BOOKKEEPER / ˈbu̇k-ˌkē-pər / noun : 

“a person whose job is to keep records of the financial affairs of a business”

As you know when running your own business you have to wear many hats and (at least in the beginning of your business) bookkeeping should be one of those hats. 

HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

1. The IRS says so. They say you have to have some sort of “record keeping system” for your business. If you got audited and you were like here’s that cocktail napkin were I wrote that I paid Judy for supplies – that’s not going to work very well.

2. So that YOU can see how business is doing. Creatives love to stick their head in the sand when it comes to looking at the numbers – but you have to know what is coming in and what is going out so you can see if you are making money or spending too much money.

TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO DO RIGHT NOW

(if you haven’t already)

1. Open a separate bank account. Even if you are a sole proprietor and selling painting via DM’s on instagram – open a separate bank account. 

2. Get Quickbooks. The Simple Start version is a great place to start. DO NOT GET the Quickbooks Self Employed version – just trust me. I know there are a lot of cute new accounting things out there but none of them are as good as Quickbooks. (and CPA’s like Quickbooks)

Then you’ll need to actually learn how to use Quickbooks. I see so many creatives getting overwhelmed by Quickbooks and then just giving up (or likely, still paying the $30 a month and doing nothing with it.) The good news is a we made a course just for you. Creatives who need to learn Quickbooks. It’s called Artistic Accounting and if you are just starting out or feel like you don’t know your numbers this is the course for you. Check it out HERE!