A few days ago, Lorna posted a blog that advised everyone on the top Ten Reasons Businesses Fail. She mentioned that as the days passed, we would select some of these reasons and elaborate a little on the steps we are taking to turn the doom and gloom of potential failure into a much more palatable success story (at least, that’s what we’re hoping!). 

Number eight on Lorna’s list, Business Records, is our first area of focus. Although every grain in my slightly neurotic brain is straining for me to take this list in chronological order, I chose this one because it is—for our company at least—my area of expertise. (Note: Take that last statement with a little spoonful of irony. We are not authorities in accounting and/or bookkeeping. Always consult with an expert before you implement any changes. Especially if said changes will make your IRS auditor very angry.) 

Although I got into this business because I love to write, I actually don’t hate the bookkeeping side of things. Neither does Lorna (she has a graduate degree in Organizational Leadership to prove it). Most days, it is a nice way to procrastinate a little bit more on getting my writing done.  

I like keeping ordered records of things. However, as a general rule, I don’t like using software that is more complicated than Notepad. My husband has tried, on several occasions, to get me to use Quicken for both our personal and professional finances. I have started a couple of times, but I usually get frustrated and return to the incredibly detailed and ornate Excel spreadsheets that I create all by myself. I know, deep down, that I am spending too much time on my spreadsheets and that Quicken will automatically connect to my bank account to keep track of things for me. I know that Quicken can go far beyond my rudimentary skills and take me to a new level of accounting. Someday, I will make the change. I promise. But for now, here’s what my spreadsheets include these categories.

List of Clients 

I already mentioned this one in my Finding Your Niche posting. This is a detailed list broken down month by month. It lists:

• The date of the assignment
• The official name of the company (we need this, since Lorna and I often shorten the names of our clients to “blog lady” or “Mom articles”).
• The type of company (this is especially useful as we try to determine what fields to pursue as far as marketing and niche-finding)
• The total cost of services
• Tax information (whether or not we signed a W9 for them, if they provided 1099 service, VAT numbers for international clients, or anything else that will clarify things come April)
• Their contact information (website, name, address, phone number)
• Their country (I’m not sure if this information will be strictly necessary, but it helps to keep track of where our money is coming from. And if it turns out to be an issue on taxes, I’m all prepared!)
• Whether or not they have paid (yep, definitely important)

Banking

This is my Quicken substitute spreadsheet. It keeps track of everything money related, and I usually update it every week or so. It lists:
• Our original investments in the company (which, we are darned proud to say, were very small and have been repaid in full)
• Company expenses
• All incoming revenue
• All outgoing “paydays”
• Banking activities
• Total dollar amounts in each bank account (we have three: our tax savings, our internet account, and our operating account)

Other

Of course, not everything we do for our business records is nice and clean. For my birthday, my brother gave me a beautiful but rather large coffee-bag-turned-purse. That has officially become our Agency’s receptacle for all paperwork (until I get a filing cabinet or perhaps a magical assistant). Although I may someday regret not being on top of all of the papers, invoices, and receipts that have been generated since our company began, I do have the comfort of knowing that everything is in there…somewhere.

Much of our record keeping activities are based on what we think we will need for taxes or other paperwork issues. Since we are just reaching our three-month mark, we are still unsure about exactly what will come in handy, what is overkill on my part, and what we can do better in the future. As I learn, I will keep you posted!

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