Small fee service and bookkeeping

I want to minimise startup costs so by reading many useful posts here I've came to a conclusion that bookkeeping and accountancy are the biggest cost if you are starting small.

My service is going to sell small digital goods which are going to cost about $10. I've done billing implementations before but I never dealt this from business perspective. When the sale was processed I created a record in the database as a receipt and there my knowledge ends.

Are this receipts inside the database enough for being collected for the bookkeeping and hand them over to an accountant for filling annual reports? Very likely I not thinking in the right direction. Could you tell me how you do it or point me to some guide in that field?

I would like to do it right from the beginning.

If you keep track of all income and expenses you should be able to do your accounts and submit them to your statutory authority yourself.

Accountants are like lawyers, in that if you ask one they'll always say they are vital. The truth is, for most people and most small businesses it is not necessary. I've done my own accounts and personal tax returns for the past ten years with no issues at all.

You may want to consider using Outright , a cloud-based accounting service. It will eliminate the spreadsheet and categorize your income & expenses.