On this page
This is a general guide for US businesses. It is not tax or accounting advice. Rules change and your situation is your own. Read November 2026. Confirm with your accountant.
The short answer
| Habit | How often |
|---|---|
| Keep business money in a business account and card | Always |
| Record income and categorize expenses | Weekly |
| Keep receipts with the expense | As you spend |
| Log business mileage | Every drive |
| Reconcile each account to its statement | Monthly |
| Set aside money for income tax | Every payment you receive |
| Collect a W-9 from each crew member before they work | Every new hire |
| Hand your accountant a clean year | Once a year |
Categories that fit a video business
Use categories your accountant can map to your tax return. A sole proprietor files a Schedule C, so start from its expense lines and add detail where it helps you.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Contract labor | Freelance crew, editors, colorists |
| Equipment rental | Rental house invoices, gear you rented in |
| Supplies and expendables | Gaffer tape, gels, batteries, drives you use up |
| Travel | Flights, lodging, ground transport on a job |
| Meals | Crew meals and client meals, which have their own rules |
| Car and truck | Business mileage or actual vehicle costs |
| Software | Editing, color, music libraries, business tools |
| Insurance | General liability, equipment, workers' comp |
| Advertising | Your website, ads, festival entries |
| Equipment you keep | Cameras, lenses, computers: usually an asset rather than an expense |
Gear you keep for years is often not a simple expense. Your accountant decides whether to depreciate it or expense it in the first year. Keep the invoice and the date you started using it.
Job costing is not the same as the books
| Job costing | Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Did this job make money? | How is the business doing, and what is owed in tax? |
| Unit | One project | The whole business, by period |
| Includes | Crew booked, your team's time at cost, rentals per job | Every dollar in and out, overhead included |
| Who reads it | You and your producer | You, your accountant, the tax return |
You need both. A month can be profitable in the books while one job lost money, and you only see that with job costing.
Cash or accrual
| Cash basis | Accrual basis | |
|---|---|---|
| Income counts | When the client pays | When you invoice |
| Expenses count | When you pay | When you are billed |
| Good for | Seeing money in the bank | Seeing the work you did in the month |
Your tax method is a choice to make with your accountant. Many small service businesses use cash, and the IRS has rules on who can. Whichever you file with, looking at both views helps.
A worked example
A sample month for a small studio:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Invoiced this month | $18,000 |
| Collected this month (including last month's deposit) | $12,000 |
| Crew invoices received | $5,000 |
| Crew invoices paid | $3,500 |
| Rentals, software, insurance, paid | $2,200 |
On a cash basis, profit is $12,000 less $3,500 less $2,200, which is $6,300. On an accrual basis it is $18,000 less $5,000 less $2,200, which is $10,800. Neither is wrong. They answer different questions: the first is what came and went, the second is what the month earned.
If you set aside 25% of what you collect for income tax, that month you put $3,000 aside. The right percent is your accountant's call.
The monthly close
- Import or connect every bank and card account.
- Categorize every transaction, and attach receipts.
- Match payments to the invoices and bills they settle, so nothing counts twice.
- Reconcile each account: the books' balance should equal the statement.
- Review unpaid invoices and chase the late ones.
- Look at profit and loss for the month, and the jobs that closed.
A month you reconciled is a month you never have to rebuild.
Crew, W-9s and 1099s
Collect a W-9 before a freelancer's first day. At the end of the year, the people you paid enough may need a Form 1099-NEC: the threshold is $600 for payments made through 2025 and $2,000 for payments made from 2026, per the IRS instructions. Our 1099 guide for film crew has the dates and a checklist.
Mileage
A business mileage log needs the date, the miles, where you went and why. The IRS sets a standard mileage rate each year; see the IRS standard mileage rates page for yours.
Estimated taxes
If you will owe income tax and nobody withholds it, you generally pay estimated tax four times a year. The IRS estimated taxes page has the dates and who must pay. Setting money aside from each payment makes those dates easy.
Mistakes that make tax season hard
- Personal and business spending on one card.
- Receipts in a shoebox, matched in April.
- Paying crew without a W-9 on file.
- Counting a client's deposit twice: once as a bank deposit and once as invoice income.
- A camera bought in December and nobody told the accountant.
Doing it in Cutvey
Books starts simple, shaped like QuickBooks Self-Employed: transactions, categories, rules, receipts, mileage and quarterly estimates. Invoices, payments, crew invoices and expenses you already run in Cutvey post themselves. Connect a US business bank or card account through Stripe, or import statements. Switch on double-entry when you want a chart of accounts, bills, an asset register, reconciliation and a month-end close, and give your accountant their own seat. If your accountant lives in QuickBooks Online or Xero, Cutvey can send invoices and payments there, one way. See Start with Books, Reconcile and close a period and Give your accountant access.