eBay® PowerSeller Business Practices FOR DUMMIES®

Chapter 36. Keeping the Books

In This Practice

• Consulting a tax professional

• Organize inventory with QuickBooks

• Posting sales with style

Once you have a lot of online business coming in, you've got to face the fact that you need to keep your books in a professional manner. You'll know when the time has come, but it's best to start good bookkeeping practices when your business is still small. I get lots of e-mails from people who have questions about how to keep their books straight. (Incidentally, although I don't always have time to keep up with answering all my e-mail, rest assured that I at least read every message.)

These sellers are confused by the myriad of products and services vying for the eBay PowerSeller's dollar. Many of these products and services claim to do everything, and that running a business on eBay is impossible without them — as if they were all an eBay seller needed to achieve success . . . but that's not quite right. As much as auction management services do for the seller — and they can do some amazing things — they can't maintain your books in the proper bookkeeping form.

Note

With the advent of e-commerce, many aspects of the business world updated and changed to keep pace with the speed of the Internet. One thing that didn't change, however, is the need for methodical, rock-solid bookkeeping. Why can't you do your bookkeeping your way? Because the United States Tax Code demands that businesses adhere to some tried-and-true accounting procedures.

It's ...