-Production funding and educational outreach for Biz Kids is provided by a coalition of America's Credit Unions, where people are worth more than money.

A complete list of individual credit union funders is availab at WXXI.org.

-Every day, America's Credit Unions help members with their financial needs and with programs like Invest in America.

It's only fitting that credit unions support Biz Kids because financial education is what we do.

Learn more at lovemycreditunion.org.

(beeping) -I could’ve written off how much?

(beeping) I don’t believe this.

Where’s that flea-infested featherball, Chewbokbok?

(clucking) Yeah, I’m angry.

Nice of you to notice.

What did you do with all our business statements and receipts?

(clucking) No, you didn’t keep track of them.

I can't find any of the expense receipts from the power drive conversion on the Paragrin.

You know what, those are business expenses that I can’t account for.

(clucking) You wanna know something?

Your chicken scratch record keeping is costing me a fortune.

And now I gotta shell out even more money to this robotic CPA because I can’t keep heads or tails of these books.

(beeping) What’s that, W-2?

(beeping) You hear that?

Your bookkeeping is bankrupting this company.

I hope you’re happy.

(clucking) Oh no, get off me, you big feathered duster.

You’re making this worse.

(beeping) You stay out of this!

♪ When making money is the aim ♪ ♪ These kids, they bring their game ♪ ♪ They’re the Biz Kids ♪ ♪ Can you dig it?

♪ ♪ They know what's up ♪ ♪ And let you know just how to make that dough ♪ ♪ They’re the Biz Kids ♪ ♪ Right on ♪ ♪ So learn a little more ♪ ♪ About bringing money through the door ♪ ♪ They’re the Biz Kids ♪ ♪ Right on.

♪ -Brought to you by bookkeeping.

You can count on it!

-The heart and soul of any business is in the bkkeeping.

-So, what’s bookkeeping?

-It's the only word in the English language with three consecutive double letters.

-Interesting, but not helpful.

-Bookkeeping is the recording of all financial data a business generates.

That’s any business, from the neighborhood dog walker... -Hi.

-To the world’s largest manufacturer.

-Huge is the plant, geared to produce one-and-a- half billion pounds a year.

A mile of aluminum for the bodies, the wings, the motors of planes.

-It’s also especially important for your own personal finance.

-Like my lawn mowing business.

I already keep track of everything people pay me.

-Well, bookkeeping is keeping track of every dollar the business takes in for income, but it's also keeping track of every dollar the business spends on expenses.

Like transportation, advertising, repairs for your lawnmower, stuff like that.

-It may seem hard at first, but kids have a knack for keeping track of stuff like books, DVDs, baseball cards, games.

You name it, we keep track of it.

-Hey, you have a Scott Bradley card?

-Oh, you know it.

You see bookkeeping is just keeping track of stuff.

In this case, money.

-So, why should you care?

Because bookkeeping is the difference between thinking you have money and knowing you have money.

-Who doesn’t know if they have money or not?

Oh...

I think I need a bookkeeper.

-Yeah, I think so.

-Just like following a recipe, careful bookkeeping can help increase your chances for success.

Well, my business is called The Bikery, and basically it's baked goods delivered on a bicycle throughout New Orleans.

Well, I started baking in ninth grade, when I had to do a job shadowing thing for school, and basically I never left the bakery after that.

So it’s just great to be able to do a job that you love.

My expenses are: ingredients, my employees, and any advertising that I do.

I price my baked goods at two-and-a-half to three times the cost of what it cost to make.

That way I turn a profit.

Profit, profit, profit.

One of my most popular breads is challah.

Not "challa"-- it's "halla"!

I used to just keep all of my receipts in an old shoebox, and nothing was organized at all.

With a jumbled box of receipts, you can't tell if your business is at a loss or making a profit.

Finally got to be too much, so I put it all into an Excel spreadsheet, and I've got everything itemized so I know exactly what I’m spending and what I’m making.

I’ve got it all right here now.

I know everything that I'm spending, my business is so quick and easy now, and my life is stress free because of it.

The books tell me if I’m profitable.

My revenue minus my expenses, and it tells me what’s left over.

If it’s a negative number, then I’m not making any profit.

But if it’s a positive number... then I’ve got money to burn.

I’m Kelley.

Going from a shoebox full of receipts to a spreadsheet helped me keep track of my dough.

Get organized, Biz Kids!

-Barry, great news.

-Toxi-Chem agreed to the television advertising campaign.

It’s a million-dollar deal.

-Excellent job, Nate.

-And here’s the check.

-Super, Debbie.

