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Office and paperwork for your crafts businessNo job is done.... until the paperwork is done, and the crafts business is no exception! If you are doing this as a business, then you will need to keep track of all of your expenses and income.. This could simply be done by hand in a ledger book with columns, that you can identify for your expenses. Keep track of each months expense receipts in an envelope that is labeled for that month.. Record each expense in your ledger book.. You must get into the habit of doing this for your tax return. If you keep good acurate records during the year, then tax time will not have so much pressure!.. plus you will see where your business stands with regards to profits and losses, and which selling idea, worked its best for income. I personally did a outside show in a park one year, and thought I had made a lot of money, but when I sat down to do my books, I factored in the tent that was needed to do the show, the extra tarps we needed because it rained overnight, and you have to leave the tent setup overnight (this was a long weekend show)and the park is guarded by security for shows like these.. then there was the gas to get there (this was 2 hours away from home).. and then the rent for the spot was 400 dollars.. and really out of that long weekend, there was only ONE decent day of weather .. which was the best sale day.. and then one freezing cold! .. I did sell my little fur dog coats that day! .. lots of people were walking around with tiny little dogs that were shivering!.. and one so so day.. in the end, I did make some money, but I felt it was not really worth all the agrevation of being that far from home.. meals out etc .. were factored in as well.. Some vendors even left early as it was costing them to be there each day.. The point is, you have to make sure to get receipts for EVERYTHING.. and you need to either do your own book keeping, or hire someone who will do it for a nominal fee.. because this is the heart of your business... the CASH.. and you do not want trouble with taxes!... A little bit each week is what I did, and just get into the habit, then it is no trouble at all!.
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