A working singer from East Yorkshire was the inspiration for the creation of a tech app for freelance performers, built using AI in under a week, solving the admin chaos that comes with submitting tax returns.

Hull-born Lillie Topham, a working vocalist under the stage name of Lillie Kerman, is travelling thousands of miles in Yorkshire to perform 50+ gigs a year across weddings, corporate events and private parties, and was struggling to keep track of the admin involved in being a freelancer performer.

She works with multiple agencies, each with different commission structures and payment terms, and has to keep track of her mileage, invoices, incoming payments, commission and gig tracking, all while performing, promoting, rehearsing and living her life.

This meant the admin fell through the cracks; invoices went out late, mileage got guessed and tax time meant a weekend of dread and a shoebox of receipts.

In addition, the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) on 6 April adds to the admin workload for an already busy schedule, with thousands of self-employed performers and freelancers facing quarterly reporting requirements for the first time.

Her husband, Sam Topham, who is also from Hull and owns Superlinear Web Design, watched Lillie struggle and looked for an app that could handle gig tracking, invoicing, mileage, commission and UK tax reporting in one place.

He quickly discovered that nothing existed; the gig calendar apps did not understand money and the accounting apps did not understand gigging. Nothing spoke performer.

So, using Lovable.dev and AI-assisted development, Sam built Gigflow in under a week, a product that would have taken a traditional development team months, creating the first working version of Gigflow with Lillie as the first user and co-creator.

It’s an app that takes away the hassle and stress of keeping track of admin work, but it does it in the background invisibly so that freelancers can focus on what it is they do best, their craft and the growth of their business.

The app allows performers to run their businesses without any knowledge of accountancy or the admin side of things that some freelancers aren’t confident with.

It means that tax reports can be ready in 10 minutes, not 10 hours, and with mileage calculated automatically at HMRC rates so the performer can claim what they are owed.

Gigflow allows freelance performers to track their gigs, create invoices, calculate mileage and deal with tax effortlessly because it was built by someone who watched a singer struggle with exactly this chaos.

Lillie said: “Before Gigflow, I had two physical diaries, an iPhone calendar, a WhatsApp group where I'd update my band with dates, an online calendar and a spreadsheet on the computer — it was a mess.

“I had different tabs for mileage, manually working out where each gig was, trying to calculate it all.

“It was such a headache every year and so stressful. I'm creative; I want to do the gig and not have to think about tax.

“Unfortunately I do have to think about tax, but it's just not in my nature and I don't think it's in a lot of creative people's nature either.

“Gigflow helps with that and keeps everything flowing, hence the name.

“It's tailored specifically for musicians like myself who want to take the headache out of the admin and focus on the creative side.

“I check the app every day to see what's coming up at the weekend. It just keeps everything in line. It's like having a second brain working for you.”

The app was created specifically for those performers who are tired, stressed and home from work after a late-night gigging, so they can spend less time dealing with admin and more time focusing on other things that are important to them.

However, Gigflow can be used by any freelancer, not just performers. It’s the perfect business platform for those drowning in admin but don’t have the time to keep on top of it.

Sam said: “Gigflow is the tool Lillie needed and exists purely because I could see she was drowning in admin. 

“Performers are running a business with their own skills and creativity. They deserve tools that are going to help them succeed in what they do best.

“Seeing Lillie come home late in the evening and then having the hassle of admin to deal with made me think that there must be something out there to help her. 

“When I found there wasn’t, I created Gigflow and it’s now available to every UK performer who is tired of the admin chaos.

“Performers work hard to earn their money and getting paid what they are owed should be a normal part of the job. But I can see that during those late, tired nights, some things get missed at the expense of the performer.

“I created Gigflow with Lillie as the inspiration because I wanted her to have an easier life and to get what she is worth.

“Performers across the UK are already using Gigflow to track nearly a thousand gigs and manage over £95,000 in income.

“That tells me this wasn’t just Lillie’s problem, it’s an industry-wide gap that needed filling.”

For more information visit www.gigflow.co.uk