Small Business Taxes For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Keeping Track of Your Small Business Revenues and Costs

IN THIS CHAPTER

Developing and maintaining a business accounting system

Fulfilling tax filing requirements with good record-keeping

Running your own business means hard work and long hours.

One of the ways that you keep score is to track your business revenue and expenses; the difference between the two is the profit or loss for your company. I strongly recommend that you utilize a system for accounting for your business inflows and outflows to stay on top of what’s going on in your business and to ease the pains of completing the never-ending stream of tax forms required by state and federal government tax authorities quarterly and annually.

In this chapter, I explain the basics of developing a business accounting process for your small business. I also discuss how to fulfill the myriad filing requirements of the tax authorities by keeping proper records.

Establishing an Accounting System for Your Business

If you’re thinking about starting a business or you’re already in the thick of one, make sure you keep a proper accounting of your income and expenses. If you don’t, you’ll have a lot more stress and headaches when it comes time to complete and submit the necessary tax forms for your business.

Besides helping ...