Hey there Dachia are.
Welcome back to Focus on your small business.
I’m batching my podcasts, and right at this moment, the deadline for tax filing is approaching. By the tie you hear this… it will have passed. I hope you have recovered.
I’ve been doing my own taxes since I started working. While I never enjoyed the …procedure… I never really felt at serious odds with it. Until this time. This time… I had my ass handed to me.
Several times.
In their infinite wisdom, the 3 100’s are now one… and all the extra material is broken up into 6 schedules.
I’m not actually here to give you any tax advice… except this.
Even if you hire a pro… learn some stuff about your taxes. Taxes are a huge part of both your personal life and your business. Know what a deduction is. Know what you are filing. And start planning for next year right now.
A coupe years ago, I started buying NOLO press books dealing with taxes. Now, generally, I am an ebook kind of gal. But when it came to the tax books, I wanted something physical… I could make notes and highlight and go ear and flip back and forth between pages and also books.
I went online, at one point in this process, to share a screenshot of the 1040 instructions… because I just could not figure out what they were saying.
It was suggested to me by a well-meaning associate there, that I hie a pro. She had hired a pro and was very happy with them.
I don’t doubt that. But it is not yet in the budget. It might be next year. I do have it on my liftoff things to spend money on once I start making more money than I’m spending on the business. I also have a barefoot hoof trimmer on that list… I really am ok with somebody else trimming my horses.
Back to taxes.
Last week, I was telling you that I believed that you should’ve a general understanding of your wordpress website.
Now, I’m telling you that I think you should have a general understanding of your taxes.
A few years ago… actually… about 10 years ago, I had a client who was getting audited. This was a horse business… it is expected. They hired me to put all their receipts on order. To create a filing system for them and organize that years worth of receipts. It took me 17 hours.
They were so happy to not have to do it themselves. They hired me to do another couple years for them, in case the audit expanded, which they often do.
I created a cheat sheet for them so they knew why I placed some receipts in certain categories and where they would find some of the big ones. They took the files and their cheat sheet to their accountant… or lawyer.. I don’t remember which, and because of the way they were organized, they were able present a good front in the audit.
But my point is that the people that hired me were still very involved in their business and the process of organizing the files. They asked questions and took notes. They were knowledgeable.
I’m suggesting you be knowledgeable too. Don’t be one of this people with a shoebox of receipts you dump on your accountants desk and just hope for the best. And not because it is just an irresponsible, suck thing to do. But because part of your business is to file taxes and take advantage of every single deduction you can. Ask questions… take notes and plan for next year.
Starting now.
Whatever your business is, there are likely a couple decent tax books written for it. Get em.
Keep in mind that if you are spending hours and hours in research mode online, learning what you need to do to build your business and then hours more figuring out how… you might want to check out the membership site. It can save you many hours every month in research and determining which resources are accurate and worth your attention. I also have a few resources there concerning taxes. I’ll add to it as I find more good ones. And as resources fall out of date… I’ll update with others, like I do the other resources.
You can find more information and a webinar that will walk you through whether or not this is the right path for you, on dachia.com/membership
Until next week. Make it a good one. It’s all up you… with a little bit of me.