It’s that time again, when people around the nation take financial stock of their year. If you’re like many small business owners, you’ve put off filing your return. Whether you’re expecting that pesky small business tax to hurt or simply haven’t gotten around to filing (no judgments!), we have some tips that might help you save time and money.*

Even if you’ve already filed this year, stick around. These tips could come in handy next year.

 

Gather Everything in One Place

Like any of the hundreds of tasks you complete each day for your business, it helps to show up prepared. This way you keep your momentum and you’ll be less likely to get distracted by grabbing a snack, posting on Facebook, or any of the other things vying for your attention.

While your list might differ, here are some of the items we put together before sitting down to do Vivid’s taxes:

  • Expense Receipts. Keep these all in one place throughout the year, even if it’s in a shoebox, so you know exactly where they are at tax time.
  • Financial Reports (Itemized Expenses, Income, Payroll, etc.). If you use software like Quickbooks or Quicken, these reports are easy to print. If you use your own bookkeeping system, make sure you design that system so you can easily rearrange your entries to create these forms.
  • Your Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Social Security Number (SSN). If you’ve filed online and plan to do so again this year, you’ll also need your PIN and last year’s Gross Income.
  • Amounts of Estimated Quarterly payments you’ve made, if any.

 

Make Quarterly Payments

Uncle Sam

Afraid you’ll have to write an unpleasantly large check to Uncle Sam this year? You can avoid the surprise, burden, and fear-driven procrastination by spreading this expense out.

That’s exactly what Quarterly Estimated Payments are. They also save you tons of valuable time during tax season. Why? Because in order to do them, you have to stay on top of your bookkeeping and all year round. That makes April a whole lot easier, doesn’t it?

To get started on quarterly estimates this year, make your first payment by Tax Day (that’s April 18th for 2016).

 

And If You Need a Hail Mary…

Feeling overwhelmed? Then let someone else take taxes off your plate. No, not your cousin Lenny. Unless he’s a licensed tax preparer, that is. Just like Vivid Visual Solutions can take on your branding, marketing, and design projects, a tax professional can take a load off your financial stress!

If you don’t have a tax pro yet, find one today! Unless your business is an accounting firm, it’s just plain smart to outsource the biggest pain in your business’s behind.

[bctt tweet=”At this point, you may need to file for an extension (Form 4868), due by April 18th at midnight, to give your tax guy (or gal!) enough time.” username=”vividvisualsol”]


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What’s the worst part of filing your taxes? Tell us in the comments below!

 

*We are not tax professionals! Please consult a tax professional before implementing these (or any other) tax tips!