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.

New Services and Sites to help you Organize!

Newest Tips, Tricks and Services to Help You Organize!

What's the newest way to save time and money? Daily Money Managers! This field has recently come to the forefront due to our increasingly busy lives and time-consuming personal finance and management needs.

So, what does a Daily Money Manager do?
They will:
- Balance your checkbook
- Manage your bill payments
- File your financial, health and other vital paperwork
- Maintain vital records
- Work with your CPA, Lawyers, Insurances and more to ensure they receive what they need
- Much more

How do you find a Daily Money Manager?
You can visit the American Association of Daily Money Managers (http://www.aadmm.com/) for more information and listings.
A Space That Works also offers this service. Suzanna Letchford has a background with Finance including studies at UCF in Finance & Accounting, years as Managing Director and Director of Finance . Call 407-416-6118 to find out more.

What is the latest link to de-stress your life?
www.JackCards.com

JackCards.com is a FANTASTIC service that allows you to:

- Add people to an address book and get event reminders
- Pick out an actual card (NOT an eCard) from a great selection of high-quality cards
- Schedule the card to arrive at either their house or yours. (You can add a personal message in your own handwriting before dropping the card back in the mail again)
- They can either pre-print the address and return address and pre-stamp or send you the address information with the card so you can hand-address it without needing to look anything up.

Never forget a birthday or event again - and toss all of those greeting cards floating around your home that you have forgotten to send!

(*Note: ASTW never receives any payment for promoting any businesses besides itself on its media. Any promotion is based solely on ASTW's personal opinion of the product.)