Why a freelancer needs books

A freelance permit makes you a business of one. And once your turnover passes the VAT line, you must register, charge VAT on your invoices and file a return every quarter.

That's where the paperwork starts. Setting up books feels like a company's job, not yours. Invoices are made in a word processor and numbered by hand. Receipts pile up in a shoebox, and the bank app doesn't know what anything was for. Every quarter, the VAT return takes a weekend. New clients come by word of mouth only. And there's nobody to keep the books for you.

Traditionally, a freelancer pays a bookkeeper, or keeps spreadsheets late at night. The new way: you upload your papers. SnapLedger reads them, keeps your books and builds your VAT return. You check, and you file.

This course follows Nadia Kerem, a freelance brand designer at Dubai Media City. She works under a freelance permit, she's registered for VAT, and her clients are companies across Dubai.

Six short lessons: her permit sets up her books, she invoices a client, her receipts meet her bank statement, her VAT return comes from her books, companies find her, and an accountant can keep them for her. Let's begin.