Did you know that you can get an automatic six-month extension on filing your taxes just by filling out a short form? You don’t even have to give a reason, you can just take six more months to do it. You still have to pay your taxes by April 15th of course (Uncle Sam doesn’t like waiting for his money), but since you pay quarterly anyway, that’s no big deal, and —
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Wait, you didn’t know that you have to pay quarterly estimated taxes as a small business?
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Yes, federal and state income tax. Not sales tax, though. You can still pay that annually, but —
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Yes, you have to pay sales tax! You collected it from your customers, didn’t you?
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You didn’t know you had to?
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And you thought you got to keep it?!
You’ve just overheard me on the phone with my 2004 self. When I started my first business ten years ago, I didn’t know any of these things. I didn’t pay quarterly taxes my first two years. I didn’t know I always had to pay sales tax — even when I didn’t collect it. When Etsy or my online shopping cart collected it for me, I thought I just got to keep it. Luckily I was able to correct these things before they came back to bite me, but I can do you one better.
At the Craftcation Conference next week, I will be launching a small selection of financial organization services to get you on the right track. If you’re at the start of a new business and you want to make sure you’re doing everything correctly, but you still have a lot of “unknown unknowns,” I can help you get organized. I’m not a CPA or a tax preparer — I won’t be doing your bookkeeping or taxes for you. What I will do is set up a customized financial system for your business and teach you how to use it. Not only will all your i’s be dotted and your t’s crossed, you’ll be able to see the health of your business at a glance, as well as what you need to do to make it more profitable — all for the cost of preparing one tax return. Here are the goods:
- Squeaky Clean Books ($500 for service-based businesses/ $650 and up for product-based businesses): get a one-of-a-kind, customized Excel bookkeeping ledger that contains exactly the features your business needs and nothing extraneous, plus three hours of private tutoring in proper bookkeeping techniques, using your ledger and your receipts. The ledger is sweet — it does all the calculations for you automatically. Come tax time, all you’ll have to do is print the front page! (does not come with Excel software)
- My First Quickbooks ($650 for service-based businesses/ $800 and up for product-based businesses): get your Quickbooks software (Pro or Premier Manufacturing & Wholesale edition) set up specifically for your business, plus five hours of private tutoring in proper bookkeeping techniques and how to use the software. (does not come with Quickbooks software)
- Price Hacker ($300 and up): I will help you set sustainable, market-appropriate prices that you can feel confident about for all of your products and/or services.
- Wealth Builder ($450): get a personalized financial plan for saving, investing and/or paying down debt, based on your life goals, plus three hours of private tutoring on how to build wealth confidently and painlessly.
- Sales Tax Master ($200 and up): I will walk you through filling out and filing your California Sales Tax return, and help you set up your records so that it’s a breeze next year.
If you’re looking for something a little different, you can contact me to customize a package just for you. I am also available to consult on specific topics on an hourly basis. If you will be attending the Craftcation Conference in Ventura, you can take my personal finance and/or bookkeeping workshops to get a sense of how I structure things. I’ll also be speaking on a panel about pricing and offering personal office hours for your financial questions. Let’s get in touch!
