A Quick Guide to Bookkeeping for Creatives 

As a creative business owner, there’s one thing that tends to be overlooked: your numbers. More specifically, your bookkeeping.

While marketing your business, talking to clients and customers, and even networking is becoming second nature — keeping up with your bookkeeping is becoming increasingly exhausting.

But, at the end of the day, when your books are in good shape, your business is in good shape, and the more stress-free you’ll be at tax time. So, here’s your guide to bookkeeping for creatives:

What is Bookkeeping? Getting Started & Catching Up Your Books

Bookkeeping is the recording of your financial transactions (your income and expenses) on a regular basis, usually in a bookkeeping software like QuickBooks or Xero. It can help you track your profit, revenue, and business expenses.

Your starting point will look a little different depending on what you’re currently doing for your bookkeeping. For example, if you haven’t tackled your bookkeeping at all, then it’s time to catch up and start recording your previous transactions.

Suppose you’re already maintaining your books, but you’re often falling behind, forcing yourself to check it off your to-do list, or numbers are not lining up at the end of the month. In that case, it’s time to consider a clean-up (checking to make sure everything is being accurately tracked), a catch-up (inputting all the information from missing months — or years), or monthly bookkeeping (DIY or outsourced to a bookkeeper).

How to Keep Your Bookkeeping Up-to-Date as a Creative

Once your bookkeeping is in a good place, it’s important to keep it there! I recommend spending 30 minutes to an hour each week catching up and organizing your transactions. This is also a good time to save receipts and track contractor payments.

Additionally, you should consider:

• Reconciling your bank account and statements at the end of each month makes sure you don’t miss any incorrectly categorized transactions.
• Keeping your business and personal finances separate and avoid commingling funds.
• Checking in on your automations to see if they correctly categorize your transactions (or not).

The more often you do it, the more it will become a habit for good bookkeeping and less of a chore to keep up with! 

Getting Help With Your Creative Business’s Bookkeeping

You’re not limited to DIY-ing your bookkeeping, nor do you need to commit to having a bookkeeper do it all if you’re not ready. Bookkeepers can help you set up, organize, and upkeep your books — it’s not necessarily all or nothing.

Also, it’s okay if your bookkeeping isn’t in great shape before finding help; that’s exactly what we’re here for. A good bookkeeper will help organize your finances without judgment and guide you on what you need based on your business and capacity.

And if you’re ready to get help with your bookkeeping as a creative business, reach out here, and let’s chat!