Running a creative business comes with a lot of joy, but it also comes with numbers, receipts, taxes, bookkeeping, payroll, and decisions that can feel overwhelming fast. In Episode 117 of The Flower Files, Liza Goetz continues the conversation with Shannon Everhart of The Tax Chick, diving deeper into the financial mistakes small business owners can avoid as they grow.
This episode focuses on tax write-offs, documentation, mileage tracking, bookkeeping systems, pricing flowers accurately, cash flow, scaling wisely, and understanding when profit is actually profit. For flower farmers, florists, and creative business owners, this conversation is a practical reminder that we have to know our numbers if we want our businesses to support us long term.
Why Financial Guidance Matters for Small Businesses
Many of us start businesses because we love the work. We love flowers. We love growing. We love design. We love creating something meaningful for our customers.
But once the business starts moving, we quickly realize there is a whole other language we have to learn: accounting.
There are expenses to track, receipts to save, mileage logs to maintain, taxes to understand, payroll questions to answer, and pricing decisions to make. Shannon’s approach is helpful because she has not only worked in taxes and finance for years, but she has also managed the back-office side of a small business herself.
That lived experience matters. She understands the stress of not knowing what button got clicked in QuickBooks, how to fix a bookkeeping issue, or how to make sense of cash flow when sales are coming in but profit still feels hard to find.
What Can Flower Farmers and Creative Business Owners Write Off?
A tax write-off is not magic money, and it is not a free pass to spend wildly. As Shannon explains, a legitimate business expense is generally an expense tied to the business and used to help produce income.
For flower farmers and florists, that may include things like:
- Seeds, bulbs, plants, and fertilizer
- Soil amendments and growing supplies
- Tools and equipment
- Business phone expenses
- Mileage for deliveries, pickups, and business errands
- Marketing materials
- Business cards and promotional materials
- Software and bookkeeping tools
- Supplies used to create floral designs
- Professional services, including bookkeeping or tax preparation
The key is that the expense has to be legitimate, documented, and connected to the business.
If we buy something for the business, we need proof. That proof matters if the IRS ever asks questions.
Keep Receipts, But Keep Them Digitally
In Episode 116, Shannon emphasized the importance of keeping receipts. In Episode 117, she expands on why the way we keep receipts matters.
A shoebox, envelope, or plastic bin full of receipts might feel organized, but paper receipts fade. Many receipts are printed on thermal paper, which can become unreadable over time, especially if stored somewhere hot.
That means we need a digital system.
We can take a picture of receipts, scan them, upload them to cloud storage, save them by year, or keep them on an external drive. The system does not have to be fancy, but it does have to be consistent.
The goal is simple: if we are ever audited, we need to be able to produce readable documentation.
Mileage Tracking Matters Too
Mileage is another area where documentation is essential.
Even if it is obvious that we drove to deliver flowers, pick up supplies, meet a client, or purchase fertilizer, we still need a mileage log. Without a record of where we went, when we went, who we saw, and why the trip was business-related, mileage deductions may be disallowed.
A mileage tracking app can make this much easier. We can also keep a spreadsheet or written log, but the important part is that the information is recorded consistently.
For flower farmers and floral businesses, mileage can add up quickly. Deliveries, farm errands, market trips, wholesaler pickups, wedding installations, and consultations all take time and fuel. If those miles are legitimate business miles, we want the documentation to support them.
Choosing a Bookkeeping System
When a business is brand new, a spreadsheet may be enough. We can track the date, vendor, amount, category, and purpose of each expense.
As the business grows, a system like QuickBooks can help by connecting to bank accounts and credit cards, importing transactions, and generating reports. But software only works well if it is set up and reviewed correctly.
Liza shares that stepping into QuickBooks felt overwhelming because the system asked so many questions and required decisions about categories, settings, and structure. That is where a bookkeeper, accountant, or fractional CFO can help.
The right system should help us understand:
- What came in
- What went out
- What we owe
- What we own
- What we actually made
- Whether the business is profitable
Bookkeeping is not just about tax time. It is about making better decisions all year long.
Business Expenses Have to Pass the “Smell Test”
Not every expense can be written off just because we call it business-related.
Shannon uses what she calls the “smell test.” If an expense does not look right, make sense, or connect clearly to the business, it may not be defensible.
For example, a business meal with a client may be partially deductible if it is properly documented and tied to business activity. But buying a boat and claiming it as a business expense because we took one client out one time is probably not going to hold up.
The point is not to be afraid of deductions. We should take legitimate expenses. We should not leave money on the table. But we also should not stretch expenses beyond what is honest, fair, and supportable.
