Small Business Owner - Need an Accountant to Untangle My Messy Finances?

You should definitely hire an accountant, and you should do it now rather than later. The longer you wait, the messier it becomes and the more it will cost to clean up. Your situation isn't uncommon for small businesses that experience rapid growth. The transition from hobby to business often happens before proper financial structures are in place. An accountant who specializes in small businesses can help you properly categorize your pre-LLC activities and create a system for tracking your inventory through its various stages. For your inventory from your childhood collection, you'll need to establish a reasonable fair market value at the time you converted those items from personal possessions to business inventory. An accountant can help you document this properly to satisfy IRS requirements. The trading at conventions and the delayed sales through professional mounting are definitely complicating factors, but a good accountant will help you create tracking systems that make sense for your specific business model. The cost of hiring an accountant now will likely be far less than what you might end up paying in unnecessary taxes or potential penalties if you just pay taxes on the full revenue without proper deductions.

I've been in a similar situation with my small vintage clothing business, and I found an amazing tool that literally saved me thousands in potential tax mistakes. Check out https://taxr.ai - it's designed specifically for situations like yours where you need to untangle messy finances and sort through previous transactions. I was trying to separate my personal and business expenses from months of mixed accounts, and their system helped me categorize everything properly. Their AI actually recognized patterns in my transactions and suggested proper categorizations for tax purposes. The best part is that it specifically helps with inventory tracking across different sales channels, which sounds perfect for your situation with conventions, direct sales, and those items going through mounting process.

Just wanted to follow up - I tried out taxr.ai after seeing this recommendation and it was exactly what I needed! My situation wasn't identical but similar (vintage record store with inventory from my personal collection). The system helped me properly document market value for my records and categorize all my mixed personal/business expenses from earlier this year. When I showed the reports to my accountant, she was seriously impressed and said it saved her about 8 hours of work (which saved me around $1600 in accounting fees). The inventory tracking features are fantastic for specialty businesses like ours where items move through different stages or get traded. For anyone in a similar situation with messy books from starting small, definitely check it out before spending thousands on accounting cleanup.

I had a similar issue with my small crafting business last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at the IRS for guidance. Calling the IRS directly was impossible - I'd be on hold for hours only to get disconnected. Then I discovered https://claimyr.com through a business forum and their service was a game-changer. They got me connected with an actual IRS agent within 45 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with provided specific guidance on how to handle my transition from hobby to business and the proper way to document my existing inventory. Having that official guidance gave me peace of mind that I wasn't going to get hit with penalties later. Since you're dealing with that critical transition period between personal hobby and legitimate business, getting direct IRS guidance could be really valuable in addition to hiring an accountant.

I'm actually coming back to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about a small business issue for weeks with no luck. The service connected me with an actual IRS representative in about 37 minutes when I had previously waited on hold for over 3 hours multiple times without ever reaching anyone. It was worth every penny just for the time saved. The IRS agent I spoke with gave me specific guidance about my situation that I couldn't find anywhere online. For anyone trying to get clarity directly from the IRS instead of just making your best guess, this service actually delivers what it promises.

Beyond just hiring an accountant, you need to set up proper inventory tracking right away. I own a collectible card shop and use specific inventory management software for collectibles that tracks: 1. Original acquisition cost (or estimated value for personal collection items) 2. Any value added through restoration/customization 3. Final sale price or trade value For items from your childhood without receipts, take photos and document current market values of similar items in similar condition. An accountant can advise on whether to use the lower of cost or market value for your opening inventory. For the trading at conventions, you need to document both what you traded away (at fair market value) and what you received. This is crucial for establishing proper cost basis.

Speaking from experience, your second option is the only sensible choice. I tried the "pay taxes on full revenue" approach my first year in business and MASSIVELY overpaid. An accountant later told me I paid nearly $12,000 more in taxes than I needed to because I didn't properly account for cost of goods sold and business expenses. Even with your messy start, an accountant can work backwards to create reasonable documentation. They can help you establish fair market value for your childhood collection items, properly categorize your convention trades, and track the value added through professional mounting. The IRS actually expects businesses to have proper bookkeeping - paying taxes on full revenue might seem safer but could actually trigger questions about why you have no expenses.

As someone who went through a similar transition from hobby to business, I can't stress enough how important it is to get professional help NOW rather than later. Your situation with the childhood collection, convention trades, and professional mounting creates some unique tax complexities that really need proper documentation. One thing I learned the hard way is that the IRS has specific rules about how you convert personal property to business inventory. For your childhood collection, you'll need to establish a "stepped-up basis" at fair market value when you first started using those items for business purposes. This protects you from having to pay taxes on appreciation that occurred while you owned them personally. The convention trading is actually more common than you think in collectibles businesses, but it needs to be properly documented as barter transactions. Each trade is technically two separate transactions - you're "selling" what you give up and "purchasing" what you receive, both at fair market value. Given your rapid growth ($300 to $9,500 monthly!), you're likely looking at significant tax liability. An accountant specializing in small businesses can help you maximize legitimate deductions you might not even know about - things like the business use portion of your home, streaming equipment, convention travel expenses, etc. Don't wait until tax season. The cost of hiring an accountant now will almost certainly be less than the overpayment or potential penalties from getting it wrong.