I have always loved a good spreadsheet. I remember the first program I tried to learn was called Lotus 123 but that was just too hard for me to figure out and since I didn't have a good practical application for it at work at that time. That was so many years ago and I was one of those girls that would grab a green column work pad and my trusty Monroe adding machine to keep track of my numbers. Do you remember those really long pads that had like double pages in them? I sure do.
Well, it wasn't too many years and I was converted to using an Excel spreadsheet. I was never a master at it but I sure loved how it could do calculations along with sorting numbers. I used spreadsheets often in my daily career.
When I retired from the church and decided to start my own small business from home, the need for spreadsheets was even greater. I didn't want to spend lots of money on accounting software so I just started keeping my books on Excel. Eventually, my version of Microsoft Office became obsolete, so I was more or less forced to switch over to Google sheets. I'm actually glad because I love the ability to have access from any computer and even my mobile devices. Very handy.
So you might wonder what spreadsheets that I depend on to keep my business running smoothly. Here are the 5 main spreadsheets that I use on almost a daily basis.
📈1. I keep my books on a spreadsheet. I have sheets for each month that I track the revenues and expenses on. I can see how much sales revenue is generated from my website, Etsy shops, royalties and other sources. Each deposit to my bank account is there and I then spread that revenue out into specific categories. I know how much I have sold in stickers, greeting cards, recipe cards and so on. I do the same with all my expenses. Each monthly report is rolled into a one page summary report that I use when I calculate my schedule C for my income taxes. I even have a sheet that calculates my quarterly sales tax liability to make it easy for filing my state reports. I would be LOST without this spreadsheet!
📈2. Mileage Log - I have my business mileage log set up on a spreadsheet and it has been a game changer when it comes time to calculate my taxes. It is so much easier to keep a perpetual record when I can just enter my odometer reading into the spreadsheet on my phone each time I head to the post office or to and art gallery.
📈3. Cost of Good Sold - I keep a spreadsheet on all my supply costs and have that roll into a finished product sheet. It is amazing how you think in your head how much something costs you to make but this way, I know for certain. When purchasing more paper or shipping supplies I can just update the per item cost and it will automatically adjust my finished product costs. This allows me to price my art and gift merchandise accurately and I know my profit margin.
📈4. One of my newer spreadsheets that I have started using is one I call my Art Inventory. I have so many online listings between all my shops that I can't remember what I've gotten done and what I need to be working on. This spreadsheet gives me a focus. When I make a listing I document the name, the date I created the listing, and then if I have added the item to all of my online shops. I also have a column to track if I have posted Pinterest pins, updated mockups and videos for each of the items. This spreadsheet has really become an invaluable time saving tool for my business.
📈5. My most recent spreadsheet that I have created is one I use more like a vision or goal board. I know there are programs that I can pay to track my schedule and keep track of my goals and daily to do lists but I don't really want to learn another program or pay for another monthly subscription. So I decided I could accomplish much of the same thing on a spreadsheet. I love how it looks and there is just something about tracking your goals for each month and quarter. It is available for me no matter where I am and I LOVE that.
If you are interested in getting more information about any of these spreadsheets, I would be happy to help. Just send me a message or leave a comment below. Just remember, if you are a small business owner, A SPREADSHEET IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!
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