Bookkeeping for photographers does Not\nHave to be challenging. Have you ever met with a photographer that loves\naccounting? I have not, and I certainly don’t enjoy it myself. It is an\nessential evil when conducting a business, and although you likely won’t ever\ncome to love it, there are some simple changes you can make to help soothe your\naccounting hassle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m Fortunate Enough to work with Some\nreally talented bookkeepers and there are a number of things I’ve picked up on\nalong the way that have helped me with my own freelance accounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are one of the lucky few who\nGets audited by your regional tax authority they’ll want you to prove every\nexpense you claimed was legitimately for company, and that means finding\nreceipts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paper receipts are horrible things —\nAlways getting dropped, crumpled beyond recognition and evaporating to\nuselessness. Many smartphone apps (check out Google Drive or Dropbox) can do a\nfantastic job of turning photos into PDFs — spend a couple of minutes\nuploading copies of your receipts into your online storage of option, and you\nare going to be a-OK in the event the tax man comes calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the booking keeping for\nPhotographers classic taxation screw-up — you set it off once, twice, three\ntimes, and, before you know it, the deadline is tomorrow and you haven’t even\nstarted your return. It is perhaps the simplest tax pitfall to prevent but\nstill every year thousands and thousands of overdue returns are registered, meaning\ntens of thousands of dollars in overdue fines and extra tax owed, and plenty of\nfrustrated salespeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your accounting takes twelve hours\nOn the day before the deadline, that means a calendar year’s worth of balances\ntakes about 15 minutes per week — wouldn’t it be easier for us to just set\naside 15 minutes weekly to keep your books current?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DON’T mix business with pleasure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re operating your business\nFinances out of a personal bank account you’re doing it wrong. Open another\naccount and use it solely for business transactions. Opening a bank account is\nmuch more complicated and annoying than it ought to be, but you’ll thank me in\nthe long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to performing your\nAccounting you will save hours if your business transactions are different from\nprivate spending. No filtering, no confusion — spend a little time up front\ngetting set up correctly and you’ll save yourself hours further down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are selling plenty of low-value\nItems (prints of your photographs through an online store, for instance ) you\nwill lose the will to live recording every transaction individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your bookkeeping software of choice,\nor at least offer a spreadsheet export of your data. If you market 2,000 prints\nwithin the span of a year a payment processing program might be the difference\nbetween ten minutes of accounting and ten hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DO ask for information if you’re stuck<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taxes are complex and many people Pay\nan accountant so they do not have to think about them. If you’re a DIY\nbookkeeper you probably have more tax knowledge than other business owners,\nhowever nobody is expecting you to know everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can be complex to rectify. If there’s\nsomething that you just can not find out, ask around. There’s certain to be a\ndifferent freelancer who is solved the exact same problem before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re really struggling to get an Answer, it is well worth having an accountant to get one hour or two of advice. The Upfront cost may sting, but it won’t hurt nearly as much as a penalty for Filing an incorrect return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bookkeeping for photographers does Not\nHave to be challenging. Have you ever met with a photographer that loves\naccounting? I have not, and I certainly don’t enjoy it myself. It is an\nessential evil when conducting a business, and although you likely won’t ever\ncome to love it, there are some simple changes you can make to help soothe your\naccounting hassle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m Fortunate Enough to work with Some\nreally talented bookkeepers and there are a number of things I’ve picked up on\nalong the way that have helped me with my own freelance accounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are one of the lucky few who\nGets audited by your regional tax authority they’ll want you to prove every\nexpense you claimed was legitimately for company, and that means finding\nreceipts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paper receipts are horrible things —\nAlways getting dropped, crumpled beyond recognition and evaporating to\nuselessness. Many smartphone apps (check out Google Drive or Dropbox) can do a\nfantastic job of turning photos into PDFs — spend a couple of minutes\nuploading copies of your receipts into your online storage of option, and you\nare going to be a-OK in the event the tax man comes calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the booking keeping for\nPhotographers classic taxation screw-up — you set it off once, twice, three\ntimes, and, before you know it, the deadline is tomorrow and you haven’t even\nstarted your return. It is perhaps the simplest tax pitfall to prevent but\nstill every year thousands and thousands of overdue returns are registered, meaning\ntens of thousands of dollars in overdue fines and extra tax owed, and plenty of\nfrustrated salespeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your accounting takes twelve hours\nOn the day before the deadline, that means a calendar year’s worth of balances\ntakes about 15 minutes per week — wouldn’t it be easier for us to just set\naside 15 minutes weekly to keep your books current?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DON’T mix business with pleasure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re operating your business\nFinances out of a personal bank account you’re doing it wrong. Open another\naccount and use it solely for business transactions. Opening a bank account is\nmuch more complicated and annoying than it ought to be, but you’ll thank me in\nthe long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to performing your\nAccounting you will save hours if your business transactions are different from\nprivate spending. No filtering, no confusion — spend a little time up front\ngetting set up correctly and you’ll save yourself hours further down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are selling plenty of low-value\nItems (prints of your photographs through an online store, for instance ) you\nwill lose the will to live recording every transaction individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your bookkeeping software of choice,\nor at least offer a spreadsheet export of your data. If you market 2,000 prints\nwithin the span of a year a payment processing program might be the difference\nbetween ten minutes of accounting and ten hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DO ask for information if you’re stuck<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taxes are complex and many people Pay\nan accountant so they do not have to think about them. If you’re a DIY\nbookkeeper you probably have more tax knowledge than other business owners,\nhowever nobody is expecting you to know everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can be complex to rectify. If there’s\nsomething that you just can not find out, ask around. There’s certain to be a\ndifferent freelancer who is solved the exact same problem before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re really struggling to get an\nAnswer, it is well worth having an accountant to get one hour or two of advice.\nThe Upfront cost may sting, but it won’t hurt nearly as much as a penalty for\nFiling an incorrect return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bookkeeping for photographers does Not Have to be challenging. Have you ever met with a photographer that loves accounting? I have not, and I certainly don’t enjoy it myself. It is an essential evil when conducting a business, and although you likely won’t ever come to love it, there are some simple changes you can …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[36,71,84,148,157],"yoast_head":"\n