Freelancers' potential tax deductables

Disclaimer: My advice is 100% non-FICA compliant and non-expert, but it remains 100% well-intended.

Accounting fees
Advertising
Bad debt
Bank charges
Cell phone
Cleaning of office
Client gifts (year-end)
Computer costs
Consulting fees
Donations
Electricity
Entertainment
Graphic design
Insurance
Interest paid
Landline telephone
Medical
Medical Aid
Memberships & assocs
Motor vehicle expenses
Newspapers/journals/mags
Office furniture/storage/filing
Parking
Printing, postage & stationery
Staff refreshment
Subscriptions
Training
Travel
Other

www.tiffanymarkman.co.za

Avoid redundancy in business writing

Redundancy is the needless repetition of words, phrases, sentences or ideas. Redundant expressions add nothing to what’s already been said; instead, they waste precious words. So never say something in three weak ways, when you could have said it once, effectively. A good start? Become aware of how often you (and others) use these (redundant portion in brackets):

(absolute) perfection
(a number of) examples
(close) proximity
dates (back) from
eliminate (altogether)
(complete) monopoly
for (a period of)
consensus (of opinion)
during (the course of)
(original) source
(regular) monthly meetings
short (space of) time
each (and every one) of us
join (together)
(past) history
crisis (situation)
refer (back)
(empty) space
(basic) fundamentals
important (essential)

Can you think of any more?

www.tiffanymarkman.co.za

Refrain from stating the obvious

Instead of the longer phrase on the left, try to use the tighter option on the right:

12 midnight ~midnight
12 noon ~noon
3 am in the morning ~3 am
afforded the opportunity ~given the opportunity
a great deal of ~many, most or much
a number of ~a few, some, many, or several
a person who is honest ~an honest person
as a result of ~because, because of, or since
as to whether ~whether
a total of 14 birds ~14 birds
at this point in time ~at this point/now
biography of her life ~biography
by means of ~by
circle around ~circle
close proximity ~proximity
completely unanimous ~unanimous
consensus of opinion ~consensus
each and every ~each
enclosed herewith ~enclosed
endeavour ~try
end results ~results
exactly the same ~the same
final completion ~completion
free gift ~gift
for the purpose of ~for, to or of
he/she is a person who… ~he/she
implementing ~carrying out
important/basic essential ~essential
inception ~start, beginning
incorrect ~wrong
in order to ~to
in spite of the fact that ~although
in the first place ~first or firstly
in the event that ~if
in the context of ~about, for
in many cases ~often
job functions ~job or functions
month of June ~June
one and the same ~the same
participate ~take part in
particular interest ~interest
period of four days ~four days
personal opinion ~opinion
pertaining to ~belonging to/relating to
the reason why is because ~the reason is that
repeat again ~repeat
return again ~return
surrounded on all sides ~surrounded

Have I left any out?

www.tiffanymarkman.co.za