Just put it on my desk somewhere.

-Uh, Barry, it's a check for a million dollars.

Shouldn’t we give it to our accountant?

-We don’t need an accountant, I got a C+ in math.

-What have you been doing with the money we get from our clients?

-Don’t worry, Debbie, I have a system.

I just keep it all right here in my bookkeeping drawer.

I put a check in here yesterday, hold on.

Hold this for a minute.

I know... it’s right... here... Um, do either of you know anything about accounting?

-No, but I do know how to make a good orange juice.

-Everyone needs to keep a detailed record of their income and expenses-- everyone.

-Because bad bookkeeping leads to lost money.

-Right, or bounced checks or late fees.

-Are you sure you paid this?

This bill says you haven’t paid at all.

-Ugh, that must’ve been the check that bounced.

-You need to know how much you have or you’re going to overdraw.

These extra charges are completely avoidable.

-I must’ve just forgotten to write down an earlier check.

-Why can’t you just do your bookkeeping as it happens?

-Why can’t you just... ugh!

-Just-- just what?

You're not gonna have any money to go shopping and spend your money... -Nowadays there are free bookkeeping and accounting programs that'll do all of your organizing and calculating for you.

It’s pretty cool.

-♪ Receipt-o-matic ♪ ♪ Receipt-o-matic.

♪ -What you got here Austin?

-This sir, is the Receipt-o-matic.

It's awesome, I just take all my receipts... put them inside and the Receipt-o-matic does the rest.

It got great reviews online.

-Whoa, this is awesome.

It puts everything in chronological order and organizes it by the expense type.

Sweet deal.

Must be expensive though.

-Yeah, but you don't need a giant machine to do your bookkeeping for you.

You can use an old-fashioned notebook.

-Right, it’s just important that you do it.

Keep a record of all your income and expenses.

-And if you do it in a timely manner, it’s even easier.

-So, can this organize my photos?

-No, but it makes an excellent duck pate.

-Wow.

-And now, back to The Bookkeep... -Bookkeeping?

I don’t need no bookkeeping, I got it all in my head.

-I’m sorry.

-Okay.

I understand.

(sobbing) -Tammy... I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

And it's not just your adding and subtracting, when I'm with you I get this feeling that my net income is always going to be high.

Your recordkeeping skills really make you one in a million.

Tammy, will you accept this rose?

-Yes!

This is the happiest day of my life.

-I’m Matt Wells.

I’m a magician.

I'm a member of the IBM, that’s the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

So, I guess I’m a magician.

Hi guys, my name is Matt.

How’s everyone doing today?

I’ll put the ends back onto the middle.

I've been doing magic shows for uh, I’d say probably about like three years professionally.

I knew about how much I was making a year, but I knew I was doing more shows than I was, and I was losing money.

So I wasn’t really sure where my money was going.

So I thought if I kept track of it, it would be easier.

And also, as a magician, I’m self-employed.

I have to pay taxes on net earnings.

-To help me with my bookkeeping I got eProfit Manager.

It’s a simple template.

It's helps a lot because it automatically does a lot of the graphs and shows me exactly how much I’ve been making.

-Magic rules!

-What?

-It has tiles for everything.

What are you talking about?

It shows all my expenses and my revenue and my profit.

What?

I have a lot of expenses.

Five percent goes to marketing-- that’s fliers to hand out.

And for the kids I have these dollar bills.

Rabbits, he was a big expense.

Another expense is vet bills.

Darn rabbit chewed the bill.

These expenses combined with supplies for building a hutch really added up.

It's important to keep track of your books so you can know what all your expenses are.

If I didn't have bookkeeping, I would be making money, I just wouldn’t know where it was going.

Bookkeeping is as easy as pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

-Bookkeeping is important.

It's the difference between thinking you have money and knowing for sure.

-Hey, Pegerific!

Can I not do the books today?

Please!

-My long term liability, Brian.

-I’m just not good at bookkeeping.

-You total up your income, subtract your expenses, it’s simple.

-Simple for you, maybe.

-Brian, you’re fired.

-Huh?!

-Lots of people put off bookkeeping.

They think of it as this big, scary prospect having to go through notes and records.

-Others put it off because they have... -Math anxiety!

-They think there's a lot of calculation involved and they just don’t want to face it.

-Both are common and natural responses, but they make the process a lot more difficult.

-The more organized you keep yourself and your financial records the less likely you’ll be to have... -Math anxiety!

-If you keep your notes and files together and update them regularly, it turns your large project into a couple small projects, and it’s a lot easier.

