So now that TPC has a book that has been edited and printed, and our 3-person street team has hit the ground running, the orders have been trickling in. It’s a beautiful thing, watching the balance in our paypal account steadily rise, collecting 10s and 20s from folks who are eager to get their hands on this hot new novel. :) For me, this has definitely been the fun part of this whole experiment, almost worth all those sleepless nights spent in SELLOUT pre-production. And while I naively thought that I might get a break from the 24/7 hustle as I passed the torch to my sales and marketing team, instead I found that our success required me to don yet ANOTHER hat — the TPC accountant. I mean, somebody has to count the money, right?
When I was Program Manager at Cultural Studies, I was responsible for managing the budget, so I am no stranger to crunching numbers. So rather than pay an accountant to handle our books, I decided to take it on. Yes, this is another HUGE task to add to my already full plate, but honestly, I just don’t trust anyone else to do it, lol. Accounting and bookkeeping is also a highly transferable skill, so I figured, what the hell–what I learn now will come in handy for years to come, as TPC is not the only business I plan on starting (have I told ya’ll about my editing firm? Stay tuned — I got big things poppin’! 
. So I ordered myself a copy of Quickbooks and started assembling accounting resources so I could read up on all I needed to know to keep our books clean and manage our bottom line.
Man, I had NO idea what I was getting into! This accounting stuff is no joke. I plan to write a TPC technical blog outlining all the various components of accounting for publishers, but in short, managing the books is a lot more than just keeping track of income and sales. All income and expenses need to be categorized for tax purposes; sales tax has to be paid; shipping costs and paypal transaction fees need to be accounted for; inventory needs to be tracked, along with the various price points (retail price vs. friends and family discount vs. book club discount vs. comp copies); royalties need to be calculated and paid; profit and loss statements generated, as well as cash flow projections; etc, etc. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! There are intricacies in this accounting business I never would have imagined!
With the help of Quickbooks (and the 570 page manual, which I read pretty much from cover to cover), I’ve successfully set up TPC’s chart of accounts and bookkeeping system. Time-consuming, yes, but also incredibly satisfying to have expanded my skill set in such a useful way. TPC is really taking this DIY concept to heart, but every penny we save on outsourcing we are able to reinvest into making mo’ money!
