Still writing out financial records by hand? Time to move to a modern system. Photo by Becky McCray.
Take this simple quiz.
When I think of last year’s tax return time, I’d say it was:
- A breeze. I just printed out one or two reports and answered a few questions from my tax preparer.
- A bit of a mess. I had to do some work to catch up and then answer a lot of questions.
- A nightmare. I worked like a dog to get things sorted before I could even think about filing, months late.
If you’re in category 1, you win. You can stop reading here. Have a great day!
If you’re in category 2, now’s the time to make sure you’re up to date through July 1. Schedule the time one day a week to catch up. Invest in a consultation with a pro to see how you can better keep up during the year. Look into delegating part of the work to a pro who will handle it for you and keep you always up to date.
If you’re in category 3, let’s fix it now. Here’s the plan:
Go sign up for WaveApps.com. That’s my personal choice especially for Category 3 people who don’t want a nightmare again next year. There’s no monthly fee for accounting and invoicing. I use Wave myself, and I recommend them. I don’t get any payment for saying so.
Wave will connect with your bank accounts and credit cards to automatically bring in your transactions. If your bank doesn’t play nice (like my rural banks), then you can export your transactions and quickly import them into Wave. Then rather than typing out transactions by hand, you just click and sort your transactions into proper categories.
Wave has pros to help you. When you’re logged into your account, look for “Pro Services” on the left hand sidebar. Pay the money for help from a pro and get organized and caught up. Delegate as much as possible to a pro so that you don’t get weighed down with it during the rest of the year. It’s worth it to keep next tax time from being yet another nightmare.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
- Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
- In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
- Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
- How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
- The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
- Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
- Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
- Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
- Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
- Economic self defense for small towns - June 7, 2020
