174: Tips For Tax Preparation Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
174: Tips For Tax Preparation Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
As a business owner, it is important to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to tax preparation. You want to make sure that you are ready for any unexpected decrease in expenses or increases in income so that you don't have any surprises when it comes time to pay your taxes. The rules and regulations change every year, and if you are not prepared, you could end up paying more taxes than necessary. In today's podcast episode, I'm discussing a few tips for getting ready for your tax preparation. Another thing to consider is whether or not you have been taking advantage of all available deductions and credits regardless of whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper or accountant, a virtual assistant or VA, or other professional. There are many deductions and credits available to business owners, and they can vary. Listen in so that you can follow these tips to ensure that your business is in compliance with the latest tax laws and that you are taking advantage of all the deductions available to you. It doesn't matter if you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google document, this episode will be helpful for you...
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Show Notes:
As a business owner, it is important to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to tax preparation. You want to make sure that you are ready for any unexpected decrease in expenses or increases in income so that you don't have any surprises when it comes time to pay your taxes. The rules and regulations change every year, and if you are not prepared, you could end up paying more taxes than necessary. In today's podcast episode, I'm discussing a few tips for getting ready for your tax preparation. Another thing to consider is whether or not you have been taking advantage of all available deductions and credits regardless of whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper or accountant, a virtual assistant or VA, or other professional. There are many deductions and credits available to business owners, and they can vary. Listen in so that you can follow these tips to ensure that your business is in compliance with the latest tax laws and that you are taking advantage of all the deductions available to you. It doesn't matter if you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google document, this episode will be helpful for you...
Welcome Back… Tax time can be stressful. However, it doesn't have to be if you are prepared. As a business owner, there are a few things you can do to make the process easier. The tips I cover today are for the typical small business owner to help you overcome the overwhelm when it comes to getting information ready to file your business tax return.
The first step in being prepared for your tax preparation is to gather all your financial information. This includes all of your business income and expenses for the year. Most tax preparers will ask you to have a Balance Sheet and a Profit and Loss Report prepared for them so that they know you have all of your transactions accounted for. If you are using a computerized bookkeeping software solution, you can usually get these reports with one click of a button if you have all of your bookkeeping up to date. If you are using a spreadsheet like Excel or Google Sheets, you can set up your spreadsheet to get this information as well. If you don't have these financial reports and you'd like your tax preparer to generate them for you, make sure you have your documentation for all the money coming in and going out of your business so they are able to generate these reports for you. Information such as invoices, receipts, and bank statements will help your tax preparer with all the information they need. If you are unsure about which expenses are deductible, make sure you consult with your tax professional to ensure you are taking advantage of all the tax deductions available to you.
If you are doing your own bookkeeping and you are preparing your Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Report, you will want to make sure you record every transaction you’ve made throughout the year, reconcile each of your accounts, and review your information prior to sending it to your tax preparer. You can compare your current year to your last year to see if there are any large variances, and if so, dig a little deeper to make sure you can justify the difference. For example, if you know that your insurance expenses went up considerably more than the prior year, are you able to justify this with an increase in premiums? If not, you may need to dig a little deeper to make sure that you don't have another expense accidentally recorded in this account. This is also a great time to review your expenses and see how they are in alignment with the prior year. If you find that you are spending more money than usual on certain business expenses, see if there are any ways you can reduce those costs.
Once you have reviewed your income and expenses, it is time to calculate your taxable income. Your taxable income is generally your net income on your Profit and Loss Statement, although there may be some adjustments. This number will be used when determining how much taxable income will be coming from your business. If you are a sole proprietor, your taxable income will be included on your individual tax return. If you have a partnership or S-Corporation, you’ll need to file a separate tax return, and the taxable income from the business will be passed through to your personal tax return and taxed at your individual rate.
Now that you have calculated your taxable income, it is time to report it on your tax return. This includes all of your business income and deductions for the year. I highly recommend when you have a business that you have a professional prepare your tax return, especially if you have a partnership or a corporation or S-Corporation. These entities require a separate return, and these returns can get complicated. The most important thing is to make sure that everything is accurate and filed on time, which is why you want to have a professional working on this for you. Schedule an appointment with your tax preparer early, or at least make sure that you touch base with your tax preparer early in the tax season to see if there are any additional items they would like to receive from you to prepare your tax return. If you are not able to meet with your tax preparer in person, that shouldn’t be a problem. Most tax preparers are able to work with you remotely, or you can simply drop off or upload your tax documents in their secure portal.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your business is not only prepared with everything needed to file your business return, but you are also in compliance with the latest tax laws and that you are taking advantage of all the deductions available to you. Tax preparation can seem daunting, but by breaking it down into simple steps, it can make this task a little more trouble-free. I hope these tips have helped clear up any questions you had about filing your taxes. If you still feel like you are struggling to have your business prepared for filing your tax return, let’s schedule a time to chat. I am opening up a few dates in my calendar to help you, as one of my podcast listeners, be prepared for this tax season. If you haven’t started your bookkeeping for last year yet, what are you waiting for? The tax deadline will be here before you know it. I am able to offer remote sessions where you and I can work together on your actual data to get caught up or to set up your own individual strategy plan so that you know exactly what you need to do to have your bookkeeping up to date. We can start from scratch, or if you’ve already started recording your transactions but have that odd feeling that something just isn’t quite right, we’ll walk through it together.
