Skip to content

Finance & Bookkeeping for Maker Businesses

The money side of a maker business — cash flow for seasonal sellers, what COGS actually means, equipment depreciation, shrinking margins, and when the IRS starts treating your hobby like a business.

A close-up of two hands at a desk — one holding a yellow pencil over a small open notebook, the other working a black calculator, with a printed bar-chart report on the desk between them and a laptop, keyboard, and warm reading lamp softly out of focus in the background
· 20 min read

Why Are My Margins Shrinking? A Six-Symptom Diagnostic for Maker Businesses

Revenue is up, orders are up, and somehow the bank account is not. Here is a six-symptom diagnostic for the most common margin leaks in a maker business — supplier drift, packaging creep, shipping spillover, custom-order time bleed, marketplace fee inflation, and discount habituation — with the specific report that will tell you which leak is yours.

Overhead view of a small-business planning desk — open laptop, gray felt notebook organizer, and a clipboard with a hand-drawn flowchart sketching out a business categorization plan
· 26 min read

42 Questions Etsy Sellers Ask About Fees, Inventory, and Bookkeeping

Direct answers to the 42 questions Etsy sellers Google most — fee math, inventory tracking, monthly reconciliation, sales tax, 1099-K thresholds, and bookkeeping setup. Most-asked first; edge cases at the bottom.

A maker's hand assembles a small leather earring with a silver finding on a workbench surrounded by leather scraps, hardware, and pliers in warm afternoon light
· 14 min read

What Is Cost of Goods Sold? A Plain-English COGS Primer for Maker Businesses

COGS is the single number that quietly decides whether your maker business is profitable, what your taxes look like, and which products are worth keeping in the catalog. Here is what it actually means, what goes in (and what stays out), and how to start tracking it this week — without an accounting degree.

A glass jar filled with silver coins with a small green plant sprouting from the top, sitting on a wooden surface against a warm wooden background
· 11 min read

Cash Flow for Seasonal Sellers: How to Survive the Months When Nobody's Buying

Many makers earn the majority of their annual revenue in just a few peak months. The rest of the year is a cash flow obstacle course of rent, supply restocking, and dwindling bank balances. Here is how to forecast seasonal dips, build reserves, time your purchases, and stop white-knuckling your way through the slow season.

Person holding a pencil over financial charts at a desk with a notebook, calculator, and laptop in the background
· 10 min read

When Your Hobby Becomes a Business: The Tax and Record-Keeping Tipping Point

The IRS draws a hard line between hobbies and businesses — and being on the wrong side of it can cost you thousands. Learn how to recognize the tipping point and what records to keep from day one.

Assorted hand tools including chisels, planes, saws, and screwdrivers organized on a wooden workshop wall rack
· 10 min read

Equipment Depreciation for Small Makers: Stop Ignoring Your Biggest Hidden Cost

Your oven, kiln, mixer, or 3D printer loses value every year — and if you are not accounting for it, you are underpricing your products and overpaying on taxes. Learn how depreciation works and how to use it.