-If it piles up, and you have to hunt for documents and tackle the whole thing at once, then of course you’re gonna be scared and have... -Math anxiety!

-Plus, taking small steps makes the math more simple.

-Think of it as good practice.

It's like learning a new language-- the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

-C’est facile.

-And then... -Math... anxiety.

-...goes away.

-Nothing like making an old phobia about math completely and utterly obsolete.

-Oh my gosh, spiders!

Oh!

-I guess some phobias die harder.

-Oh!

-So you sit there wittlin’... -Yup.

-...and wittlin’.

-Yup.

-Meanwhile you’re puttin’ off your bookkeeping.

-Yup.

-Puttin’ off gettin’ your notes in order.

-Yup.

-Updatin’ your records.

-Yup.

-Gettin’ your books together.

-Yup.

-You got math anxiety or somethin’?

-Nope.

-Then why are you puttin’ off your bookkeepin’?

-Probably ’cause I’ve been so busy.

-That must be it.

-Yup.

-I hate bookkeeping.

All those receipts, it seems so complicated.

Makes me anxious.

-It’s not complicated, Fast Buck.

I use my receipts to wallpaper the outhouse.

(laughs) -I don’t reckon that’s what you do with receipts, Gabby.

-I am Amber Liggett, founder and CEO of Amber’s Amazing Animal Balloons.

Amber's Amazing Animal Balloons is a business the I began at nine years old, where I've been creating balloon art, going to different community events, parties, functions.

When I first started out I charged about $35 to go to the birthday party and make balloons for about a hour.

A couple months of actually being in business and making money that's when my mother and I sat down and actually started looking over how much I was charging, how much the balloons cost, and we had to figure out what I needed to do so I can cover the costs and still make a profit.

Well the bookkeeping was, at first, very scary for me because I had no idea what it was.

It terrified me.

Okay, well before I had the bookkeeping, I just thought about the costs and it was all in my mind.

And so everything can get kind of jumbled up and crazy in there, so I decided to go to my momager-- which is my mother and my manager-- and I would ask her, "What do I need to do so I can actually make a profit?"

Since once I noticed that I was just selling the balloons, but I really wasn't making anyoney because I had to cover all my costs.

-We came up with a simple plan.

Basically, you wanna keep track of as much as you possibly can.

-The way I do my bookkeeping is have a column for the date, the description of the products, the income, the supplies, and the donations.

-And your receipts are here in this envelope for the things you just purchased yesterday.

-Okay.

The second receipt $10.60.

-The third receipt’s $39.

-And the last one is $36.04.

-So if I didn't do this, I wouldn't know if I was making a profit or just losing out on money.

And this is what works for me.

I’m not anxious about bookkeeping any longer.

It’s become something where I’m very confident at.

Hey Biz Kid, don't let your business deflate because you’re afraid of bookkeeping.

-Three business owners stand before me, but I only hold the names of two in my hands.

-Bonnie, your Internet coupon service was a brilliant idea.

But the judges feel your record keeping needs work.

Your business could lose money if it doesn’t keep track of sales and expenses.

Your accounting needs improvement.

But congratulations, you're still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Business Owner.

-Thank you, Tyla, thank you.

-And then there were two.

Will Ellie and Marla please step forward.

-Ellie, you run a successful graphic art firm.

You are very creative-- very.

-And Marla, your advertising agency is fresh, exciting, and cutting edge, but the judges looked at your income statement from this past year and it was... scary.

Inconsistent record keeping, runaway expenses.

We asked ourselves, "If we were bankers would we give your business a loan?"

So who stays?

-Ellie.

Congratulations, you're still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Business Owner.

Marla... take some business classes.

(evil laughter) -Try and turn a profit now, small business canines.

(evil laughter) -And so that’s why we can’t turn a profit.

-So, you think a mysterious burglar is the reason your business consistently loses money?

You’re sure it couldn’t be anything else?

-Well, yeah, it’s the only reason that makes any sense.

-Hmm.

Looks like the phantom burglar made a mess of all your company records too.

-Oh, no, that's how we left everything last night.

-Really?

Well, I'm surprised you can keep your books balanced with all these receipts and papers just lying around unorganized.

You do keep track of your expenses, right?

-Uh... -Dogs, you can't run a profitable business without keeping track of your expenses.

It's the only way you can be sure you’re not spending more money than you make.

-Aw, but that’s too much math for us.

-Not at all.

You just need a good computer bookkeeping software.

It does all the math for you.

-That sounds easy.

-It is easy.

