three months of cheques. six months of crickets.
For DOPs, editors, writers, designers, directors, ADs — income lands in lumps. No PF auto-deducting. No HR running your taxes. We build a plan that survives a quiet quarter and uses the boom quarters properly.
six conversations we’ve had before.
These come up in nearly every Film Creatives call. We’ve seen them. We have answers.
Project-based income
A 3-month shoot pays in tranches: 30% advance, 40% mid-shoot, 30% on delivery. We map this against your monthly expenses so the dry months don’t feel terrifying.
No employer PF/gratuity
You build your own retirement from scratch. NPS Tier I + equity SIP + ELSS is the modern stack. We assemble it without the bloat.
GST + advance tax
GST registration if billing >₹20L. Advance tax in 4 instalments. TDS deducted at source. We point you to a CA who knows the industry — not a generic one.
Health cover gap
No employer insurance. Hospital admit-room rules. We pick a personal floater with no waiting period on lifestyle conditions.
Equipment + tax
New camera body, sound kit, edit workstation. Depreciation, section 80, business expense treatment. Lowers tax legally.
When the work dries up
A 12-month cushion in liquid funds isn’t paranoia — it’s the cost of staying picky. We size it. We park it. Not in your bank account.
where we’d start.
The actual recommendations vary by what you have today. This is the general posture for someone in your situation.
mutual funds
Liquid + ultra-short for the income smoothing. Equity SIP that you can pause without losing momentum. Goal funds for the next big buy (camera, flat, sabbatical). explore mutual funds →
insurance
Personal term cover (income replacement, not lifestyle replacement). Floater health with maternity if relevant. Disability rider — under-discussed, important for physical work.
stocks
Lower priority until the cushion is built. Then thematic exposure aligned to where your industry is going (OTT, AI tools, creator economy). explore stocks →
beyond the basics. specifically for you.
lumpy income → steady retirement income
Project payouts are unpredictable. We design SWP-ready debt sleeves that turn your boom-bust earnings into a future monthly cheque. No employer PF means you build your own pension stack.
who gets the residuals?
Royalties, residuals, future credit payments, the equipment library. We help inventory the intangibles + build a will that handles them. The film industry forgets these conversations until something happens.
new funds for lumpy paycheques
When a project cheque lands, the temptation is whatever fund launched that week. See every open NFO live from AMFI — then let's check if an established fund already does the job for your corpus.
questions, answered.
If yours isn't here, ask Archita on the call. We answer in plain English.
Income is project-based — three months on, six months off. How do I budget?
On the lump-sum receipt, immediately partition: 30% to tax reserve (advance tax payable next quarter), 30% to a liquid emergency fund (covers the off months), 25% SIP into MFs, 15% lifestyle. The reserve is the bit creatives skip — it's also what causes the year-end tax shock when nothing's been set aside.
I'm freelance — what tax structure should I use? Salary, presumptive, or normal?
If your gross is under ₹50L (eligibility threshold varies), Section 44ADA presumptive taxation is usually cleanest: 50% of receipts is deemed profit, no detailed bookkeeping, advance tax in 4 instalments. We coordinate with CAs who specialise in creative-industry returns. Saves you ₹50K-2L in bookkeeping costs alone.
Do I really need life insurance if I don't have dependents yet?
If you have a partner who'd be affected financially, or parents who'd cover your debts, yes. Buying term at 30 locks in low premium for 30+ years; waiting until 38 doubles the price. If genuinely no dependents and no debt, you can defer 3-5 years — but lock in cheap when you do buy.
PF? Pension? Group insurance? I have none.
Right — that's the freelance penalty. Replace each: NPS Tier 1 for the locked retirement sleeve, personal term insurance for life cover, personal health floater for medical. Personal accident for the disability gap. We size each so the freelance stack matches what a salaried equivalent would have.
Cash payments from gigs — should I declare everything?
Yes. Income tax department's data triangulation has become serious — bank deposits, UPI inflows, GST collections all cross-checked. Hiding ₹5L of cash income to save ₹1.5L tax risks a ₹15L+ penalty + interest. We file properly and use legitimate deductions (44ADA, expenses) to bring the actual liability down.
My income just spiked — first ₹50L year. Now what?
Three things in order: (1) Pay advance tax in the right instalments — penalty for skipping is real. (2) Front-load the year's SIPs / ELSS / NPS / term-cover top-up since you have the cashflow. (3) Build a 12-month emergency fund — spikes mean troughs are coming. Don't lifestyle-inflate the spike.
let’s talk about your situation.
A 15-minute call. We’ll tailor the plan to your exact stage and circumstances.
got it. archita will call you.
Usually within 12 minutes during Mumbai work hours.
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