paying myself

[Jayd54]

Hello all,

I have a few questions about paying myself for lawn work. I will be starting up in Spring 2003 and I've never had my own business before. Do you take a percentage of what you earn? How do you decide such things as how often to pay yourself and how do keep financial records in order to keep things legitimate with the IRS. For now, at least, I am approaching this as a part-time, one man business. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[alcpi]

reply

I decided to give myself a check once per week, minimal for tax purposes. My accountant gives me the numbers for each employee( Social Sec, W/hold., FICA, etc.) after I fax in their hours for that week. Mine is always the same, sort of a salary if you will. This is very important for you to do as well so that you can establish an income consistency for future loans, job applications, credit ratings, etc. If you just pay yourself whenever, you might appear unstable. Whenever I need extra income I take what is known as a profit distribution check. Taxed? Yes, but not to the extent of the weekly paycheck. I use an accountant, however, you can get alot of this done through Quickbooks (Pro).