Bookkeeping in the retail industry has some unique complexities that do make it a little more complicated than other businesses. Since I opened my business in 2021, I have worked with dozens of small businesses, and I often see a lot of small business owners make similar mistakes when they manage their own bookkeeping. Unfortunately, mistakes like these can lead to inaccurate financial reports, which lead to inaccurate tax returns, which leads to either over or under paying in taxes.

In this episode I’ll be sharing what these common bookkeeping mistakes are and help you avoid these mistakes to make sure your bookkeeping is helpful and accurate in helping you operate your business and prepare for taxes.

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/common-bookkeeping-mistakes

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

Quickbooks Online is my favorite bookkeeping software. You can try it here and get 30% off your first 6 months: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/qbo (psst…you can probably get by with the Simple Start level)

Learn more about my favorite time-saving features of Quickbooks Online here: https://findingfreedomfinancial.com/quickbooks-online-features/

Xero is another popular bookkeeping software you can learn about here: https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/

Wave is another bookkeeping software option that does have a free plan if you’re looking to really keep costs low. Just know that there are going to be limitations on available features if you go with a free plan (but it will be a small step up from a spreadsheet. https://www.waveapps.com/pricing

Many business owners think they need an Accountant for their business - but what does that REALLY mean? There’s a lot of confusion around that word and what an Accountant actually does, because it is such a broad term. Today, I’m getting a little more specific and explaining why you specifically need a bookkeeper and a tax preparer on your financial support team. I talk about the difference between these two roles, how they work together, and why BOTH are important (And hint…if you haven’t hired a bookkeeper for your business yet…YOU are the bookkeeper!)

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

http://findingfreedomfinancial.com/bookkeeper-vs-tax-preparer/

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

What does “Doing Your Bookkeeping” really mean? Listen to episode #7 for a daily, weekly & monthly bookkeeping task list to help you know what you should be doing if YOU are your own bookkeeper!

Many business owners are so hung up on making sure they categorize expenses correctly and call them the “right” thing, when in reality…it doesn’t matter.

Or, at least it doesn’t matter as much as you might think.

Most of the time, anything that you spend money on that is ordinary (meaning other business owners in your industry spend money on it too) and necessary (meaning that this purchase is essential in you operating your business), it is 100% deductible – no matter what you call it.

In today’s episode, we’ll talk about the 3 different categories that do require you to be a little more careful with how they’re tracked, and then my 2 general rules to help you categorize everything else.

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/how-you-categorize-expenses

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

• Use my Quickbooks Online affiliate link to get 30% off your first 6 months: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/qbo
• Download my retail-specific chart of accounts template here: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/coa-template

I know that bookkeeping is probably not your favorite business-related task, but it is one of the most important ones. And I’m not talking about the year-end scramble to gather all your numbers together – I mean keeping up with it each and every week so you can USE those numbers to help you make smarter business decisions.

Since it’s not your favorite task, I want you to be EFFECTIVE with the time you are spending on your bookkeeping. My #1 tip to do so – use a software like Quickbooks Online.

Today I’m going to share 3 of the Quickbooks Online features that will help you spend as LITTLE time as possible on your bookkeeping while ensuring it all stays up to date and accurate. Let’s dive in…

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

http://findingfreedomfinancial.com/quickbooks-online-features/

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

• Use my Quickbooks Online affiliate link to get 30% off your first 6 months: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/qbo

Would you notice if your payment processors weren’t paying out all your funds? The only way to make SURE that you are accurately tracking every PENNY in your business is to make sure that you are completing your bookkeeping reconciliations! That means that you should be comparing every transaction in your bookkeeping records to the statements provided by your banks, credit cards, and payment processors to make sure that everything you have entered into your bookkeeping matches those statements.

Listen to this week’s episode to hear some specific client examples of how this process of reconciliation saved them some serious money! At the end, I walk through exactly how to reconcile your accounts using Quickbooks Online.