-Well then, from now on we'll keep track of our records and make sure we turn a profit.

-A puppy profit-- yeah!

-Hey!

-Whoa!

(crashing) -Oof.

-We've been talking about the importance of bookkeeping, but there’s also accounting.

-Isn’t that the same thing?

-They’re related, but not exactly the same.

-They’re more like different phases of the same process.

-Think of it this way-- accounting is like a baseball manager looking at batting averages or pitching statistics to help see where to make improvements in the team.

-It’s a hit off net income.

That ball is going, going, gone.

-The decisions the manager makes should improve the team.

-He's looked over his profit and loss statement and added a couple of long-term assets.

-But he has to have the basic information-- the numbers-- to make those decisions.

-That’s where good bookkeeping comes in.

-So if you think of your business like a team, it's the combination of accounting and bookkeeping that's going to provide you the information to come up with a winning strategy.

-Would you look at all that number crunching?

-Decisions have to be made.

-Make the wrong decision and it’s likely that you’ll strike out.

-He’s depreciated out!

-But with solid bookkeeping and accounting, you may hit a home run.

-Here comes the accounts receivable... -Ah!

-That’s one for the record bookkeeper!

-Okay... -I'm Dizzy Grant, and I play for the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.

Harlem Globetrotters are the world’s most winningest sports team ever.

You know, we’ve been around for... we’re on our 86th season.

Our schedule's pretty hectic, you know.

Like I said, we're on the road probably eight to nine months out of the year, and it’s moving, moving, moving.

So it's very, very important that you stay on top of things, not just with basketball but, you know, your outside life.

You know, your finances and everything.

When I'm done with my bookkeeping, I put everything in an envelope and I hand it off to my mom.

-And I do his taxes.

-My mom, she was an accountant, you know.

She was a professor and taught accounting at school.

You know, I didn't really understand at a young age, and she use to always preach to me, you know, "You got to make sure you stay on top of it, you know, you have to keep your receipts."

As I got older and started to see, you know, it’s important that you stay on top of your finances, you know, I started to really appreciate it.

-He does what he does well, and I do what I do well.

-I've had times where, you know, my mom needed information of stuff that I threw away because I thought I didn't need it anymore, and she like, "Well, I need that."

And I'm like, "Well, Mom, you have to go check the local landfill or something ’cause I don’t have it anymore."

Bookkeeping basically just keeps up with the transactions of an individual or a business.

The accountant will come in and take those transactions, put them together as need be, as in Dizzy’s case.

I get his W-2 forms, I get his 1099 forms, and all the other information that I might need to do his taxes.

Ta-da!

-The difference between bookkeeping and accounting, you know, bookkeeping is, you know, you hold onto all your records, you're seeing everything you got.

And then accounting, you know, you... it's basically putting it all so you can understand it and seeing how your numbers ended up working out.

A lot of people go to, you know, outside sources where they hire somebody from a company to do it for them and... you know, especially someone with finances, you want to interact with people that you can trust, and you know, who else... who more can I trust than my mother?

So I’m very fortunate that she helps me out with that.

Hey Biz Kid, when making money is your aim, bring your bookkeeping game.

-It takes a very special kind of hero to join our ranks-- courage, intelligence, extensive knowledge of tax code in all 50 states.

This is what it takes to make it as... a certified public accountant.

Hunt down tax breaks, eliminate wasteful spending, search and destroy bookkeeping errors.

This is just a taste of the thrills you'll experience in the fast-paced world of accounting.

If you're looking for an adventure of a lifetime, then join us-- the few, the smart, the accountants.

-I love the smell of spreadsheets in the morning.

-Join& the accountants.

-Oz, I need to go home to Kansas.

Someone’s got to feed Toto, you know.

-Yes, yes.

Just as soon as I get my books straightened out.

I may be a great and powerful wizard, but I’m a lousy records keeper.

And it’s costing me money.

-Well, we’ll all help.

C’mon, gang.

-All done, your finances are now in order.

-That's incredible, how did you account for everything so quickly?

-It was easy.

First we collected all your loose receipts, invoices, and other business statements.

And then I sorted them.

-And then we put them all in here, because there’s plenty empty space.

-That’s right.

Then I got this new lightning-fast bookkeeping software installed.

Ran it, scanned it, and it was like beep bop boop, done.

Calculated.

-Wait, Lion’s found another receipt.

Is it too late to add this one?

-Not with my bookkeeping software.

Just need to scan it.

Hey, Lion found the great and powerful Wizard of Oz a great and powerful tax deduction.

-I did?

I mean, yeah.

