Today (Monday March 1, 2010) at 1-2PM EASTERN TIME

Find out how to DOUBLE your income in less than 6-months by learning to LOVE sales! Are you the type that would prefer to eat worms than ask your clients for a sale? Liana will share how embracing a new attitude about the s-word has made her bottom line AND her clients happier. Know how expectations, immediacy, samples, and simplicity not only play key rolls in your sales but will also have your clients raving about you.

*** CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE ***

We have another great Q&A email in from Evelyn this evening:

Liana,

I have some questions for you. How do you come up with wedding packages and pricing? How much do you pay yourself? How do you know what to charge the bride/groom? Are there any good sources out there that talk about this, like books? Also, if this is not too much to ask, I was wondering if I could shadow you on one of your sessions. Please don’t feel obligated to do this. I know that you are a busy person and if I am not able to shadow you I completely understand.

Hi Evelyn,

Thanks for the email!  I actually get a LOT of questions like this so this is why I’m going to answer on the blog Q&A so others can benefit from the same information.  Let’s take it one question at a time.

#1 How do you come up with wedding packages and pricing? How do you know what to charge the bride/groom?

I actually JUST got done giving a webinar on this (literally, this was the first email I checked after I got done with the webinar tonight!).  Pricing is a very complex topic because its deeply personal and depends on every business owner’s unique financial position, lifestyle, needs, market, expenses (Overhead, Assets & Cost of Sales), brand, and demand.  The webinar is about 1 hr 40 minutes and gives a basic overview of how to start.  If you want the full in-depth look at this and the tools to do so, my Profit Center DVDs are 4 hours, 10 lessons, and includes the Number Cruncher that gets you to the place that will allow you to price right based on fact, not guesses.  Check out the webinar – it’s only $47 from Marathon Press and then go from there.  It’s the same info they teach at PPA, Harvard, and other accredited MBA colleges.

#2 How much do you pay yourself?

I average making about 25-38 cents out of every dollar in sales.  So if someone pays me $3000-4000 for photographing their wedding, I usually get a $1,000 paycheck (minus taxes) from this booking.  PPA recommends in their Studio Financial Benchmark Surveys that Professional Photographers make about 35 cents out of every dollar, but their research shows that the average photographer makes less (19-25 cents in their 2005 study!)  The average wedding and portrait photographer makes less than a school teacher!!

If you want to forecast what type of income you SHOULD try to make, you’ll need to work out a Personal Salary Budget – the backwards way!  You simply add up all of your personal expenses like rent/mortgage, utilities, food, gas, car payment, debt and savings, health care, taxes, tithing, etc.  Then you subtract out the salary of anyone else who contributes to your household.You will get an idea from this budget what salary you need to bring home in order to put food on the table and cover your necessities!   We created a spreadsheet that’s super easy to use to do this, it’s included in and the first step of the Number Cruncher.

# 3: Are there any good sources out there that talk about this, like books?

Of course!  But not a ton pertaining to specifics of the photography industry, which is why I created the Profit Center DVD, Number Cruncher, KISS Merchandising, and why I teach this on webinars, at conventions, and why it’s the focus of Photo Biz Boot Camp.

Colleges take semesters after semesters to teach managerial accounting and finance, market research, brand development, entrepreneurship (which are the foundations of pricing profitably) so learning in a single book is not a very comprehensive approach.  There ARE however quite a few books I’d recommend on my book list here.  Be constantly reading and learning on these topics and running a small business gets a LOT easier!

Also, check out PPA’s new 2008 Studio Financial Benchmark Survey!  It’s free if you register and log into PPA.com.  I go into a lot of this information on the webinar and it’s the basis of the industry standards!  You need to understand these industry standards in order to be able to measure your own progress and see if you’re on the right track with pricing and budgets for your business.

Right now I am the only working pro wedding photographer to teach managerial accounting and finance (based on the principals taught at PPA, Harvard, and other institutions) in a small group hands-on environment.  You can also check out PPA’s SMS classes which have multiple teachers (most are portrait photographers) and is a more traditional classroom environment.  But they teach the same great information and you get a one-on-one consult too.  In our Boot Camp class is like a continuous one-on-one consult and an average of 8 studio owners attend.  Also, Anne Monteith teaches her own marketing classes and I’d highly recommend learning from her!  Be wary however of others who are teaching pricing and don’t teach about overhead, cost of sales, break-even analysis, etc.

