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Take a physical inventory sometime this week of all your section 1 items. If you sell something
after inventory is done, just record the sale in 2004. The best way to do this is to take an order form and record on
that. Total up each page and then a total at the end. You will need two figures on the front cover (total
retail and wholesale, rememer wholesale is 1/2 of retail!!!) Count in general. ( example 15 eye colors, don't count
each different color)
You DON'T count section 2 items, they are already a 100% tax write off.
Write down the milage on your car on December 31st. There is a question on the tax form asking
for this number.
Total up your milage you put on the car this you for Mary Kay ( meeting, post office, bank, deliveries,
warm chattering, if you talked Mk when you ran the errand you can count the miles). DON"T BLOW THIS OFF, this
is your biggest deduction!
Plan on visiting your local meeting ASAP and find out if a tax class is being offered if you have not
done this before. There are alot of MK deductions you want to know about. Many CPA's miss some of these deductions
if you don't tell them about them.
Start reading up on the Sceduale C form you will need to fill out. I use turbo tax and it is wonderful.
If asks you questions and takes you step by step. There is a section on the intouch that is wonderful!!!
Year End Tax Reminders
On December 31, remember to record your ending mileage for your car AND take inventory. Here are some
helpful hints on taking inventory -
It is not necessary to count each color - for example, you only need to know the number of lipsticks you
have, not each individual color so you could put all of them on the order form as the same color. Your accountant
is not interested in how many Sagewoods you have, only the total value.
Once you've taken your year end inventory, log onto www.marykayintouch.com and use the ordering program to tally it. The computer will total your products for you. All
you'll have to add is anything not on the current order form and you'll have an exact total of what you have! You only
need to count Section 1 products.
More Year End Tax Information
This information came to me in an e-mail. I thought it was very good and wanted to pass it on to you.
Even if you are not ready to "deal" with taxes just yet, keep this information because you will be needing it!
It's that time of year . . . time to get organized!! This can be a
challenge for some of us as
Mary Kay Consultants . . . we tend to be people
people . . . not paper people! The great news is it's easy to get
your
paperwork in order once you know what to do.
Below are some suggestions to help get you off to
a good start in the
year 2005! Remember though, I am NOT a CPA! Things change from year to
year! This
is meant as a guideline of information to take to your tax
person! Let me recommend that you be as choosy with your tax
accountant as
you would be with your pediatrician! Mary Kay is a unique business and it's
important to use someone
who is familiar with our business and can help you
to have the best results at tax time.
Suggestions:
* Take inventory of the retail product you have on hand on December
31st. I find
the easiest way to do this is to take a current order form and
list the total number of products in the quantity box.
It's not necessary
to separate every cleanser, lipstick, nail color, etc. It doesn't matter
how many colors of
each individual item you have. You just need a total.
For example . . . just count the total number of foundations,
no matter what
shade, and indicate the total. As for limited edition products that are not
listed on the current
order sheet, you need to determine if you still plan
to try to sell them or if you are going to use them as hostess gifts
or
giveaways. If you plan to sell them, you need to count them in your
inventory. If you plan to use them
as giveaways, don't include them in your
inventory total.
*
Remember, anything you purchase FOR YOUR BUSINESS on or before
December 31st will be counted on your 2004 tax return.
* If you owe anyone any merchandise or if anyone owes you merchandise,
get it straightened out now! Borrowing
and lending is a no-no! It is just
not professional. We all run short of something from time to time, and an
occasional
trade is OK, but if you are trading for basics, you don't have
enough inventory! Make the necessary arrangements
to get what you need on
your shelf (bank loan, credit card, family loan, etc.).
* Be sure all your Weekly Accomplishment Sheets are up-to-date! This
is YOUR
record of your sales! . (Did you know that your summary sheet is
the verification you need for the IRS for
your sales if you were ever
audited?) It's a good idea to make sure I have a record of them as well, so
make sure you
are turning them in weekly. It's also the only way you get
recognized at our weekly Success Meetings and in the monthly
Newsletter!
* Be sure you have a record of your ending mileage on December
31st.
If you forgot to take it last January, then estimate what it was on January
1, 2003 (or when you began your business
this year if you are a new
consultant). Put the beginning and ending mileage at the top of the order
form you
are using to list your inventory. Be sure you are recording your
mileage every time you are doing Mary Kay business
(Meetings, Classes,
deliveries, etc). It adds up fast! If you forgot to record mileage this
year, go back
through your datebook and estimate the miles driven for each
appointment.
* Gather up all your receipts for 2004. Hopefully, you've already
separated
them into topics folder. If not, spend a little time each week
getting them in order so you'll them finished well
before April 15th. Then
get set for 2005 by setting up an easy system.
a.) Buy an accordion file folder with a large number of pockets
(either A-Z
or 1-31). Put folder labels over each tab and on that tab, put
the category. You might not even know what categories
to list yet, but you
will figure it out as you have receipts. Each day, drop your receipts in
the appropriate
pocket and at the end of the year take a category out, add
them all together, staple them together and put in one
large manila
envelope. On the outside, list the categories and the total amounts for
each. Don't forget
the retail sales category! All your summaries for the
month go in 40/60 envelope also.
b* Establish a file for all of your 2004 records. When your 1099
form comes from the company or any other
W-2's arrive, you'll have a place
to put them.
* Be sure
that you have kept a record of these 3 things:
a) Personal use product that
you or your family are taking off your
shelf each month.
b) Section 1 Retail products
that you are giving away for hostess
gifts, birthday gifts, door prizes, etc. I've found the easiest way to
record
these is to keep a sales ticket for each of these categories each
month and list the items I'm using or giving away.
Your accountant needs
these totals to figure your cost of goods sold and the non-recovered sales
tax.
c.) all products that you opened for full size display - satin hands etc
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