Accounting for the Independent Publisher, with guest Lisa London
Lisa London, CPA, author, and publisher, discusses many of the specialized points of accounting that every publisher needs to know
This podcast looks at many of the things publishers need to know when setting up and using accounting packages to manage revenue, expenses, and taxes. Among the subjects mentioned are:
- keep it simple!
- automate everything you can
- is Quickbooks a good package for publishers? are there others?
- how to manage royalties
- the importance of understanding the contracts you sign and their related costs
- aligning items to your accounting needs and to proper categories
- the need to be consistent
- the need to document
- using attachments in Quickbooks
- working with e-commerce sites that feed into your accounting package, and vice versa
- putting money aside to pay your taxes
- capitalization rules changes ahead
- thoughts on use tax: does it apply to your business?
Some of the goods and services mentioned in the podcast include:
- Xero accounting package: https://www.xero.com/
- Sage accounting package: https://www.sage.com/en-us/
- Quickbooks accounting package: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/
- Zapier.com utility: https://zapier.com/
Lisa’s book Banish Your Bookkeeping Nightmares is here: https://goo.gl/LWSGHa
Lisa’s publishing company Deep River Press is here: https://deepriver.press/
Follow Lisa on Twitter at @LisaLondon3
or on Facebook at AccountantBesideYou
and also see http://AccountantBesideYou.com
Notes on the Q&A segment
Here is a list of attorneys IBPA has worked with in the past. They all know the world of publishing. This list is not an endorsement but is provided for informational purposes only.
- Jonathan Kirsch, jk@jonathankirsch.com, 310-785-1200
- Lloyd Jassin, copylaw@aol.com, 212-354-4442
- Steve Gillen, Wood, Herron & Evans, LLP, sgillen@whetpatent.com, 513-241-2324
- Jon Tandler, Sherman & Howard, jtandler@shermanhoward.com, 303-299-8142
- Lloyd Rich, Law Office of Lloyd Rich, rich@publishingattorney.com, 303-388-0291
Participants
Lisa London is a CPA and the primary author of The Accountant Beside You series. Her experience as an auditor, a director of finance of a Fortune 500 company, and a consultant for small businesses and nonprofits has given her the skills to explain complex items in an easy-to-understand manner. She also recently released her first work of historical fiction, Darker the Night. Follow Lisa at https://accountantbesideyou.com/
Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.