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Irregular Income Smoothing

A steady monthly salary paid to yourself from a holding account, tax and buffer pots filled from every payment, a rolling cash flow forecast and plans for quiet seasons and big one-off fees.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Irregular Income Smoothing, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

Before you start: this plan is general information to help you organise your own money decisions. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Check decisions that matter with a qualified, licensed adviser in your country, and remember that investing and trading can lose money.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

194

Starter tasks

💷 Personal Finance

Irregular Income Smoothing

Turning unpredictable freelance, commission or seasonal income into a steady monthly salary with buffers and tax set-asides.

  1. Twelve-month income history from every source
  2. Floor and normal monthly spending figures
  3. Mapping the seasonal shape of your income
  4. Separate business and personal accounts
  5. Income holding account for every payment
  6. Tax set-aside percentage and pot
  7. Setting your first monthly salary figure
  8. Smoothing buffer target in months of salary
  9. Lean-month spending plan
  10. Monthly salary transfer from the holding account
  11. Split every payment the day it lands
  12. Weekly invoicing and payment chasing
  13. Rolling 90-day cash flow forecast
  14. Booked work and pipeline tracker
  15. Monthly income and salary reconciliation
  16. Buffer level traffic-light check
  17. Quarterly tax pot check against the estimate
  18. Quarterly salary review
  19. Annual review of the smoothing system
  20. How income smoothing methods compare
  21. Profit versus turnover, in plain numbers
  22. Advance tax payments and payments on account
  23. Late payment rights and payment terms
  24. Pension contributions from lumpy income
  25. How lenders and landlords read self-employed income
  26. Deposits and staged payments in your terms
  27. Choosing a bank with pots and automatic splits
  28. Retainer or subscription income experiment
  29. Lowering the salary floor by cutting fixed costs
  30. Timing annual bills around your busy season
  31. Raising your salary after a strong year
  32. Borrowing rules for dry months
  33. Limiting how much one client pays you
  34. Tax bill month preparation
  35. Getting through a known quiet season
  36. Spreading a large one-off fee across months
  37. Proof of income pack for a mortgage or tenancy
  38. Year-end close of your income records
  39. First six months after leaving a salaried job
  40. Creative income from advances, royalties and grants
  41. Commission-heavy pay with a low base salary
  42. Seasonal work with one or two peak months
  43. Households with one irregular earner
  44. Gig and platform workers paid weekly
  45. Side income alongside a regular salary
  46. Paying yourself from a limited company
  47. Income from overseas clients in other currencies
  48. Six lean months stress test
  49. Income volatility measures from your own data
  50. Funding a long unpaid creative project

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Twelve-month income history from every source

Nobody can smooth an income they cannot see, and most freelancers carry only a rough sense of their good and bad months. Listing every payment received over the last twelve months, by date it actually landed rather than the date it was invoiced, shows the real range: the best month, the worst month and how often the gaps came.

First tasks

  • Export twelve months of statements from every account clients pay into
  • Copy each incoming payment into one sheet with date, payer and amount
  • Total each month and note the best, worst and average
  • Mark one-off payments that are unlikely to repeat

Floor and normal monthly spending figures

Irregular earners need two numbers, not one: the floor that keeps the household running in a lean month, and the normal figure you live on when work is steady. Both come from your own statements, and together they set the lowest salary you can survive on and the salary you are aiming for.

First tasks

  • Download three months of personal account and card statements
  • Sort every outgoing into fixed, flexible or optional
  • Work out the floor figure from fixed and flexible essentials only
  • Write both figures and today's date in your money notes

Mapping the seasonal shape of your income

Plenty of irregular income is more predictable than it feels: wedding photographers are busy in summer, tutors around exams, retail commission at Christmas, and corporate clients go quiet in August and late December. Marking which months have been strong and weak over two or three years turns surprise dry spells into known dates you can plan for.

First tasks

  • Line up monthly income totals from each year you have records for
  • Label each calendar month busy, average or quiet
  • Write the likely cause beside every quiet month
  • Draw up an income calendar for the next twelve months

Make it yours.

Install Irregular Income Smoothing, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.