows why, and says when its own advice wouldn't hold.
“A business client's six weeks past the due date. I'll send a polite nudge.”
Illustrative example, not a real account.
Between businesses in the UK, a late payment carries a fixed sum, and interest, by law. The fixed sum is £40 on a debt under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99 and £100 from £10,000. Interest is 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate, simple, starting the day after payment was due. If no date was agreed, payment is late 30 days after the invoice or the delivery, whichever is later.
On a £3,000 invoice that is six weeks late, that is £70 and roughly £40 of interest, depending on the base rate. If chasing it costs you more than the fixed sum, you can claim the difference as well. The money is small. What matters is the first line of your reminder: it is something you are owed, not a favour you are asking for. You have to claim it. It isn't added for you.
When this wouldn't hold
It applies between businesses, not to what a consumer owes you. A contract can set its own late-payment terms, but terms that switch statutory interest off are void unless the contract gives its own substantial remedy for late payment. A Commercial Payments Bill before Parliament (introduced in May 2026) would make the 8% mandatory in every commercial contract and cap payment terms at 60 days. It is not law yet, so check before you rely on it. Claiming can also cost you the relationship, and that trade is yours to weigh. This is not legal advice.
“I've saved £3,000 for my first tax bill, so I'm set.”
In your first year of Self Assessment, the 31 January payment is the full bill plus your first payment on account towards the next year, which is half of this year's bill. On GOV.UK's own example, a £3,000 bill means £4,500 due that day, and another £1,500 on 31 July.
The date and the size are the point, more than whether you have saved too little. A steady share of everything you earn, put aside as you go, can already cover it.
When this wouldn't hold
Payments on account are not asked for if the bill is under £1,000, or if more than 80% of the tax was collected another way, such as through PAYE. If your income drops, you can ask HMRC to reduce them. This is the rule, not advice on your case.
“I want to earn £36,000 a year as a freelance photographer. What day rate do I charge?”
Illustrative example, not a real account.
A day rate has to pay for the days nobody pays you for: holiday, illness, admin, pitching and the gaps between jobs. So start from the turnover you want and work back. At £36,000, five weeks off, five days a week and about 55% of those days billable, that is about 129 days and £279 a day. At £150 a day the same year earns about £19,400.
Clearspace shows it as a card called The working. You move what you know, like your income target and your weeks off, and the answer moves with it. The share of days you can bill is the expert's estimate, shown as a range, so it has no slider: it isn't yours to know.
When this wouldn't hold
The 55% is an estimate (usually 45% to 65%), and it is higher with a retainer or one steady client. It works to turnover and stops there: it does not take off tax, National Insurance or your costs, so it won't tell you what you take home. It is the rate the arithmetic says, and what clients will pay is a separate question.
Who answers
- Business mentor: Whether this is worth doing at all, and what it costs you to do it.
- Marketing: How people find you, why they choose you, and who you're actually for.
Keep going
- Why chatbots agree with everything you say A guide.
- Day rate calculator The turnover you want, worked back to the rate that gets you there.
- Invoice generator Line items, VAT, terms and a total. Print it or save it as a PDF.