Most freelance photographers focus on the "day rate," but the true profitability of a gig is determined by the hidden costs of fulfillment. If you charge $500 for a senior portrait session but spend $50 on Prints, $20 on USPS shipping, and $15 on PayPal Fees, your actual take-home pay is eroding with every transaction.

The Philosophy of Net Profit

The "Jobs" template is designed for the creative professional who treats their art as a business. It moves your accounting from a shoebox of receipts to a job-by-job profit analysis. By standardizing the capture of Income against specific expense categories like Prints and Fees, the system forces you to confront the reality of your margins. It acknowledges that a high-revenue gig with high overhead is often less valuable than a lower-revenue gig with zero costs.

The Blueprint: Gig Architecture

The structure of this library is built to handle the diverse portfolio of a working photographer.

  • Categorical Tracking: The Category field—ranging from "Wedding" to "Sports"—allows you to segment your revenue streams. You can instantly see if your "Senior Pics" are more profitable than your "Musical" coverage.
  • Client Context: Fields for Event and Client anchor the financial data to the specific job. This is vital for tracking repeat business and identifying your most valuable customers.
  • Expense Granularity: Dedicated fields for Prints and USPS shipping separate your service labor from your goods sold. This distinction is critical for accurate tax reporting and pricing adjustments.

Usage Scenarios: The Pricing Review

It's the end of the quarter. You feel like you've been working constantly, but your bank account doesn't reflect it. You open Memento and filter by Category. You realize that while your "Sports" gigs generate high Income, the associated Prints and USPS costs are eating 40% of the revenue. In contrast, your "Wedding" gigs have higher Fees (for second shooters) but almost zero shipping costs. Armed with this data, you raise your print prices for sports packages, instantly correcting your margin.

Power Feature: Aggregation for Tax Prep

By utilizing Memento’s aggregation feature on the Income and expense fields, you can generate a "Schedule C" snapshot in seconds. You don't need to hunt for shipping receipts; you simply sum the USPS column for the year. It turns a chaotic collection of invoices into a streamlined financial report, ensuring that you are ready for tax season without the stress.