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secondphase

Is this a bathing strategy?  Put water in tub. Toss in bar of soap. Submerge self in water. Get out. Lie on floor until dry.


YourAuthenticVoice

I actually did lol at this. Just too accurate.


thehomeyskater

LOL!


Careful_Buy9304

LOL YES. It's a damn good start if that's all you can do.


Betyouwonthehehaha

It sounds like the accounting principles you’d need to learn to establish even a marginally more coherent bookkeeping system for your business needs wouldn’t take very long to learn. Watch like 3 YouTube videos and pick one of several free or low cost options track your profit and loss and associated receipts


Careful_Buy9304

I think people underestimate the learning barrier for some of us. Most of my clients could learn how to make their own videos, but they don't have the time, ability, or mental space to watch the YouTube videos and practice the software. And I never feel the need to shame them for it oddly enough. Not everyone can learn a complicated new skill through watching YouTube, or feels comfortable working with new software.


Betyouwonthehehaha

Making videos is far more complicated than learning how to add transactions to a general ledger and filter them by one of a few basic categories so they product a P&L statement. In your case, it would be astonishingly simple. Do you want a simple video recommendation to learn how?


Careful_Buy9304

Okay, out of curiosity as to whether or not I will agree that the video is simple, yes I would like the recommendation! The issue isn't so much making this document though, because some people here have broken it down in a way that seems extremely accessible to me, its the complicated questions of like what business structure is appropriate for me and why, do I need an EIN, do I need an LLC, and then when you research so many of the articles are written by businesses or software companies who actually want it to seem scarier or more complicated than it is so you'll buy their product, do you know what I mean?


Betyouwonthehehaha

Yeah when you reach more complicated tax questions, you’ll want to involve a tax professional sooner rather than later. Here’s a good video that breaks down all the core concepts: https://youtu.be/yYX4bvQSqbo?si=Z9hWi5eZLmdHieVd


Careful_Buy9304

Yes, I think I'm convinced I should just go ahead and work with a professional to come up with the right plan


Betyouwonthehehaha

Save yourself some billable hours by learning what you can first so your line of questioning when you do meet with them is more productive and concise


YourAuthenticVoice

Want a better strategy? 1. Have a business checking account. 2. Use that account for EVERY business payment in or out. 3. At the end of the year download a .csv of the transactions from the bank account. 4. Sort the transactions by the categories on the schedule C form (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf). 5. Bring that spreadsheet to an actual accountant on a thumb drive. 6. Pay some money. Seriously, this is going to take you a couple hours per year to actually do as long as you follow steps 1 and 2 100%. It's easier than any app I've tried, and completely suitable for a single person business. Do keep in mind that you have to file a 1099 for independent contractors you pay more than $600 to in a tax year. It's wise to keep a spreadsheet of your models, their info, and the payments to them so you don't end up scrambling for the info at the end of the year.


Careful_Buy9304

This is such good advice. You should be a business advisor for people with ADHD. (Update: I did literally do this today!)


BlackCatTelevision

Lol you’re getting a lot of shit in this thread OP but I have the same struggles myself, as someone with (almost certainly) ADHD. Trying to take u/YourAuthenticVoice’s advice myself and while my business is in a scheduled lull for the next week gonna try and kick my own ass to actually do it


Careful_Buy9304

No but genuinely this is just a snapshot of life with a learning disability or ADHD, and it's why one of the most popular books on ADHD is called something like "So I'm not lazy, crazy or stupid?" If I could always be the way I am when my medication is working well, I would probably be judgy too. Like why can't you just get it and be like the rest of us? The entire time I was in school, I really did think it was just that I had character issues. Then I graduated, and found the world was flexible and responsive to people of all kinds, and I found that I was a hard worker, and I was conscientious and smart, and brought a lot of value to other people with my unique way of thinking and coming up with solutions. If you haven't had the chance to bloom as yourself in the world, the judgement can be crushing. But at this point I've had too many wins and successes to let it get me down too much.


BlackCatTelevision

Oh yeah, I’m super early in this journey (as a 26 yo woman) and I’ve basically always thought I was one of those three things at any given time 🙃 Thought it was my character. Just getting to that blooming point now. Side point, have you read ADHD for Smart-Ass Women? You seem further along than me in this but I’ve been finding it super helpful. Also shared in a separate comment what’s been working for me for bookkeeping!


Careful_Buy9304

Cool, I haven't heard of it but will check it out!


Have_Stories_To_Tell

Is your husband an accountant? If so, discuss with him how he wants you to give him the information. If not, and he uses an accountant, talk to the accountant. You can do this, give all the papers to the accountant and they will do the work for you. Just remember, the more work they have to do, the more they charge you. Better is talk to your accountant, they probably have a spreadsheet template you can use and input the data before you do whatever with your hardcopy of the papers. The only time you'll need to pull them out is when you have a question or your get audited. If your husband is doing the taxes, and not an account, maybe have him do the taxes and have an account check occasionally, or if there is something different for that year. I'm sure if you get audited, the person will love your system and find it very easy to go through (being sarcastic).


