THE BUSINESS OF BEADS -- BOOK KEEPING

When forming LinnyGirl Designs, I did a lot of research about how to set up my business properly in the state of California. There were several forms to fill out and fees to pay. I even needed a permit from the city I live in to create my jewelry designs at home, but all in all, it was a fairly easy and financially feasible process.

Now that I am up and running, I realize I need to keep an official set of books beyond the simple spreadsheet I have of the sales I’ve made, but where and how to start seems just a little bit daunting.

I have been making jewelry for over six years, but just officially took it from a hobby to a homebased business just a few months ago, so how far back do I need to go to track my bead and supply purchases? The truth is, I don’t have receipts going that far back, simply because I didn’t have an official business at the time, so there was no need to keep receipts once I knew I wasn’t going to return the product. Also, not keeping receipts meant I could keep the costs of my beading obsession from my husband. I could simply say, “We’re so ahead of the game. We would’ve gotten stuck paying $50 for a birthday gift for Aunt Margie, but this necklace only cost $12 to make!”

So here I am, four months into my new business with a stack of neatly filed receipts and a list in MS Word of the sales I’ve made. I also have a fairly decent inventory of necklaces, bracelets and earrings here at home in storage, and another decent supply of jewelry inventory at a boutique in Sherman Oaks, CA. The bead and findings inventory? I shudder to think about having to do any kind of actual count. I may not have receipts going farther back than July 2008, but I have beads and supplies going as far back as 2002! A quick eyeballing of my stash leads me to believe I have beads numbering in the tens of thousands. The truth is, I simply don’t want to count them all and I’ve been avoiding doing so like the plague.

So where to begin? I do have Quickbooks Pro 2009 and I’ve been using it for other tax purposes for about 7 years, but not for a company that sells goods or services. What do you fellow jewelry artists do when it comes to counting beads, keeping inventory and tracking your profits and losses? How detailed is your inventory? What software, if any, do you use to keep your books?

All comments and suggestions are welcome. We beaders are all in this together…