Tweet

Home stagers, start saving your receipts

Guest post by: Debra Gould

Article Overview: Debra Gould, The Staging Diva gives sound advice on business expenses to prepare home stagers for the upcoming tas season.

Home stagers, start saving your receipts

One of the big advantages to operating a home staging business is that you get to write off many of your expenses against your income. There are tax advantages to this and now that we're approaching the end of 2010 it's a good time to start getting organized for the next tax season. If you haven't yet started your home staging business, but you're planning to do so and you're in the process of doing your research and taking courses, Staging Diva, Debra Gould recommends that you start keeping all of those receipts because when you prepare your taxes, you'll be glad you had. If you don't have a financial background or experience in bookkeeping, it's a good idea to start building a relationship with a good accountant when you start your business.

Gould, author of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, says, "Whether you started your business last year, last month, or today it's not too late to start thinking ahead about your next tax return. For that matter, even if you've been in business for years it's never too late to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and focus on doing something better for the next year!" Gould adds, "The most important financial advice I can give you is to hang on to every single receipt you get your hands on that could possibly be a business expense. This will allow you to lower your reported income at the end of the year, and therefore lower the taxes you owe."

You have to know which expenses are legitimate business expenses for tax laws in your area, which is why it's important to find an accountant as soon as possible, but the following are possible business expenses for you as a home stager:

• Home staging courses and resources you purchase from the Staging Diva Store

• Subscriptions to magazines and newspapers

• Office supplies

• Postage and courier bills

• Travel expenses

• Staging props like vases, decorative soaps, plates and glassware

• Restaurant bills

• Business gifts or gift certificates

• Fresh flowers (needed for staging or portfolio photography)

• Computer equipment and software

• Camera

• Cleaning bills

• A portion of your mortgage (if you have a home office)

• A percentage of your utilities like heating and electricity

• A percentage of your cable bill (HGTV is a must-have!)

• Décor, business or any other type of reference books

• Cell phone and Internet bills

• Vehicle expenses (Keep a notepad in your car to track mileage for staging projects.)

• Insurance

• Business coaching

"When in doubt about whether or not something is a legitimate expense," advises Gould, "err on the side of caution and hang on to the receipt. Let your accountant determine if it can be used or not."

About Staging Diva

The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. She is the president of home staging firm SixElements.com and has trained over 4000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses.

Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US and Canada including: This Old House, HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women's Day, Reader's Digest and more.

Related Articles
  Why Home Stagers Don’t Need to Provide Furniture Rentals – Part 2
  Clutter is Only Money in Your Pocket
  Why Home Stagers Don’t Need to Provide Furniture Rentals – Part 1
  No One Needs to Know You’re a Part-Time Home Stager
  How to Tell if Home Staging Will Work in Your Small Town – Part 2
  Staging Diva Announces Resource To Help Stagers Effortlessly Promote Their Services
  Home Staging Marketing Tactics That Will Put You Out of Business – Pt. 3
  Home staging competition may not be tough as you think
  How Home Stagers Ruin Their Image Without Even Trying
  The Art of Home StagingGet your inventory ready for fall selling season
  Home Staging Marketing Tactics That Will Put You Out of Business Pt. 1
  Record Level US Home Sales Bodes Well for Home Stagers
  Home Stagers Don’t Have to Buy Their Own Accessories
  Home Stagers Should Never Waive Their Consultation Fee
  Part-time home stagers just as likely to succeed
  Home Stagers, Realize Your Own Power in Real Estate
  Professional Home Stagers Don’t Work For Free
  Home Staging Offers High Income in Slow Economy
  Do Your Home Staging Rates Belong On Your Website?
  5 Steps to Starting a Home Staging Business – Part 2

Article Tags: business expenses, business taxes, home stagers, home staging business, receipts



Related Forum Posts
Re: Looking for tax advice from full time internet marketers - Hi Trent - I've had my accountant prepare all my taxes both personal and business for the past number of years. I find that he's always on top of what deductions I can make and has really helpful tax planning advice - his knowledge more than pays off in savings compared to what I pay him as a fee - so I'm saving money and saving time! You have to have enough earnings though to make the deductions worthwhile. For entrepreneurs making $40k per year then paying an accountant probably doesn't make sense but if you're into the six figures then you should start to realize some significant savings. Plus you get to spend more time doing what you're actually good at and what brings in money instead of spending your time on your taxes. Hope that helps!
Online Teen Magazine... Tips - I am planning to start an online teen magazine and of course bootstrapping will be my choice of funding. I am searching internet for some help as I am having a hard time on deciding what to surround the topic about. I know I wanted to start a online magazine for youth entrepreneurs but I am not sure though as it seems like the idea will be bland and boring. So I've been trying to plan another way out for coming up with a topic that will interest teen's, but will also give them some knowledge in saving their money and the business world. I am not necessarily looking to start entirely a "Teen" magazine but you should get what path I am on. My question is, what kind of online magazine should I start and how can I diversify the topic's to make it interesting to teen's but also give them entrepreneurship knowledge. I was thinking of a youth entrepreneur magazine but I am not sure right now though.
Re: When do entrepreneurs retire, if ever? - Why would you ever retire when you love what you are doing? Sell the business and start another one maybe - but retire - NEVER! You should all read, The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. He talks about building your business so that you can take mini 'retirement's throughout your life, instead of saving it all up for when you are old. Great concept - what do you think??
Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? - HI, I have used trade shows (not participated) to collect potential clients. For example, the Home & Garden Industry is extremely behind the time in regards to their websites. I attended an Home & Garden Expo in Denver and collected all the companies contact information. I plan on cold calling & mailing information to each business. It also gave me time to research the industry more, talk directly to the owners in many cases, and learn more about what they need. Jeff
Re: How to Manage Your Emails - GT's post reminded me that I have a "junk" mail address as well and I use it any time I'm buying something or giving it for anything on the Internet since that's usually who captures it and starts sending you junk. I have another junk mail account that I just use to email my family and I get absolutely no junk in it...probably because I've never posted it anywhere or used it to receive receipts.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

4 Steps To Hypnotize Your Business Prospects

Business Coach Explains To You How To Add Value

RULE YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A SHINE STAR

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.