@ceasesmith wrote:
You drove interstates, you drove toll roads, you drove in big cities -- and evidently, if I'm reading it right, you flew somewhere?
None of which I can or would do.
I'll just keep on my back roads, rural routes: expenses are lower, traffic is not nearly as bad, and (possibly) the people are nicer. Not as sophisticated, maybe; not as sharp, maybe, but nicer.
However, I appreciate the spirit in which you shared this, and I'm sure there's a lot there that newbies (even some not-so-new) can learn.
But Blue Bloods is on, so I gotta go -- and my drunk sister is trash talking me on the phone, so gotta go. And I'm in the middle of my taxes, so gotta go.
@nolimitem wrote:
I like the spirit of this, but I find this incredibly hard to read. Maybe I am overthinking it. I lay my spreadsheet out with the following columns: Company, Location, Date, Reimbursement, Actual cost, and payment. Obviously, I can not share that, because of our ICA. I'm just confused by what I'm looking at on yours. Also, stay out of my neighborhood. I'll take some of those shops. (All in good fun, obviously.)
@ceasesmith wrote:
Oh, oh, oh!!! You are so bringing out the CPA in me!!! My creative accounting gene is doing high kicks and splits!!!!
Perhaps incorrectly, I'm assuming at this income level, you have a tax professional.
Do yourself a favor and ask him/her about the Federal "per diem".
Um....how to put this on an open forum....let me just suppose I spent 8 nights away from home last year, 100% MSing. I was more than 300 miles away from home each of those nights. Therefore, I can deduct 8 nights of hotel and 9 days of "per diem" meals at the Federal's stated rate. I don't have to mess around with receipts for them -- just the supporting receipts/paperwork showing I was actually more than 300 miles from home when I stopped for the night. The one printed page I keep of each shop is more than adequate proof of that.
The government per diem is EXTREMELY generous (not in the cities; but they actually have a table that gives different rates for city/suburban/rural).
And the real beauty (assuming you each file tax separately; i.e., you're not joint filing) you may EACH of you deduct the Federal per diem allowance. No "Hey, Alex, you paid for this, so you take the deduction, but I paid for the car, so I'll deduct all that."
" No, Joe, that's not fair. I need to take those hotel deductions, even though you put them on your credit card."
Filing jointly, horse of a different color, a different barrel of fish.
As always, consult your tax professional.
ESPECIALLY before accepting tax advice from an open forum.
Edited to add: Applicable to sole proprietorships, using Schedule C. Super simplified, but if the business is a corporation, you should be submitting expense reports to the business, being reimbursed in full for all allowable expenses, and the corporation then deducts the expense reports as expense. A GROSS over simplification!
@SoCalMama wrote:
At $4700/ month profit, having 2 days off per month, that is not appealing to me.
$4700 x 12 = $56,400 / year. So, for two people you made a profit of $4700?
You pay higher taxes being self-employed, have less time off than a "regular" job and have no benefits such as sick time, pension, retirement, vacation, holidays, etc.
I'm glad that you are happy with it, but it's far less than I would need to make to live in CA.
@sandyf wrote:
My only question because once I figured out your name was Jo/e and you were not spending megabucks each day on coffee, it seemed pretty straightforward to me is did you arrange all those retail shops at $60 each with the same company and then built the other shops around those? I do not do route shopping and anywhere near to me retail pays $8-20 each, no bonuses or $2. Your lifestyle sounds like work and a lot of fun thrown in. I like it.
@iShop123 wrote:
Nicely set up. Thanks for sharing. You seem to have a good route of $60 shops. That's unusual here. Or, are they video?
Wishing my average shop was $60 ;-)
@2stepps wrote:
With two people and a mobile hotspot, they could be entered from the vehicle as you drive. So missing a fuel stop is silly unless it is one that requires you to be alone when you stop.
@KateH wrote:
The only omission is that you did not do any gas shops, especially since you went to locations that you could get from 50-100 each.
@2stepps wrote:
With two people and a mobile hotspot, they could be entered from the vehicle as you drive. So missing a fuel stop is silly unless it is one that requires you to be alone when you stop.
@jrossetti wrote:
I also have a virtual assistant that we can outsource parts of reports to.
@bgriffin wrote:
@jrossetti wrote:
I also have a virtual assistant that we can outsource parts of reports to.
I'm curious what the MSCs' response to this was when you asked if it fit within the guidelines of the ICA. The few that I have actually read all the way through seemed to indicate the person the ICA was with had to complete all of the work themselves, including the report.
@F and L TeleComm wrote:
I live in Ga. I can't get 5-6 60 dollar shops a day. That is impressive, what I can understand of it. But the cost of living up there is exorbitant I only pay 350 a month for rent, (cheap even for here). I live in a like a 750 square foot 1 bedroom house. There are only two of us here, better half and me, 2 dogs and 2 cats and a fish tank! I try to schedule a few 50 dollar shops and build around them. But since we lost our Team manager on Team 6, (yes the one your thinking of) I was only able to build two out of town routes for the last week of Jan. I had to pick up more OSI's since I couldn't do it the regular way. Fortunately, a few Scope F's popped up this month. But I still think we are going to be a little low this month.
@ceasesmith wrote:
"I had to pick up more OSI's since I couldn't do it the regular way. Fortunately, a few Scope F's popped up this month"
What is an OSI,and what is a Scope F?