# How do I do bookkeeping for a small business myself?

Open a separate business account, pick a simple system such as a single-entry spreadsheet, record every sale and expense from your invoices and receipts, and check income minus expenses every month. IRS Publication 583 (12/2024) calls the single-entry system the simplest to maintain. A ProfitDrawer bookkeeping spreadsheet follows these steps with Income, Expenses and Mileage tabs, and the weekly routine in its expense tracking guide takes about 15 minutes.

A do-it-yourself routine:

1. **Separate the money.** Use one business checking account, as Publication 583 advises.
2. **Choose your system.** Single-entry records each sale and expense once. Double-entry uses journals and ledgers and has built-in checks, which helps as the business grows.
3. **Keep supporting documents.** Invoices, receipts, bank statements and deposit records back up each line.
4. **Record weekly.** Enter income with the client and invoice number, and expenses with a category.
5. **Log business miles** as you drive.
6. **Review monthly.** Look at profit, unpaid invoices and the biggest expense categories, then move a share of profit into tax savings.
7. **Prepare for tax time.** Total income and expenses by category for the year.

Consider help from a bookkeeper or accountant if you run payroll, hold inventory, have several owners, or your records are months behind.

General information, not tax advice.

- Source: [IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583)
- Updated: 2026-10-29
- Published: 2026-10-29
- Category: Bookkeeping basics
- Canonical: https://profitdrawer.com/answers/how-do-i-do-bookkeeping-for-a-small-business-myself.html
- Publisher: ProfitDrawer (https://profitdrawer.com)