I did.

-Hooray, now Oz can do all that stuff you promised us!

-Uh, yeah... about that... -Ice cream!

Get your ice cream!

-Why settle for an ice cream truck when you can have an ice cream boat?

(bell chimes) -My name is Payson Titcomb.

I live in Cape Cod.

And my business is the ice cream boat.

-Unlike an ice cream truck we're... all our business is done on the water and to people who are hanging out on the beach.

So, as opposed to pulling up to a beach from the road, we enter from the water, and that really excites the customer and I think it entices them to buy more because it's something new, something they haven’t seen before.

-I’d like the cone please.

-Okay.

-And can I have the Italian ice?

-All right.

-Thank you.

-Thanks a lot.

-Thank you.

-I have two employees in my business-- my brother, Tim.

-I am Payson’s first mate on the boat.

-And my sister Rae.

She’s the ice cream boat’s bookkeeper.

-I am an expense for the company because Payson has to pay me.

-My pay’s really great.

I get 12 percent of the gross money that we make.

So it's actually just a great system because the more I sell the more money I make.

-Some of the expenses that we deal with yearly are truck insurance, gas for the boat, gas for the truck, maintenance on the motor, maintenance on general boat parts, paint, screws.

That all adds up and it all has to be replaced almost annually.

We make a profit on our ice cream products.

Basically we buy them from our wholesaler at a base price, about 24 cents.

And our general mark-up is about 200, sometimes 300, percent.

-The ice cream boat is making a profit.

-When I first started, I was pretty young and new to the business world.

So my keeping track of my expenses was actually pretty sloppy.

I only had one bank account, which was used for the business and for my personal needs.

And that made it really difficult.

I couldn't tell exactly what was comg in and what was going out.

Then when it came time to pay the ice cream bill, pay my employees, I realized if you don't keep accurate track of your expenses, it can be very deceiving what you're actually making personally, and how well the business is doing.

-Income and expenses.

You need to keep track of both.

When I get the mail I look at the bill from our supplier and I file it in the Excel document, and then I write a check for the bill.

And then I file the receipt into my filing cabinet.

So that makes things a lot easier.

I know how our company is doing because I'm keeping track of the income and the expenses and seeing if we’re making a profit.

-Income and expenses.

Tracking both keeps us afloat.

-Doctor, are you ready to extract the day planner?

-It’s now or never.

Forceps.

He’s hemorrhaging receipts.

It’s worse than I thought.

He hasn’t been writing off his business lunches or his mileage.

Nurse!

This business is going bankrupt, we need a Biz Kid, stat!

-Straight up, do you want your business to make money or not?

-Money!

-You do?

Well, then you need to stay on top of keeping your books, which means tracking your income and expenses.

-That means keeping track of all the money, goods, and services coming into your business and everything of value your business provides.

-Thorough bookkeeping is essential for many different reasons.

One is that it gives you a great look into the financial health of your company.

-This is true for your personal expenses as well.

-Good bookkeeping also helps you see where your money is coming from, and where it’s going.

-On the same token, bad bookkeeping can lose you a lot of money.

Things get dropped and opportunities get missed.

-It may be tempting to give into procrastination or claim a math anxiety.

-Math anxiety!

-But, there are ways you can get around these things.

-The more you understand how your business financials work... -The more likely you are to be successful.

-And that understanding comes from keeping the books.

-If you keep it up, one day your business might be successful.

-Successful enough to hire your own bookkeeper.

-Word on the street is you have a Receipt-o-matic.

-I do, let’s go.

-If I may... -Look out!

(coughing) (clucking) -Dude, check this out.

The Receipt-o-matic got great reviews on online financial websites.

Any minute now.

-Mmmhmm.

Maybe got stuck, I should... nope, it is not there.

-Don’t put your fingers down there.

It can get it... -Just... no?

Chop ’em off, fair enough.

-Oh hey!

-Oh!

-Hey oh!

-Are you a kid that runs a successful business?

-If so, then go to BizKids.com.

-We want to hear all about it.

Like, are you hiring?

-Wait, are you looking for a job?

-No, just go to BizKids.com and you could be on the show.

-That’s BizKids.com.

What?

-Nothing.

-Production funding and educational outreach for Biz Kids is provided by a coalition of America's Credit Unions, where people are worth more than money.

A complete list of individual credit union funders is available at WXXI.org.

-Every day, America's Credit Unions help members with their financial needs and with programs like Invest in America.

It's only fitting that credit unions support Biz Kids because financial education is what we do.

Learn more at lovemycreditunion.org.