Imagine having a system in place where you spend less time buried in paperwork and more time doing what you love. That’s where I help my clients. They are able to have proper processes in place, understand why they are following through with these processes, and they have more peace of mind when it comes to their business. Striking a balance between the demands of running a business and maintaining a fulfilling personal life is an art; it’s about creating an environment where you can thrive and support your lifestyle. By being proactive and setting up efficient processes, you can ensure a smoother, more enjoyable year-end, and you’ll be prepared to file any necessary filings with the IRS. By working with me, you’ll change more than just your bookkeeping processes. Like many of the clients I’ve worked with, you’ll go from not knowing how to get through all the stressful situations or being unprepared to being totally in control of exactly what you are choosing to get done at the time you want to have it accomplished by, all while knowing you are doing enough and you’re able to enjoy your business and your personal life. I help clients just like you with strategy, mentorship, and coaching. When you work with me, you’ll show up much more differently than you do today, and, after all, this is what you ultimately want in your life, right? You can be stress-free in both your professional and personal life. Come join me. When I work with clients throughout the year, they are able to reduce their stress and overwhelm, understand how to master their small business finances, develop solutions to grow their bottom line, and create a work-life balance they truly enjoy. I encourage you to take the next step by signing up for a free consultation where I’m going to teach you the first step in my process so that you can eliminate stress, overwhelm, or overworking in your professional or personal life while you continue to get done what matters so that you can live your life with joy, purpose and a more fulfilled life. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have; I’d love to help you on this journey. You can schedule your free consultation or sign up for a coaching session today at www.FinancialAdventure.com. As a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Life Coach, I can help you set goals and develop a plan that will allow you to lead a happier and more sustainable life in your business, career, or your personal life. I’m here to guide you through the financial aspects of your business as well as help you focus on the strategies you need to follow to reach the success you want to achieve in your professional or personal life and stay committed so that you can continue to keep pushing forward and relieve the stress, anxiety, or overwhelm you are currently feeling. Having an accountant and certified life coach like me can provide you with valuable insights and ideas to help you simplify your life, which enables you to go back to enjoying your professional and personal life. I work with business owners, accountants, and other financial professionals to create the actionable steps they need to take to ultimately achieve their goals while getting relief from the stress and overwhelm they feel from the pressure of owning a business, deadlines, and the workload they face every day. If you are struggling with this as well and would like some help developing a solution, help strengthen and maintain your emotional health, increase your well-being, create a more positive, happy, and joyful life, set and achieve your goals, and manage your relationships, I’d love for you to join me in my Balance Life Coaching program so that you can live a more purposeful life. Each week, we meet privately one-on-one, and you get to bring whatever is on your mind on any given week. I also have a daily coaching program where you can talk to me whenever it works best for you, 24/7, any day of the week. In either program, you get to work on your highest priority, whatever you want more of in your life, or if there is something that is weighing on you heavily that you need coaching on, and we’ll work through it together. Having a certified life coach like me helping you through all of this allows you to feel so seen and cared for, and the results are amazing. Everyone benefits when they work with a certified life coach. After every session, you feel energized, and you know exactly what to do for the day or week to come, and relief knowing we will meet again to go over anything that comes up after your session. You’ll gain self-awareness while you take each step toward your goals. The investment in either of these programs is an easy yes for you. I’ve set these programs up in the most supportive way. If you are ready to join the Balance Life Coaching program, you can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com and click on the work with me button. You’ll see the link to join as well as additional information about the programs. Sign up now. There are limited spots available for these programs due to the one-on-one aspect, and they do sell out. If the payment link is gone, you can get on my waitlist to join the programs when additional spots are available. I help people get results and live a more joyful life. I coach everybody on everything. I know there is something you want in your life, and I can help you get it. I know this is something you’ve been waiting for. I’ve been asked by many of my listeners to create these exact programs. The faster you get access to the program, the quicker you’ll see the possibilities available to you. I also have a risk-free guarantee. I believe so strongly that everyone benefits from coaching that when you sign up for the Balance Life Coaching program today, if for any reason you are not satisfied with your first session, you can send us an email, and we’ll refund you immediately. Are you ready to enjoy your life now? Why would you want to wait? Make this investment for yourself. Take the journey with me…make it happen for yourself. Ask yourself why you need this program in your life right now. Are you ready to make bigger, bolder, stronger life goals? I’m looking forward to meeting with you soon and digging deeper to see where you currently are in your business or career and start creating actionable steps so that you can reach your vision and goals for the future, not only in your business or career but also in your personal life. I’m ready to work with you, see all of your successes, and watch you thrive in your business or career while creating your best work-life balance. I’ll post links to this and other valuable resources for business owners and accountants where you are listening to this podcast.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