#4: Also, if this is not too much to ask, I was wondering if I could shadow you on one of your sessions. Please don’t feel obligated to do this. I know that you are a busy person and if I am not able to shadow you I completely understand.

Of course!  If time and schedules allow, and I know I can trust a photographer to benefit the session vs distract from it, I’m always welcoming others to shadow/shoot with us.  I trust you and would love you to come along.  I have two sessions on Friday so I’ll shoot you an email about them.  Then we’re off to Australia and SE Asia next week for teaching and shooting until March!

Last month I presented a Webinar on Business Housekeeping 101, this month we’ve got a new topic: Money, Lies, and Photography!

Marathon is bringing the best education the industry has to offer right to you! Webinars is an online education center where professional photographers can attend seminars from the comfort of their own home or studio through live webcasts. You’ll learn from some of the best and brightest educators in the photographic industry presenting a variety of topics. Best of all, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and gain insight from presenter just as you would in person.  A limited number of reservations are accepted for each webinar so register early to be sure you are admitted.

Tonight (Wednesday January 20, 2010) at 8-9PM EASTERN TIME

Money, Lies, & Photography

Find out what you need to know in order to keep more of your hard-earned cash! Liana will unveil the truth about money and photography and how to make money work for you. Find out how to get to the “Big Equation” that will determine the success or failure of your business financially. Also learn the mechanics and tricks to pricing profitably so that you’re sure to make money off of every transaction. We will cover:

• Common truths and lies about money and having a profitable photography business
• The different costs involved in running a photography business
• How to determine the Big Equation (aka Break Even Analysis)
• The three different ways to price photography
• Red flags to pricing

I’ve had a few questions regarding the Tracking, Planning, & Pricing three-part series of posts.

Here’s our first question, from Roger:

My question is “Why would you switch back?”  I understand that I may not know enough of what the software can actually do or how much manual data entry is involved in SuccessWare vs. QB.   Yes, brides are online a lot and savvy about the internet, but Mom’s with kids are really busy and it is easier for them to email me or give me their info over the phone.  Wouldn’t the benefits of tracking finances with managerial accounting, which you recommend by the way, in SuccessWare outweigh using ShootQ to automatically enter info?  Are you good enough at QB to be able to track your business without SuccessWare?

I am just being devil’s advocate, don’t know anything about you and how you conduct business, and am asking for more info to help me make a decision about how to proceed, either $1500 for Successware or $150 for QB and Excel and my current CRM, which I already have.

Thank you for the great question, Roger.

Here’s what we are looking at:

A) Use Successware for everything (tracking, planning, pricing) and figure out your salary on your own

B) Use your own CRM system (such as the one you mention, or ShootQ) for tracking clients, Quickbooks for tracking income/expenses, and Excel for Planning & Pricing.  (Can use Number Cruncher to help with these).
First of all, if you decide to go with Successware, do NOT buy it outright.  It doesn’t included upgrades.  It’s much more economical to lease for $49 a month and get the included upgrades and support.

Second, ask which is more important – doing the data entry yourself, or having the clients enter it directly.  Is it important to have a system online that automatically takes payments and updates clients without you having to lift a finger or remember?  If so, make sure your CRM system has these capabilities.  ShootQ has these features.  I’m not sure what other CRM systems (including yours) do this.

For us, this was an easy decision.  I do not like doing data entry.  I travel a lot.  I’m busy.  Sending contracts and invoices does not appeal to me.  I have ShootQ to do these things for me.

I have Quickbooks to track everything else – income and expenses.

Second of all, It’s very very easy to run a report and look at your managerial accounting numbers from BOTH Quickbooks and Successware.  You don’t need to be “that good at QB” to get this information.  Simply go to “Report” and pick which report you’d like to see, such as Income/Expense.  That is not a deciding factor.  It’s easy in both programs to track your progress.

