Blogging Income in QuickBooks
Here’s a question from a reader about blogging income:
Most bloggers get advertising money from ad networks, who take a commission and payment processing fee. My question is this — is my income the amount that was paid for the ad before or after these commissions and fees were taken?
Essentially… do the commissions and fees make it into my accounting system, or do I only care about the amount that is on the check/EFT that I get in my hands?
Here’s a quick answer:
Your “customer” is the ad network or 3rd party that pays you. What they receive from the actual advertiser is irrelevant to the issue of your income. So your income is only what you actually receive, whatever the method of payment. You may want to track what fees or commissions are deducted for other reasons (like finding the highest paying programs) but it is not necessary for tax purposes.
One option would be to set each advertiser up as a customer (Google adsense as well). When you receive a check simply record a sales receipt using the appropriate items and accounts.
Any other questions about accounting (or using QuickBooks) from bloggers?
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Thank you Rachel for this answer! I was thinking of the same question and answer.