Minding Her Own Business: The Self-Employed Woman's Essential Guide to Taxes and Financial Records

by Jan Zobel

Written in plain English, Minding Her Own Business provides the crucial tools you need to understand your business’ finances and prepare yourself for April 15th. It gives the self-employed woman exactly what she needs to understand her taxes and establish a good recordkeeping system. Use it to maximize your deductions and make yourself more audit-proof.

Money Makers
Saving money is making money-learn how to maximize deductions, spot financial sinkholes and get credit where credit is due.

Records Check
Make sure you are keeping the right records
the right way-every time.

Alerts
Stay out of trouble by establishing a foolproof system that will prevent future headaches and minimize the risk of audit.

Filing Tips
See exactly what you need to keep the bank, the IRS and any workers satisfied and on your side.

Expert Advice
Let a licensed tax professional teach you the secrets she has already shared with tens of thousands of others.

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Claire]

very helpful. basic and enough detail for a beginner.

[Kathryn]

I had an accountant once, I called her "Mom." Every year I sent her all of my nasty W2s and WD40s and stubs from the meager freelance jobs I've done (if any) and let her figure out on her magical abacus how much the government was going to take and how many scrawny zinc pennies I would receive as my rebate. When I married, she said, "No more. Figure it out yourself."

So now I have a shoebox full of receipts and a spiral notebook listing every time I've gone to the post office for stamps (business expense, perhaps?). I have absolutely no idea how to fill out a tax form, and I am dreading the next tax deadline. Luckily, I have a copy of Jan Zobel's Minding Her Own Business to guide me through mountains of paperwork, especially now that I am beginning to establish myself as a freelance writer (read: a woman-owned business). Women entrepreneurs in other fields as well would do themselves a big favor by studying this title.

Step by step, Zobel takes you through the entire process of preparing business records and determining how much of your revenue goes to Uncle Sam. Section One, for example, details what comprises a self-owned business (Are you a sole proprietor or a limited liability company?) and offer basic information on obtaining the proper permits and bank accounts for your business. Once that is established, you can read further on as Zobel covers such important issues as employee status (if your business, unlike mine, employs others) and maintaining expense records.

Section Four is probably the more valuable and appreciated part of Minding Her Own Business, for it focusses on a topic near and dear to any business owner's pocketbook: deductible income. If you are a freelance writer, can you deduct the cost of your home computer? If you travel from Atlanta to Athens to cater a wedding, how much in gas and food can you deduct, if any at all? Zobel explains exactly what you can and can not do, and may even surprise you with deductions you never thought were possible.

If you are already thinking about the coming year and what tax season will bring (or take), get a copy of this book and start studying. Dorothy Parker once remarked that in life two things were always inevitable: death and taxes. With Minding Her Own Business, taxes may still be inevitable, but they will not be impossible.