This year has been a unique one for our small businesses, to say the least. Since this year was so unique, there are business tasks that need to be done before the year end. Today I will be talking about the business areas you need to gather for a seamless tax season. Follow along and get it done so the next year will be more relaxing.
End of Year Things to Gather For An Easier New Year
Gather Receipts
First, let’s start with the receipts for your small business. Don’t wait to get these items together. The receipts I am talking about are deductible receipts. Visit our post about home office and business deductions for deduction types that will help you figure out what receipts to bring together. A Complete Guide to Home Office and Business Deductions
Gather and Reconcile all bank accounts and credit card accounts
This may take some time if you haven’t done it throughout the year. You can either print out the bank statements or save them in PDF format to leave in a folder on your computer or office server. Remember to gather all the bank account statements even the personal ones you may have used for business expenses. Visit these posts below for more information: 3 Benefits of Reconciling Your Credit Card Statements
Pull all your customer/client invoices and organize them
If you are a service business, make sure all your client’s and customer’s invoices are gathered together and placed in one location. It can be sorted by month if you have a lot of customers. Or, it can be sorted by customers if you have many invoices for a few customers. Either way, it will make it easier for you to find the evidence you may need in the future.
Make sure your financial management software is updated
Whether you use Quicken, QuickBooks Online or Desktop, or other apps, make sure they are all updated and synced with the bank.
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Gather your Estimated Taxes and SEP IRA paperwork
You probably have a Federal Estimated Tax confirmation sheet, a state Estimated Tax confirmation sheet, and a Local estimated taxes sheet. Plus, if you have been putting money in your IRA or SEP IRA, you should have all these confirmations sheets placed in one folder for easy access for your accountant.
Paperwork from new loans or accounts
If you received a new loan or have new accounts this year, be sure to pull that paperwork. You may need them and your accountant may want to see them as well.
Run and confirm you have all the W9 forms for subcontractors
Make sure you have all the W-9 forms for your subcontractors. If you plan on doing 1099s this year. Determine if they are a nonemployee and make sure you use the 1099 NEC form new this year. Read about it in our post: What is the 1099-NEC form?
Confirm you have all the updated information for your Employees
If you have employees, you will need to confirm that your employee’s information like legal name, address, and social security number are correct. Make sure you have the W-4 form for each person in their employee file. If you need help organizing employee records, check this post from our blog: How To Organize Employee Records in Your Small Business.
When you get all these items together, you will be ready for the end of year tax return that every business owner will be doing. I hope by getting these business tasks together, it will help you have a more peaceful tax season. Feel free to leave a comment or question below. We would love to hear from you.
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Below is some additional information I found online to help you with the business tasks to do at the end of year.
End-of-year checklist for small businesses
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