I started this blog as a way to get some of the resources I have been working on out to people who e-mail me at odd times: “do you remember that workshop you gave at that conference a few years ago…” maybe, but can I find the file where I saved the handout? You get the idea. Anyway, no promises about whether I will or won’t update this often or respond to comments or questions often. You who know me know I am a sucker for a good beginning farmer or rancher plea for help, you who don’t will have to test my limits.
I set up pages for major subjects and just uploaded the handouts I have developed over the years. I hope to add more as time goes by.
The subject pages are:
- Basic Bookkeeping and Other (I just added a new annotated chart of accounts – PD 10/3/21)
- Cash Flow Budgeting and Debt Management (Finally updated!! Excel file is now downloadable. PD 2/25/17)
- Introduction to Taxes (I just added a new PowerPoint with an overview of farm taxes. PD 04/03/13)
- Not Making a Profit is the Easy Part! (for not for profit corporations that farm)
Towards a just and sustainable food system!
Poppy
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative
Hi Poppy,
This is just amazing!
I gain so much knowlodge in your workshop, and I wanted to leave this note to tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to do this!
Thank you so much!
Ingrid
Vista Linda Organics
Thanks Linda, I really appreciate hearing from you.
Great Poppy, keep it up!
I am on two missions
1) To educate ranchers on how to better handle their cattle, to the point they can implement intensive grazing programs without having interior fences.
2) inform the public (especially PETA et al) that cattle are not being treated inhumanely as a matter of normal circumstances. That is why I added keywords to http://www.naturalcattlehandling.com of “PETA, humane, society, inhumane” Hopefully people buying into the rhetoric of the bad press will go to the site and watch the videos
This is a much needed guide for folks. I posted the link to your blog on another forum I belong to (Mary Jane’s Farmgirl Connection). Somebody had a pretty simple question on there and you’d think that in a group of over 3000 farm gal members someone could come up with a simple answer? Nope! You are doing a great thing here.
Thanks for all your resources. I am a management accountant, also doing client consulting for the North Coast Small Business Development Center (SBA funding). The clients receive this service free of charge, usually 10-20 hours of my time. Recent client assignments include small farms in the area. I am in the process of assessing clients’ older QuickBooks files for correct usage and errors. Your pages and downloads are fantastic. I don’t really have enough hours allocated to actually carry out any of your suggestions, but will certainly pass on the link to your blog. Thanks!
Could you possibly do an article on the new IRS regulations on repairs and maintenance that is going into effect for 2014?
Hi, Sorry for the slow response. I have added this to my “to do” list and I am going to try to get to it in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and again sorry for the slow response. I like your blog by the way, looking at baby calves is much more interesting than reading IRS regs.
Thanks, I like it better than my tax booklets too. But I appreciate the challenges I face in understanding my ranch taxes. Can’t wait to see what you say about the new regs. It will help me understand them better. If it would help, a big question I have is: What is to stop a person from splitting up their capital expense related purchases to amounts that are all under $200?
Well that question I can answer quickly. The receipts themselves are only an indicator. The law applies to the reality. If you build a barn over ten years time in $200 increments what matters is it is a barn and you are expected to have it on your books as a building valued at the sum of all the $200 receipts over time, plus allocated labor (but not your own if you are self employed). Regardless of how long it takes to build (I’m hearing Johnny Cash singing “I got it one piece at a time”) you can not take deductions until you place it in service. When you place it in service you can start to depreciate the sum total of all the supplies (plus labor if you paid for it). While it is unlikely that the IRS would question your supplies expense if it is reasonable and consistent, there are other ways you would likely be found out. The first is in some counties county tax assessors drive around looking for buildings that are not on the tax rolls. If the county assessor saw your barn they would assess you for property taxes and likely notify the state taxing authorities who would notify the IRS. This scenario obviously depends on the nature of your county government and state taxing authorities. In California it happens. The second is if the property is transferred pursuant to death or a sale, the barn will be listed as an asset in the sale appraisal and that will cause a discrepancy on the final income tax return which could trigger an audit. See the document “capitalized costs” on the Small Farm and Ranch Taxes” page. I will get it updated for the new regs as soon as I can.
Poppy,
Please let me know your contact info and I want to thank you one more time for the time I get to work with you so briefly here at the Department. Your colleague and friend, Linda Wang
Hi Linda, Great to hear from you! I am sending an e-mail to you at your USDA e-mail now. Check your spam if you don’t get it. Looking forward to being back in touch! Poppy