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Friday, February 26, 2010

Tax time - again!

It's tax time - again. Didn't we just do this last year? I need a Daily Money Manager. Oh - wait. I AM a Daily Money Manager!

I don't know about you, but I hate tax time. Thankfully it is a little easier with a little organization. Especially as a business-owner the paperwork can be overwhelming even for the most organized of people.

In order to make my tax season as stress-free as possible (do those words go together? Tax and stress-free?) I attempt simple organization throughout the year.

For one, since receipts can overwhelm me with the business I keep a box on my desk that any business-related receipts can just be thrown into (I can be lazy sometimes) and at the end of the month I scan them and enter them into my tax spreadsheet. That way I can double-check my accounting program (I just use Mint.com - it is online and easy) against the spreadsheet so I make sure I have all of my receipts and don't miss anything. The IRS accepts scanned receipts now, so this is an easy way to store them for the end of the season as well.

I also have my tax files set up by category -
Scanned receipts (in envelopes by month after they are scanned)
Advertising
Utilities
Travel
Health
Donations
Tax paperwork
Other

This way, as I enter everything into TurboTax each file goes in order with the categories they will ask me about.

I store my personal information in the same way - organized by category in the order TurboTax asks for it.

The last helpful thing I use is Itsdeductible.com
This website is where I list all of my donations and it lets me know the value of each item. The great thing - it also imports directly into Turbotax!

Tax season can be a breeze if everything is kept organized throughout the year - and it doesn't have to be time-consuming if you keep it simple.

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