This year has been crazy. We’ve gone from being relatively care-free to an agonized mess.
Our annual accounting with the government should have ended a month ago- but a great percentage of us won’t finish with this task for another two months. Which is part of the subject matter I’ll be discussing today.
So, the 2015 business tax season is over. And, this was but another year that I found many clients lacked the necessary business records. Oh, sure, the IRS requires every business (incorporated or not) to maintain accurate financial records. But, regardless of what the IRS wants, every business owner should know that accurate financial records are critical for a successful business.
So, you’re taking the plunge in 2012. You will go off on your own. At the very least, you’ll be a solopreneur- but you may have aspirations to start a true enterprise and, therefore, become an entrepreneur. It’s not just a a business plan and a rolodex, you’ll need, however.
Continue reading Taking the plunge? Insure success!
It’s time- you finally realize that what we’ve been telling you is really NOT optional. Maybe even the IRS has just audited you- and that’s a lousy way to find out we’re right. Little scraps of paper don’t impress the IRS. If you are running a business, whether it’s incorporated or not, you need to have an accounting system. Yes, if your business is small enough, you can use a spreadsheet. But, really that takes more time than you think. Instead of using a spreadsheet, you should at least use Quicken Home and Business. It only costs $ 75 or so- and you can invoice and track payments with it, too. If you have inventory, then you probably need QuickBooks or Microsoft Accounting programs. If you are a lawyer, then PCLaw or Clio make more sense. And, since today is already well into the year, you are going to have to enter AT LEAST all the transactions for this fiscal year (whether it’s calendar or not, it needs to match how you report your data to the IRS). No, you won’t get them all entered today, but you should do so as soon as possible- as well as keeping all current entries in the system you chose. (You may elect to not enter previous years, and there are some good reasons for doing so, into this system, as we have reported earlier this month. It probably makes sense to use a spreadsheet that matches the format your chosen system employs, so you can compare data from year to year.) Entering this data will let you maintain accurate profit and loss statements, sales tax reports (if necessary), bank reconciliations, and accounts payable/receivable records.
Continue reading Do I really have to? (Yes, Business Manager, you must!)