Welcome to the Faith Based Business Podcast with your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

On this podcast, we interview fellow entrepreneurs who are willing to share their stories, their trials, and their triumphs in business, all in an effort to help you avoid the same obstacles and to achieve success faster.

But at all times, continue to rely on our faith to see us through to victory.

Now with today's guest, here is your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

Hello, everyone, everywhere.

Pastor Robert Thibodeau here.

Welcome to the Faith Based Business podcast.

We are so blessed that you are joining us today.

At the time of this recording, tax season is just around the corner.

And have you ever wondered if you're truly prepared to handle your business or podcast finances like a pro?

Whether you're juggling receipts, unsure about your deductions, or just hoping the IRS doesn't come knocking, today's guest is here to show you how to take control of your financial affairs, honor God through good stewardship, and set your business up for success just in time for tax season.

Praise God.

You gotta thank God for taxes, right?

Amen.

But today's guest is Tanya Akaminko.

Akamenko.

How do I.

Tanya?

Almost.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

She's a Christian business owner and a seasoned tax accountant with a passion for empowering small business owners and podcasters to take control of their finances.

Her agency is called the Golden Apple Agency.

And within that agency, she's created a Do it yourself business success program.

And through her agency, Tanya equips entrepreneurs making under $250,000 annually with practical tools, training, and expert guidance to manage their finances responsibly.

Grounded in the principles of faith and stewardship, Tanya's mission is to help entrepreneurs honor God with their resources, gain clarity in their financial decisions, and build a strong foundation for lasting growth.

With all that being said, help me.

Welcome to the program Tanya Akamenko.

Tanya, it is a blessing to talk to you.

I thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule this time of year to come on our program today and share all about this very important topic, sharing our income with Uncle Sam.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm so happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

And, you know, go ahead.

Oh, I was going to say, you know, the sharing the income, it's basically a subscription.

You pay for the country you live in.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Whether you want to subscribe or not.

Well, the first question I always start with is this.

Other than that brief information that I just shared, can you tell us in your own words who is Tanya Akamenko.

Well, I am a Christian business owner.

I always say that my business does not belong to me, belongs to God.

I believe that praying for protection for your business over your finances for your business is extremely important.

Also love Luke 16:10.

That says, one who is faithful in very little will be faithful in much more.

So for those small business owners who start out very, very little, if you're faithful even in accounting and bookkeeping, you'll be a great success with when you have much more.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, way, way, way back when I first started, I didn't know much about taxes and all that good stuff.

So I kept everything.

I mean, I.

If I went down to the post office and got a stamp for 13 cents.

Yeah, that's how much it was back then, Right.

I kept the receipt.

Okay.

Yeah.

And.

But when I went in to see.

But I have had everything and files, fold manila folders, right?

So postage was in this one and advertising was in this one, and all this stuff was in folders.

This is before computers.

I was gonna say.

I was gonna say, thank God for computers, Right?

It wasn't any computer.

The accountant had his computer.

But I took it down there, and when I got done, he says something that stuck with me.

Gosh, that was.

That would have been 1989, 1990.

Right in that area.

Right.

And he said, with the way you are so organized, if you ever get audited, they're going to come in and say, show us that you had, you know, $27.16 in postage stamps.

Show us the receipts.

You pull out your folder and lay it on the desk.

Okay?

If.

Well, you had XYZ advertising costs.

Show us, and you pull up the folder, lay it on the desk.

He goes, like, okay, you're good.

We're going to go on to somebody else.

He said, because you are so organized.

He said, most people just walk in here, drop a shoebox down on the desk, say, call me when it's all done.

He goes, I was done with your stuff in like, 30 minutes.

But I kept that process all the way up to now.

This is audio podcast.

Otherwise, I'd move the camera and show you the stack of folders that I just emptied out from last year and filled in with new ones for this year.

But, you know, by doing that, though, when I file my taxes, I am 101% positive that what I pay is what I owe.

You know, and you know, and I.

And you use Luke 16.

You know, I use the scripture where Jesus said, give unto Caesar that which belongs To Caesar.

That's a good one, too.

But anyway, that's.

So, you know, I'm.

I'm all on board with what you do, because I couldn't do it.

I have a hard enough.

But my board of directors, you know, because I'm a member of a couple different boards of directors for different ministries as well, and, you know, there is, you know, okay, we got, you know, we had about $2,000 in expenses here and about 3,000 here, but yet when we're doing my board of directors, meaning we had $1916.82 here, because now I can say, thank God for computers.