So when I look at the time and money ShootQ + Quickbooks + Number Cruncher + Excel saves me… it’s an easy decision for me.  It allows me do what I’m good at, and what I like to do… and does the mundane tasks for me.  I easily have access to my numbers to track my progress.  It allows my clients to book me easily online and I REALLY like that part – they do too!  ShootQ sends them info and syncs the shoots with my iCalendar.  I can access it from my iPhone and look up client info while I’m out and about.

Of course, as you mention, every business and business owner will have different likes and dislikes, different budgets and needs.  This is what works for me and many of my industry peers.  My accountant and clients like this system too.  What works for you and your clients may be different.  What’s MOST important is that these things (Tracking, Planning, Pricing properly) get done regularly so you’re still in business!

In any small business, there are THREE essential tasks necessary for keeping your “numbers” on track: Tracking Your Income, Planning Budgets and Future Income, and Pricing to be sure you’re Profitable.

CLICK HERE FOR PART I on TRACKING

CLICK HERE FOR PART II on PLANNING

Today brings us to one of the most complex parts of this series, PRICING.

There are three ways to price: Cost-Based Pricing, Competitive-Based Pricing, and Demand-Based Pricing.  Because we’re in a day and age where everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, mom’s-best-friend, and next door neighbor is or wants to be a photographer – it’s important to use a combination of all three pricing methods.   If you understand your true costs and what your markups should be, have taken in to account your specific market and the competition therein, and have a grasp on your perceived value – then you are on the path to pricing right.  Obviously, it’s not that simple.  I cannot fully teach you how to price in a single blog post.  I can clue you into what you need to learn and the research you should start with.

Cost-Based Pricing
Price with certainty by understanding the costs of running a business. There are industry standards and formulas that allow you to establish a structure to your pricing.  According to PPA’s Studio Financial Benchmark survey, home-based studios should be running at around 30-35% Cost of Sales.  Studios with a store-front should be closer to 25% Cost of Sales, since they have more overhead.  What this means is that the respective mark-up factor should be 3-4x the Cost of Sales at minimum.

The most common mistake I see with cost-based pricing is not understanding ALL of your numbers first and how it correlates to your pricing.  I teach this in depth during Boot Camp and in the Profit Center DVDs.  You need to understand how the other costs in your business correlate to your Cost of Sales percent.  Most home-based businesses owners should get to keep about 30 cents of every dollar a client gives them.  I see some businesses who’s pricing is so out-of-whack, and their overhead and/or cost of sales is so high that they don’t keep ANY money!  Even worse, I’ve seen a handful of studios who are actually loosing money on every session they photograph because they’ve not done their pricing right.

Another mistake I see is not taking into account the TRUE cost of sales.  Cost of Sales is EVERYTHING that goes into producing a service or product for a client.  For example, when pricing an 8×10″ print there is much more included than just the $2.00 it takes to print the 8×10″ print.  It includes Photoshop retouching labor which at average is a dollar per minute for a pro to do this.  It includes labor and materials for pulling the file, processing, ordering, packaging, shipping.    So when I add up the TRUE cost of 8×10″ print it may be $15 vs $2.  Say I operate on a 25% COS.  That means my markup is 4x the COS.    Therefore, $15 x 4 = $60.  $60 is the minimum I should charge for for an 8×10″ print if I want to make a profit.  If your market cannot bear this or your brand equity is not high enough, you may have to look at alternatives (such as reducing costs, outsourcing print fulfillment.)

Here is a way to determine your mark-up factor.

Competitive-Based Pricing
Takes into consideration the local, regional, national market you are in.  Recognizes that some products are more price-sensitive to consumers than others, therefore competition is a concern. For example, commodity items such as a 4×6” or 8×10” print are more price sensitive than items such as a large album or wall portrait.

I’d say one of the most common mistakes photographers make is base their pricing ONLY on this method.  They look at what others are doing in their city, and price the same way. The problem is, they have NO idea if their competitors are actually covering all their expenses!  Every business and person’s finances are unique to them, so their pricing is likely going to need to be different too.

