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Minding Your Business: Tracking Income and Expenses

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Education & Training with ToniHogan.com

Yesterday (this post was meant for 5/6/11 but AR was down) I wrote a blog post about tracking your mileage for tax recordkeeping. I mentioned using Excel as part of my process and some commented that it was a good idea. In a previous life I was an accountant, so I used Excel to track other people's many all the time. I am familiar with many advanced features of the program. So, when I decided I needed to keep track of my income and spending I knew using a tradition check register was out of the question...especially since I don't have a checkbook.

I had already started using Excel for my personal checking account, so it was just a matter of using that as a template. To track my businesses expenses, though, I had to take it a step further. In my spreadsheet there are five columns: date, payee, amount, category, memo. On the right side of the spreadsheet I created a summary to capture the totals of each category (i.e. advertising, subscriptions, training, etc). I start a new worksheet for each month. At year-end, the total of all 12 pages is captured on a single worksheet, making tax reporting easy.

Using this method gives me a snapshot from week-to-week and month-to-month on what I am earning and where my money is going. It also allows me to come actual income and expenses to my budget, or what I thought it would be for a particular month.

I have met a lot of people who roll their eyes at the thought of recordkeeping, but once you get started it's relatively simple. The key is to choose a method that works for you.

How do you currently keep track of your income and expenses?

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Toni Hogan®
Agent Success Coach

ToniHogan.com
AgentSuccessMBA.com

Comments (4)

Trang Beuschlein
Homes for Sale in Campbell CA- Broker-BKR Realty - Campbell, CA
Campbell CA Real Estate - Campbell CA Homes for Sa

Toni, I also use an excel spreadsheet to track my mileage and expenses.  I've been doing it for 7 years now.

May 07, 2011 11:19 AM
Toni Hogan
ToniHogan.com - Houston, TX

Trang, Excel makes the life of a business owner easier. :-)

May 07, 2011 11:26 AM
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro

Toni, I keep the old fashioned milage log for miles and EVERYTHING goes on Quicken for expense.  I wish I knew Excel better.  I REALLY need to take a class to get to know it.  Years ago I took an Access class and so reget that I did not take the Excel class.

May 07, 2011 03:58 PM
Toni Hogan
ToniHogan.com - Houston, TX

Hi Marchel...long time no see. :-) Excel is easy for tracking mileage. If you use Quicken for expenses then you're good. Everything is already organized for you at tax time. There may be free online classes for basic Excel. I know they offer classes at Lone Star. There are so many other business uses for excel that you may want to check it out.

May 07, 2011 04:04 PM