Accounting and Financial Services for Artists

Nobody becomes an artist because they secretly want to become their own accountant (“If I could do it all over again, I’d drop out of art school and become a CPA!”). But once you're deep into your creative practice, managing the financial realities becomes a real and undeniable part of the work. Creative success can become a double-edged sword, saddling you with budgets to manage, contracts to negotiate, and quarterly estimated taxes to calculate. To say nothing of the receipts scattered across medieval costume pockets, battered cello cases, and buried email threads.

For many artists, taking the DIY approach is familiar territory. You probably taught yourself how to fundraise, build a creative team, negotiate a contract, and build a website. Before you add "learn QuickBooks" to that list, give this article a read and learn about some options that will save you time and spare your family the grumbling, moody tax-troll you become every January. Believe it or not, there's actually a growing ecosystem of accountants and financial professionals who understand and specialize in the creative life — people who *gasp* actually enjoy talking about irregular income, expense tracking for art supplies and studio rentals, and the particular chaos of filing taxes as a freelancer.

🦸 why arts-specific accounting matters

Not all accountants are created equal. Arts-specific accountants often come from creative backgrounds themselves and understand that your income arrives in unpredictable chunks, you're managing multiple revenue streams, and your "office" might be a cob-webbed corner of a shared studio space with a suspected asbestos problem.

These professionals can help you navigate everything from basic tax preparation to more complex financial planning, retirement savings, and even setting up the right business structure for your practice. And perhaps most importantly, they can translate financial jargon into language that makes sense for artists who'd rather spend their time making work than deciphering tax codes.

🛟 cultivating your financial support system

1️⃣ as usual, the first step is figuring out what you actually need. Do you want someone to teach you the basics, or take it all off your plate? Annual tax filing only, or ongoing support with budgeting and quarterly payments?

2️⃣ once you know what you need, ask your community. Who helped your friend set up their LLC? Who does your studio-mate trust with their taxes? Personal recommendations are gold, and these conversations help build shared networks of support among artists. Talking about money can feel uncomfortable, but it's one of the most powerful ways we can help each other navigate the business side of creative work.

← these cats do not provide financial advice. neither does Fractured Atlas!

🏦 financial services built for creatives

🏅 Brass Taxes has built its entire practice around humanizing the tax experience for freelancers and artists. Their team comes from creative backgrounds — art, music, theater, comedy, fashion, and film — which means they've lived the financial realities they're helping you navigate. They handle tax preparation, LLC and S-Corp setup, retirement planning, and financial organization, all with a focus on transparency and education rather than mystification.

➗ The Accountants for Creatives, led by Amy Northard CPA, describes themselves as "not your parent's accountant" — and they mean it. Specializing exclusively in creative professionals, they offer bookkeeping, tax preparation, and business advisory services designed to take accounting stress out of your creative business so you can focus on what you do best.

🤠 Agro Accounting brings certified CPAs with an arts focus to the table, offering tax preparation, accounting, business consulting, bookkeeping, audit support, and payroll tax services. They also provide free educational materials specifically designed for artists, freelancers, and creative companies, recognizing that financial literacy is just as important as having someone else handle the numbers.

🌃 Charles A. Kerner CPA, located near Columbus Circle in New York City, has staff with backgrounds in the arts who bring deep sympathy to the needs of artistic freelancers. They offer tax preparation, budgeting, and pension planning specifically tailored to artists, actors, writers, designers, and musicians.

♍ Taxes by Orion focuses on helping self-employed individuals, small businesses, and artists understand their income and taxes in ways that increase confidence when navigating financial decisions. They work to demystify the tax process and help you develop a working understanding of your tax situation rather than keeping you in the dark.

🎇 The Hell Yeah Group, founded by Paco de Leon (author of Finance for the People and founder of Allies in the Arts), was created specifically to help creative entrepreneurs engage with their finances without selling out, burning out, or checking out. As a musician, illustrator, and self-described "creative weirdo," Paco understands what it takes to build a business that works both creatively and financially. The Hell Yeah Group offers bookkeeping, business management, and outsourced CFO advisory services for production companies and creative agencies. They're known for making boring financial material engaging and comprehensible, sending regular reports that working artists can actually understand without needing to become financial experts themselves.

🤲 pro bono accounting options

Some organizations offer pro bono accounting services, including TALA (Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts), VLAA (St. Louis-based Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts), and KCVLAA (Kansas City Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts). The benefit is free services, though you're bound by the capacity of volunteers. To search for options in your area, try Googling your city, state, or region plus "volunteer lawyers and accountants for the arts."

🎤 The Singing CPA (yes, really)

And then there's Steven B. Zelin, CPA, also known as "The Singing CPA®." Steven manages Zelin & Associates CPA LLC in New York City, serving artists, musicians, and creative businesses. He's produced multiple CDs featuring tax-themed songs like "Tax Deductible" and "We Wish You a Great Big Refund," and performs annually on tax day at the main NYC post office.

❤️‍🔥 beyond traditional accounting services

For artists who need more than just tax preparation, The Freelancers Union builds worker power and solidarity among freelancers broadly while offering practical tools to help manage money. They provide resources for handling student loan payments, retirement savings, and even bank accounts. One of the biggest challenges freelancers face is figuring out personal finances in ways that are streamlined for full-time employees — like saving for retirement with a 401(k). The Freelancers Union works to solve these problems with collective power, recognizing that financial security is a shared challenge requiring shared solutions.

Financial support exists for artists — you just have to know where to look. Whether you need monthly bookkeeping, tax filing, or help understanding a 1099 form, there are professionals out there who speak your language. And yes, some of them might even sing about it.

What does your financial support system look like? Let us know in the comments ✨