You'll get lots of good advice here (so far, so good) but I'll give you my biggest tip;
Get a journal and document EVERYTHING. It takes a bit of upkeep (time), but keep a time log of what you were working on and when.
Ex.
1015AM - 1100AM; Backchecked electrical schematic ABCD-1234 for Jim Smith
1100AM - 1245PM; Attended Lisa Jones' presentation on journal keeping
1245PM - 100PM; Drove from Client Office to Job Site (31km).
Even though I'm not an independent contractor, I do this for the jobs I run. For the 15 minutes a day you spend writing stuff down, the benefits are immense, including:
1. A clear log of the hours you actually worked; You'd be amazed how many 'Partial Hours' you'd forget about and end up not billing! A few '10 minute' activities each week is 25-30 hours a year. That's thousands of dollars!
2. Your client will almost inevitably ask "What did you actually do?" and this gives you a great log to show them. Trust me, a good (simple) logbook/journal will up the trust exponentially. And it shows that you're not 'Nickel and Diming' them.
3. Separate (but related) to #2 above, you'll be able to quick derive a 'deliverables list' for the billing period. Provide a list of the main deliverables with your invoice - your clients will LOVE that, especially if they're reporting up to their bosses.
4. You can start to piece together how long work ACTUALLY takes. You'll fast discover that the task you think takes 100 hours actually takes 70, or 160. Especially early on, this will help you put together more quotes.
5. By including 'non-billable' work (coffee meetings, preparing quotes, etc), you can start to understand how much overhead you've got. This is will extremely helpful in setting your rate. Rates need to reflect how much you actually work.....but is that 80% or 40%?
6. Track your expenses, mileage. I used to keep the last few pages of the book for tracking, but now just lump them in with the regular comments (like the examples above). Just easier than flipping back and forth, but your mileage may vary (pun intended).
And one final thought - keeping a journal is a huge benefit, but only if you use it. Consistency is key but don't abandon it if you miss a day here and there.
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