Okay.

Yeah.

Computers are a lifesaver.

Spreadsheets are my friend.

Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah.

You know, people still bring me shoe boxes, so.

But when they bring them to you, that's just dollar signs there.

Because it take me if.

If I had to go through my stack of folders not knowing what was in what, but it was just all scrunched up in one foot.

It take me a week to try and organize everything.

That's just organizing it.

Not doing the accounting.

But.

But.

So I do not envy you at all.

I remember taking accounting classes in college.

I struggled to get a C.

Not your thing?

No.

Again, this is before computers at all.

You know, debits and credits and all.

I still don't know what all that means.

So, listen, I took an accounting class in high school before computers, so I understand it was all handwritten.

It was all journal log, so.

Oh, I'm giving away my age as well, but yes, I had an accounting class without a computer.

Yep, exactly.

My accounting classes were like 1985, something like that.

You know, mine was in the late 90s.

Yeah, well, I.

My first computer was a Tandy 186.

Or maybe it was a 286.

It was a Tandy Radio Shack.

And that would have been 1987.

88.

Right in that area.

You know, no spritz, no spreadsheet on that, huh?

No, no.

And to this day, I still have a problem figure out how do I turn this computer on again.

I'm not a computer guy, you know.

Anyway, praise God.

How long have you been doing accounting and business accounting and tax preparations and all that?

Believe it or not, but pretty much 20 years this year.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Now you can do it all on your phone with a computer on your phone.

That's true.

Not everything, you know, like the actual software.

Software won't go on the computer, and it won't go on Your phone.

I still use the computer a lot.

And phone looking at the little screen with all those numbers, that's just gonna give you a headache.

I bet it would.

It'd be zooming up everything on there.

So, yeah, I just.

Looking at spreadsheets, you know, when I'm trying to fill them in, and then it doesn't add up at the bottom and I gotta go up and see where I messed up at the top.

Thank God for people like you that just love, love, live, eat and breathe accounting, right?

Yeah, I do like the numbers.

Amen.

Well, as a seasoned tax accountant and entrepreneur, what inspired you to create your own business program?

And how does it empower small business owners to take charge of their finances?

Yeah, so I actually have, you know, Golden Apple Agency.

We do focus on tax preparation and bookkeeping, and we have more of bigger clients who essentially can really afford our services.

But I also get those phone calls.

Who is.

Who is just really starting out or, you know, have been doing it as a side hobby, not really sure what to do.

And there's just so much information out there online right now, and so much of it is not true and, you know, you shouldn't be using it.

And I just saw a true need and I, like, looked and searched for things, but there is really no place, like, you can ask an accountant a question and get an actual answer with someone who actually knows what they're doing.

Some, like, I've sat through a lot of audits.

You know, like, my customers, they usually come in, not my customers, that I've done a tax return, but they usually come in because they're being audited and they become my customer.

So, like, I know what the IRS is looking for.

I know exactly what needs to be done and, and how you should really prepare your taxes and things like that.

So I really, truly saw a need for small business owners that didn't have access to an accountant.

And I created this program called diy because, you know, I basically tell you, and when you're a small business owner, like I said, Under 250,000, most of the time, you don't need a balance sheet.

Most people don't know what a balance sheet is.

So profit and loss, or income statement, that's your money in, money out.

But a balance sheet, those are your assets, your liabilities.

Again, big words.

Those are money that's owed to you or things that you own and things that you owe to other companies or businesses, things like that.

So that's when it gets a little more complicated because if you do make $250,000 a year or more.

You are going to need a balance sheet a lot of the time, and that's probably a good idea to include an account.

But if you're making under that, you can do your own income statements.

Money in, money out.

Bas and a spreadsheet is great for that.

You don't even need the fancy accounting systems because, you know, they, those two get expensive.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, that's for sure.

You know, I, I'm, I'm not gonna mention companies and stuff like that, but I had one of those companies when I, again, way back when I first, really.

Well, when I upgraded to a new computer about 2005, that'd been like my third computer by that time.

And I purchased one, had to, it came in disks.

He had to load the disks.

And I used that until one day it didn't work anymore.

So I reached out to support and said, we're no longer supporting the 2005 version.

This would have been about 2015.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

So then you had to subscribe.

It was like 150 bucks a month or something like that.

Something ridiculous, this thing.

So that's why I said, you know what?

I learned enough by using that for 10 years.

I think I can just do it on my own.

And, and that's what we started doing for the ministry and, and handling all that.

