Schedule C — "Profit or Loss from Business" — is the IRS form sole proprietors and single-member LLCs file to report a business's income and expenses on their personal tax return. It is where your handmade business officially becomes income or loss in the eyes of the U.S. tax system.
The form organizes expenses into specific categories — supplies, advertising, shipping, equipment, and so on — and your year is far easier if your records already line up with those buckets. That is exactly what tax categories are for: by tagging transactions to Schedule C lines as you go, the end-of-year total for each line is already computed.
Ardent Seller can categorize expenses and produce reports aligned with Schedule C line items, turning a shoebox of receipts into a clean summary. Tax rules and your specific situation vary, so treat these reports as preparation that makes your accountant's job faster, not as tax advice.
Related terms
Tax Category
An IRS Schedule C expense or income category used to classify transactions for tax reporting. Helps organize your financial data for end-of-year tax preparation.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
The total cost of materials, labor, and overhead directly tied to producing the goods you sell. Tracked automatically through purchases, recipes, and production runs.
Depreciation
The gradual decrease in value of equipment over time. Ardent Seller tracks depreciation schedules for your equipment to help with tax reporting and replacement planning.