“Girl\’s Confused Expression” by anankkml via http://freedigitalphotos.net
Yesterday I shared a round-up of tax tips from the web. If you missed it click following link to read 7 tax tips.
I asked for tax advice from a lovely group I belong to. These ladies are smart and generous plus they happen to love crochet and blogging.
Sara Asks:
Tax tips for crochet bloggers/ businesses. Do you have any? How do you keep track? Recommended software? Excel?
Tip 1 : Use Outright.com
I use Outright.com to track everything!! It’s been a lifesaver. It’s very user friendly and even tells you what you owe in taxes each quarter! (Elisabeth ‘Sach’ Spivey)
Tip 2: Use Excel Spreadsheets
I use excel to track everything. (Mistie Bush)
I use an excel spreadsheet (one of the templates) to track all my expenditures and income per month. (Lorene Haythorn Eppolite)
I keep track on an excel spreadsheet. (Keith-Sara Sach)
Tip 3: Hire a Pro
I’m hiring a pro this year 🙂 . Already have the accountant hired to get it all in shape for the tax pro. (Tamara Kelly)
Tip 4: Track Everything Monthly
I try to do each month as it comes so that I’m not crazy at the end of the year. Then each month’s receipts go in their own envelopes and it all goes in one big manilla envelope. I just send my tax guy the numbers and he files everything for me.
I document all my yarn purchases, blogging and internet fees, travel for conferences plus cost of conference, magazine subscriptions, dues for CGOA and other memberships, all supplies including office supplies, any postage, etc. Then I add in all my income sources figure out the difference and that is my profit/loss for the month, then I do a spreadsheet with all the monthly info to decide what my profit/loss for the year was! (Lorene Haythorn Eppolite)
Tip 5: Small Business + Bloggers Tax Guy
My tax guy specializes in small businesses and bloggers so it works great, he does all the family and business taxes for a great price. I just send him all my stuff every month in prepaid envelopes and we’re good to go. ~ mazumaaccounting.com~ (Ashley Prisbey)
Read Is My Blog a Business? And Why Does it Matter by MazumaBlog
Bonus: Grab a Basket and Jump In
Okay so this isn’t really a tip but quite a few respondents were either frustrated, didn’t know what to do, or too frazzled to clearly know what to do – basket cases. (I was in this category)
Don’t stress so much. You’ll get through this and share your experience with another crochet blogger next year. You’ll be seen as a pro before long. 🙂
Kim Guzman said she was a basket case 😉 but really she is pretty on-top of things. Here’s a bit of advice from her dad:
If you get a big check, always try to buy something for your business that you can write off. (Kim’s Dad)
Tomorrow I’ll share a review of Outright software for managing your business.
A couple of things to note for #31CBBC peeps: (all are optional)
- Comments are welcome and encouraged
- Visit the FB group and add your post for the day to the pinned post if you’d like to receive at least 2-comments on your post.
- Join the Crochet Business Blogger G+ Community
- Community Event: Cro-Pinteresting Sunday with today’s host Henriette
- Add your blog url to the #31CBBC linky (not the post url) – this will help you identify who is participating
- As you are visiting other bloggers, take note of any similarities you have or complimentary projects/services you have. This is a great time to jot down the blog name and get to know the blogger behind the blog.
- Don’t stress on writing a post each day. A picture with your thoughts, a video, a top 5 list, or simply a quote on why you like crochet all counts as a post.
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