Читать книгу Financial Accounting For Dummies - Maire Loughran - Страница 61

A favorite with many of my small business clients, the sole proprietorship is the easiest type of business entity to start and maintain. It also requires the least amount of initial cash outlay. Permitting and licensing issues aside, you are the proud owner of the sole proprietorship the second you make a business purchase or sale.

Small Business For Dummies (Wiley) by Eric Tyson and Jim Schell is a great resource for navigating legal issues, such as securing a business license.

Sole proprietorships aren’t required to keep a balance sheet for tax purposes (see Chapter 2), so keeping your accounting books is a snap. This is a plus if you plan to use a spreadsheet program such as Excel to keep track of your sales and costs. Don’t laugh; I still have clients who give me a flash drive with spreadsheet data at year-end for tax return preparation.

Plus, you don’t incur the additional expense to file a separate tax return to report all that income you’re going to be bringing in! Sole proprietorships report their income or loss on the owner’s Form 1040.

And tah-dah! If you don’t have any employees, you don’t need to bother with those pesky employment tax forms. The owner of a sole proprietorship does not get paid like an employee; she receives a draw, which is part of owners’ capital.