Accounting and Recordkeeping Made Easy for the Self-Employed

Book excerpt: If you're one of the country's 20.5 million self-employed businesspeople, here's some news you simply can't afford to ignore . . . Each year, thousands of hardworking people watch their dreams of successful self-employment go up in smoke because of poor paper management. That's right, one of the main reasons why so many businesses fold nowadays is because their owners never learned how to properly manage their paperwork or keep accurate financial records. Now there's a way to guarantee that your business doesn't get plowed under by an avalanche of complicated paperwork or hurt by inconsistent financial recordkeeping. It's Accounting and Recordkeeping Made Easy for the Self-Employed. In this new guide written just for the self-employed, business consultant and renowned seminar leader Jack Fox, shows you how to painlessly--and inexpensively--set up and maintain easy-to-follow recordkeeping and accounting systems in your business, whether it's service or manufacturing oriented. Based on his many years of consulting in this area and his own personal experiences, Fox clearly and concisely: * Arms you with cutting-edge techniques for managing all the financial, clerical, and analytical aspects of running a home-based business * Describes the latest recordkeeping and accounting software and shows you how to integrate it into your day-to-day operations * Demystifies accounting and walks you through accounting skills and operations, including accounts receivable, invoicing, and creating and analyzing profit and loss statements * Provides practical solutions to the most common financial and recordkeeping problems the self-employed face * Supplies you with numerous case studies, usable worksheets, and sample forms You don't need to hire an expensive efficiency consultant because Jack Fox shows you how to manage your business in his simple, straightforward system.