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Tidy Up Those
Taxes!
I really hate tax time. I don't mean that I hate
paying taxes, which I do, but who doesn't?
I mean I hate what's involved in preparing them for
the accountant. I'm always afraid I'm doing
something wrong. And I'm a really, really
small business.
The good news is that it gets just a bit easier and
faster every year.
Those of you who have been reading me for a while
know that I like to keep things simple. I guess I'm
just a simple kind of gal.
So my original receipts go into a composition book
chronologically. I like to tape them into the book
and annotate it, for example, 'networking supper' or
'composition book for tax receipts'.
If you prefer an accordion file for this purpose,
terrific. Whatever works. The main thing to remember
is figure out just one system and stick to it.
The problem I used to have was not having one
system. Oh sure, come January every year, I'd begin
one. Or maybe in April when I finally got my
paperwork together and swore up and down this would
never ever happen again.
A terrific resource for advice on how to keep your
records is your accountant. Another place is the
government's own help center which you can
access here:
Either way, why not begin today keeping your mileage
log, receipts, and other paperwork in order, in one
place, and in a simple, safe location?
Personally, my goal is to have all of my tax
paperwork in to my accountant by mid-February. The
sooner it's out of here, the sooner I can get on
with running my home business.
No one said the work of the solopreneur was easy,
but we can adopt best practices that make these
critical tasks less of a burden, so we can get on
with the business of, well, our business.
Here's to a new beginning - tidying up your taxes in
less time, with less stress.
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