Tax Season is upon us!

Sending off my information to my Accountant this week...got me thinking:  Is pad making viable PT work to help put food on the table?  My answer is:  "Yes!"

In 2025, my pad making was PT.  Mostly at my age FT is too taxing on my body, plus I'd rather be outside enjoying other aspects of my life.  Mind you, I still do work outside my home two full days/week.  My age bracket may enjoy some additional income benefits, but I take my sales from making pads very seriously and aggressively as possible.  In 2025, pad making contributed greatly to my bottom dollar.  

I certainly don't always do things right.  I'm coming from the  "what works for me" approach.  My expenses are predominantly on a specific credit card that offers not only airline perks/points, but a yearend report.  "Manual" or simple tracking is painstakingly slow, but the most accurate for what I do.  And, yes, I (still) use a Columnar pad!  Saddle Pads play a major role in my collective indeavors.  

Tracking income is cross referenced to a designated account for sales.   Expenses include:  (all) materials; website support/domain registrations; show exspenses (booth fee's, motels, eating out); all pertaining travel mileage (a log with totals, dates, events.  I recently learned of an app. for tracking and I'm anxious to learn more); pad-production area and office is 30% of my home making square footage and a portion of utilities deductable; any fee's associated with the card I use; and packaging materials and shipping costs.  

What is your best approach for tracking inc/exp from your homebased business?  This is a genuine guestion.  If you have a program that makes your life easier for tracking, I would love to hear about successes and challenges you face with it.