Ask KWP: How do you keep up with business expenses?
Oh boy, we have such a fun topic to cover today. How do I keep up with expenses. Do you know how many photographers I have talked to who don’t understand this? Who can’t even tell me how much money they made last year, much less where all the money they spent went. If this is you, it is okay!! Don’t be discouraged, but I want to help.
If I am being honest, sometimes I can get “imposter syndrome” when it comes to sharing the serious business advice, like expenses and contracts and all of that. I run this business because I love people. I love making people feel comfortable in front of the camera, and I love making people feel loved through an amazing experience, and I love documenting love stories.
But can I tell you something that might be uncomfortable to read?
I love making money.
I do.
I love being able to make money to support my family and give me the freedom to spend more time with my family, while giving people an amazing experience.
I cannot give my couples the amazing KWP wedding experience they dream of if I am not making money.
If my business if not profiting to provide for my family, I do not have a business.
If you are not paying yourself, you have a hobby, not a business. Ouch.
If that hurts a little, start here.
- Start with Honeybook.
Use that link to get 20% off your first year, and start there. That will show you exactly how much money comes in every month, and you can even track your business expenses here. I actually use Quickbooks in addition to Honeybook now, because it is a little easier for me to track automatically for my accountant. But if you are not tracking expenses at all, or if you are ending every year wondering where the heck all of your money went, start here.
2. Separate your personal and business accounts.
Do this as soon as you create your Honeybook account, so you can send your payments straight to the new business account.
I think because a lot of photographers or entrepreneurs start their business as a hobby that surprisingly starts making money, they wait way too long to do this, and end up stealing from personal accounts to fund their business way longer than they should.
Create your new business account, and DO NOT steal from it. It is a business account, not your Christmas fund.
I will share in another post about how I started paying myself and the system I use. But to get started, make the Honeybook account. Make your new business account. And then track every single expense in Honeybook. It will be time consuming… but manually tracking every single expense will really make your pay attention to where your money is actually going so more of it can start going in your pocket.
Don’t forget to use this link so we both get money back to run our businesses!
Always cheering you on!
With love,
Katelyn Workman
Have more questions? Check out these blog posts and leave your question in the comments!
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