!rant
Looking for some guidance. I am thinking of doing freelance work on the side, but am a little hesitant when I think about contracts, closing out the projects, and getting paid. I even see it with my company where clients keep asking for little things here and there and it adds up to a lot of extra work and refusal to pay until this out of scope work is done. Do you guys have any tools or other suggestions that can help protect me as the developer in a freelance project?
Also, a good PM tool would be helpful too. I'm used to Trello, but it tends to get cluttered real fast.

Commenting cause I'm interested in the other replies ^^ Thinking about it too, but i have no idea how to start properly.

I've been doing this for 6 years and learned a few things early on.

1. You're not a mind reader and (most) clients don't fully know what they need. Start with a thorough Requirements and Discovery phase. This is not free either ... whether they choose to move forward with you after this, they have received a well thought-out Requirements document that they can move on with.

2. Define a scope of work with a timeline from the get go and explain the change order process. This establishes priorities and deliverables ... both yours and *theirs*. Also, define your timelines in terms relative to the clients deliverables. E.g. "Feature X will be implemented 2 weeks from approval of Y."

3. Create a fair pay schedule. Something like 33% upfront, 33% at the 50% completion, 33% upon completion. Change orders billed hourly and due upon receipt. These are just examples ... each project will require different schedules.

4. Spend a good deal of time in planning, strategy, and design. Wire frames, mockups, flowcharts, etc. ... this is a where the client can raise flags without being too costly.

5. Establish yourself as the expert and a partner to the client. Relationships build trust which build partnerships. S/he has a problem, you can solve it for them (within reason that is ... you should not be at their house fixing their router ... lol)

I am using trello + timecamp awesome combo for tasks, billing, productibity