Demand-Based Pricing
What we also like to call “Brand-Based” Pricing. The greater the perceived value, the more you can charge.  If there are few providers you can charge more. The greater the market demand for what you offer – the more you can charge.

Obviously, wedding and portrait photographers are a dime a dozen these days.  So being the ONLY one in your market to offer something, or one of a few providers is no longer common.  You CAN however find something that sets you apart, have a clear and compelling brand and great business practices to back it up.  If people can see that you and your work is unlike any other, your demand goes up naturally.  You can charge more for your services and products.

Gauging your demand is the simple part.  If you’re shooting 60 weddings each year, and you really only want to be shooting 30 – it’s pretty obvious you can start charging more!

Now that you understand the different methods for pricing, what to do about it? First of all, I’d recommend going through the Tracking and Planning parts.  You cannot price properly until you have actual, factual numbers to deal with.  You will need to know your % ratios between Cost of Sales, Overhead, Asset Expense, and Owner’s Salary.  You will need to have an annual sales goal and run your sessions and sales analysis to have goal numbers for how many photoshoots you plan to do.  Then and only then pricing via the Cost-Based method become simple.  You can use bundling and packaging to benefit both you and your clients.  In addition to this, you should be conducting local market research and take gauge of what you can do to improve your demand.  THEN it will be a unique balance of using the numbers, your research, and the direction you are going in to come up with the perfect pricing for YOUR situation.   Last, make sure it’s easy and simple for clients to understand.  Present the information in a clear and well-designed manner consistent with your brand.

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This series has raised a good number of questions.  Over the next few days I will work on some FAQ posts in response, since many are asking the same things.  Again, there are many other resources out there for learning more about Tracking, Planning, and Pricing.  Business schools and PPA teach the same exact information.  If you want to know specifics for the photography industry check out PPA or join us for a Photo Biz Boot Camp (BBC).  Our Complete Business Makeover includes the Profit Center DVD, BBC, and additional DVD/resources.  The Profit Center DVD is four hours of information on these topics plus more.  Plus it includes the newly released Number Cruncher!

We appreciate your comments, suggestions, and questions below.  Happy New Year and here’s to making 2010 the best year yet!

Now is the PERFECT time to make a wise investment for your business.  See how managing your business based on the numbers will change your life and business in 2010!!

For the next 48 hours ALL DVDs are 25% off.  AND we’re debuting the NUMBER CRUNCHER a la carte! (also at 25% off)

Use the following code at checkout: NYE25

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The Number Cruncher (aka Profit Center Financial Planner) is a geeky Excel worksheet that will help you make more money.

Many small business owners find it difficult to determine how much salary they need to take and how to price for profit.

The Number Cruncher takes out the guesswork and allows you to run your business based on facts. It is comprised of seven different sections to help you make a personal budget and determine your salary, create budgets for your different business expenses, determine your income, and take a look at your sales goals and overall financial outlook. The seven sections are:

1 – Personal Salary Budget Calculator

2 – Four Budgets: Advertising/Marketing, Education, Props/Accessories, Assets

3 – General Expenses

4 – Cost of Sales Checkup

5 – Break-Even Analysis

6 – Sessions and Sales

7 – Income and Expense

Who will benefit from this? Any small business owner who already has working knowledge of the three types of expenses and understands managerial accounting basics. If you’d like a more in-depth look at how to run your business based on the numbers, we recommend the Profit Center DVD (the Number Cruncher download and tutorials are included at no extra cost.)

The great thing is that this is applicable to ANY type of small business! Top business colleges in the US and abroad teach the same information so you know this isn’t just something that works for us – it’s the foundation for all successful small businesses!

Purchase online OR download instantly and save money on shipping/handling! ***CLICK HERE TO ORDER***

Once purchased, you will be registered for the Photo Biz Boot Camp Forum within 48 hours, which gives you access to the online tutorials and downloads. You download the tool that can be used in Microsoft Excel, Numbers for Mac, or Open Office Calc Spreadsheets. Then simply log into the forum (we send you and email on how to access) for the link and password to watch the tutorials. Liana shows you how to use the Number Cruncher using her own numbers as an example.

