How do you keep track of your business finances?

[Craft Studio Paper]

Right now I have a spreadsheet for keeping track of my shop financial stuff. And I also have an individual sheet for each item so I can find out my profit and expenses per item. But, it's a pain to enter in info in two places. Anyone care to share how they keep track of their financial info?

[Sarah Kinzalow]

Paypal Premier Business Account - it was free to sign up through Paypal, I got an ATM/Credit/Debit card to use and they have all the reports you could want.

[Jennifer Schroll]

I have a spreadsheet for shop transactions and I use a separate spreadsheet so I can keep a record of the cost of my supplies.

My transaction spreadsheet just keeps a running total. Any receipts generated by my sales or purchases are kept in separate envelopes by month. For example, any supply purchases I make in June go into an envelope designated for June expenses, while sales receipts for June go into a different envelope.

My supply cost spreadsheet tracks both the tools I buy and materials for my product. It is a bit of work to build up at first. But, I know I'll often re-up on certain supplies, such as adhesives, ink, patterned paper, certain embellishments and cardstock. For the most part, those records I only have to enter once and then update if the prices of those supplies change. From there, I usually have a pretty good idea on how much it costs to make an item and then I can decide upon a markup.

Right now, I keep track of my materials and tools on the same spreadsheet. But I am thinking about splitting those apart.

[Craft Studio Paper]

Thank you both!
Sarah - I will look into Paypal
Jennifer - I don't even keep up with my tools and supplies yet! Yikes! Probably need to add that all in too huh? LOL

[Jennifer Schroll]

I drafted my husband's help with the cost tracking. He already runs a business and is more than willing to help me with this stuff! :)

I could be WAAAY wrong about this, but by keeping track of my tools, I may be able to claim some depreciation in the value of my tools down the line. I'm not sure, I'm still pretty green when it comes to this stuff.

As for transactions, I also have a PayPal Premier account.

[Becky McDermitt]

Wow- a lot of good stuff here to consider!

Did you all have to get a business license? I'm curious about the taxes, etc.

[Jennifer Schroll]

I obtained a state tax ID by applying with the KS Secretary of State's office and a federal tax ID trought the IRS. I really like that KS sends the necessary paperwork to me when it's time for quarterly taxes. I write a check to the state and they divy up the local, county, and state taxes for me.