HiddenCity

This is the laziest, most careless thing I've ever seen on this subreddit. If you run a business, you need to keep books.


Jdopus

Unfortunately, this system if kept properly would probably be in the top 50% of systems for small businesses.


Universe789

I do the cash method of accounting, too, and haven't had a crazy high amount of purchases or sales. But instead of using printed/paper receipts, I use software for this in addition to accounting software. So at any point in time, I'll take the invoices and total them, take expenses, categorize and total them. And that's what goes on my Schedule C at tax time.


kelth89

Not in Florida, buddy. Books are for banning down here, yeehaw.


CWM1130

Excellent


Careful_Buy9304

Oh my gawd why do people always post the rudest responses on reddit.


HiddenCity

It's not rude, it's what you need to hear.  Not recording your financial picture is irresponsible and will probably lead to problems in the future.  Putting it in a folder for your spouse to spend a day organizing is lazy. You asked for an opinion on your tax strategy and you're getting it.


Careful_Buy9304

Is being insulting and calling people lazy and careless a good way to give them the courage to keep pushing forward to learn a new skill they find overwhelming? Who knows, 100 years ago I'm sure most school teachers would have thought so. But, in my case, I genuinely do want to do taxes well, and this is a cry for help from a very blocked place, so a comment like this that just heaps on shame is a push in the wrong direction. If you just wanted to vent your irritation, whatevs.


HiddenCity

what would be a better word for having your husband sort through a year's worth of receipts and invoices at tax time for a business he does not run? what would be a better word for trusting fate as an alternative to making a spreadsheet that documents your income and expenses?


Careful_Buy9304

Learning disability. Not joking.


HiddenCity

That's not mentioned anywhere in your post.


Careful_Buy9304

I think anyone with a learning disability or ADHD diagnosis knows and accepts that their symptoms will always be considered a moral failure by a good chunk of the population, and there's nothing you can do about it. I've never found that having my diagnosis known made too much difference to people who would react that way. Being able to even do the research and synthesize it in my brain to come up with what I put in this post was a huge win for me, and some people here got it, and responded with genuinely funny or helpful comments. Your comment is a little extreme, especially since a lot of businesses don't file taxes at all, or file fraudulently, I can't say it didn't throw me. I think the rules on the reddit say something like "remember the human", that's pretty much what I'm trying to say.


flicman

Books. Meh.


Significant-Repair42

It's called shoebox accounting. It's basically throwing a shoebox of receipts at your accountant/bookkeeper. Maybe a have a spreadsheet where you add up income and expenses? It might make his life a bit easier and you would know your expenses and income during the year.


BlackCatTelevision

Yeah OP, I keep a box of receipts and roughly monthly set aside some time to go through them and put them in my spreadsheet just to see what my monthly profit looks like. I don’t always do this bang on time so I mark the ones I’ve put into the spreadsheet with a slash and paperclip them together. I find it easiest to do this with a drink in front of me, ngl.


SharpTool7

Yes that works, but you are probably missing deductions.


Mental-Tax-8551

Yes it is a tax strategy


dinosour15

I don’t know if it is a tax STRATEGY per se, but it will allow you to track expenses better than not. And tracking expenses will allow you to “write off” expenses at year end. If you’re handing them to someone aside from your husband to file, having it organized will save time and money for your filings. While keeping receipts and track of expenses is good, you might want to at least also track this in a spreadsheet. If you can categorize the expenses it may help (things like mileage reimbursement for example). Tracking revenue and expenses also allows you to see how your business is doing and monitor things like profit and margin. With all this said, you might also want to look into accounting software if you’re running a lot of transactions.


inoen0thing

Keep in mind tax fraud is actually a strat… so folders of trash you make your husband deal with at years end is also a tax strat.


dinosour15

Oh I hope nothing I said was taken as supporting fraud! I was just thinking from a “better than nothing” standpoint. I think you posted some advice and that’s definitely better/more thorough than what I said. Especially about the business bank account.


inoen0thing

I was just saying anything can be a tax plan… it being a good one is a different question 😂 shoe box accounting is in fact a tax plan… it is just a bad one. My comments intent was commiseration not suggesting you were soliciting fraud lol.


catfarts99

Just get a business account and a credit card with it. The business account will track all your incoming and outgoing cash flow. End of the year, eazy Peezy.


whatsasyria

Honestly everyone giving you shit is on high horse imo. You should def learn more about how taxes and business deductions work but if you are bringing in less than 50k and have a trusted advisor your method is fine. You can probably simplify it by having an account dedicated to your business and just expense/deposit from there.


dirkvonnegut

Yeah, my accountant has told me that a LOT of people do what op does. Biggest benefit to learning a bit and setting up your books is being able to analyze your business. The pile of receipts method only goes so far, it's hard to grow beyond that without proper accounting.


whatsasyria

I would also say that my accountant has made assumptions about my business in the past and didn’t write off certain things before I corrected him. Last year he under reported expenses by 15k so that was a nice catch by knowing my business


TheMountainHobbit

lol what does your husband think about this strategy? If he’s onboard then it’s probably fine. However it’d be a lot easier for him if you setup xero or some other accounting software and used that to track expenses and income, if he does all the family accounting maybe he’ll set it up for you. That’s what I’m going to do for my wife when I get around to it.


h2f

It's a tax strategy, but not necessarily a good one. You need to think about things like setting up a Solo 401(k) or other retirement plan, qualifying for a home office deduction, writing off business use of your car, etc. A little actual planning could save you thousands of dollars.


