Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

Business has been good so far in 2008.

The decisions I’ve made over the last month has had a positive impact on the number of hours I work and the amount of income I earn in that time. Even better, decisions I made four and five months ago have proved to be good ones and are bearing good fruit financially.

As my internet marketing business grows, my financial management skills have been put to the test and found wanting in a few places. I’ve never been great with money in black and white (or red as has sometimes been the case!) and when you don’t have very much of it – there isn’t a lot of management required so I’ve never had to face the issue all that much.

I pay someone else to do my taxes. When I was in debt up to my eyeballs I paid someone else to pay my bills and help me dig out. (Consumer Credit Counseling Services, now known as Greenpath Debt Solutions.) I rarely balance my own checkbook… ok, well I haven’t done it in over fifteen years to tell the unvarnished truth.

Meanwhile, I’m running a business with a consistently growing cash flow. That’s all good, right? Sure!

Like other typical internet marketers, I have income from a variety of projects. Some of these projects have affiliate programs, which means that a portion of the money I’m making day by day belongs to affiliates. Some of them involve a partnership which means that part of the money I’m making day by day belongs to a partner.

Back when my income from these projects was small, it was easy to do a quick accounting at the end of the month and shoot Partner A and Affiliates 1, 2 & 3 a quick PayPal payment. Over these last three or four years, things have grown. I’ve added new partnerships and new affiliate programs. With hundreds of dollars a day moving through my PayPal account and credit card merchant account, it would be easy to lose perspective and think that I’ve (personally) made more money than I really have.

I have worked out a sloppy system of making sure that there is enough money in my PayPal account by the tenth of each month to pay out to my affiliates and partners and so far, that has only failed me once. (Thank goodness for the patience of Lynette Chandler – she had to wait at least a week longer than she should have for her share of one of our projects.)

I’m really pleased that today, only the seventh of the month, I have completed my accounting and paid out to all of my affiliates and partners. Three days ahead of schedule means that I’m patting myself on the back.Still… my hazardous accounting practices have taken me as far as they can – it’s time for real help!

I’ve asked my ex-hubby (an accountant!) to be my bookkeeper. He hasn’t given me a clear answer yet. sigh I’m going to call him again today and plead my case. I’m hoping he can help me develop a system where I always know where I’m at.

I’ll let you know how it goes – and if you have any tips on how you manage your partnerships and affiliate profits, please do share!

Update!  Good News!  The Ex-Hubby is coming over Sunday Morning to take a look at things with me and talk Turkey :)  Hurray!