New business bookkeeping question

[VeryTnA]

Let me start by saying that I am a "sales guy" I am just now learning the inner workings of business.
Last year I bought a few domain names. One of them I think I can build a business around. I went and registered the DBA so that I could open a checking account in that business name.
Now I have another (dot bomb) idea I want to start. I've already hired someone to build the site, buying equipment, etc.
Question is: Do I need to get DBA's and seprate checking accounts for each company. Can I run all my business through one account? I don't want to incorporate unless I have too.
Whats the best way to setup all this bookkeeping "crap" until I hire an accountant?

[Sniper]

Intuit Quickbooks

[xwillience]

not sure i understand...

do u have multiple businesses? if yes, than yeah, its a good idea to keep them in seperate accounts.

if u have just one business (perhaps multiple DBAs) and are talking about running ur business money through ur personal accounts, its completely legal.

if ur talking about literal accounting... accounts are just paper accounts not necessarily banking accounts. so on paper u may haev 3 accounts, say rent, accoutns receivable, and wages all running through a single checking account. in which case, as Sniper saidm Quickbooks is ur friend.

[Utah]

Why not simply use Excel? I ran a wholesale business just using Excel. There are free templates for all the forms you need. What does quickbooks give someone that excel does not?

[xwillience]

[ QUOTE ]
Why not simply use Excel? I ran a wholesale business just using Excel. There are free templates for all the forms you need. What does quickbooks give someone that excel does not?

[/ QUOTE ]


simplicity.


quickbooks is excel on steroids and while excel is very useable, it requires a certain degree of knowledge and more time than quickbooks. also with quickbooks u can do cool things with ur bank accounts etc.

for the record, in all three of my previously owned business, i did it all on paper.

[Ron_Mexico]

I have one bit of advice for you. If you incorporate for some reason start off with an S-Corp. If its an S-Corp you can write off losses agains your personal income. If you make it a C-Corp you can only write your losses off against gains you later make. 2 years back and 20 foreward. You can switch to a C-Corp later if you need to.

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
I have one bit of advice for you. If you incorporate for some reason start off with an S-Corp. If its an S-Corp you can write off losses agains your personal income. If you make it a C-Corp you can only write your losses off against gains you later make. 2 years back and 20 foreward. You can switch to a C-Corp later if you need to.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are a few differences between C & S, but that's off topic for this thead...

[lastsamurai]

are all these DBA's making money? You should talk to a CPA about your options...

and before you incorporate how much money are you making w/ these sites?

[BradleyT]

It doesn't matter how much he's making for him to make an S-Corp or LLC.

I made an LLC 6 months ago and still haven't got my business fully running yet. It was only $130 and allowed me to get a business checking account, an EIN, a DnB number, a $10,000 BoA credit card, a sellers permit for my state, and a bunch of other stuff.


As for accounting, I use QuickBooks Pro 2007 and it's real easy. You have icons like "Pay Bills", "Print Checks", "Enter Invoice", "Enter Sale" etc. and it sets everything up for you in a wizard. I got it for $99 at christmas time but it's normally $199 everywhere.

[Sniper]

Anyone who wants to take a look at Quickbooks, can download the free starter edition from Intuit.