Because I spent all my 2023 income from selling sheep as soon as I got it.
You don't have to have the physical cash in hand, just show what you made and what you spent in your record books for the IRS. You will show a loss for several years.
I have 11 adults ( ram, wether, 8 ewes). I think the thing that is confusing me most is that lambing cycle and calendar year don't line up.
2023:
Feb & March- Sold 2022 lambs and had lambs born
March- Bought 6 ewes and ram
April 1st- Formed LLC
Nov & Dec- First 2 ewes lambed
2024:
Feb- Most of the ewes lambed
April- Start sales
Your lambing cycle and calendar year will never line up. The ranch is a carry-over from year to year, just like winter crops sown in fall and harvested in spring will be a carry-over onto the following year.
Beginning in
January 2023, you will show 1 wether and 2 ewes on the flock inventory, as well as any equipment you already had in 2022 on your depreciable list. If this is the first time you are showing a depreciable item, assign it a value - I assign new replacement cost if it has not been depreciated before.
January - enter all the feed you have bought during the month, as well as all "usables", vaccines, syringes, etc. "Usables" don't get depreciated. Also enter all equipment and fencing etc. that you buy during that month. Show the cost and add them to your depreciation schedule. You will keep doing this all year long.
February - Enter the lambs you sold, the tag #s, and the price for each as income. If they went to auction show the sales commission and yardage as an expense. ***Show the lambs born in another book to keep track of what animals your ewes are producing. Until they are sold or entered into the flock, they have no value since you produced them and the expense of that production is entered under flock expenses. In the case of ewe lambs you can add them to your flock inventory as breeders. Ram lambs will be stock being held for sale.
March - Enter the 6 registered ewes and registered ram you bought as expenses. Also enter them on your flock inventory at their full price, since you will assign them a depreciation rate.
April - Show cost of forming LLC - Remember you will have to file an LLC document each year
November - show lambs born
December - show lambs born
What happened to the lambs reported as being born in February and March 2023? Were they added to the flock inventory as breeding ewes or were they sold? How did you account for them. If they were sold they should show as income.
(You only show
10 sheep - 1 ram, 1 wether, 8 ewes on your depreciable list. Did you keep a ewe lamb?)
Now as of the end of 2023, you can add up all the expenses and income. Remember that some of the expenses (fencing, livestock, buildings, etc.) will be depreciated instead of being an immediate right off.
2024
January - December - continue entering all expenses by month
February - Show lambs born
April - Show lambs sold as income. Any lambs kept for the flock should be entered on the livestock inventory as breeding animals and assigned a value. I would use the value you paid for the others.
Reinvesting all profits into the business is normal.
The Cricut software is fairly user friendly and there are zillions of tutorials on YouTube.
