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Archiver > APG > 2001-04 > 0986834748


From:
Subject: Re: [APG] client expenses
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 12:45:48 EDT


In a message dated 04/09/01 6:10:55 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
writes:


> An interesting exercise, including the math, but the cost of
> toner and paper, I am afraid, are two of the less expensive
> elements in the true cost of making a copy on your home
> computer!
>
> In fact, copies made at home on the computer are so
> expensive that if you had to actually pay for them on a
> sheet by sheet basis you would probably refuse to do so! <g>
>
> ...
>
> I also read the rest of your message with interest and, in
> particular, noted the inventory of cost items. What I failed
> to see was any accounting for the really important cost
> items: rent, depreciation, education, to name some.

Richard,

Thanks for mentioning other expenses that were not detailed in the earlier
note. It wasn't really the intention of that note to list all possible
expenses that a genealogist can incur for their craft "per se," because these
expenses will be different for everyone. I was hoping to illustrate that
accounting for expenses and the "cost of doing business" does not have to be
confusing or mysterious anymore wtih all the wonderful accounting software on
the market.

Yes, the expenses you listed above, in particular, (rent, depreciation and
education) are some accountable expenses. However, I can't see obfuscating
the *calculation* of the cost of printing pages from a printer with some of
the expenses you attributed to the paper. Those items you mentioned are valid
expenses. But, were you suggesting that one reimburse education, rent, and
depreciation expenses through how much one charges per page for computer
printouts?

For the purposes of a genealogist trying to get a handle on his or her "cost
of doing business," the expenses Richard mentions and the others listed in
the previous email are just a *few* of the expenses that a genealogist or
other small business person will want to gather and study. I should have
included that disclaimer in the first email.

With the software available today, expense accounting for the small business
person or sole-proprietor doesn't have to be a mystery as it might have been
for earlier generations. That is the supporting statement that was intended.

Natalie Cottrill
<A HREF="http://www.progenealogists.com">http://www.progenealogists.com</A>;

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