It’s that time of year again, and it drives me crazy…tax time! By nature, I’m not a math person, and I’m also not the most organized person in the world, so I really struggle with taxes. I imagine there are a lot of other professional photographers out there that struggle with the same thing. For the past 4 years or so, I have been doing the same thing with taxes, and I’m never happy with my process. This year, I’d like to find a tax recording system for photographers, so I can finally get rid of the headache and hopefully save some money as well.
Tax Recording System for Photographers
Currently, my main way to record things for taxes is an Excel sheet. I made it several years back and it is very basic. I have different tabs for each month and a there’s a place for expenses and revenue. I also managed to get some formulas in there, so I know if I’m making money or losing money. The form takes care of the basics, but I really need something more.
Part of my issue is not the form itself, but it’s more about my process. One, I wait too long to record revenue or expenses. I need to track things as soon as it happens. I often wait till the end of the month when I have to pay sales tax to put things in. Sometimes, I wait all the way until March when taxes are due. I end up having to go through a bunch of accounts and looking at numbers and receipts. Several times I have no idea what something was because it’s been too long and I forgot. Second, I have all my info in too many places. I have my bank account, Paypal, and a credit card. I end up having to go through all of these to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and that takes a lot of time.
What’s the solution? I honestly don’t know. Part of it, like I said, needs to just be a change in my own personal habits. That would probably help out a lot. There are some things though that I can’t currently do that would be nice. I’d really like to be able to categorize everything so I can see where I’m spending too much and where I’m earning the most. This would be best through some new software.
For this year, I’m just going to have to finish off my taxes the way I did it last year. I really would like a new Tax Recording System for Photographers for this year, so I need to hurry up. I’ve started my search and I’ve already found a few options. If you have any ideas or know of some software, I’d love to hear about it.
