When do you need an Etsy accountant?
The first thing you need to know is that there’s no legal requirement to have an accountant when you run your store on Etsy. The second thing is that an accountant can make your life easier (especially if you use Earnr!). In this post, we’ll tell you when you should start using an accountant for your Etsy store.
Why should I need an accountant?
The role of an accountant is to work through your bookkeeping, making sure their correct, to produce financial forecasts and plans, financial statements and reports, and to fill your tax returns (we’re very good at it!).
Simply put, an accountant takes care of the boring bits of running an Etsy store and gives you more time for the creative and fun parts of it.
I use my own spreadsheets for this, is it wrong?
Absolutely no, but, we’ll tell you why you might consider an accountant instead.
- Using spreadsheets, such as Excel, is time-consuming. You need to set up a system from scratch that you can easily and regularly use, keep it manually updated and keep checking if everything is correct.
- It’s easy to make mistakes. Unlikely an accountant, the spreadsheet doesn’t know if what you’re writing is correct and it doesn’t provide you with advice or reminders if you’ve forgotten to update something.
- It’s less safe than an accountant. You can protect your Excel file with a password, but there’s still a risk of your computer being hacked or infected with viruses.
- If you ever need the help of an accountant, you’ll need to provide them with your accounts, and the longer they need to interpret your system the more you’ll need to pay them (unless it’s Earnr)
When should I see an accountant?
If you see that your bookkeeping is taking too much of your time or that your systems aren’t right for your business, meaning that you’re unable to manage everything or you’re unsure of your results, you should see an accountant.
You don’t like the idea of having an accountant?
Luckily for you, there’s Earnr!
Earnr makes self-employed bookkeeping easy so that you can spend less time worrying about this kind of stuff and more time growing your business. You can connect your bank and Etsy account and separate your business transactions from your personal ones, track your expenses and get a real-time tax estimate so you know whether or not you need to submit a tax return.
Check it out here