The Library
Sole Proprietorship + Tax Forms
What tax forms do you need to deal with as a sole proprietorship? If you're a new business going through your first year-end or tax season, you may not be sure what tax forms should be on your radar. Let's review! FYI, all these same tax forms apply to a single member...
Sales Taxes: An Intro for Your Creative Business
I previously discussed income taxes and how they relate to your e-commerce biz. Today, let’s talk about that other tax biggie – sales taxes. Getting sales tax set up for your shop is often one of the first “must dos” of setting up your biz. But a lot has changed over...
![Understanding FinCEN’s New BOI Reporting Requirements [with Step-by-Step Instructions for Online Sellers!]](https://paperandspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Feature-Images-Blog-Posts-1-400x250.png)
Understanding FinCEN’s New BOI Reporting Requirements [with Step-by-Step Instructions for Online Sellers!]
Understanding FinCEN's New BOI Reporting Requirements What the heck is going on with this new BOI report you may have heard about?! Get all the in-plain-English answers right here - updated as of February 24, 2025. If you’ve been wondering about the new Beneficial...
How to access your 2025 updated spreadsheets
One of the perks of purchasing a Paper + Spark spreadsheet is that it's a one-time fee. You never have to pay for updates to your files or re-purchase to use your spreadsheet in the new year. As we approach year-end, I'm sharing all the details on how to access your...
How to Catch Up on Your Bookkeeping – for Etsy & Shopify Sellers
Note: This post (along with the free planning playbook has been updated for 2024/2025! The year is almost over! And - once again - what a HECK of a year it has been y'all. In the (approximate) words of Smash Mouth - the hits start comin' and they don't stop comin'....
An Overview of the Schedule C
Today we're going to meet a very tricky guy (I feel like it's safe to assume that all tax-related things are male, yes?), the Schedule C. The Schedule C seems to pop up around this time every year, and he can get a little confusing. So, let's take things nice and...
What to do with 1099 Forms
If you just got a 1099 form in the mail and you’re not sure what to do with it, stay tuned - I’m gonna explain exactly what’s going on! CHANGES TO 1099K FORMS IN 2022 & 2023....AND 2024 Let’s chat 1099 forms! You may have gotten this form in the mail or in your...
4 signs you’re ready to sell on your own website
Today I’m thrilled to share a guest post from Rebecca Inkrote, a WordPress designer and website consultant for handmade sellers. Since 2016, she has been dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs elevate and take control of their brand by launching their own...
How to Forecast Your Holiday Sales
Use my handy sales forecasting exercise & forecasting tool to help you anticipate your Q4 or holiday sales. Prepare your physical inventory & your workload accordingly! E-commerce sellers and business owners start to think about preparing for the holiday sales...
Moving to Paper + Spark from GoDaddy Bookkeeping
In late May 2022, GoDaddy announced that their popular bookkeeping software (which they acquired from Outright about a decade ago) would be discontinued from service on June 23, 2022. GoDaddy (formerly Outright) had always been a popular alternative to QuickBooks,...
Five Reasons Why It’s Time to Get Legit
Mindset is everything, friends. Around here, I chat a lot about running a hobby vs. a business. You can read my article on the IRS’ opinion on this matter here for some official guidance and legal definitions and such. If you’re here on my site, you...
Etsy vs. Shopify – handling sales tax
SELLING ON ETSY VS. SHOPIFY - HOW SALES TAX IS HANDLED If you’re selling on Etsy and thinking about setting up shop on your own Shopify site, you might have some questions about how to deal with sales tax. (Or maybe not? Maybe that’s some boring topic you think about...
The Business of Bling: How to Run a Profitable Jewelry-Making Business
Today I’m thrilled to have Roxy Burg from Beads of Cambay sharing her wealth of knowledge about the business of jewelry-making with us! Roxy loves the multifaceted world of gemstones, beaded jewelry making, and crafting in general. When she isn’t blogging for Beads of...
Etsy fees – a guide to Etsy seller fees
In this guide, I’m walking through the various fees Etsy charges sellers. I’m not trying to express any *judgement* on these fees (there’s enough of that elsewhere on the interwebs). As a financial educator that works with many Etsy sellers, I see a lot of shop owners...
Pricing Pitfalls: Comparing Yourself to the Competition
I’ve been talking a lot about pricing lately, and in a previous post I mentioned how so many creatives, makers, and artisans routinely underprice their handcrafted goods. We’ve discussed my suggested handmade pricing formula, how to tweak that formula to fit your biz...
When do I need to worry about taxes for my shop? {The hobby vs. business myth}
All information on this site is provided for general education purposes only and may not reflect changes in federal or state laws. It is not intended to be relied upon as legal, accounting, or tax advice. Please read my full disclaimer regarding this topic. Alright...
What it’s like to work with a tax professional
I’ve been talking a lot lately around here about getting ready for taxes. We’ve discussed how to get your numbers caught up for the year, doing your year end inventory count, and organizing your documents. Once you’ve got your numbers ready to go, you might be...
How to make a budget for your business
If you’re running a creative business, ESPECIALLY if you’re a maker, it can be easy to spend a lot of money on the latest shiny object, piece of software, newest gadget, or (perhaps most of all) beautiful craft supplies! That’s why today we’re chatting about how to...
How to know what to work on next – a decision-making framework for creative entrepreneurs
When you’re a solopreneur running your own business (and you’re creative-minded on top of that!), it seems like there are million directions in which you can take your business. We all have goals to improve our business. The biggest problem is there’s usually a...
How to increase your shop’s conversion rate
Let’s talk about one of my favorite e-commerce metrics – your conversion rate. Before diving into how to increase your shop’s conversion rate or even why this stat is so important, let me explain what the heck it is (in case you’re unfamiliar!). WHAT DOES CONVERSION...
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