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SoCalPro Inner circle Southern California 1634 Posts |
Ok all you working pros. How do you do it?
Let me explain. When I book a show, every performance agreement gets saved on hard drive. I put them in a folder called "PA'S". That way I will always have them. For my corporate clients and reg clients, I invoice through "QuickBooks". That works really well...if you record every transaction. Tax time is always a pain for me because I have to go back through my QuickBooks program and or CrackBerry program to add up what I have made. My latest thoughts are to record every show in QuickBooks (via invoice or receipt) so I will have an easy way at tax time. How do YOU guys do it? Is there an easier way? Please share. Thank you. Jim |
Michael Messing Inner circle Knoxville, TN 1817 Posts |
Jim,
I would use your QuickBooks method of recording every show. I don't own QuickBooks but I've always used Quicken to track my income and expenses. I set up a "bank account" in Quicken and record each entry by the categories I use on my Schedule C (Profit or Loss.) When it comes to doing my taxes, I print off a category summary and then input those figures in my tax software. It works pretty well for me. Michael |
Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
I'm behind the times. But my system works for me.
It's not electronic -- it's hard copy. I create a booking sheet for each show, which has the show fee recorded on it. Other notes are on the same page. The front is used for the show program, and the back is for booking details. This sheet is for my personal reference, and goes into an annual binder after the show. The fee is in a box in the upper corner of the page, and I also jot down notes about BOR sales (additional income) after the show. All of the pages are organized by using monthly dividers. I can easily make a monthly summary page of the income by just glancing through my binder and copying information. That way, I can keep track of what income I've earned in a month / have earned so far that year. BTW, maybe I misunderstood you, but I can't imagine the idea of only tracking gross income once a year. I think it needs to be done on a pretty regular basis. - Donald P.S. I use two binders. One for upcoming shows. And one for annual shows, for that year. The sheet goes from one binder, then with me to the show, then home and into the other binder after the show.
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
There are standards for accounting for a good reason ... because they save trouble in the long run.
Yes, record every transaction, income as well as expenses. It helps if you never spend cash (those credit card statements really come in handy, but of course pay them off every month). If I'm not mistaken, QuickBooks will categorize them and even port them in to your annual tax software. |
Eldon Inner circle Virden, IL 1137 Posts |
Take it from a guy that's been audited 3 times. Ross is right. I use QuickBooks. I even use it to record my mileage.
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
When setting up a system to track your income, consider setting up the different ways you can track it... annually, monthly, type of show, etc.
For example - tracking it by the type of show and annually, can help you determine how much you earn from working a certain market. You can also work out the number of shows vs. gross income from that market, and find out your average fee per show in a certain market. - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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RobertSmith Veteran user 330 Posts |
I have no idea how to keep track. I make so much I don't really care. hahah NOT!
I use Quicken and keep a running record. NM has gross receipts we have to pay either monthly or quarterly. Those taxes are noted on our year end so that we don't get charged twice. So that in essence keeps me up to date at least quarterly. One bit of advice - NEVER mix business and personal finances. I did that for several years and it was just a nightmare at tax time. Now I have a dedicated account for business only. WOW do taxes get easy when you just have to add up a total, divide by 1.06875 (our gross receipts rate) and write a check to the state. No more trying to fish out this that or the other or dig our receipts. They're all in one spot for one account. |
RobertSmith Veteran user 330 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-07-10 01:12, Eldon wrote: I thought if you were audited you were then immune from audit for a given number of years. Talk about bad luck. Remind me never to fly on an airplane with you. |
Carducci Special user Denver 543 Posts |
A few things:
I have a simple spreadsheet that acts as an invoice ledger. Invoice #, date, description, amount, miles I create a row in here for everything (whether the client gets an invoice or not) I also add a line item for gratuities etc. At the end of the year, I add that up and I have my gross income for the year. Expenses: Every receipt I get is scanned (I do this once a week or so) using NeatReceipts. NeatReceipts is a receipt scanner an software program that is a God-send. You scan your receipts, it reads them, categorizes them, stores the images (which is a valid way to store your documents). With the click of a mouse, I get a detailed report listing every expense, category, amount dumped into a spreadsheet. I can also instantly find any receipt by searching any text contained in it. No more filing receipts and saving them for years, having them fade etc. It also works for general document management. All my contracts, etc are there as well as the tax forms I get from clients. Come tax time, I put everything on a CD (receipts, tax documents and others in PDF format, along with my spreadsheet detailing my income and expenditures) and send it to my accountant. He tells me how much I owe, and I send off the check. I keep the CD in my fire safe, as well as the data on my computer (which is regularly backed up) |
Eldon Inner circle Virden, IL 1137 Posts |
I'll second Robert, never mix business and personal finances. While we are on the subject, do you guys pay yourself a certian amount every month or do you just use the money as it comes in? I have myself on a draw and pay mayself the sme amount once a month. Most of my friends just use the money as it comes in. My way seems to work better. What are your thoughts?
