I’m sitting here in Q3, and I need help modeling something I can’t get my head around.
Five income streams: W2 salary ($80k), consulting retainer ($25k/yr), freelance platform gigs ($15-20k, sporadic), dividend income ($8k/yr), and side productized service ($10-15k, seasonal spikes).
Each pays on different schedules. Salary is predictable. Consulting invoices net-30. Platform takes 14 days then pays in batches. Dividends quarterly. My side work? whenever it happens.
When I run scenarios—“if I pick up one more consulting client, hit self-employment tax threshold?”—I’m doing it in a spreadsheet. Feels fragile.
Does anyone model this in Beancount, or should I stop overthinking?
Each pays on different schedules. Salary is predictable. Consulting invoices net-30. Platform takes 14 days then pays in batches.
This exactly. I had three 1099 streams and miscalculated quarterly tax based on booked revenue, not cash received. Owed $47K in Q3, but only $29K had actually landed by deadline. Sent $47K anyway (panic mode), then spent six months chasing refunds.
The safe harbor rules don’t account for payment timing mismatches. My CPA said: “Model cash, not accrual, for estimated tax.”
Now I track: booked revenue (P&L), collected revenue (quarterly tax), and receivables (separately). Different views, but taxes forced the discipline.
How many hours per week are you actually working?
But I don’t even know my margins per stream. My W2 is straightforward, but consulting? I invoice $150/hr but spend time on proposal writing, scope negotiation, retainer admin. Platform gigs show gross, not net after fees. My side productized service costs me server hosting but I don’t allocate it.
Before I can ask “how much is too much,” don’t I need accurate profitability data per stream?
You’re asking the wrong question. The real issue isn’t modeling 5 streams in Beancount—it’s knowing when you’ve hit your capacity ceiling. How many hours per week are you actually working?