Paying Taxes Can Mean You’re Doing Something Right
One of the most encouraging moments in the episode is Shannon’s reminder that paying taxes is not always a sign that something went wrong.
Sometimes it means the business made money.
For many business owners, the first time we owe taxes can feel scary. We wonder what we did wrong. But Shannon reframes it: if we made a profit, paying taxes may simply mean the business is working.
That does not mean we should ignore planning. Tax planning matters. Deductions matter. Estimated payments may matter. But profit is a good thing, and taxes are often part of that success.
Cash Flow Is King
Profit and cash flow are not the same thing.
A business can have sales coming in and still struggle if cash is tied up in inventory, credit card debt, payroll, overhead, or expansion costs. Shannon explains that when a business starts to grow, the question is not just, “Can we sell more?” It is also, “Do we have the cash to support that growth?”
Scaling requires cash.
If we want to go from $100 to $200 to $500 in profit, we have to understand what expenses increase along the way. Do we need more labor? More land? More supplies? More storage? More vehicles? More software? More space? More equipment?
Growth is exciting, but growth that is not planned can quietly drain profit.
Pricing Flowers by Real Costs
One of the most important discussions in this episode is pricing flowers accurately.
For flower farmers, pricing is not always as simple as looking at a wholesale stem price. If we grow the flower ourselves, there are hidden costs behind that stem.
A homegrown flower may include the cost of:
- Seeds, bulbs, or plugs
- Soil preparation
- Fertilizer and amendments
- Irrigation
- Labor to plant, weed, harvest, process, and store
- Crop loss
- Weather protection
- Washing buckets
- Cooler space
- Delivery and handling
- Time spent planning and managing the crop
As Liza explains, a tulip from a wholesaler may be inexpensive because it is grown and shipped in huge quantities. But a specialty tulip grown locally may have a higher bulb cost, more labor, larger blooms, and more hands-on care. That flower should not automatically be priced lower just because we grew it ourselves.
Growing it ourselves does not mean it was free.
Accounting for Loss and Waste
Not every seed germinates. Not every plant survives. Not every stem makes it to the arrangement.
In farming and floristry, loss is part of the business. Flowers may be damaged by pests, weather, handling mistakes, transportation issues, or simple human error. A pothole can snap stems during delivery. A bucket can tip. A crop can underperform.
Those losses have to be considered when pricing.
If we price only the perfect stems that make it into the final design, we may be ignoring the real cost of everything that did not make it. A profitable floral business has to account for the full process, not just the finished bouquet.
Bigger Is Not Always More Profitable
Liza shares a hard-earned lesson: doing more weddings did not automatically mean making more profit.
As the number of weddings increased, labor, time, supplies, stress, and overhead increased too. The business was busier, but the bottom line did not grow in the way she expected.
That is a huge lesson for creative business owners.
More work is not always better. More sales are not always more profitable. More volume can sometimes mean more exhaustion without enough return.
We have to look at capacity, staffing, workflow, pricing, and margins. Sometimes the smarter move is not doing more. Sometimes it is pricing better, simplifying offerings, improving systems, or choosing the right work.
The Biggest Financial Mistake: Waiting Too Long to Track the Numbers
One of the top mistakes Shannon sees is waiting too long to start proper recordkeeping.
At first, the accounting feels small and manageable. Then the business grows. More money comes in. More bills go out. More receipts pile up. More questions appear. Before long, the accounting becomes a huge source of stress.
The earlier we create systems, the easier business becomes.
We need to know what each product costs, what each arrangement is worth, how much labor goes into an event, how much overhead we carry, and whether our pricing supports the business.
If we do not know our numbers, we may accidentally give away our profit.
Owner Pay: Draw or Paycheck?
Whether we pay ourselves through an owner’s draw or a paycheck depends on how the business is structured.
A sole proprietor typically takes draws, and the business income is reported on Schedule C. The owner does not receive a regular W-2 paycheck from the business.
A partnership may also involve draws, depending on the structure.
An S corporation is different. In an S corp, the owner can be treated as an employee and receive a paycheck through payroll. Shannon shares that she personally likes S corps in many situations because the owner is an employee of the company and can have taxes withheld throughout the year.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The right structure depends on the business, income, goals, taxes, and long-term plans.
Businesses need both passion and numbers.
We can love flowers, farming, design, and our customers while also taking the financial side seriously. In fact, understanding the numbers helps protect the thing we love.
When we track expenses, save receipts, price honestly, plan cash flow, and understand profit, we give our businesses a stronger foundation. We also give ourselves more room to breathe, grow, and make decisions with confidence.
The flowers may be beautiful, but the numbers help keep the business blooming!
