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Money & Taxes, Blog · September 21, 2017

13 Record Keeping Tips

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Record keeping is extremely important to the success of every business. Small businesses that keep good records are more successful in the long run.

Micro business owners should focus on simple record keeping.

Here are some great tips to help:

1. Use duplicate checks.

2. Separate your personal and business checking accounts.

3. Do not mix personal and businesses expenses.

4. File your receipts by category, not date.

5. Use the memo line of a check to explain the expense.

6. Keep a mileage log, even if it is just a calendar with the destination noted. Look up mileage using Google Maps or Mapquest.

7. Keep a calendar of appointments.

8. When buying equipment that you will use for longer than a year, make note of the date and total price including sales tax and shipping. Your accountant will need this information to calculate a depreciation deduction.

9. Estimate the business-use-percentage on items that are both personal and business such as Internet usage, or cell phone usage.

10. Count your inventory at the end of the year.

11. Keep records of income such as sales slips, deposit slips, and invoices for services.

12. Use a petty cash account and balance it frequently.

13. Get a W-4 form from every independent contractor you hire before paying them. A W-4 form records their legal name, address, EIN or SSN, and is needed at tax time.Record who paid you on your bank deposit slips. Use carbon-less copy deposit slips.

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Carol Topp, CPA is the author of the Micro Business for Teens books.

Related posts:

  1. Make record keeping a breeze
  2. Q&A: Simple Record Keeping for Teens?
  3. Micro Business Idea: Record Label
  4. 3 Tips for Running a Micro Business in 2015
  5. 5 Tips for Serving Your Customers

Filed Under: Money & Taxes, Blog Tagged With: entrepreneur, micro business, record keeping, teenager

Carol Topp, CPA

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From a parent

Thank you for your e-book on teen micro businesses. Your valuable experience and wealth of knowledge is vast.

Your presentations at Cincinnati homeschool conferences and sharing with us over the years have benefited us well.

I can hardly believe we are at this point in our life-and here he is a young man ready to try his fortune with the world.

-Mandy S

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