One of my favorite websites for business and entrepreneurship is Inc.com (if you haven’t been to this site and you’re in business check it out!) as the articles and alerts are often insightful and extremely practical when it comes to business. So in true fashion I received the perfect article regarding business and taxes.
The article discusses planning for the next tax season now by being PROACTIVE. In essence, what this means is not waiting UNTIL January 2011 or April 14th for that matter to giving attention to your business finances. It means taking small steps throughout the year to manage and organize your books, ask questions to your Tax Preparer, knowing and understanding how new tax law changes affect your business, and so on. Several tax professionals offer their advice and tips on this and have formulated it into a simple acronym: P.L.A.N.
P. Preparing your Records
L. Listing Issues and Questions
A. Analyzing for Accuracy
N. Noting Changes in Tax Laws
Do you P.L.A.N for your taxes? As a small business consultant, I realize that most if not ALL of these steps can be time consuming or frustrating when you don’t know where to begin; especially noting changes in Tax Laws. Who truly has time to navigate through constantly changing tax codes to find relevant information? Doing so can be elusive, confusing and just a waste of precious money producing time.
Here’s a simple suggestion on getting your books in order in time for tax season. Find a bookkeeper who has flexible service options and request a consultation and review. Some can provide you with tools to organize your books if you choose to do it yourself completely free or for a nominal monthly fee. Depending on your budget you may even be able to afford an outsourced bookkeeper to help you manage your books. Affordable BOOKKEEPING for your business DOES EXIST.I urge all businesses micro or small to take the time to consult a Bookkeeper or CPA to request a review of your books and recommendations for how to P.L.A.N. for tax time. In my blog, Proactive Accounting, I talk about how planning in advance can actually SAVE you money at tax time, and save your business!
Be proactive about your business. It will be worth the time and expense in doing so.
To check out the full Inc.com article click here.
Katrina M. Harrell is a self-proclaimed “Proactive Bookkeeper” ,accountant and small business consultant in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. She is also CEO of YourSimple Bookkeeper, Inc. which provides virtual bookkeeping services to micro and small business across the country. She is also creator of YourSimple Bookkeeper in-a-Box™which provides practical recordkeeping and bookkeeping guidance for micro business owners. Her blogs about small business, entrepreneurship and financial management can be found on www.katrinamharrell.comor her facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/yoursimplebookkeeperdotcom
