Earlier, I talked about my favorite bookkeeping software on the web, but now I’m going to talk about why you as a flash game developer should start keeping track of your earnings. The two biggest reasons to watch your earnings is to keep your cash flow organized, and know how much of your earning need to be handed over to taxes.

When you’ve got money coming in, it’s always good to know where it’s coming from. Say you land a primary sponsorship deal, net a couple non-exclusive deals, and are making a decent amount off ad revenue from MochiAds. Sure, you could just pocket it all and not worry about where it comes from, but what if something goes wrong with the deal. You’ll want a log of the money you’ve received and where it came from.

Another reason to keep track of your earnings is so that when you go back to sell a your newest game, you’ll have a log of your previous sales; making it easier to judge how much your new game or sequel is worth. Plus, you’ll be able to keep track of contacts who you previously sold games to. These are the ones you’ll want to contact first, since they already have trust in your abilities as a game developer.

The third reason, and probably your least favorite, is taxes. Use bookkeeping for when Uncle Sam comes around looking for taxes and you won’t have to worry about being fined. Avoiding the IRS would be a bad idea, so it’s best to make sure all your transactions are documented, that way if something goes wrong you’ll have a log of your income and expenses.

Lastly, isn’t it nice to watch those game earnings pile up? Use your bookkeeping software to keep track of your total sales numbers and deternmine which game types are more profitable than others.

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