MyCake provides an online book-keeping and benchmarking service for visual artists and craftspeople to help them get better control of their finances. 

OK, so we all hate doing it, but book-keeping and accounts are one of those things that we simply can't escape. Happily, things are about to get a lot easier. 

MyCake is an online bookkeeping and benchmarking service for creative professionals and small creative businesses.  It provides you with a hassle-free way to manage your budgets and evaluate your finances, all at a glance. From issuing and tracking invoices to monitoring your expenses, MyCake will give you a clear picture of your cash flow.

One of its most valuable features is its benchmarking capacity, where you can compare your accounts with other users in complete anonymity: a great way to see how you or your business is doing in relation to fellow practitioners at similar (or even later) stages in their careers.

Of course we recognise that everyone's practice is very different, so how your money comes in will be too, but here are some examples of why it might be useful to become a MyCake user

If you are a visual artist MyCake could be particularly useful if:

• You are working on a project with a large budget such as a public art commission.
• You are regularly managing income from a number of different sources or projects.
• You are drawing up your annual budget and you need to see how much other artists spend on different areas of their practice.

You can read this case study on artist Binita Walia to see what difference MyCake has made to her.

Binita Walia MyCake case study: Word doc (128 KB)

Binita Walia MyCake case study : PDF (87 KB)

Binita Walia MyCake case study : Txt (7KB)

If you are a Crafts practitioner, or a making an income from selling a ‘product' MyCake could be useful if:

• You run your own small business
• You need to keep a track of stock and materials
• You issue a lot of invoices and need to keep track of them
• You need to identify which areas of your practice bring in the most money
• You want to see which of your products are most popular

You can read this case study on practitioner Rebecca Chitty to see how MyCake has helped her business.

Rebecca Chitty MyCake case study: Word doc (125 KB)

Rebecca Chitty MyCake case study : PDF (57 KB)

Rebecca Chitty MyCake case study : Txt (5KB)

As part of Artquest's commitment to encouraging London's creative practitioners to become more self-reliant, proactive and professional, we've teamed up with MyCake to bring you the MyCake pilot project. Artquest are looking for London-based artists, craftspeople and other creative practitioners to get involved in the exciting pilot phase of the project's development.

Visit the MyCake website for the latest special offer on Annual subscription.

For more information about Mycake contact Sarah Thelwall via the Mycake home page.  

A Slice of MyCake

A Slice of MyCake provides you with a morsel of information about the working life of arts practitioners working in London. This information is drawn from information submitted by MyCake users and is designed to give you an idea of how your peers are managing their working lives.

This slice looks at MyCake users'  Hourly rates.

 It's perhaps not surprising that those with the greatest income are also, in the main, those who charge the higher hourly and daily rates. This is in part a function of experience and reputation ie how much you are deemed to be worth. However it is not simply that nor is it just that some sectors will pay higher rates than others though this has an effect. The learning here really is that you should consider whether you are at the more or less expensive end of the sector or area you work in and whether you can change this. Is there a value in being cheap? Could you increase your income by putting up your rates and stopping taking some of your less well paid work?

For information on how the above relates to other MyCake users visit the MyCake blog

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