Do you struggle with filing your taxes? Feel like you need a course in small business accounting?

Stop right there! Don’t go jumping into doing your own accounts until you’ve read this.

I could literally just list one step here and call it a day. That first (and last) step would: hire an accountant. That’s one of the most important things you can do for your video production company accounting.

Still, it’s important to have a working knowledge of your business’ accounting whether you hire an accountant or not. So I’m not just going to write one step and be done with it!

This is going to be a detailed article about everything you need to know about business accounting and how to get it right. I’ll endeavor to make this as non-boring as possible. Reading about accounting tends to be quite dry, so let’s jazz this up a bit!

Small Business Accounting Tips: The 7 Steps to Flawless Video Production Company Accounting

Regardless of where you get your numbers, the coming years show healthy projections right across the board. The forecast for film box office revenue is staggering and is expected to increase from roughly 38 billion dollars in 2016 to almost 50 billion by the year 2020.

China and India lead the pack when it comes to ticket sales, but the U.S. grabs the title of the world’s third largest film market.

To put this into perspective, in 2016 there were almost 1.2 billion tickets sold across the U.S. These numbers are enormous, especially considering that only a relatively low 14% visit a theatre monthly, 31% go a couple of times per month, and 6% visit only once annually.

Video production will only see its star continue to rise!

Accounting 101

The basic principles of accounting do not change. What does change, however, is how these principles need to be adapted to fit seamlessly into different industries. One of the most difficult industries for accounting is video production, just due to the enormity of what is involved.

There is so much more to consider than just simple profit and loss statements. Pre-production, post-production, tax breaks, wages, equipment purchases, and the list goes on.

It takes a little more than a passing grade in senior year accounting! For obvious reasons, and as I mentioned at the beginning, the majority of the time it makes the most sense to hire an accounting firm.

This will take all of the worries off your back and put them where they are most qualified. For others who really wish to key their fingers on the pulse of the entire process, they may look at doing the books as a requisite part of owning a video production company.

While most of us are capable of doing some basic accounting if push came to shove, there are certain industries that require a completely new knowledge base.

This does not mean that you can’t do it yourself, but rather that you better get your thinking cap on.

To make it as easy as possible for you, follow along below for 7 steps to flawless video production accounting.

One of the very first things you are going to want to do is invest in a proper office. We are talking a desk, filing cabinets, a computer, files, and labels galore.

Nothing is thrown out in accounting and it is essential that you know exactly where to find everything.

Since this is big business, make photocopies of each piece of paper (no matter how small) and back up all your back ups! One lost piece of paper can result in a loss of deductions potentially in the millions of dollars.

Revenue vs. Gross Profit

One of the key distinctions to make when tackling any kind of accounting is to understand and recognize the difference between revenue and gross profit.

In the simplest terms, revenue is all the money that a company makes within a set amount of time. Gross profit is all the money a company makes within a set, minus the expenses.

Revenue, sometimes called Total Revenue, is everything that your video company makes from selling your services. You use gross profit as a more exact measurement of what you’re making once all expenses (like advertising, outsourscing, etc) have been taken off the total revenue.

So, as you can see, for video production company accounting, it’s important to know your numbers.If you get it wrong, you could be in for a world of hurt. Knowing the difference between Revenue and Gross Profit can literally save your company!

Writing and Understanding Financial Statements

There are five main components to a full set of financial statements. We will go through each of them individually. I’ll try not to make it too corporate and boring, like these things often are!

Statement of Comprehensive Income

Also known as the profit and loss statement, the income statement is where the meat of the matter lays. Did you make a profit or do you have losses?

A period of time is defined within which the company’s operations results are put on paper. In a video production company, it’s no different, the defined period is most often considered a year, right from start to finish.

A statement of comprehensive income includes other income earned during the period (unrealized gains, translation adjustments, revaluation surplus etc.) along with the net income or loss from the results of operations.

Statement of Changes in Capital

This can sometimes also be called the statement of changes in equity. You know exactly how much your capital account was at the beginning of the period.

What you will be keeping track of religiously are any changes to that capital amount. Contributions from project investors will increase your capital, while expenses, salaries, and owner withdrawals cause a decrease in the capital account.

This report is titled differently depending on what business ownership type you have. Corporations call it the statement of stockholders’ equity, partnerships use the heading statement of partners’ equity, and sole proprietorships refer to it as the statement of owner’s equity.

Statement of Financial Position

Balance sheet is the most recognized term for this statement. In easy to understand terms, it comes down to adding up liabilities in one column, assets in another, and capital accounts in the last.

You know that your balance sheet is correct when assets equal capital plus liabilities.

Statement of Cash Flow

This statement is similar to a balance sheet. Starting with the beginning cash balance, every change during the period is recorded from three sources: financing, investing, and operating.

Many things can be listed here, such as acquisition of equipment or property, owner contributions, bank loans, etc. If it changes your balance in any way, it is recorded.

Simple right?

Notes to Financial Statements

These are supplementary notes providing information not contained in the other four documents.

It contains a variety of disclosures, line breakdowns from the financial statements, supporting computations, and anything else that may be of use or interest to the readers.

1. Analyzing, Recording, and Classifying Transactions

The entire point of keeping an accounting record is to ensure that when it comes time to prepare the financial statements, that all information is reliable and complete.

For this to occur, all business transactions must be recorded. The general rules you need to follow are below:

Debit and Credit: Left vs Right

This is one hard rule you must know: credit means left and debit means right.

Forget all about the plus and minus. The abbreviations for the two are “Cr.” and “Dr.”

Every single account will have one side for credit and one for debit. Especially when dealing with video production, accounts for capital and liabilities normally have large credit balances, whereas asset accounts will usually have a debit balance.

