I have hours on hours getting a few spreadsheets and PDF files together to offer a simple bookkeeping solution for your businesses. Check out the spreadsheets and the PDF templates and watch your business grow and your knowledge of finances grow exponentially. They might not be aesthetically looking, but I promise you that the information on them will be useful in the growth of your business.
The IRS requires all business to track their expenses and based on your annual expenses that’s how we are required to track it. If your annual expenses fall below $5,000 your record keeping is not as intricate. If it is more $5,000 then you will need to keep more accurate record keeping. Keep in mind, that these spreadsheets are in Cash Basis accounting. Not sure, what that means. Don’t worry. Most small business use the Cash Basis accounting and I am confidant your business is as well.
“If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business.”
~ Marcus Lemonis #theprofit
Bookkeeping Template Downloads
Start-up Cash Record:
This spreadsheet is used mainly for Self-Employed individuals that have less than $5,000 in expenses, which tend to be business that are starting up in my experience. It is created it to be easy to read for individuals that are starting off and are learning how to track income and expenses.
Chrome Cash Record:
This spreadsheet is used for Self-Employed individuals that have more than $5,000 in expenses, which tend to be business that are established and are recording more than just income and expenses. It is a little more detailed, but I tried to keep it easy to read. It includes a few additional expenses categories that tax prepares require (a Service that I offer as well) ll) on on your tax return. This will only help your business claim the correct qualified deductions, which ultimately reduce your tax liability, giving you the most expenses available to get the lowest tax on your income as possible.
Additional Information
In addition to the top 2 spreadsheets, you will also notice additional tabs. The additional tabs will help you visualize the data entered.
The Report aka Dashboard:
The report/dashboard summarizes and keeps you up to date on your yearly and monthly sales and expenses. It will track each expense by category. This will help you in visualizing what account has the largest expense at the end of the year. The dashboard basically keeps the most important information in one page so you can see everything at a glance.
Miles:
All miles driven for business can be written off at the end of the year. This includes miles driven from picking up inventory or supplies, business meetings or meals. These miles add up and they can save you money by reducing your taxable income. Track every mile by entering the date, purpose of the drive, and the total round trip mileage. See my blog thread on the top Apps for tracking your business mileage.
Track your Miles with these Top Apps
Account Settings AKA Chart of Accounts:
I took the liberty of adding a tab where you can alter categories, but I limit it for a reason. Your expense categories should be based on the categories provided. If they fall in other, add them to the Misc Expense and consult your tax prepare so that they can input the expense in the correct category. The only account categories you may alter are your revenues, up to 3 different types of revenue.
Remember, KISS, keep it super simple. The simpler you have it, the easier it is for you to understand what you are reading. You can always add more accounts. But I recommend to add them only when you really want to take the time in determining certain categories. As a bookkeeper and tax filer I always recommend that we categorize expenses based on the Schedule C the IRS provides. Why? It makes it easier for a owner to know what expenses can be deducted from your income. Not all expenses are tax deductible. The main goal is to track data and to plug it into the correct category.
The spreadsheet here should help you in learning what you need to understanding the basics of accounting. Accounting does not have to be complicated, Keep it simple and ultimately pay attention to where your funds are really going and not what is in your bank account. I hope they help. If you need further assistance or a few tweaks, feel free to email me and I will be happy to help you out.
Time is more than money. What is your time worth?
One of my favorite movies is, In Time, with Justin Timberlake. It’s such a great movie because it reminds me that time is the most precious resource we have. We can never get time back and we all decided how we want to use it. Time is more than the monetary amount we believe its worth. Time spend learning about marketing, bookkeeping, or calling new clients is time devoted to achieve a goal. That minute is gone. An investment in time or education comes back tenfold. Yet, investing in people devoted to a trade that benefits you has a returns on your investment hundredfold.
“We win because we hire the smartest people. We improve our products based on feedback, until the’re the best.”
~ Bill Gates
Invest in your business and purchase the downloaded spreadsheet. For as little as $10 you can start tracking your business income and expenses.
When you business starts to make over $50,000 in sales. Come back and we can discuss the benefits of hiring a bookkeeping service.
Remember this is a business expenses. Keep the receipt and write it off.