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marty.sasaki Inner circle 1117 Posts |
One note coming from a computer guy. Make sure you have good backups including an offsite backup. If something happens to your computer you will be out of luck if you don't backup. You can make a good guess, but usually there is more detail than you can remember.
Offsite is important. If your home/office has a fire, or a flood, or a theft, well you get it. You can make periodic copies onto CD/DVD and store them in a safe deposit box, or your mother's home, etc. There are also many programs to store the information on the internet. I like Carbonite for this, but there are plenty of others.
Marty Sasaki
Arlington, Massachusetts, USA Standard disclaimer: I'm just a hobbyist who enjoys occasionally mystifying friends and family, so my opinions should be viewed with this in mind. |
Carducci Special user Denver 543 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-07-10 12:47, marty.sasaki wrote: This is very important! I keep everything on my computer - Tax documents, all my photos (personal and otherwise), all my 'notebooks' all my music etc. I suspect a lot of you are the same. Hard drives will fail. All hard drives have a rating of average x hours before failure. Sometimes you get telltail signs of impending failure (grinding noises etc - this has happened to me), sometimes one day your computer just wont boot (this has happened to me too). Professional data recovery services cost THOUSANDS. My computer is backed up automatically online every night. I pay $4.95 a month for unlimited backup storage and PEACE OF MIND. The first time you run it, it backs everything you want up, then it does incremental backups (only uploading files that changed that day) You can go online and download individual files from any point in history or, if you have a lot of data to restore, they will overnight DVDs of all your data. The best part (other than the price), it works on Macs and Windows (historically there haven't been a lot of options for us mac guys) Also, if you don't need unlimited storage, get a FREE 2GB account and just store the crucial stuff. Mozy Unlimited Backup - $4.95/Month P.S. get 10% off with the promo code JULY |
RJE Inner circle 1848 Posts |
In Canada, if you make over $30,000.00 a year in your business, you have to collect and submit GST (Goods and Services Tax) quarterly. So my books are updated every 3 months.
Pat is an accountant and she keeps all the information (income and expenses)on Office Excel spread sheets, printing off hard copies as needed. |
rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-07-10 01:12, Eldon wrote: Speaking of audits, years ago I was audited by the IRS and audited by the state. In both cases, I was prepared with (Microsoft Money - no, don't buy it, they're discontinuinmg it) printouts and my little box of receipts (just bundled in one-month packets) and my cancelled checks, and in both cases I walked out within 20 minutes with a smile and a handshake. Absent those resources, these could have become very very involved, and might not have come out my way. |
James Munton Inner circle Dallas, TX 1199 Posts |
I use Quickbooks. Doesn't get much easier than that. Hit a button and all my expenses and income are emailed to my accountant.
Best, James |
Steve Burton Loyal user 258 Posts |
I scan in every one of the checks I receive and save them to disk and later back them up on CD. I can't tell you how many times it has come in handy to have a copy of the check on file. It has all the information on the client such as address, phone and how to actually spell their name correctly. It's also great proof in case the IRS does want to audit you and questions the amount you've made on any particular gig.
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