eBay Bookkeeping Made Easy

By Nick Vulich

Do you want to make more money selling on eBay?

You can buy stuff on the cheap, but that's all you're going to get. Cheap stuff.

The same goes for advice. There's a lot of free advice available on the internet, but a lot of it is overpriced, even when you're getting it for free.

When I first started selling online, I got all of my tax advice from blog posts. One of things every blogger said was, "Don't take the home office credit. It'll trigger an IRS audit."

I followed that advice the first couple years I sold online. I know I didn't want to risk an audit.

Several years later I found an accountant. When he suggested I take the home office deduction, I looked at him like he was some sort of killer clown from outer space.

And, that's when I discovered this one truth that will help you make more money from your online business.

Not everything you read on the internet is true!

Shocking advice, but I stand by it.

……………

I've been selling online for fifteen years now. During that time I've learned a lot about bookkeeping, business permits, and taxes.

During that same time I have saved thousands of dollars in taxes by saving my receipts and keeping good records.

And, so here's the deal…

> Did you know eBay has an app that can automatically import all of your sales, fees, and other information and crunch the numbers to show whether you're making a profit or loss?

> That same app will also import all of your information from Etsy and Amazon.

> What would you say if I told you that you could save $500 or more on your taxes every year just by writing down the mileage when you head to the post office, store, or bank?

> And, you'd probably think I'd lost my marbles if I told you that you could deduct parts of your next vacation from your taxes.

It seems hard to believe, doesn't it?

The last thing I need to tell you is I'm not a bookkeeper or tax professional. I didn't study accounting in school, but I have kept my own books for fifteen years. I do my own taxes, and have them reviewed for accuracy by a professional. That one step saves me hundreds of dollars every year, while lowering my contribution to my accountants new Mercedes fund.

The advice in this little book can easily save you thousands of dollars every year. The question you need to ask yourself is, is it worth investing in this book to save thousands of dollars on your taxes?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Vulich
• Release date: Jan 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507005125

Book preview

eBay Bookkeeping Made Easy

Copyright © 2014 by Nick Vulich

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Table of Contents

Why you need to read this book

Why listen to me?

Getting started

Accounting Terms you need to know

Getting started with GoDaddy Bookkeeping

Keeping your records the old-fashioned way

What about QuickBooks?

Working with an accountant

The lowdown on taxes

Most common Tax Deductions

Business permits, licenses, and such

Choosing your business status

Wrapping it all up

Further Reading

Before you go

Bonus Excerpt

Books by Nick Vulich

Audio Books by Nick Vulich

Why you need to read this book

It’s a great feeling when you’re selling on eBay and the money keeps rolling in.

I have the eBay app connected to my iPhone and every time the cash register rings, I know I’ve got another twenty-five bucks in my pocket. Yeah, me!

Too many sellers get so excited about the money rolling in they never bother to add it all up to see if they’re making a profit. Not until it’s too late, anyway.

To run a successful business you need to make a profit. The more profit you make, the healthier your business is. Unfortunately, too many sellers never stop to look at the big picture. They assume that because the money keeps flowing in, they must be making a profit.

I felt the same way my first year on eBay. I made over fifteen thousand dollars in sales that year, and I naturally assumed I was making money. Every time I turned around there was another check or more cash in the mailbox. I had to be making money. The thing is when I totaled it all up at the end of the year I discovered I actually lost over a thousand dollars.

How could that be?

Simple answer: I spent more money than I took in. The long answer was I purchased too much inventory to support the sales I was making.

Smart business people tie their spending to their cash flow. If they project $10,000 in sales, they determine they can spend a certain amount for new inventory. If they project $25,000 in sales they allow themselves to spend a larger amount on inventory.

Of course, inventory or cost of goods sold, is only one ingredient used in planning cash flow. Businesses need to look at all of their expenses when they make cash flow projections.

A simple eBay business would likely have many of the expenses listed below:

1) eBay fees

2) Auction hosting fees (paid to a service provider like Vendio, Auctiva, or Ink Frog)

3) Shipping and packing supplies

4) Postage (paid to the USPS, Fed Ex, or UPS)

5) Bank fees (PayPal fees, checking accounts, and credit card processing)

6) Gas and mileage for your car

7) Cost of goods (or inventory)

8) Miscellaneous fees (shelving, storage, etc.)

9) Equipment (computers, printers, etc.)

While not an all-inclusive list, this will give you an idea of the expenses you need to track. You also need to track your sources of income.

If you’re a typical online seller these are some of the income sources you are likely to encounter:

1) eBay sales

2) Amazon Sales

3) Etsy Sales

4) Shipping income

5) Miscellaneous income

What this book is going to do is help you take a better look at your business income and expenses.

We’re going to examine several different methods of tracking your expenses. eBay has a great app – GoDaddy Bookkeeping (formerly known as Outlook) that makes it easy for sellers to record their earnings and expenses. Some sellers prefer simpler methods, such as an Excel spreadsheet or a paper journal.

Accounting solutions such as GoDaddy Bookkeeping can track your sales across multiple platforms, so if you sell on Amazon or Etsy you can automatically import sales information