Recordkeeping for your business

[thenaturalway]

Need some ideas on how everyone keeps records of their business. Do you use a software program or actual book? I'm just starting my business and want the easiest way to keep records. I'd like to use a software program, but I'm nervous about just using that because of fear that it could malfunction and lose all my information. Any ideas?

 

[Tabitha]

The only books I keep are categorized receipts.

Every time I spend a dollar it goes in a box. At the end of the year I separate every receipts into type of item. I separate utility bills from supplies, from advertisement, etc.

If I did not get a receipt for something I write it down on an index card w/ the month, amount & item bought.

I then break each category into months so I can see I spend 100 on fragrances in Jan, 60 on fragrances in feb, etc. Like a chart.

It's not sophisticated, but at the end of the year I can see where every penny went.

All of my sales get written down in receipt books so it is easy to tally up how much I sold that year & I can also break what sold down into %s. 22% of my sales were scrubs for the year, 8% were body washes, etc.

If I were smarted (and I may try this this year) I would have 12 boxes or envelopes, one for each month!

 

[Guest]

Im sorry, I send my stuff out to an accountant.

 

[dragonfly princess]

I have hired my hubby to be my book keeper, I spend, he keeps receipts and does the accounting The only time I get mad at him is when he tells me I don't have the money to buy stuff :evil:

 

[Lane]

I do it pretty much like Tab does. Tho my storage area is a big desk drawer and I go through evey thing at the end of each month and put it in a dated folder.

 

[Woodi]

Using our soapmaker program is a help for record-keeping, especially if you use the extra forms listed in the 'extras' button.

 

[SouthernEssence]

I have a binder for all sales, divided by month.

Expenses get filed away by month in a filing cabinet until the end of the year, then they get put in a binder by month.

Then everything gets recorded in a bookkeeping book.

 

[thenaturalway]

Thank you all for responding! Great tips to keep in mind!

 

[Barb]

i have two spread sheets one for expenses, with different catagories and one for receivables, in barb's perfect world they would get entered into at the end of each month and filed into appropriate folders. we file our taxes quarterly, so i do have to have some kind of system. i print out a paper copy and make a back up copy to disk each month.

i start out the year doing great but by the time october, november and december hit i'm way behind.

i was a book keeper for a small grocery store for 16 years so i have some kind of an idea what my tax people need, i usually have things broken down into to many catagories, this is more for me then them anyways.

i could just drop off a shoe box with recipts and i suppose my tax people would do this for me, but they would also charge me. and believe me they charge enough just to to the tax prep at the end of the year.

and i'm too cheap to pay em.

barb