By Peggy Hazelwood www.albooktross.com
That time of year has come and gone... I'm talking about dreaded taxes! To
make tax time easier next year, read on. As is the case with many other small
business owners I've talked with, taxes, recordkeeping, and all that darned
paperwork are the hardest and most unpleasant parts of having your own
business. However, I have established a system for tracking my antiques and
collectibles business inventory and expenses, which keeps headaches to a
minimum.
Keeping Uncle Sam happy (KUSH) is important, too!
Numerous books on small business operation are available today. I suggest
visiting a local bookstore or library and just sitting down with a stack (and
there are stacks of them!) to see which one will work best for you.
My inventory-tracking system works for me because it's simple. I don't like
to do this part of my antiques business, so I have to keep it simple or it
would be overwhelming. But as long as I stay on top of things, I'm fine. I
estimate that I spend four to six hours a month at the task of recordkeeping
(a little more than one hour per week).
I keep an inventory sheet that has five columns: Inventory Number,
Description, Purchase Price, Marked Price, and Date Sold. Using this simple
method helps me track what I've purchased and for what price as well as when
it sold.
To track expenses other than inventory, I use a simple software package
(Quicken) on my computer that totals the numbers I input. The same results
can be realized by using a good old notebook, writing down the date of
purchase, where purchased, and purchase amount, and totaling the amounts
yourself.
Tax preparation is not what I call fun, so I use a tax preparer. For about
$100 a year (which is tax deductible), he does the dirty work, and I keep my
sanity. Good luck in the business end of your antiquing!
~~~~~
Peggy Hazelwood is the author of From Old to Gold: How to Start and Run an
Antiques Business, $7.95 ebook available at http://www.albooktross.com in the
How To category.
Peggy Hazelwood
www.ezeewriter.com
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