Customer Reviews

Small Time Operator

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"Small Time Operator: How To Start Your Own Small Business, Keep Your Books, Pay Your Taxes, And Stay Out Of Trouble" is a classic, having sold over 500,000 copies.

If you're new to starting and running a business, this is one of the first books you should buy. It does a great job discussing the basics of business taxes, including employment taxes, and many other mundane topics you probably want to understand.

A few of the topics covered include:

--Business Licenses and Permits

--Sales Tax
--Insurance
--Keeping Inventory Records
--Deducting and Understanding Business Expenses
--Doing Business As A Sole Proprietorship
--A Basic Profit & Loss Statement
--A Basic Cash Flow Prediction Statement

There is also a good discussion of single-entry bookkeeping, which is probably adequate for many new businesses. The author even explains how to balance a checkbook. But, if you're unsure how to do that, you probably need to learn a bit more about personal finance before you start a business to improve your chances of success.

Understanding the basics of finance and accounting is important for small business owners. Kamoroff gives the example of a bookstore that started-up but then went bankrupt. The owner arbitrarily marked-up the cost of the goods he purchased and wasn't aware of his overhead expenses of running his business. As it turned out, he was pricing his merchandise too low to make a profit.

As Kamoroff explains, a $200 business mistake and a $20,000 business mistake could be the same mistake. So, it's good to start small and learn. As you learn more, you might want to learn double-entry accounting, which is more robust. Also, you'll probably get one of the computerized accounting programs, such as MYOB, Quicken QuickBooks, etc., to handle your accounting and recordkeeping. But, as Kamoroff points out, whether you do your bookkeeping by hand or with a computer program, the basics of bookkeeping are essentially the same.

The book is highly readable and has many entertaining cartoons and blurbs from other entrepreneurs and small business people that make the text fun.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"

Combined with Fredrick Daily's book "Tax Savvy For Small Business", the dreaded issues concerning taxes, are explained and written in a language that most non CPA's and non-Tax Attorney's can understand......ENGLISH!

Goes over the myraid of issues that one must consider when taking the journey into self employment. Helps you understand what is permissable and legal deductions and what can cause "RED FLAGS" in the eye's of the IRS. A MUST HAVE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OPERATORS!

A great "read" for any new or current business owner! I read it, it sell hundrends of copies to new business startup owners. They learn everything from A to Z of starting & running a profitable business.

Bernard (Bear) Kamoroff proves an author/publisher can make a living on one book. Through 24 revised editions and 54 printings in 22 years, this very successful guide has to be the best-selling accounting book of all time. Continually updated, it just keeps on getting better and better.

Kamoroff takes you through Getting Started (business location, financing, legal structure, licenses & permits, import & export, insurance, business name and business plan), Bookkeeping (bank accounts, recording income, sales & expenditures and financial management), Business Growth (hiring help, incorporation), Taxes (expenses, self-employment tax, retirement deductions, the IRS, returns, other taxes), and in the Appendix (how to find a good accountant, home-based businesses, buying & selling a business, freelancers and more).

This book has a great title and it was the title that made people pick it up to discover the great content.

I have been a publisher for 31 years and I wish this book had been written 32 years ago. Fortunately, it has been with me for 22. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.