Keeping accurate business records is essential if you want to save tax money and have adequate records in case of, heaven forbid, an audit.
5 minutes a day...that's all it takes to save hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tax dollars and put money in YOUR pocket!
The amount of time it takes to record your expenses if done on a consistent basis is less than 5 minutes a day and is not hard.
Following good habits like those that follow will reward you in more deductions on your income tax and thus more money in your pocket!
You need to record EVERY transaction into your Accounting Software. The easiest way to do this is spend 5 minutes every night or morning and "post" the days receipts.
One way to make sure you have all the receipts "posted" is to use the following method:
Make a folder on your desktop labeled "Daily Receipts" For anything you purchase online, save a copy of that in your "Daily Receipts" file.
Any cash receipts you may have acquired during the day can be kept in a folder at your desk.
Each night (or morning) post" everything in those two files. This should not take you more than a couple of minutes.
After posting your receipts for the day file them on your hard drive in a file called "Tax Back Up Files"
The easiest way to keep your online receipts in order is to put them in a Tax Backup File in files labeled for each month.
You will want to back up these files at least monthly on a CD or DVD to keep with your year-end tax information.
After posting your cash receipts place them in an envelop. You should keep each month in a separate envelop.
Unless you have a problem with a bill you will probably never have to look at these receipts again.
Collecting receipts for everything that you do is a good habit to get into!
Over the year a lot of little deductions can cost you tax dollars! For instance did you go get copies for 50 cents and fail to post it in you accounting program. That's lost tax dollars!
Save big at tax time by regularly and consistently recording your transactions.
5 minutes a day...that's all it takes to save hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tax dollars and put money in YOUR pocket!
The amount of time it takes to record your expenses if done on a consistent basis is less than 5 minutes a day and is not hard.
Following good habits like those that follow will reward you in more deductions on your income tax and thus more money in your pocket!
You need to record EVERY transaction into your Accounting Software. The easiest way to do this is spend 5 minutes every night or morning and "post" the days receipts.
One way to make sure you have all the receipts "posted" is to use the following method:
Make a folder on your desktop labeled "Daily Receipts" For anything you purchase online, save a copy of that in your "Daily Receipts" file.
Any cash receipts you may have acquired during the day can be kept in a folder at your desk.
Each night (or morning) post" everything in those two files. This should not take you more than a couple of minutes.
After posting your receipts for the day file them on your hard drive in a file called "Tax Back Up Files"
The easiest way to keep your online receipts in order is to put them in a Tax Backup File in files labeled for each month.
You will want to back up these files at least monthly on a CD or DVD to keep with your year-end tax information.
After posting your cash receipts place them in an envelop. You should keep each month in a separate envelop.
Unless you have a problem with a bill you will probably never have to look at these receipts again.
Collecting receipts for everything that you do is a good habit to get into!
Over the year a lot of little deductions can cost you tax dollars! For instance did you go get copies for 50 cents and fail to post it in you accounting program. That's lost tax dollars!
Save big at tax time by regularly and consistently recording your transactions.
About the Author:
Karin Russell has owned a small business specializing in tax preparation for home based businesses for 36 years. Her website: Home Business Owners-Reap the Rewards offers more tax tips for home business owners. She highly recommends the book 'It's How Much You KEEP, That Counts! Not how much you Make' for all her customers.
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