One of my least favorite times of year is filing taxes. It can be stressful getting everything done on time, and by the time it’s over, the next tax year has started and the process begins all over again. Whether you’re a business owner or just looking to file your own personal taxes, there are a few things you can do to ensure the process is stress free and you don’t have any nasty bills that show up. Keep reading to learn my top 3 accounting tips for smooth tax filing.
1. Stay Organized
This is probably the most important part of the puzzle because as the year goes on it’s easy to lose receipts or to forget where you spent money. Thankfully with digital banking there’s a somewhat easy to follow digital trial, but if you leave it all until tax filing time it can be completely overwhelming. I suggest getting an accounting software like Xero that makes it easy to organize your expenses and income as you go so that you don’t end up with a huge backlog at the end of the year. Be careful to file your business expenses like the best childrens bookcase as a business expense where appropriate.
2. Hire an Accountant
Having an accountant is one of the best gifts you can ever give to yourself. They can usually help you file in such a way that you save money on something which can in turn pay for the expense of having their professional help. Having professional accounting and bookkeeping services can take a lot of the pressure off for filing. You’ll generally have to organize your expenses, but for the actual filing and calculation they’ll help you take care of that, giving you a peace of mind that is truly priceless.
3. Figure Out What Can be a Business Expense
If you own a business, one of the best ways to get your tax bill down each year is to lump things as business expenses. If you have a home office, for example, you can deduct part of your rent or mortgage as a business expense based on the size of the office space. Working with an accountant is one of the best ways to properly plan what expenses you can charge to your company. For example if you have a business meeting and you enjoy the best juice subscription, you might be able to run that as a business expense lowering your overall tax bill.
Don’t make your tax filing stressful, use these three tips to ensure that you are properly prepared for the end of the financial year.