Thursday, February 23, 2012

Good business practice--maintain records once a week

I attended a tax workshop last night and though it was a little light on taxes (go figure), the speaker has some good information on setting oneself up for business success.

© Cathy Savage 2012, watercolor pencils, acrylic, painted glass
16 x 20", still untitled....
Hey--random photo, but this was just sent to me by my framer! So exciting!!! I posted about this piece yesterday.

Back to setting oneself up for business success. The following was recommended:

2 hrs per week spent on business, with a consistent day and time, to go through business mail, enter receipts and income into accounting system, file receipts, review profit reports, and prepare and take deposit to bank. I was up to speed on all of this thanks to the wisdom of one Alyson B. Stanfield and her book I'd Rather Be in the Studio.  But reminders are always good.

I did learn about types of deductible expenses, so that was handy. I also gained some useful handouts which will be available at this website (for free, I think) after it goes live--www.taxtimechillpill.com. As a new sole proprietor I have increased my tax responsibilities and benefits--so happy not to be paying tax anymore on frames--but there's a learning curve. If you happen to have any great resources or websites you'd like to refer me to, I'd love to hear about them.

I just uploaded my expense tracking sheet to Google Docs so I can access it anywhere, laptop or PC, which I received from blog reader Alison Lynch of Burnish and Brush. (Thank you Alison! Still using it!) I have regular business hours scheduled but it tends to get pushed off. One thing I learned from this workshop was to keep my business time sacred. That way I'm not overwhelmed at the end of the month, or ahem, quarter, with a load of receipts that no longer mean anything to me.

1 comment:

Alison said...

Hey Cathy,

So glad you're still using the spreadsheet, and happy it's helping.

Hope all is well.

Ali