And I got people looking at it and all that.

So it's not Pastor Bob just, you know, with my, what they call it, a biscus abacus or whatever they call it, you know, but the, but, you know, we, we doing that.

And my board, I mean, every year when we do our board meeting, they're like, you know, I'm members of all these other ministries.

We don't have any questions about your finances because, I mean, nobody else puts it down to the penny.

Yeah, they're all, they're all like, you know, budget is, you know, 24,000 here and 5,000 here and all that.

Yours is, you know, $22,118.25.

You are precise.

I also, I also do sit on a lot of budget meetings for, like, churches here in town and things like that and ministries.

So most of the time.

Yeah, they do round numbers under on their budget, for sure.

Yep.

And, you know, I guess I, I, I just, I'm a stickler for it, I guess, because if I ever get called on the carpet, I want to know that, you know, when they say, what was your mileage that year?

I want to be able to say 21,804 miles.

You know, I mean, I.

Everything is just like that with me and our ministry, and my wife gets so mad at me when it comes time prepping for these board meetings, because if I'm $2.15 off or something, I'll spend hours trying to find it.

Where is this mistake?

Yeah, that's precise.

That's like.

That's like fingernails on a chalkboard when I can't find it, you know, because I.

Anyway, you've emphasized the importance of stewardship in business.

You referenced Luke 16:10.

What about Proverbs 27, 23, and 24 and as well as Luke 16:10.

How does that shape the way you approach financial management and train others through your program?

So my business itself is not a Christian.

I am a Christian business owner, but I don't advertise my business as the Christian, you know, even, you know, teachings and stuff.

I focus more on the actual accounting aspect, and I focus more on the business owner themselves.

Like, they need to know the numbers.

They need to understand they need to make the decisions.

Because if they don't know, they cannot make the decisions.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And a lot of times people are scared of numbers.

They're like, oh, I don't want to do it.

I'll do a.

I'll look at it later.

Or, you know, there's like, they spend too much money over the weekend.

I'll look at my bank account later.

I don't want to see what's in it.

You know, same thing when the bounce.

Check notifications start coming in, I'll go take a look.

Same thing for business owners.

You know, they're almost like they have this scare thing because, like, hey, as a business owner, I'm spending money, but no income has come in yet.

I know I have enough to cover.

Let's.

Let's try this, see if this works, you know, but in all reality, if you become a good steward of your finances, you know, and whether you're a Christian or not, that's like just being a good steward.

You can make better decision in general.

And that's what really a business owner should need.

Of course, like, there's so many biblical principles about money and stuff like that.

I feel like I should start a whole Christian side of it, you know, not yet, but.

Yeah.

The Bible is just filled with wisdom for finances.

It's amazing.

It is.

Yeah.

And I mean, Jesus taught on the financial aspect, and, you know, his.

His words and his teachings were not suggestions.

Yeah.

You know, it was like, if you want to be blessed and Talk about blessed in your business, honor God with the first fruits, you know?

Yeah.

And I mean, so your.

Your business and all that, you need to be supporting charities.

And I'm not necessarily, necessarily gotta, you know, sow money into the ministry, but, you know, you can always go to, you know, Casey@DOMCROSSROADSPodcast.com and offer a donation.

But no, seriously, when you.

When the finances are in order, just about everything else is running the way it's supposed to as well.

That's true.

Yeah.

It's when you know, things, the.

The financial aspect is an indicator of either things are going well or things are not going well.

And if it's not going well, something else is influencing those decisions, and that's what you got to find out.

So, you know, by paying attention to the finances, you can actually see the health, not just financially of the business, but the health overall.

Really.

I always say finances is the heartbeat of every business.

Exactly.

Exactly.

As well as personal budgets and everything else.

What are most fights about, most divorces about?

Usually it involves finances.

Yeah.

Amen.

Yeah.

We deal a lot, I mean, a lot with podcasting and other podcasters in our ministry.

And as podcasting grows in popularity, many entrepreneurs are now launching their own shows as part of their business strategy.

What.

What financial considerations should podcasters keep in mind when starting or maintaining their own podcast?

You know, I actually work with podcasters as well, and a lot of times they don't realize it's a business.

They just think it's a hobby.

So they might not even keep track of the expenses as a podcaster, you know, and like, something as simple as even, like a microphone.

Oh, yeah, I needed a microphone.

Well, that's a business expense.

Oh, is it?

But it's for my podcast, you know, and especially if it's a strategy for the business, you know, but even if it's not, if you're starting out, eventually you're gonna get an advertiser or supporter, you know, something like that.