Not sure what to get? If you order the Number Cruncher then decide you want to get the Profit Center DVDs to learn more, we’ll hook you up and subtract what you’ve already paid for the Number Cruncher!

Already attended a Photo Biz Boot Camp or have the Profit Center DVD? Simply log into the forum to download the Number Cruncher and access the demos!

***CLICK HERE TO ORDER***

In any small business, there are THREE essential tasks necessary for keeping your “numbers” on track: Tracking Your Income, Planning Budgets and Future Income, and Pricing to be sure you’re Profitable.

Yesterday, in Part I, I discussed Tracking Your Income and Client Info.  Today we dive into Planning, and tomorrow Pricing.

Fortunately, as mentioned yesterday, great programs already exist that make tracking simple.  (Such as Quickbooks + ShootQ).  Plus, we have bookkeepers and accountants to help with the tracking part.  Planning can be complicated, pricing even more so.  That’s why we go in this order.

First of all, why is it important to plan? Planning Budgets and Future Income is simply part of any good business strategy.  It’s deciding where you want to go, and mapping out how you’re going to get there.  Specifically. In dollars and cents.

In business they call this creating pro forma financial statements.  It’s a way to project your income, expenses, and cash flow before you actually put these things into place, spend, or make a dime.  Investors require pro forma statements so that they can understand a company’s financial position and strategy before deciding to invest.  By looking at the numbers in advance, you can see potential road bumps and cash flow issues before they happen.  You can determine if a new product or service is worth your while, before you start.  If something is not profitable, you know this in advance, before you dig your business into a grave.

So how do you plan?  What is there to plan? Planning is as simple as common sense, and as complicated as years of entrepreneurship finance courses.  I’ve spent the past five years teaching this information to other creative entrepreneurs, so by now we’ve simplified the process as much as possible.  Here’s how it works:

1. Figure out how much salary you want/need to make.  Pull a number out of a hat or do it the smart way and figure out a Personal Salary Budget.  You need to include income tax as part of this equation.  For instance, if you want to make $50,000 take-home pay, you need an annual salary of closer to $70,000 to cover taxes you owe to the IRS.

2. Make budgets for your business expenses that are a bit more complicated.  Such as an advertising and marketing budget, and a budget for assets you wish to purchase.

3. Create a General Expense Budget (this includes the #s you came up with in #1 and #2)

4. Determine what your Cost of Sales (COS) percent is.  You’ll need this number in order for #5.

5. Run the Break-Even Analysis.  You need to know everything in #1-4 to do this.  It’s a simple equation.  General Expenses + Assets divided by (100 minus COS%).  The answer is what your Gross Sales should be for that year.  Gross Sales is the total amount you bring in sales from clients before expenses, discounts, or anything else is deducted.  Now you have a precise Sales Goal for how much money you need to make that year.

6. Now that you know your Sales Goal (#5) you have to figure out how to make that money.  This is where you forecast sessions and sales.  You break it down by how many of what type of products and services sold at what price.  So in a super-simple example: if your sales goal is 200,000 you can shoot 20 weddings at 10,000 each.  You know your salary and all expenses are covered at this point.  Anything over 200,000 is extra cash for you and the business.

7. The Income and Expense statement wraps it all together nicely.  It tells a story of your income and expenses and will clue you into cash flow issues before they happen.  It’s a nice overall picture of what you can expect if you follow your budgets and go after your sales goals.  You can check your ratios against industry averages to see if you’re in line, or spending way too much in one category or another.

So that’s Planning for Profit 101. I know many investors and entrepreneurs who care less about seeing an in-depth business plan; they put a majority of their focus on seeing pro forma financial statements.  This is the Most Important Part.

Of course, they spend years teaching this in entrepreneurship and business management courses in top colleges across the US and abroad.  It’s not something that is easy to understand and do overnight.  If you’ve tracked your numbers in the past, the planning part gets a lot easier though. A single article nor blog post cannot fully explain what there is to know about managerial accounting and finance in small business.  Reading numbers is an art of sorts.  Taking the time to plan is a discipline.  A discipline you should practice over and over an over again.  Soon you too will understand how to manipulate and tweak the numbers, tighten the budgets, expand the sales, and read the numbers.

