Newsletter - April 2, 2008

The Jewelry Crafter

A newsletter for the home jeweler

This newsletter will be published every 2 weeks, and will include hints and tips for your jewelry business. Any feedback or comments about the topics presented here are always appreciated. Click here to e-mail us.

If you have an idea for an upcoming article, or would like to submit an article for the newsletter, please contact us. Anyone who submits an article will receive a permanent link to their website in a special section of our link pages.

This Weeks Sponsor:

New Stock Update

We have received a new shipment of sterling silver pre-notched settings. Many of the styles that were out of stock are now back in inventory at great prices. Shop soon for best selection

Bookkeeping for the Crafter

by

Mary Harvey

There are two main parts to a craft business – creating your artwork, and bookkeeping. The first part is easy, the second can be extremely confusing. What do you need to keep track of, what do you need to report on your taxes, how do you keep everything organized? This week, we will briefly touch on bookkeeping tasks for the crafter.

The first thing that will make bookkeeping much easier is to separate all of your business and personal expenses. If you haven’t already, get a separate checking account and credit card for your business to use. This makes it much easier to keep track of business related purchases and expenditures.

Second, get an accounting program so you can organize your income and expenses. Software programs like Quickbooks, Quicken, MYOB, Peachtree, MS Money, etc., can be extremely helpful, not only in organizing everything, but also in year-end reporting so you can do your taxes. 

Third, keep track of all your purchases and expenses: 

• Tool purchases
• Parts, supplies and raw materials purchases
• Expenses (office supplies, business cards and letterhead, advertising, show fees, travel expenses, mileage, website costs, etc.)
• Bank service charges (Paypal and ebay fees, finance charges, etc.)

Fourth, keep track of all your income. Sales, consignments, interest, etc. needs to be accurately recorded, along with any sales tax collected.

Fifth, make sure you do a year-end inventory so you have a dollar amount of stock on hand. You need this number to offset any income on your taxes.

Finally, I highly recommend either getting a good book on accounting (Accounting for Dummies is a good one), or consulting a tax professional or accountant. An accountant can walk you through exactly what you need to do, what to track and how to organize everything. 

As your business grows, so will your bookkeeping tasks. Accurate record keeping is imperative for a successful business.