So you want to start keeping track of your expenses right away from thing that you purchase from the first subscription.

You know, like if you're subscribing to a software or something.

Yep.

Very first things that you.

I mean, people might not even think it's an expense or would be considered an expense.

Now you do have to actually earn your first dollar to claim those expenses, but again, eventually you will.

I know podcast is so, you know, most of the time, it's.

It's hard to start earning money on it right away, but in general, eventually you will still get some traction on it, something, some sort of income on it.

So you want to claim those expenses, even if they happen in prior years.

Those are your startup costs.

So I would say that a lot of people do not realize.

A lot of people don't understand that.

They're like, oh, but it was a year ago.

Oh, I purchased this three years ago.

Well, you're using it full time.

There's a purchase, you know, date, but then there's also use dates.

So those are two different things.

And yeah, so most importantly, I would say you need to keep track from the very first thing that you spent money on.

Yeah.

And you know, like, you talk about subscriptions, that's just not to, you know, publications and things like that.

But like, we promote all over.

I mean, I probably got six different areas that I have a profile on, different companies and their, their platforms and stuff like that.

And, you know, my schedule stays booked constantly.

And you know that.

You went through the scheduling process.

I did, yeah.

And the.

But you know, when you're first starting out, you know, they may wonder, well, is this going to be a business or a hobby?

I mean, you know, and the example I use in some of my trainings, I say, you know, you may be an auto mechanic and, you know, you want to have, you know, some, maybe your own podcast where you answer auto questions.

You know, where someone can call in and say, you know, how do I change the headlight on a, you know, 78 Chevy Malibu or something like that.

Right.

And if you're going to do that, it is now a business.

Because if they can't figure it out, where are they going to bring their car down to your shop so you can change the headlight.

Right.

So it becomes a business expense and you can use that to promote your business.

But, you know, why is that distinction between a hobby or a business so important for tax purposes?

Well, in all reality, there are two different things.

There's two different forms you fill out, but for a hobby, you can't lose money.

So you can only claim expenses up to your income.

For a business, you might have a good year where you earn money, but then you might have a year where you lose money.

And if you have a business the month that year that you lose money, you can claim that loss.

Okay.

Amen.

Amen.

So for podcasters who are looking to monetize their shows, what financial strategies or tax implications, I guess you could say, should they be aware of to make sure they're prepared for that added income.

Yes.

So if they have like a W2 job or even another business job.

First of all, if you're doing your bookkeeping, you want to keep an eye on your net income, not just the gross income, because you're going to have the expense expenses from the podcast, right?

You're going to have income, but then you have podcast expenses.

So you want to focus on the net income.

And if it's significantly a large, larger amount, then you want to do an estimated payment.

I would just say about 10% or so.

If, Especially if you have other deductions, just especially if it's your first year.

So you kind of have an idea.

Once you actually have income and you're doing a tax return, then you have to make sure whatever your income was, that you pay a pre.

Sorry, quarterly taxes based on your last year's return.

But when you're starting out, if you.

Especially if you don't want to pay out so much at the end of the year, keep an eye on the net income and then pay your quarterly estimated taxes, which is super easy.

Just go online, create an account.

IRS has accounts now, which is the best thing.

You're able to see your tax returns and everything.

So definitely create an account and then pay your estimated payments that way.

Amen.

And should they be doing this even before they earn any income?

No, no, no.

This is only taxes.

So if they don't earn any income, there is no income.

There's no taxes on no income.

So it's only if they're earning income minus their deductions that they still have income to show and it should be, like, significant.

I'm not talking like you made $400 this month.

You know, just overall, like, if it's substantial, you're, like, earning net income.

So that's your income minus your podcasting expenses, like $1,000 a month.

That's what you should.

Okay, I need to do some estimated payments.

Amen.

Amen.

And, you know, one, the one thing that I've heard, and just give us some information, I guess you say, on the IRS qualifications or something, that every podcaster out there thinks they can claim the home office deduction.

So it's true.

You can claim a home office deduction.

It just has to be a designated area, and you cannot use it for anything else.

I've actually had podcasters turn their master closets into a podcast room, completely remove the closet, you know, bought a closet from Ikea, put it in the room, and then turn their master closet into a podcast recording studio.

So that is really, actually legit.

I actually do have a book out there that's called podcasters.

Is it a hobby or a business?

It's available on Amazon, but I could actually give you a link so your people can download it for free.

Oh, okay.