So the process is simple: to decrease you credit, and to increase you debit.

Accounting Element Normal Balance To Increase To Decrease 1. Assets Debit Debit Credit 2. Liabilities Credit Credit Debit 3. Capital Credit Credit Debit 4. Withdrawal Debit Debit Credit 5. Expense Credit Credit Debit 6. Income Debit Debit Credit

2. Chart of Accounts

You can only properly record transactions if you know what account they belong to. A chart of accounts will make everything simple for you.

If the chart is updated anytime there is a change, the chance of errors is greatly reduced.

Obviously, the names you use will be different but the chart below will show you how to set your’s up:

ASSETS (100-199) 100 Cash 101 Accounts Receivable 110 Allowance for Doubtful Accounts 120 Interest Receivable 130 Notes Receivable 140 Service Equipment 150 Leasehold Improvements 160 Furniture and Fixtures 170 Accumulated Depreciation – Fixtures and Furniture 180 Service Supplies 190 Accumulated Depreciation – Service Equipment LIABILITIES (200-299) 200 Accounts Payable 210 Salaries Payable 220 Rent Payable 230 Notes Payable 240 Interest Payable 250 Revenue Unearned 260 Loans Payable OWNER’S EQUITY (300-399) 300 Mr. White, Capital 310 Mr. White, Drawing REVENUES (400-499) 400 Service Revenue 410 Interest Income 420 Gain on Sale of Equipment 499 Income Summary EXPENSES (500-599) 500 Rent Expense 510 Salaries Expense 520 Supplies Expense 530 Utilities Expense 540 Interest Expense 550 Depreciation Expense 560 Taxes and Licenses 570 Doubtful Accounts Expense

3. Journal Entry

Update your journal every time a transaction occurs. This way they are in chronological order and very easy to find if anyone has questions or needs some updated numbers.

Date

yyyy Particulars Debit Credit mmm dd Account debited amount Account credited amount dd Account debited amount Account credited amount

4. Posting Entries

Once the entries have been made in the journal, they need to be transferred to your ledger.

This may seem redundant but redundancy is an accountant’s favourite word!

By posting into the ledger, you are classifying each transaction. A completed ledger page will look something like this:

ASSETS LIABILITES CAPITAL Cash Accounts Payable Mr. White, Capital 10,000.00 370.00 500.00 8,000.00 10,000.00 1,900.00 3,000.00 1,500.00 3,200.00 3,200.00 8,000.00 9,000.00 13,200.00 4,250.00 500.00 12,000.00 7,000.00 Loans Payable Mr. White, Drawing 1,500.00 12,000.00 7,000.00 3,500.00 7,480.00 Service Revenue Accounts Receivable 1,900.00 4,250.00 4,250.00 4,250.00 3,400.00 3,400.00 3,400.00 9,550.00 Service Supplies Rent Expense 1,500.00 1,500.00 Furniture and Fixtures Salaries Expense 3,000.00 3,500.00 Service Equipment Licenses and Taxes 16,000.00 370.00

5. Prepare a Trial Balance

This is an easy step. All you are doing is making sure that all your numbers add up so far. It will look like this:

Account Title Debit Credit Cash $ 12,480.00 Accounts Receivable 3,400.00 Service Supplies 1,800.00 Fixtures and Furniture 3,000.00 Service Equipment 24,000.00 Accounts Payable $ 18,845.00 Loans Payable 22,500.00 Mr. White, Capital 11,200.00 Mr. White, Drawing 7,000.00 Service Revenue 9,550.00 Rent Expense 1,545.00 Salaries 8,500.00 Taxes and Licenses 370.00 Totals $ 62,095.00 $ 62,095.00

6. Closing Entries

At the end of the year, or whichever date you have chosen, you will need to close off your entries so they do not affect the next year’s numbers. This means that you must close them out to zero. Follow these four steps:

Close all expense accounts to the income summary

Date Particulars Debit Credit Dec 31 Service Revenue 9,350.00 Income Summary 9,350.00

Close all income accounts to the income summary

31 Income Summary 8,790.00 Rent Expense 1,500.00 Salaries Expense 3,500.00 Taxes and Licenses 370.00 Utilities Expense 1,800.00 Service Supplies Expense 900.00 Depreciation Expense 720.00

Close the income summary to the corresponding capital account

31 Income Summary 5,060.00 Mr. White, Capital 5,060.00

For partnerships and sole proprietorships, close withdrawals to the capital account(s)

31 Mr. White, Capital 9,000.00 Mr. White, Drawing 9,000.00

7. Small business accounting software

One of the best ways to keep yourself on track is with the use of specialty accounting software. There are even some that are specialized for creative industries like video production, filmmaking and photography, etc.

Numerous brands exist, both free and paid, but everyone has their own favourite.

One of the best things about using this type of software is that it will keep you on track. They are very user-friendly and worth their weight in gold when it comes to keeping you from making costly mistakes.

I really like Wave Apps. It’s a great (and free) small business accounting software.

Conclusion

Accounting is incredibly important for your small business. Get it wrong and the wolf could be at your door: read Mr. Taxman. That’s the slightly scary reality that we’ve thus far avoided mentioning until the end of this article.

Understand the difference between Total Revenue and Gross Profit. Learn how to create solid accounts and create strong financial statements. And, if in doubt, hire an accountant!

That really is my best advice here. Whilst it’s good to know your numbers and have an eagle’s view of your various accounts, as you grow this will increase in responsibility and take more and more time.

Hiring an accountant will save you a lot of time, energy and resources. And it might even keep the wolf from your door, if you’re likely to make mistakes.

Do you have experience working with your own accounts? Or do you just hire an accountant for your video production company taxes? Let us know in the comments below.