So what about tools to help you plan? Successware has an excellent tool built in that helps you create budgets and sales predictions for your business. Many programs like Quickbooks have the same tools built in.  You can even punch your numbers into Quickbooks once you have them figured out and compare your current information (tracking) with the numbers you predicted (planning). The only problem is that they do not include a way to figure out your personal salary budget, nor are they all-comprehensive in doing every step listed above.  They include a few of the steps, but not everything.  Don’t get me wrong, you do not need a tool.  Pencil and paper work great, as does doing it in excel.

In 2006 we created our own excel spreadsheet (Profit Center Financial Planner) to aid other studios through the process and make things easier.  It’s included with the Profit Center DVDs.  These DVDs cover Tracking, Planning, and Pricing in much further detail and also go over many other business basics.  The Profit Center Financial Planner covered almost all the steps listed above.  After four years of refinement and teaching what in a few days will be 20 Photo Business Boot Camps, we’ve developed version 2.0: the Number Cruncher.

The Number Cruncher is a geeky Excel worksheet that will help you do all of the steps listed above. You watch me go through my OWN numbers with this tool, and you can punch in your own numbers along the way.  What you get is a very clear picture of your finances and you can start making wise choices based on cold hard fact, not just a hunch you have.  You can see if things are going to be profitable before you release your new pricing.  You make sure to lower expenses if they are too high, or get that marketing campaign into effect this year if you need to up your sales.  It’s knowing whether you can afford a studio space, or if it’s okay for you to quit your day job.  That’s what planning does for you.  And if you’re lucky enough to have potential investors, these are the documents they will want to see.

The planning process can be tons of FUN when you get the hang of it. At a seminar we taught in Cabo in 2007 one photographer came with her husband, who wanted to learn the planning part.  She didn’t want anything to do with it.  The day after the planning lesson, she returned to class and her husband proclaimed “I don’t even recognize this woman – she’s been up all night crunching numbers and giddy over this stuff!” She’s just one example of hundreds who felt this change of heart over practicing the number-crunching.

It really is life-and-business changing when you learn to manage you personal and business finances the right way and have a plan of attack.  Don’t take my word for it though, as the hundreds of studio owners who have been through the process!

Since now is the PERFECT time to do your 2010 planning, we are debuting the Number Cruncher digital download – available for the first time a la carte (without the Profit Center DVD)!

For all of my Profit Center DVD owners, simply log into the Photo Biz Boot Camp Forum and you can access the Number Cruncher and Demo video links there.  Same goes for Boot Camp folks!

If you’d like to get the Number Cruncher a la carte, CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.

That wraps up part II of Tracking, Planning, and Pricing.  Tomorrow we touch on the complexity of pricing.  If you have any questions or ideas please comment below and we can continue this conversation.

In any small business, there are THREE essential tasks necessary for keeping your “numbers” on track: Tracking Your Income, Planning Budgets and Future Income, and Pricing to be sure you’re Profitable.

I often get questions on the best way to track your income.

Let me start with this: keep your personal and business finances separate!! Programs like Quicken Online and Mint.com exist for the purpose of tracking PERSONAL finances. These programs are not meant to track small business income. What’s great is that Quicken Online and Mint.com are both free to use online and you can link up almost any account so it downloads the transactions automatically!

Quickbooks is the most widely used tracking program for small businesses. Again, you can link up your accounts and download transactions so it makes for less data-entry. You prepare invoices, receive payments, deposit payments, record expenses, view income/expense reports, check to make sure everyone is up to date on payments, pay sales tax, among many other things. You can add on payroll services too, so you can cut yourself a check and pay income tax the legal and proper way.

My recommendation is to find a bookkeeper with a heart for teaching, that understands Managerial Accounting, and specializes in helping small businesses with Quickbooks. Have them come in and interview you about what you sell, how you sell it, who your suppliers are, what accounts you have, etc. They should be able to sit down with you and set up Quickbooks so that it is the most automated and easy for you to use. They’ll make sure you’re registered with the State and IRS for proper sales tax and income tax and unemployment ID numbers. They can do the accounting for you, and/or teach you how to do it. Think of it as hiring training wheels and a teacher for a while. Have them guide you along the way until you’re confident in the process and can do it yourself without their help. You’ll hit plenty of obstacles and they’ll be the ones to call for simple solutions. They will keep you accountable for making sure filings are done on time and hold your hand when you get confusing letters from the IRS.

