You usually find out your books are behind at the worst time: your CPA needs year-end numbers, a lender wants current financials, or you can't tell whether last quarter was profitable. Behind books aren't just an inconvenience.
You email a simple question and hear back a week later, if at all. When you do get an answer, it's full of jargon.
Closing a business involves more than locking the door. There are final payroll and tax filings, accounts to close, and records you still need to keep for years.
A common question online goes like this: "My business made $5,000 last year. Do I need a bookkeeper?" Often the honest answer is no, not yet.
Selling online from Arizona raises a lot of sales tax questions. Do Etsy and Amazon collect it for you? What about sales on your own Shopify site? Do you need a license? Arizona's version of sales tax, the transaction privilege tax or TPT, has its own rules.
Some of the biggest errors in small business books come from transactions that aren't income or expenses at all: loan payments, credit card payments and transfers between your own accounts. Recorded wrong, they can double your expenses, inflate your revenue or leave a loan balance that never goes down.
