What Financial records must a business keep?
969914
how much money is spent to feed the horses and keep the stable safe along with any equipment that the horse needs like horse shoes
34483
You will need to show receipts of the revenue that your business generated. You should have statements from the individuals and companies that gave you the money.
1152399
Depending on your state.  Most require nothing.  I cant say for sure though that all are that way.  Check out your states Secretary of State website, and they can provide you with more information.  Example of a search would be California Secretary of State, which is in this case http://www.ss.ca.gov\n\nIt would still be a good idea to set up a small corp, such as an LLC to offer you financial protection.  Say for example your art work gives someone a paper cut and it gets infected and they die, your personal assets would be protected if you have set up a corp properly.  Its not expensive to do (maybe $100-200) if you get a good book and do all the filings with your state yourself.\n\nGood luck on your new company!!!\n\nEdit:  A business licence has nothing to do with filing or dealing with taxes... Unless of course you open a corp and have to pay corp taxes (LLC's taxes in California are $800 a year).  You would just claim the income on your personal taxes under the MISC INCOME portion.  If you have a Corp you will get a K-1 from that corp with your earnings.
820665
They say you don't need to keep receipts for items less than $25, so by default, you do need to keep them when they are over $25.  It is best to keep as much as possible.  Why throw it away?  It is better to have too much than too little.  By the way, you don't send the receipts to the IRS.  You keep them in case of an audit.  Some IRS auditors are more strict than others, but I always tell my clients to claim whatever they paid in legitimate expenses regardless if they have a receipt, a credit card statement, or simply a hand written note of the expense.  Of course, one must make every attempt to keep receipts.
174518
Keep track of your accounts and your inventory and payroll.
720354
Look at other business' privacy report to get an idea of what is important.  About 2 years ago a Federal law was passed that mandated medical records holders, like doctor's offices and insurance companies, to have a printed privacy policy and to distribute it to all people whose records they handle.  Ask a Doc or hosp. or insurance company for a copy of theirs.  They will be happy and are required to give it to you.
183372
COLLECTION AGENCIES:\nAs far as I'm aware there is no criteria for them to keep records for a given period - basically it's whatever procedure each company works to,\n\nCREDIT AGENCIES:\nNormal accounts such as credit cards, HP, mortgage, catalogues etc are on file for 24 months.  Details of judgements, defaults, fraud warnings, bankruptcies etc stay on file longer (the period varies).\n\nORIGINAL CREDITORS:\nProbably but not necessarily.  It depends what the credit was for and how long ago - the rules have changed about how long information must be retained.  Details of *recent* transactions must be kept indefinitely but going back 4 or more years the rules were different.\n\nBest practice dictates that lenders should keep records for a significant period of time and in many cases this will be forever.\n\nIf there's any outstanding payments or unresolved dispute then it would be foolish if they didn't keep records.
383220
Yes, always save your statements in case something happens with your company and that's the only proof you have to protect yourself...Save them for the whole year until the next tax time because you may need them for taxes as well. A year is a good amount of time.
980102
You should always keep 5 years worth of your tax paperwork in case of an audit.  Companies are only required to keep them for like 2-3 years, so you can contact them, but if it's been longer than that, it'll be a chance you can get copies.
587108
If you're using software, there is often a 'canned' chart of accounts included.\n\nIf you do a search for 'sample chart of accounts', you'll find many examples - you should look for one that best fits your type of company\n\nWhat many people do, if your biz is not complicated, is just use say 1xxxx for assets, 2xxxx for liabilities, 3xxxx for equity, 4xxxx for revenues, 5xxxx for cost of goods sold, 6xxxx for expenses, 7xxxx for taxes, 8xxxx for other income/expense.\n\nIf you more or less follow the order in which things will appear on the financial statements, you can't go too far wrong
1028776
It all depends on how you formed your business.\n\nIf it is something you did yourself, as a sole proprietor, and you are the only one working with the business then you really don't need to do anything further than reporting the income and expenses on your schedule C.\n\nIf you had formed a legal partnership or corporation you will need to file the appropriate tax form each year.\n\nAND if you have anyone else working for you, especially non-family, you need to get yourself a FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number), withhold payroll and income taxes, register with the state and pay both levels of unemployment (depending on the state).  If you have reached this level of complexity, I would contact a CPA or other bookkeeping firm that can get you on track.\n\nLike to self read?  There is plenty of information at the IRS website.  :)  Good luck!!
147417
To record sales invoices, debit Accounts Receivable and credit Sales.\n\nTo record the payment received, debit Cash and credit Accounts Receivable.
171800
contact the IRS.  By law your previous employer needs to keep their copy of the W2s on record for 7 years.  it is THEIR responsibility to make certain that you received it.
187807
If your are talking about a hard copy filing system then I would suggest filing by business name as they dont change as often as people do, then create an index of names and what business they belong to. so when you need the file for person X you check the index to see what business they belong to then pull the business file. \n\nif you are doing this with electronic files use microsoft outlook.
54808
They should send you a statement every year.\n\nAsk them - they should be keeping records, and should be able to provide you with something.
961500
Hopefully the business that you are considering has had financial audits performed on a regular basis.  If so, ask for copies of the last three years of audited financial statements.  Your investors may want audited FS.  Unless you are an accountant with experience in this field you will need to have someone do the projections for you.  The owner may require you to sign some type of confidentially agreement - run this by a lawyer.  Assuming that you can come to an agreement on the confidentiality statement (if the owner even requires one) then take what you have to a CPA with at least 5 to 10 years of experience and have that person "run the numbers" for you.\n\nIf the business does not have audited financial statements, then the next best thing are FS that have been reviewed.  If not that then you will have to settle for compiled FS.  It is just my opinion but I doubt any investors will settle for compiled FS; if you are lucky you may be able to get by with reviewed FS.  The CPA will be (sure as heck should be, if not find someone else ASAP) able to explain the difference between FS that have been audited, reviewed or compiled.  This is serious business.  Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish.  The investors could conceivably take legal action against you if you do this incorrectly.  Good luck.
689986
You should get the records of your assets like this:\n\nASSETS\n  Cash on Hand ------------------------------- $0.00\n  Accounts Receivable ------------------------ $0.00 \n  (anything that has not yet been collected)\n  Goods that have certain value -------------- $0.00\n      Total Current Assets --------------------------  $0.00\n\n  Property (Gross Investment) ---------------- $0.00\n  Equipment Accum Depreciation (car)------- (-)$0.00\n      Net Investment --------------------------------- $0.00\n                                                       _____\nTotal Assets ----------------------------------------- $0.00\n\nLIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER EQUITY\n  Accounts Payable ------------------------ (-)$0.00\n  (Money that you need to pay "pronto")\n  Short-Term Loan Payable ----------------- (-)$0.00\n  (credit cards)\n  Current Portion of Long-Term Debt ------- (-)$0.00\n  (a sum of all principal payments om outstanding bonds)\n      Total Current Liabilities ---------------------- $0.00\n      (red numbers)\n\n   Long Term Bonds Outstanding ----------------------- $0.00\n                                                       _____\n       Total Liabilities ----------------------------- $0.00\n\n   Shareholder Equity \n   Common Stock ------------------------------ $0.00\n   Additional Shareholder Capital ------------ $0.00\n   Accumulated Retained Earnings ------------- $0.00\n\n       Total Shareholder Equity ---------------------- $0.00\n\n          Total Liabilities and Shareholder Equity --- $0.00\n           (This amount should be the same as Total Assets)