By The Books, LLC

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Chatham, VA
By The Books, LLC

Bookkeeping & Accounting Interested in starting a small business? The thought of doing the bookkeeping making you nervous? Already in operation? (434) 432.8345

Don't spend all of your time doing a job you aren't comfortable with, and why hire a full-time bookkeeper for a part-time job?

15+ years of bookkeeping experience, specializing in QuickBooks. Bachelors in Accounting. Experience in restaurants, property management, construction, retail, and other labor based small businesses. Accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, etc. Let By the Books, L

LC help you! Contact for more information and to set up a consultation. Also providing notary services! Available in the areas of Lynchburg, Bedford, Chatham, and Danville.

07/17/2026

If you sell taxable goods or services (something you need to check in ALL the states you do business in, btw), this post is for you! 🫵

That money you collect as sales tax on each sale isn't actually money you've earned.

It needs to get remitted back to your tax authority at some point, so you don't want to treat it the same as your income.

Usually, the best treatment is to record the sales tax you collect as a current liability!

If you're not sure how to do this in your own bookkeeping, let's talk. That's what I'm here for!

07/15/2026

My first thought when I get a text like this from a business owner?

THANK YOUUUU for letting me know! 🙏

Because you texted me, I can make a note in your file of the exact date your personal charge happened.

Then, when I go to do your bookkeeping next month, I don't have to bother asking you about that random Whole Foods expense... 🥖

I already know that it needs to be reclassified!

Don't panic if you accidentally put a personal expense on your business card (or vice versa), just let me know so I can make sure everything gets recorded correctly. 📚

07/13/2026

COMMON MISCONCEPTION ↓

Your bookkeeping isn't done when you've cleared out all of your uncategorized expenses.

Once everything is entered and categorized in your books, you've got one *crucial* step left...

Reconciling! 🔁

Basically, this step is where you check your work. Reconciling catches mistakes like missing transactions, typos, or duplicates.

When you've reconciled each transaction and have a $0 difference? That's when you're officially done!

If you aren't reconciling, you risk letting mistakes snowball into MUUCH bigger problems.

Don't have time for all that? I do! ✋

07/10/2026

In the big 2026, it feels like every business has to be a content creator... but if you do things by the book, those content creation expenses can be tax write-offs too! 🤭

07/08/2026

Basically, to all the contractors I follow, just know you've got a bookkeeper silently cheering you on! 🥹

07/06/2026

RESTAURANTS: Ever curious how a super bookkeeper would overhaul your Google Drive organization?! 😏

Wonder no longer, just swipe to see exactly which folders I'd consider must-haves for restaurants (and what I'd put in them!). 🗃️

06/30/2026

Forget about looks maxxing, we're all about money maxxing at By The Books. 🤑

If I were a contractor who wanted to keep as much of my hard-earned money as possible, here's what I'd do first ↓

1️⃣ Track every single expense.

Yeah, it's not groundbreaking advice, I get it...

But when you miss expenses, you miss out on write-offs. And fewer write-offs = higher taxes. Boo!

2️⃣ Be ~critical~ of your spending every month.

I'm not talking about a vague understanding of your total expenses.

I want you to actually sit down with last month's P&L and come up with an exact reason for why EVERY expense was necessary.

If you can't justify an expense, it's probably time to cut it.

3️⃣ I'd be booking a tax planning meeting with your tax accountant ASAP.

Taxes are one of the biggest expenses of our lifetime. The more you can optimize here, the better!

06/29/2026

Some of the extra ✨little✨ things I do as a bookkeeper:

→ Provide your CPA with a clean, tax-ready bookkeeping package

→ Connect you with other service-providers that I personally trust, like CPAs, attorneys, and coaches.

→ Actually know what's going on in your life and help with things *other* than bookkeeping.

06/26/2026

Sharing two very random, but very necessary side quests I went on for my restaurant bookkeeping clients this week. 🌟

06/25/2026

It would be realllly nice if the IRS had a cute little decisions tree for what receipts a contractor needs to keep...

But, they actually don't give a *ton* of guidance on receipts.

A few things they're sticklers on:

The IRS wants you to keep receipts for all lodging (hotels, Airbnbs, etc) while on business travel.

For any purchases of $75 or more of other business travel, non-entertainment meals, gifts, or transportation? Keep those receipts, too.

Otherwise, the IRS wants records of the date, amount, payee, proof of payment, and business purpose of your purchases.

Account statements and good bookkeeping can help substantiate your contracting business expenses.

Address

Chatham, VA
24531

Website

http://bythebooksva.com/

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