Alright readers, I have a challenge for you today! Answer these questions quickly (and accurately!):
- How much money did you make in your Silhouette Cameo based business last month?
- What did you spend in expenses for the month before last?
- How many supplies do you have on hand right now?
If you can’t answer these questions in less than a few minutes, then this blog post is for you.
When running any small business, you need to know your numbers. You should be keeping records for 1) All sales made 2) All expenses incurred 3) All supplies on hand. There are numerous ways to keep track of these things, and I’ve seen everything from envelope systems to binders or notebooks, custom made spreadsheets, and online accounting programs that range from free to hundreds of dollars per month.
For Silhouette Cameo small business owners, I highly recommend Craftybase. Craftybase is an online accounting and bookkeeping system created especially for professional crafters. Among it’s features:
- Inventory tracking of all supplies and equipment
- Supplier information lists for every site or company that you purchase from
- Order tracking
- Labor cost calculation
- Expense and purchase recording
- Ability to list projects with the required amount of supplies
- Various reports on the health of your business
- Automatic imports from Etsy shops, Shopify stores, with integrations from Paypal and Square coming soon
- And standard features like a great support team, 256 bit SSL security, and secure backups
A few of my favorite features of Craftybase include that you can customize many sections of the program. For example, if you sell vinyl items, you can track your inventory in rolls, inches, feet, or yards – it’s up to you. Next, I love that you can add photos next to your supplies. This means no more digging through old orders to figure out which name you gave your favorite printed fabric in your accounting records! Lastly, the program itself is broken down in to easy to understand language. There are help tutorials throughout the program, and I never feel like I need an advanced accounting degree to navigate it. When using Craftybase, you’ll just need to keep your purchase receipts in an envelope and all other records will be online.
Craftybase offers a free (no credit card needed) trial available for 14 days. After that, you can choose from 3 different plans – the most expensive being $19.99 per month. But, after you become a paid subscriber, you can earn your Craftybase program free of charge if you refer 10 new customers to the program. Today, Cutting for Business is able to offer you 10% off your Craftybase subscription by clicking the banner below:
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Great information! I bought a different program last year on Black Friday, but this program sounds more user-friendly! Do you use this program? If so, how long have you used it?
Thank you so much for all the incredible information you give every day. I’m so grateful you started this blog.
Hi Donna! Yes, I’ve used this program for many months with my own Etsy shop and miscellaneous offline/local sales. The hardest part for me using it was finding time to inventory all the supplies I had on hand, as I didn’t start using it in the beginning. But, when I went through all my supplies I was able to destash what I wasn’t using in the near future. Thank you for the compliments, I appreciate it!
Does this help with tax prep come time?
It helps simplify everything at tax time – which is true of any accounting program that you use. I like Craftybase over other accounting programs because you can track your raw materials as well.
I started my free trial, and after entering some of our expenses tonight, I am sure I will use this awesome program as long as we have customers (none so far)!! Thank you so much!
You;ll get customers soon, Lori! You’re welcome! I use Craftybase daily! Christine
Are you still using this software? If so, how do you like it after using it for a while?
Yes, and I’d still recommend it!
I am having a hard time figuring out the best way to inventory my vinyl the proper way. I buy in sheets & rolls. It’s puzzling to me on exactly how I should be entering them into the Materials section. I wanted to keep track of what I have left on hand. Could you post a picture of how you enter yours?
If you purchase in sheets and rolls, it is easiest to convert your rolls to sheets and inventory everything in 12 inch increments (assuming you are buying 12 by 12 inch sheets). So, a 3 yard roll would convert to 9 sheets. Does that make sense?
Would this program also work for my crochet business? I also run a home bakery for cakes? Any help with what to use I will appreciate!
Yes, it should. It’s geared towards any handmade business.