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

http://findingfreedomfinancial.com/bookkeeping-reconciliation/

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

Ready to start using Quickbooks Online in your business? Use my referral code and get 30% your first 6 months: https:///www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/qbo

A 1099-K is a tax document that is created & sent to you (and the IRS) by any payment processors you use. It reports both the number of transactions they’ve processed on your behalf, along with the total dollar amount of gross sales they’ve collected for you. While a 1099-K seems like a very “official” tax document, it should NOT be used to report your income on your tax return. To learn why it shouldn’t be trusted, and what you SHOULD be using instead, be sure to listen to today’s episode!

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/bookkeeping-basics-course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/income-expense-spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

Blog post coming soon!

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

• Directly from the IRS website: “Use Form 1099-K with other records to help you figure and report your taxable income when you file your tax return” (Link to the IRS page here)
• Want to know the best Shopify reports to help you accurately record your income and prepare for taxes? Listen to episode 6!
• Want see exactly how you can quickly get all your sales date into Quickbooks Online? Learn how inside of Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques
• Not quite ready to commit to Quickbooks Online, but still want an accurate way to keep track of your income for tax purposes? Use this Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker

January is a true ‘fresh slate’ in a financial sense. It doesn’t matter if you completely ignored your numbers in 2025, now is the perfect time to commit to a change in 2026 and start to face the numbers head on. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about how you can make 2026 the year you finally feel confident in the money-side of your boutique - not by doing more, but by putting simple systems and rhythms in place now while things are a little calmer, and you have this fresh slate to work with.

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

[blog post coming soon]

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

Quickbooks Online referral link: gives you a free 30 day trial, followed by 30% off your first 6 months.

Looking for the mini-series on the basic financial statements? Listen or Read here:

• • Income Statement: https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/7
  • Balance Sheet: https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/50
  • Statement of Cash Flows: https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/47

You might already be familiar with the 1099s you RECEIVE as a business, but did you know that you ALSO have a requirement to SEND any 1099 documents to individuals and businesses that meet certain criteria? It’s not just a responsibility of large corporations - ANY small business may also need to send out 1099s at the end of the year.

Today’s episode is going to walk through the 4 requirements to review to determine if any of your vendors need to be sent a 1099, when these 1099s need to be sent by, and how to actually file them.

Ready to take your learning a step further?

Register for my Free Masterclass, Make Your Money Make Sense! Where you’ll learn how to understand where your money is going, avoid costly bookkeeping mistakes, and set up an easy to follow bookkeeping system.

Sign up now: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/masterclass

Other Ways to Work With Me:

• If you’re ready to just hand the numbers off to someone so you can stay in your own zone of genius, apply for one of our open client spots so we can take it off your hands. Don’t worry, we’ll send you your financial reports each month so you can feel confident in your numbers without doing the work yourself. Apply now by booking a coffee chat consultation at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/contact
• Need some guidance on how to do you own bookkeeping in Quickbook Online? Then check out Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques, our signature course that walks you through the exact setup & process you need to implement for accurate and EASY bookkeeping all year long - no more tax time scramble! Enroll at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course
• Are you a Shopify seller who’s not quite ready to invest in a bookkeeping software like Quickbooks? Don’t worry - I got you! I’ve created a custom Shopify Seller Income & Expense Tracker that you can use to easily enter each transaction coming in and out of your business, along with your sales data coming directly from Shopify to put together a standard P&L (Income Statement) that you can hand over to your tax preparer. Download your copy at www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/income-expense-spreadsheet

Prefer to learn while you read? Check out the blog post for this episode:

https://www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/who-needs-to-receive-a-1099

Related Episodes & Resources Mentioned:

• How to order paper copies of blank 1099 forms: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/at-01-57.pdf
• Software options you can use to electronically file & send your 1099s: Quickbooks Online or Tax1099
• Get your bookkeeping all caught up with Bookkeeping Made Simple for Boutiques to easily identify which vendors you need to send 1099s: www.findingfreedomfinancial.com/course