Some of the more popular terms and acronyms that you'll see throughout this lesson

COG/COGM - Cost of Goods / Cost of Goods Made: This is your inventory or raw materials and finished products not yet sold and shipped.

COGS - Cost of Goods Sold: This is a calculation form on the IRS form Schedule C. This calculation consists of the items that have been sold, trashed, transferred, or otherwise is no longer with the business.

DBA/FBN - Doing Business As / Fictitious Business Name: This is your fancy name that you do business under and the terms vary by city/county. You will likely need to register this name with the city/county.

EIN/FEIN - Employee Identification Number / Federal Employee Identification Number: Think of this as a Social Security Number for your business. It is free to get and protects your personal SSN. For many this is optional until they hire an employee, but some states do require it for registration of sales tax and banks will require it for creating a bank account for the business.

EOY - End of Year: This is usually in reference to the COG/COGM count at the end of the year.

IRS - The Internal Revenue Service: Federal agency responsible for collecting federal income tax.

P+S - Paper + Spark: A spreadsheet system that was created with jewelry artisans in mind but has expanded significantly to provide a helpful system for many artisans. (The name is a clickable affiliate link and I do receive monetary compensation for any purchases made through that link.)

SP - Sole Proprietorship: This is the most basic business entity style consisting of one owner.

SMLLC - Single Member Limited Liability Company: This is the "next step up" from SP and may provide some benefits to keep your personal assets and business assets separate in the case of an issue. This is only recognized by the state and each state has their own set of regulations to maintain the LLC.