What your tax preparer wishes you'd hand them
It's one tab. That's it.
Excel vs Google Sheets — honest take
I get this question constantly: should I run my business finances in Excel or Google Sheets? I've used both professionally for three decades. The honest answer is both work, but they win in different situations. Here's the breakdown. Google Sheets wins on access. If you work
How to Run Your Small Business Finances — The Complete Guide (No Accountant Required)
Let's get something out of the way: you don't need QuickBooks. You don't need a bookkeeper. You don't need a $50/month app with 200 features you'll never touch. What you need is a system. A simple one you'
The spreadsheet formula I use more than any other
Tax season gets all the attention in February, but the thing that actually keeps a small business running month to month is knowing where you stand financially — right now, not three months from now when your accountant tells you. The formula I use more than any other isn't
Small Business KPIs: What to Track and Why
Most small business owners fall into one of two camps. Either they track nothing — running on gut feel and checking their bank balance when it gets scary — or they track everything, drowning in spreadsheets full of numbers that don't change any decisions. Both approaches waste your time. The
10 Tools Every Freelancer Needs to Look Professional
There's a moment every freelancer hits — usually around month three — where you realize the way you're running your business makes you look like you're winging it. Because you are. Your invoices are Google Docs with your name typed at the top. Your "contract&
The 20 categories that make tax time painless
Tax season. If you're a freelancer or small business owner, there's a good chance you're about to lose a weekend digging through bank statements trying to figure out what counts as a deduction. I've spent 30 years in business analytics and I&
How to Track Business Expenses Without an Accountant
You don't need QuickBooks. You don't need a bookkeeper. And you definitely don't need to spend $30 a month on software to track what's coming in and what's going out. What you need is a system. A simple one that
I Built a $29 Expense Tracker That Replaces Your $30/Month Accounting App
Most small business owners track their money in one of three ways: a messy spreadsheet they built at 2 AM, an accounting app they're paying $30/month for but only using 10% of, or their head. None of those work. I spent 30 years building dashboards and analytics