hiya Forum,

I hope you can help...

I started out as a mobile self employed makeup artist 3 years ago. I have an accountant who has made things really simple to understand and every year I give him my books to 'sort out' I have three notebooks, one for mileage, one for earnings and one for payments. At the end of each month I take all my reciepts and put them in order, in a folder and write them in my books, so I can see whats going in and coming out.

It's going to get more complicated as since the beginning I've done things this way and moved into a room at a hairdressers as self employed offering a bit more beauty. And now (December, very excited and nervous!) for a bit more rent on my room I'm taking over a three room salon in another hairdressers as self employed. I'm thinking about getting a till as I'm going to want to retail products and with my chip and pin machine (which I've bought and been using it mobile as well) I'm going to have reciepts pouring out of my ears!!!

I'm feeling I need to get a simple software programme for my computer. i'm not petrified of my pc but I hate excel!!!!

How does everyone else manage their books? I'm sure I'm living in prehistoric times with my 3 notebooks! I know you have to keep all reciepts but I'm stressing out!!!

Any thoughts welcome!

My accountants offer a web based system called Easycounting - it lets me do things like manage customers, raise invoices, log banking transactions, record expenses, etc. Any data I enter is then available to my accountants when I send them my paperwork every quarter.

Then there are standalone packages like Quickbooks - that might be one worth investigating as I have heard positive things about it from people I know who use it.
Posted via Mobile Device

Hi
Studio Tracker salon software system might be the answer to your problems, it is very competitvley priced and is cost effective. Studio Tracker also has free support and upgrades unlike many other providers. If you want any information PM me or just look at the website!
Hope you get sorted!

Hi,

I can't see where much has changed by moving from mobile to salon based? For a start you can't claim car expenses any more, so that's something less to worry about

As for using a shop till, all you do is print out the Z report at the end of the day and it will give you one receipt itemising and totalling every transaction for that day. Just collect these up, as you do for your other receipts and give them to your accountant

jes

Without an expensive salon system I believe the solutions Ruth has suggested are your best bet.

Thanks Ruth and everyone that took the time to reply, studio tracker looks amazing but quickbooks is probs my best option (due to time and finance.)

My business is going to change so much. I'm stressing as I know going fully salon based will take away down my mileage but all the stock (ie dermalogica opening order!) I feel needs to be counted properly and monitored so I know what money I'm making all the time. Going for it and spending all my hard earnt savings and getting family and friends to invest in me in the middle of a recession is one of the most mental things anybody can do!!! I just wanna be able to see cash flow forcasts so I can sleep at night but doing twice the boring book work and still manually writing everything down.

But I'm embracing the change and challenge!