Anyone do their bookkeeping with a spreadsheet?

[Former_Member]

I'm sure this question has been asked a lot already, but who does their bookkeeping with a spreadsheet that they created themselves? I can't find an online method that I like. I would like Outright, but hate the cost and am wary of all the negative reviews of it. Wave is too complicated for my purposes. I'm very comfortable using and creating spreadsheets and wouldn't mind having total control and understanding. However, I'm wondering how time consuming this is. Do you miss things? Do you reconcile it with your bank account and Paypal balances? I can imagine that being difficult with the timing of transactions and deposits.

How often do you input things? Do you input your Etsy bill once per month or once per week ? I know it would be ridiculous to input each transaction. Also, how do you deal with it when you have to pay a part of you Etsy before it's due. It makes me pay when my balance reaches $100, and I want to record that I paid that, but I don't necessarily want to record the breakdown (shipping, relist fees, final value fees, etsy direct deposit fees) until the bill is actually processed once per month.

[Former_Member]

I use a very simple spreadsheet to keep my records.

The top half of the "page" is for inventory control where I have the date listed, quantity, item name, supply cost, selling price and shipping charge.

When something sells I copy that entry down to the "sold' section.

For my sales I record the date of sale, what was sold and quantity, cost of supplies, selling price, shipping charge, buyer name, date shipped. I also record the Etsy fees, paypal fees, postage paid and delivery date.

Since each column has a running total I know at a glance what my income is for the month.

I set up the spreadsheet when I first opened my shop and as long as I keep the inventory updated its pretty accurate.

I keep one page for each month.

As far as recording the finances, I keep a simple ledger book (online) that corresponds to my paypal account and a separate page for my business banking account.
For each sale I record what was sold, the paypal fees, and the postage paid.

Since I purchase everything for the business either through paypal or through a credit card, the business leger is very simple to keep accurately.

When it comes to taxes I can simply sum the categories in the ledgers and see exactly what I've spent on everything.

It probably sounds a lot more complicated than it is but it works for me!

[Former_Member]

As for paying my Etsy bill, I only ever pay it at the end of the month when its due.

If you don't want to make payments during the month, I'd suggest that you turn on the 'auto bill payment' (you can find it at the bottom of your Etsy bill) to increase your threshold. If you don't want it paid automatically when it reaches the threshold, simply turn it off on the last day of the month, pay the bill manually and then turn the auto pay back on.

[Former_Member]

I use Excell spreadsheets. I have an inventory sheet that lists all the same things as crochetgal. But I like to put my Paypal/Etsy fees here too, so I can see what my item will cost once the fees have been applied. This helps me to price my items. I update the inventory every time an item sells, so I always know what I have on hand without taking a quarterly account of it.

I also keep a sales spreadsheet for every month, and I do take the time to input data when I receive orders. Same with expenses. I am very diligent with the bookkeeping...it makes tax time a lot easier. It really doesn't take that long to input once you have a system in place.

I pay my Etsy bill once a month.

[PrairiePrimitives]

I use spreadsheets too. I have one worksheet for income and another for expenses. I try to keep them up-to-date, but that doesn't always happen. I pay my Etsy bill manually when I receive that email.

[SeaAirArts]

Hi Laura, I was using a popular Excel spreadsheet (on my Mac) for a while but it was so large with too many features I didn't need that it was slow and cumbersome. I made my own version in Numbers and used it for a while but it was too much of a double entry system; I'd made a sale and have to enter it in my accounting software where I can balance my accounts, then take the inventory out of the spreadsheet and make sure I had all the "Parts" that went into making the sold item accounted for in my inventory as well. I felt like I was doing everything twice. I'm not a beader but ran across a program called BeadManager Pro by a guy in Australia (I think) - after using the 30 day trial (thoroughly) I bought it - and haven't looked back. The inventory control is SO much easier and it tracks all the sales and $$ too. I still track $$ in my accounting software but that's just me being anal. Written for beaders and jewelry makers I find it is flexible enough to do a great job with my fused glass pieces, my hand dyed yarns & fabrics and all finished items. It's worth the switch and for the price makes my life easier. No affiliation, just a happy customer. http://www.beading-software.com