Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing: EP 390 - Author Accounting Made Simple with D.F. Hart

EP 390 - Author Accounting Made Simple with D.F. Hart

Nov 29, 2024

Mark interviews author D.F. Hart about 2 of Harts Business Services, a company she founded with her sister by empowering indie authors and small businesses through bookkeeping services that not only track the ‘in and out’ but also provide tailored product analysis reporting to assist authors in growing their business.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the 2024 Novel Writing Storybundle - Only available until the end of November 2024.

In the interview, Mark and DeAnna talk about

How long it has been since D.F. Hart and Mark co-authored a book (Accounting for Authors) in March 2022
The work she has done as an accountant which started with Wide for the Win, an indie author, and a local newspaper back in April 2022
Walking away from her full-time day job in July of 2024 in order to have the time to support the growing roster of clients she works with
The various specific things that she is tracking for her author clients every month
How book-keeping firms from outside the book industry might not effectively classify sales by the unique formats and categories, which can help authors track trends
Never asking for platform login information out of respect for the confidentiality and privacy of their clients
The benefit of having a balance sheet and a profit and loss statement that makes it easier for a CPA to get their taxes done more efficiently
How there is a difference between an MBA and a CAP - ie, that the services DeAnna offers do not include taxes
DeAnna's recommended 30/30/40 split rule for managing income
The importance of trying to figure out what your own time is worth when you're determining which tasks you'll be doing yourself and which tasks you'll hand over to others
The initial consultant DeAnna will do with a potential client who is interested in leveraging the 2 of Harts Accounting services
How DeAnna and her co-owner/founder sister have a combined 47 years of accounting experience between them
The impact that running this full time service for authors has had on DeAnna's own writing
And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the payment cycles for authors and then also talks about a special virtual workshop that DeAnna will be running for his patrons.

Links of Interest:

DeAnna Hart is an Accounting veteran with over twenty-seven years’ experience and a deep background in multiple industries including manufacturing, wholesale distribution, commercial construction, higher education, rotorcraft services, and industrial equipment sales and rental.

She’s done it all, from full cycle Accounts Payable all the way up to preparing monthly financial statements and everything in between.

DeAnna holds a Masters of Business Administration with Accounting concentration.

She’s also a fellow indie author! Her pen name is D.F. Hart, and with nineteen titles and counting under her belt – including Accounting for Authors – she understands the nuances and challenges specific to self-publishing that indie authors face.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0