YOu need to keep all your receipts for purchases, and for sales. I really suggest you consult with an accountant to help you set up books. You will need to divide your supplies into consummables. supplies, tools, fees, and several others. Without having this knowledge you won't know what needs to be saved and how to keep track of it. MY husband and I have several small businesses. We use quicken home and business, turbo tax for home and business and have seperate checking accounts for each business. When we make a purchase we have to split the reciept into the different catagories.
I keep records of what supplies go into each garment or item I make. Without keeping track how can I know what my costs are? I can't, so I can't determine what I should sell something for so that I can make a profit. And without profit, I can't stay in business and buy more supplies to make more stuff to sell.
Also, since I make children's products I have to keep records as per the CPSIA laws. For that, I keep a screen shot of each item listed on Etsy or anywhere else. I have snippets of fabric, button cards, list of costs and where everything was purchased. all on that sheet of paper. When I sell the item, I have the date sold, the customer's name and all other information written down also. Everything goes into a clear sheet protecter and in a notebook..
