I was teaching, p/t, when Bruce steratd our business. I quit teaching a year later and he turned over all of the finances to me, corporate and personal. I never met a tax form of any kind that wasn't out to get me, so I knew I needed help.I use QuickBooks Pro for the business: I pay the the p/r tax liabilities when QB tells me how much for each; run all of the quarterly payroll tax reports, myself; and run the two reports the CPA wants at the end of the year.For our personal taxes, I learned Excel and set up spreadsheets. The main one lists all contributions, medical expenses, professional fees, utilities, interest paid, and so on, by month, with totals at year end. I put the documents (receipts, etc.) that feed the spreadsheet into monthly folders; periodically, I go through the folders, my check register and credit card bills, all a month at a time. It's less confusing to do a whole month at a time than as I go, and doesn't take too many hours, at all, to do it that way. I usually end up doing a quarter at a time, spending not more than a couple of hours for each month's data.It took a couple of years to get everything the accountant needed onto the spreadsheet, but boy, has it paid off. Each of the last two years, I've been ready to meet with him before the end of January. And then I'm done.One caveat: Do make sure you have a good CPA/tax accountant. We steratd with a man who apparently got all of his training from a well-known organization that trains people to do prepare tax returns. He held himself out as a small-business specialist and a tax accountant, but he made some really big mistakes. We switched to someone Bruce had known in school before she earned her CPA license; nice woman and no doubt a good accountant, but weak on taxes. Her now-former partner, however, is an excellent CPA who really knows his tax stuff.Oh--estimated taxes: Mr. CPA tells me each year what percentage of our draws to set aside in a holding account--just a basic checking account, at first--so that the money is there for the tax payments, when they come due. Late last year, Bruce told me about some online banks, and I went with EmigrantDirect online, which offers a savings account. It's currently paying 4.5%. Try getting that at your bank!I know this is long; hope it's helpful.
I was teaching, p/t, when Bruce steratd our business. I quit teaching a year later and he turned over all of the finances to me, corporate and personal. I never met a tax form of any kind that wasn't out to get me, so I knew I needed help.I use QuickBooks Pro for the business: I pay the the p/r tax liabilities when QB tells me how much for each; run all of the quarterly payroll tax reports, myself; and run the two reports the CPA wants at the end of the year.For our personal taxes, I learned Excel and set up spreadsheets. The main one lists all contributions, medical expenses, professional fees, utilities, interest paid, and so on, by month, with totals at year end. I put the documents (receipts, etc.) that feed the spreadsheet into monthly folders; periodically, I go through the folders, my check register and credit card bills, all a month at a time. It's less confusing to do a whole month at a time than as I go, and doesn't take too many hours, at all, to do it that way. I usually end up doing a quarter at a time, spending not more than a couple of hours for each month's data.It took a couple of years to get everything the accountant needed onto the spreadsheet, but boy, has it paid off. Each of the last two years, I've been ready to meet with him before the end of January. And then I'm done.One caveat: Do make sure you have a good CPA/tax accountant. We steratd with a man who apparently got all of his training from a well-known organization that trains people to do prepare tax returns. He held himself out as a small-business specialist and a tax accountant, but he made some really big mistakes. We switched to someone Bruce had known in school before she earned her CPA license; nice woman and no doubt a good accountant, but weak on taxes. Her now-former partner, however, is an excellent CPA who really knows his tax stuff.Oh--estimated taxes: Mr. CPA tells me each year what percentage of our draws to set aside in a holding account--just a basic checking account, at first--so that the money is there for the tax payments, when they come due. Late last year, Bruce told me about some online banks, and I went with EmigrantDirect online, which offers a savings account. It's currently paying 4.5%. Try getting that at your bank!I know this is long; hope it's helpful.
Company: irs internal revenue service