How do you handle the finances? Do you pay yourself and if so do you use your business or personal account to pay the mortgage and utilities?

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I don't pay myself. I pay the bills for my business (it's just a separate checking account and not really a business account as defined by my bank) and anything left over is mine.

The separate checking account simplifies things at tax time.

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I don't have a separate house, but I do have separate bank accounts and HIGHLY recommend them to keep expenses separate. It's SUPER easy to go through my business bank statements to corroborate receipts/make sure I have everything at tax time.

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If you do child care in a home you don't live in, you can deduct 100% of the cost of everything you spend on that home (utilities, supplies, food, toys, furniture, etc.). It doesn't matter if you have one bank account or a separate bank account for your business because you can deduct expenses from either account. Self employed providers don't "pay themselves." You can't deduct the money you earn. Instead, you can keep whatever money you want. Any money left over after you pay expenses is yours to keep.

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