Should You Have a Business Credit Card Even If You’re Self-Employed?
When you own a business or are otherwise self-employed, you often rely heavily on credit. Unfortunately, understanding credit and all the common credit card acronyms and terms can sometimes be confusing.
Being confused about credit and credit cards, however, does not mean that you should eschew them altogether. Instead, it means that you simply need to take more time to better understand your options.
What you will ultimately find is that owning a credit card can be incredibly beneficial. Even more specifically, owning a business credit card when you are self-employed has many great benefits that you should take full advantage of.
Easier Separation of Expenses
One of the really nice things about having a business credit card as a self-employed person is that it makes it so much easier to keep your business expenses and your personal expenses completely separate.
With your business card, you can and should pay for only business-related expenses. That way, you can easily and accurately track what you spend on your business and what can be deducted when the time comes to file your taxes.
Furthermore, as long as you stick to the rules and don’t use your card for anything personal, you’ll have a full and accurate record of all of your business expenditures…just in case the IRS decides to perform an audit or otherwise check your records.
Added Protections and Benefits
Something else that’s nice about a business credit card is that it will often come with more rewards-earning potential and other great benefits than traditional credit cards.
In fact, many business credit cards actually have nice protections built into them…which means you get these added layers of protection just by signing up.
Some advantages you might enjoy with your business credit card include:
- Cellphone insurance
- Purchase protection
- Travel benefits
- Fraud protection
- Free Wi-Fi at certain hotspots
- Extended warranty protection
To learn what benefits a particular business card offers, read the fine print before you sign up. In fact, if you’re smart, you’ll compare different benefits and allow what you find to weigh into your decision on which card to choose.
The Ability to Stay Afloat
Anyone who is self-employed knows that there are bound to be some rough spots along the way.
You might, for example, need to buy a piece of business equipment or pay for an order. If you don’t have the cash to handle the purchase on your own, a business credit card can be a huge help.
These cards can also help you to make ends meet if you hit a slow period or if you have to wait for an invoice you were counting on to be paid.
For many self-employed individuals, business credit cards give them the opportunity to stay afloat and make ends meet even when times get tough.
In all of these ways and more, business credit cards can be a wonderful asset for the self-employed. If you don’t have one already, start doing your research so that you can find the perfect card or cards for you and your needs.