Amanda Kriaski’s talk last week at The Alberta Printmaker’s Society was wonderful and very informative. Through very straightforward and understandable presentation, everyone that Saturday walked away with at least something useful to apply to their accounts. Having the ability to clearly and concisely articulate how to categorize your expenses every month as a practicing artist is extremely handy.

One of the highlights of the talk was going over an accounting template to see how to accurately do double-entry bookkeeping, which is a type of accounting where each item is entered into two different areas on a spreadsheet: one that records revenue and one that records disbursements.

Accounting for Artists Example

As you can see in this example, it’s helpful to provide both an overview of money going in and money going out through the debit/credit area of the spreadsheet, however it’s also very important to be specific and accurate when categorizing your expenses in the revenue/disbursements area of the spreadsheet. During the talk, some of the most asked questions by the audience concerned just which categories certain revenues/expenses would go into, such as how you may factor in the utilities of a home studios into your accounting and budgeting. Evidently, you could just make a separate section for them.

Another great tool presented during the talk was Amanda’s budget template. In this kind of budget, you estimate what you will be making and spending throughout the year and then fill it in as you go. This budget however is formatted with the months up top, instead of to the side.

Accounting for Artists Budget

With some minor knowledge of Excel and a dedication to at least one day of accounting a month for your business, numerous problems in the tax season and occasional audits will be much easier managed. Hopefully, Amanda’s accounting wisdom will make this monthly task more streamlined.

For more information to keep yourself informed, check out the notes from the talk below and also keep up to date with upcoming talks presented by Visual Arts Alberta – CARFAC

Accting for Artists