How do you track your domaining expenses and incomes?

[MrBlueSky]

Hey guys,

I was wondering how do you track your domaining money flow. I made a template for Pages (Excel) myself which has three columns - Domain name, how much I bought the name for and how much I sold it for. The bottom line of the table sums the expenses column, income column and also sums the entire expenses and incomes.

It works pretty good but I wish I had some kind of software where I could simply input this data and possibly view some more statistics.


Thanks

 

[Havela]

Excel.

Columns:
Domain name
Purchase/renewal fees
Parking income
Sales income
Sales fees
=Profit/loss
Expiry date
Acquisition date
First record
Registrar
[Searches/mo]
CPC
Competition
Page rank
For sale (y/n)
Possible buyers

Works like a charm - I don't see the need for anything more advanced than Excel. The most important thing is to track all your expenses as well as earnings so you don't fool yourself into thinking you are making profits when you are actually losing money. Possibly a column for manpower (your own hourly rate) should be included too.

 

[MrBlueSky]

Thanks Havela,

I'll definitely get inspired by some of your columns. You are definitely right that the most important thing is to not fool yourself into thinking you are making profits.


Cheers!

 

[verbster]

A better question might be, How are taxes figured?

 

[sammy1531]

I use WunderList to keep a track of my domains , synchronized to my phone as well. I also create reminder settings with due dates if a domain in my watchlist is gonna expire/complete.

 

[4pm]

i dont track anything to avoid unneeded disappointments..

 

[RazorNF]

I'm on the Excel camp as well. Easy and flexible.

 

[the_poet]

Excel is the way to go.

 

[lennco]

A better question might be, How are taxes figured?

If its your business then its considered Income.
If you only own a few domains and sell one once in a while you may be able to consider it Capital Gains.

 

[Fonzie]

4 X 6 notecards.
I'm ridiculously old school.

I'm not so much worried about 'expenses' since I hate buying domains and only do so when not doing so would be stupid. My main concern is what plan I have with a given name. If making money with a particular domain name purchase is too complicated or too abstract to fit on a 4X6 horizontally oriented notecard, I don't have time for it.

 

[verbster]

If its your business then its considered Income.
If you only own a few domains and sell one once in a while you may be able to consider it Capital Gains.

You're saying there's a difference in status that makes it income vs capital gains? How so? What determines a business with a few domains or not business with a few domains?

Here's a simple example:

you reg three domains for $8 each in Dec 2011. one you let expire in Dec 2012; one you sold in november 2012 for only $5 and the third one you renew for another $8 in Dec 2012. What would you declare for 2012 taxes?