I’ve been self-employed for about a year now and I have recently started keeping more detailed expense records. Because I use my home and personal automobile for business related purposes a lot of my ‘personal’ and business expenses are crossing and I’m having a hard time figuring out how to keep my records. As I understand it, my Internet, Cell Phone, Rent, Electricity, and Mileage are all or partially deductible on some level. My problem is that currently I am using my personal checking account to make payments for all of these things. I do have a Business checking account that I recently opened as a Sole Proprietor under my SSN but haven’t started using it just yet. My question is should I use my business account to pay my Internet, Cell Phone, Rent, and Electric bills in addition to my fixed operating expenses and other standard business related payments? The only conflict I could see is that in some cases only a portion of those expenses are deductible. Will that be an issue?

On another note, is my entire internet usage expenses deductible at home since I have a home-office? Do I have to get itemized statements from my cellular providers and literally add up minutes used for business? What if I can’t get those records?

Any help is appreciated!