Tidy & True Bookkeeping

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Tidy & True Bookkeeping

Honest, stress-free bookkeeping for small business owners

07/20/2026

Metaphor Monday
Because my brain works in word pictures. It’s how I understand things more clearly.
Yes, metaphors are a little cheesy🧀 but I love being cheesy, and they make bookkeeping feel less confusing and more human.
So every Monday, I’ll share a new one.
Let’s see how many Metaphor Mondays I can come up with. 🙂😵‍💫😂

07/16/2026

💡 Markup vs. Margin: They're NOT the Same!

These two terms get mixed up all the time, but knowing the difference can make a big impact on your profitability.

Markup = How much you add to your cost to determine the selling price.

Margin = The percentage of the selling price that is profit.

Quick example:

Item costs $100
You sell it for $150

✅ Markup = 50%
✅ Profit Margin = 33%

If you're aiming for a 50% profit margin, a 50% markup won't get you there.

Understanding the difference helps you price products confidently and protect your profits.

✨ Which one do you pay more attention to in your business: markup or margin?

07/09/2026

💡 Houzz Pro Tip

Use Houzz Pro as your source of truth for customer invoices and project activity.

One of the things I love about Houzz Pro is that it gives designers a clear view of projects, proposals, invoices, and client payments all in one place.

As your business grows, it's a good habit to periodically compare your Houzz Pro A/R open invoice report with your QuickBooks A/R report. Catching small differences early can save hours of cleanup later and help ensure your financial reports stay accurate.

07/06/2026

Metaphor Monday

Because my brain works in word pictures. It’s how I understand things more clearly.
Yes, metaphors are a little cheesy🧀 but I love being cheesy, and they make bookkeeping feel less confusing and more human.
So every Monday, I’ll share a new one.
Let’s see how many Metaphor Mondays I can come up with. 🙂😵‍💫😂

07/02/2026

That means no repeating your story to multiple people. No wondering who to contact when you have a question. No feeling like just another account number.

As a small business owner myself, I believe bookkeeping works best when it's built on relationships and trust. I take the time to understand your business so I can provide support that's personalized, accurate, and consistent.

Your business deserves more than a one-size-fits-all approach.

It deserves a bookkeeper who knows your books and knows you.

06/25/2026

Creative businesses don’t fail because of talent; they struggle when the financial side feels unclear or inconsistent. My role is to bring order to that side of the business, so your creativity isn’t carrying unnecessary stress.

06/18/2026

If your “Receive Payments” in QuickBooks Online don’t match the payouts hitting your bank account, it’s probably because in Houzz Pro you selected “Deduct fee from my payment received.”

That means the client pays the full amount, but Houzz subtracts the processing fee before depositing the money into your bank account. So the bank deposit will always be lower than the payment recorded in QuickBooks.

Here’s the correct way to handle it 👇

Go to your bank feed in QuickBooks
Match the transaction to the existing Receive Payment
QuickBooks will show a difference between the payment amount and the actual deposit
Click “Resolve the difference”
Record the difference to a Processing Fees / Merchant Fees expense account

This keeps:
✔️ Your customer payment recorded correctly
✔️ Your bank account accurate
✔️ Your processing fees tracked as an expense
✔️ Your A/R clean and reconciled

A lot of designers think the sync is broken when this happens but it’s usually just the Houzz fee setting causing the difference.

Address

Santee, CA
92071

Website

http://www.tidyandtruebookkeeping.com/

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