Bookkeeping for photographers

Why photographers use Even Margin

• Lightroom, cloud backup and your website named and categorized
• Gear and shoot travel each in their own category
• Your profit for the month, from your bank

Why photographers keep their books in Even Margin

• Gear and software, kept apart. A new lens and a Lightroom subscription land in their own categories, so you can see what equipment cost you this year.
• Shoot travel in its place. Flights, hotels and rides for a destination wedding are categorized as travel as they happen, each with how confident Even Margin is and why.
• Profit you can see each month. Your profit and loss statement stays current with your bank feed, so a busy wedding month and a quiet winter one are easy to compare.

Keeping the books for a photography business, in four habits

• Record every client payment as income. Deposits, retainers and final payments are all income when they reach your bank.
• Keep gear purchases together. Cameras, lenses and lighting in one equipment category show what the kit costs across the year.
• Keep the business on its own card. When Eli buys a lens on the studio's card, the cost lands in the studio's books, right where it belongs.
• Look at your profit monthly. Client payments in, business spending out. That one figure tells you how the season is going.

How should a photographer record client deposits?

As income when they reach your bank, the same as the final payment. Each deposit and retainer counts in the month it arrives, so your profit follows the money you actually have.

Where does camera gear go in my books?

In an equipment category of its own, apart from software and travel. Even Margin categorizes purchases from stores it knows, and asks you to confirm a store such as Best Buy that sells for home too.

How do I see my profit for the month?

Add up the client payments that arrived in the month and subtract what the business spent. Even Margin's profit and loss statement does this from your bank, and the profit margin calculator shows the same for a single session.

Does Even Margin work with my bank?

Bank connections run through Plaid, which covers thousands of US banks and credit unions, and CSV import brings in anything else.