AND CO from Fiverr

So, I’m sure that all freelance writers and editors working with Fiverr have heard about Fiverr’s acquisition of the company AND CO. Frankly, Fiverr has covered it so much that it’s hard to miss. For those who haven’t heard, here’s the announcement on Fiverr’s blog, “The Do List”.

I’m sure most of you are thinking what I first did: so what? Why does it matter to writers and editors if Fiverr acquired AND CO? Well, for those of us running our own freelancing businesses, it means a great deal. The most important implication, however, is that AND CO services are now FREE.

What is AND CO? Why would freelancers care that their services are now free?

AND CO is a freelance software which helps you do all the bookkeeping and nasty office stuff so that you can focus on creating. There’s an income and expenses tracker, a place to organize your projects (including sending invoices), and you can even write and sign contracts vetted by the Freelancers Union with your clients. Essentially, it can serve as your accountant, to-do list, and office assistant all in one.

Imagine all the time you could free up for editing and writing! Besides, it’ll be far more efficient than trying to keep track of everything in three or five programs and/or a hand-written planner.

AND CO from Fiverr has only been available for free for about a week, but I’ve already gotten a lot of use out of it.

I can finally keep track of my income and expenses without having to wrestle with Microsoft Excel. The graphs which AND CO generates also help me understand my net profit/loss much better, and the visual really gives me a feel for where I’m spending too much for my business and where I have a little more wiggle room.

I can also more easily keep a handle on my projects, both within and outside of Fiverr. So long as I remember to enter them into my tasks list, I have access to all of my projects in one place.

Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten the chance to try out the invoice creator yet. I should soon, though, probably within a week, and I’ll let you know how that turns out.

If you want to learn more about AND CO and give the software a try, make sure to check out their website.

What do you think about this acquisition? Can freelance writers and editors benefit from it? What would you do if you could save time on managing the administration of your freelance business? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!