Specifically for podcasters.

Yeah, we'll put that in the show Notes.

Amen.

And, Tanya, this is.

Let's back up on the home office deduction thing.

What happens if they use their dining room?

And, you know, so that's a no.

It's set up.

It's set up for that.

But, you know, the.

The dining room table is in there, and, you know, they eat in the.

That's where they eat their meals at.

Yeah, that would be a no.

No matter how you slice it, it's a no.

It has to be a designated area.

And once you do have a designated area, please take a picture of it.

You don't want the IRS showing up, looking at your things.

So you're designating a closet.

You know, put podcast studio on top of the door.

Yeah.

You know, like here in our home, I have a spare bedroom, and it has been converted into this office.

You know, I got the bookshelves and I got the.

Where the video camera and the.

The.

What they call that thing.

I can't remember what it called now, but, you know, all the stuff for the video is over there.

All the stuff for the podcast is over here.

Nothing else goes on in here except.

Yeah, that is a true designated space, and that's for a home office.

That's what's required.

Yep.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, Tanya, this has been so interesting, and I know that your DIY business success program has been a game changer for so many small business owners.

What makes this program.

What makes your program different from the other financial coaching services, and how does it specifically help entrepreneurs take control of their finances while still honoring their faith?

Yes.

So how it's different is I have once a month, like, a group session where they do a Q and A.

And a lot of times when it's a new business owner, they don't.

They might not even know what to ask for an accountant.

And I was thinking of just doing general Q and A, but it helps, like other business owners hearing other people ask questions and that they didn't even think of.

And how it helps them is I really simplified.

I know I used a couple of big words during our interview here, but I really use everyday language when I'm talking about accounting and finances and business expenses and things like that.

Because a lot of times a business owner didn't go to accounting school.

They don't understand accounting jargon, you know, they'll go to the accountant and the accountant just says a lot of words that sound good, but the business owner doesn't understand and there's no point to that.

Then you leave with no understanding.

So I make sure that I simplify it in everyday language.

In fact, I usually try to use like 8th grade level English.

If I'm being honest, when it comes.

To accounting, you have to do that for us.

Yeah.

And like I said a lot of things like how I say you need to do this, need to do this.

It is really based on biblical principles, you know, like it's not like you said Jesus's teachings was not an options, you know, like you need to do this, you need to do this.

But yeah, even with non profits, even for businesses that are not Christian, faith based and things like that, I also use it as a tax strategy, you know, donate to non profits, why not?

Like you still get a tax strategy out of it, but it's also, you know, honoring God if they whatever they choose to donate.

That's right.

Amen.

Amen.

Latin As I said, I find this so interesting, especially this time of year.

And I know the information we just discussed today is just basically a gloss over because in reality each person and each business is different.

But I believe our discussion today has resonated with someone somewhere out there.

Amen.

And if someone now has a question or they like to get more information, how can they do that?

How can they get in touch with you?

Yeah, the best way is just to go to our website and download.

We have a tax preparation spreadsheet.

We have lots of other information on the website, but you can also contact us through there.

That's the easiest way and it's just golden.

Appleagencyinc.com Amen.

Amen.

I'll put links all this in the show notes below.

Folks, you are the one who needs to take control of your finances and honors honor God's call of stewardship.

At the same time, with Tanya's DIY business success program, she makes it easy for you to do that.

As a special offer for our listeners, you'll receive 50% off the annual membership your first year.

Amen.

Giving you access to this step by step training, easy to use bookkeeping tools, expert group Q and A sessions.

Plus you're gonna get a free ebook of business financial devotionals packed with inspiration to align your finances with faith and purpose.

Do not miss this opportunity to gain clarity and confidence.

Drop down below in the show notes, get signed up today.

Get in touch with Tiny using the links below as well.

So if you have any questions that you'd like to get answers to before signing up, reach out to Tanya.

Tanya again, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.

I know it's filling up quick this time of year.

To come on the program today and join us with this great information.

God bless you and helping folks, especially believers, and keeping current with this obligation that we have to not only pay our taxes but pay our fair share share at the same time.

Amen.

I do appreciate your time today.

Not a problem.

I appreciate you letting me be on your show.

Amen folks.

That's all the time we have for today.

Drop down the show notes.

Reach out to Tanya right now while you're thinking about it.

Amen.

Till next time.

This Pastor by reminding you to be blessed in all that you do.

You have been listening to the Faithful Based Business Podcast with Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

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Until next time, be blessed in all that you do.

Sa.