Your bookkeeper should work hand-in-hand with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or a number of CPAs so that they can recommend one to you. The CPA is your tax expert and can advise throughout the year simply by taking a look at your Quickbooks. I’d recommend paying them to do both your business and personal taxes for you. They’ll usually give you a deal if they’re preparing both and your books are in good shape, making their job easy.

Now back to tracking options out there: I mention Quickbooks first because it’s the one most commonly used, syncs with most banks and other financial institutions, and your CPA will love you if your Quickbooks are up to date! But what about tracking customer information beyond just the finances? That’s why programs like Successware and ShootQ and GigBooks exist.

I have personally used both Successware and ShootQ. Successware is a tool made just for photographers and is a tracking, planning, and pricing tool all in one! You won’t need Quickbooks if you have successware. The reason I switched from using Successware back to my current solution is because I’m horrible about doing data entry. Successware is wonderful except it’s not online and doesn’t do lots of stuff automatically.

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Enter my current solution: Quickbooks + ShootQ. With ShootQ, clients enter their data online during the inquiry and booking process, so there’s no data-entry for me to do while putting together their photography agreement and payment schedule. In fact, that entire process is so completely automated and simple a client can send an inquiry and book within minutes without me doing much at all (except signing the agreement and checking the details). It’s essentially a database of client information, the job information, contracts, and I can set up automatic questionnaires and track my work flow within the program. I am now a Certified Green Photographer because this has allowed me to have a paperless business and do everything online. ShootQ is working on downloads for Quickbooks and while there is some minor data entry for me to do now in Quickbooks, it’s minimal so that really all I need to do is enter the client name and items and double check their payments received and deposits. Oh, and reconcile everything at the end of the month. My bookkeeper Lynne helped me set everything up right in Quickbooks as I described above. With the two programs combined, I’m happy because data entry is minimal and ShootQ makes the administrative process ridiculously easy. My accountant is happy because my Quickbooks are in order and it translates into making tax time a non-headache. My clients are happy because they can book and pay easily online without having to fax things back and forth. Nothing is lost in the mix!

A side note: Quickbooks for Mac stinks! It’s so bad that I ended up buying a used laptop with Windows XP so I can run Quickbooks 2009 on it. It’s the ONLY thing I use that computer for really, it was $150 from a used computer store so not a big deal – but it’s a lot easier to buy that than try to use Quickbooks for Mac!

Now, the final question – why is it even important to track your income? The most obvious reason – the IRS mandates it! You have to report income to the IRS during tax time each year and will need to report details on where the money comes from, what types of expenses you have, what portion sales tax is due on, etc. If you don’t track your income and expenses you end up with a big pile of receipts in a box at the end of the year and weeks worth of work to get this stuff ready for tax-time. Plus, you cannot make wise educated decisions about purchasing and cash flow throughout the year if this data is not up-to-date. Come tax time, you’re likely to be rushed and miss out on lots of things.

If you are in Atlanta and looking for a bookkeeper, check out Lynne with Accounting Atlanta. This is the second tax year I’ve worked with her and my CPA, Michael, who she recommended to me. They’ve made the perfect team so far and now this whole process is SO much easier and less painful! I’ll copy their information below in case you’re in the area and looking for a great team.

Bookkeeper
Lynne LaRosa
Accounting Atlanta
P.O. Box 170347
Atlanta, GA 30317
404-218-1446
help@accountingatlanta.net
http://www.accountingatlanta.net

Michael J Cohen, CPA, P.C.
Tax and Small Business Specialists
Dave Ramsey Tax ELP
7000 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road
Building 4, Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30328
770-901-9966

So that wraps up my $0.02 about tracking business income!! If you have any suggestions, questions, etc please comment below. Up next – planning!

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