Recordkeeping is important for all businesses, including farms. Keeping good “books” will help you better plan your business in the future and allow you to accurately report on your activities whether that is to the tax man or the bank for a loan. In this webinar, Mark Thompson, IDRS’ Executive Director, will lead participants through a discussion on the importance of recordkeeping, some simple methods of how to keep good records, and the types of information that are most important for you to keep.

For more advanced businesses, the last half hour of the webinar will be dealing with tax issues with an introduction of the Schedule F and calculating tax withholdings and the taking advantage of the earned income credit.

About our presenter:
Mark Thompson serves the Executive Director of Indian Dispute Resolution Services.  He also guides the IDRS Acorn Project, IDRS’ microenterprise development program, where he provides entrepreneurial training and technical assistance to Native American entrepreneurs and works with businesses operated by Native American tribes to conduct feasibility studies, develop business plans, establish internal accounting procedures and secure grant funding to further economic development through the creation of small businesses in Indian Country.

Outside of his work for IDRS, Mark has formally been involved in several small businesses including a real estate company, a restaurant, and a mobile disc jockey service.  Mr. Thompson received his BS in Business from University of California, Berkeley and completed the Juris Doctorate degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. He lives outside Sacramento, California where he and his wife Mandi operate a small horse boarding facility and are raising two children, Zane and Marina.

This webinar is only open to the Diné College farmer cohort.

This webinar is sponsored, in part, by the USDA Rural Development, Diné College, and Tolani Lake Enterprises.