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OnlyFans Equipment 101: Bookkeeping

A woman with long dark hair sits cross-legged on a bed in front of a laptop

As a solo OnlyFans creator, you spend a lot of money on equipment. Like all businesses in the United States, this equipment allows you to take a tax deduction. Of course you have the obvious ones, like cameras, lighting equipment, props and toys... but did you know your laptop, phone, decor, and even furniture can be used to reduce your taxes too?

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your situation.

What Equipment is Relevant to my OnlyFans Business?

Any equipment you use to normally run your OnlyFans account can likely be considered a valid business expense. According to the IRS, a business expense must be both ordinary (common and accepted in your industry) and necessary (helpful and appropriate for your business) to qualify as a tax deduction.

To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.

Here’s a non-comprehensive list of equipment that may be relevant to you as a solo OnlyFans creator:

  • Cameras
    • DSLR, mirrorless, webcams, action cameras (e.g., GoPro)
  • Lenses
  • Lighting
    • Ring lights, softboxes, LED panels, umbrella lights, reflectors
  • Tripods and stands
  • Microphones
    • Lavalier, shotgun, or USB microphones for better audio quality
  • Backdrops and green screens
  • Props and accessories
    • Outfits, toys, furniture, and decor to enhance your content
  • Computers and laptops
  • External hard drives and cloud storage
  • Editing software
    • For video and photo editing (e.g., Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop)
  • Streaming equipment
    • Capture cards, encoders, and mixers for live streaming
  • Smartphones
    • For quick content creation, behind-the-scenes footage, and social media management
  • Tablets and drawing tablets
  • Audio accessories
  • Furniture
    • Beds, couches, chairs, and tables
  • Networking equipment
    • Routers, modems, and Ethernet cables
  • Power solutions
    • Surge protectors, power banks, and backup batteries
  • Cable management
    • Zip ties, cable sleeves, and cord organizers
  • Cleaning and maintenance
    • Brushes, cleaning cloths, and lens cleaners

How Should I Keep Track of My Business Equipment?

Now that you’ve identified possible equipment that you use for your OnlyFans business, the next step is getting organized. Your first step should be to create an equipment inventory. This is a list of all the gear you’ve been using to run your OnlyFans business. I would personally use a spreadsheet, but you can use anything you like: as long as you’re able to jot down the item name, when you bought it, how much it cost and any notes about its condition and how you use it.

Once you’ve listed out all the equipment you use, you should make sure that you have all your receipts and invoices for these items. Go through your email and try to find proof of purchases in the form of receipts, or at the very least in your credit card/bank statements. This will help prove that you actually spent money on all that equipment to the IRS.

If you’d like to do your bookkeeping like the tax pros do it, consider buying and using accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero. These software platforms are specially built to keep track of your equipment and expenses, where you can easily import them into TurboTax or your tax preparer of choice when April 15th comes around.

Depreciation and Business vs Personal Use

You’ll still need to know exactly how to tax deduct your business equipment. Most of the time, you won’t be able to expense your equipment immediately: you’ll have to depreciate the asset over time. Different tax rules apply to different assets: for example, your laptop can be depreciated over a period of 5 years, while furniture requires a longer depreciation period of 7 years.

In addition, you’ll need to keep track of the percentage of time you use that equipment for business, and the percentage of time you use it for non-business purposes. If you use your $1,000 laptop for 50% of the time for your OnlyFans business, you’ll only be able to depreciate $500 of it. It can help to keep logs or an organized calendar of how much you use your equipment, especially electronics or cameras that you may also use personally.

There are probably extra deductions available to you depending on what equipment you use. Some equipment may qualify for special tax incentives, such as the Section 179 deduction, which allows you to deduct the full cost of certain assets in the year you place them into service. The US tax code is huge, and most of the law is designed to help business owners save.

In Conclusion: Track Your Equipment to Save on Taxes

In your OnlyFans business, you probably already make use of equipment that you can use to claim tax write-offs. However, it’s not enough to buy equipment and call it a day: proper bookkeeping of equipment requires keeping track of receipts, purchase dates & costs, usage logs, and more.

However, if you take the basic steps to get organized, and set up a spreadsheet to keep track of everything, you’ll be miles ahead of what most other OnlyFans creators are doing. And if that sounds like a lot of work, don’t hesitate to reach out to a qualified bookkeeper or tax pro to do it for you. Working with a certified bookkeeper can ensure you’re not making any costly mistakes, and working with an experienced tax strategist can help uncover more aggressive tax strategies.