Keeping Track of Income, Expenses and Taxes

If you own a small business or especially if you run a one-person enterprise from your home, you are aware that keeping track of where the money is coming from and going to is job #1, but also, that it can be confusing and frustrating to keep track of income, expenses, tax items and other line items.

For most of us, it's a job that gets farmed out to an accountant, employee or bookkeeping firm, of which there are many. Those who prefer the old, tried-and-true method of doing everything by oneself, the internet offers a variety of business bookkeeping that can help make these business chores more enjoyable and less time-consuming.

What's nice about some of these services is - in addition to many of them being free - that all the information is sourced from one's own bank accounts, PayPal accounts or credit card accounts, so there's no manual imputation of individual transactions necessary.

Most of these services offer real-time access to your income and expense data and the best of breed are highly secure and reliable. Once you've input all of your accounts the software (in the cloud, so to speak) does the buklk of the heavy listing and you can sit back and enjoy running your business without having to worry about whether you're spending too much on particular items or getting behind on necessary tax filings.

Some of these services offer worksheets for the individual practitioner's best friend in the tax filing universe: IRS Schedule C, along with other useful forms and information to make your tax filings a snap.