Excel being free you have to figure out what costs your associating with your business not just the few items you have listed, or maybe that is all you actually have for business expenses.
With Quickbooks, I also have not only the costs of booth rentals but I also have Rent, Electric, cable, and other bills so all my financials are in quickbooks, all money coming in and out. The Reports also help see where money would be better invested.
This is all a matter of how big / small your business is and what helps your accountant out doing your taxes.
So QuickBooks Desktop costs me roughly $700 a year, My accountant costs me 1 time a year but is billed a flat fee plus a by the hour additional fee if over X hrs. I asked him what he thought I should use, and his answer was QuickBooks. This way he can upload my data and the computer spits out the information he needs plus a few looks at my Checking accounts to make sure everything matches.
How long would this take him to do if I did an Excel Spreadsheet? Is his hourly cost worth it? What if I want to sell the business or am audited? Banks ask for Profit and Loss statements and Balance sheets if applying for a loan, can I get those from my Excel records?
Since I run my business full time I think QuickBooks is worth it for me. Now others mention other Accounting Software which is less expensive, which might work for you also. I just wanted something that would be easy for my accountant and keep track of all types of expenses that I may miss setting up a Spreadsheet in Excel.
Both can work, and to cut costs you can even use Google Sheets which is free compared to Excel. My first year I used Libreoffice Calc to track my expenses.
So my advice would be, take your spreadsheet into your accountant and talk with them and see if they can give you advice on if it is worth doing it the Excel way or getting an Accounting package.
Keith
Owner
Pocono Candle
Mark as Best Answer if this Helped you solve an issue or give it a thumbs up if you like the answer.
Square Support Number 855-700-6000.
Make Sure App and OS is up to date on your Device.