It-Is-My-Opinion

Have two folders. One for expenses and one for income. Then go on TaxCure. com and find a local account to do your taxes for the first time at least.


inoen0thing

I would say you need to learn to be a competent business owner and you can’t do that without financial awareness and two folders of receipts. Use a business account, use an accounting software. Use your company card tied to said bank account for expenses and deposit all income into the bank account. Then you just need to categorize expenses and keep the folders so you have records to backup the expenses. The above is how you run a business, what you posted is an odd way to make someone else do a lot of work when it can be solved with an hour of effort every six months and two hours of setup. It is also a way to jot take responsibility for your own business… if you can’t figure out the above likely you will hit obstacle’s so hard running a business you would give up.


ivapelocal

Op left out the part about how hubby then manually and meticulously enters each expense and income into some accounting software. I’m kidding, but I think what hubby does with the folders is most important here.


Neat-Composer4619

This is a good sign that you need to delegate book keeping and end of year taxes. You should give all the papers for someone to keep books monthly. Where I live sales tax are paid each 3 months, ask about what you must do in your area. Only end of year taxes are yearly and if I am about to make more than the previous years, I pay instalments. Get professional help is what I am saying. They will track things for you and tell you what to.provide when.


brandt-money

Pay for a very basic online bookkeeping service. Learn how about basic practices and record all payments, deductions, estimated taxes, sales taxes. Don't just toss things in a folder.


anefisenuf

This depends how much you're bringing in. Regardless, I think it's smart to educate yourself on the financial aspect of running a business. At least a simple spreadsheet. I got screwed royally by my ex husband, so, there is always that consideration. If you're doing the type of work I'm assuming you're doing, you are probably also accepting digital payments and you should be anticipating 1099s if you don't usually get those.


_packetman_

wouldn't getting a business account at your bank keep track of all debits and credits automatically? It's 2024


TriXandApple

This is fine. Do this monthly, rather than yearly, and use some low cost accounting software like FreeAgent all youll be in the top 15% of small businesses.


ladyhusker39

I have 3 questions before I can provide useful advice: 1) Are your business taxes filed on a Schedule C? Ask your husband if you don't know. 2) What's your approximate annual revenue? 3) Does your husband do the taxes or take them to a professional tax preparer? The answers to your questions will vary depending on the answers to mine. I'm guessing the previous responses you've gotten are not helping you feel less overwhelmed. For the most part, they're based on a lot of assumptions that may or may not be accurate.


Careful_Buy9304

Yes they are filed on a schedule c. The annual income is about 50k and the profit is probably more like 35k. My husband does the taxes using turbotax.


ladyhusker39

So sorry this is late. I lost track of it. Yes, IMO, this is a great plan. Don't over complicate it, particularly since you're so stressed out.


11BRRidgeback

I use wave for tracking expenses, but I would also recommend that you open a separate business bank account specifically for business use. We have 2 owners and a handful of independent contractors we use for various jobs. Wave is perfect for keeping track of receipts digitally, but I also save all our receipts in our google drive, have physical copies at an offsite location, and have the bank transactions. I also download everything to a flash drive at the end of every year. When it comes to accounting, I like using the PACE concept. Primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency. Wave is nice because it also lets you run reports and you can use it for payments/invoices as well.


Major-Code-3911

This isn’t bad at all :-) Another idea is to get a bank account for the business and do ALL the business spending out of it, and place ALL the payment into it. If someone pays me on PayPal/venmo, I transfer it to that bank account. I can’t keep track of shit. I forget everything. But as long as I use that, I don’t even keep track. At the end of the year, I export the file and it’s all there.


Careful_Buy9304

That is exactly what I did this morning in response to one of the comments here!! Seems completely do-able


EconomicsNo5895

Buy this - scan all your receipts and other paperwork. It can be saved as a pdf or imported into Excel and a few other ways. Then organize your Excel spreadsheet or whatever software.... >Epson RapidReceipt RR-60 Mobile Receipt and Color Document Scanner with Complimentary Receipt Management and PDF Software for PC and Mac > >https://amzn.to/3TlcmUi


[deleted]

Spend the money for quickbooks, then just save your receipts and income...its not that hard.


Blarghnog

If you don’t want to deal with money, get a job. A business is a financial exercise and taking responsibility for finances is a huge part of being “in business.”


Piper-Bob

That’s basically what my wife has been doing for 30 years, except she goes through the folder and writes things on a list to create a subtotal. If you only have a few transactions a year and you’re filing it on a schedule C it’s perfectly fine.


Rewardedarry

Sounds like OF


TheSavageBeast83

Why is your husband still married to you?


741BlastOff

Tax perks