How to Start Preparing for Next Tax Season Now

We just went through a tax season and for most of us taxes are painful. Not only is it painful to pay the large amounts that we may owe, but it also takes so much time and effort to gather all the information, organize it, and get it to your CPA. So, how do you make the tax season better for yourself?

If you are a self-employed business owner, there are three things that you need to prepare for your taxes.

First and foremost, it's your mindset. You need to recognize that taxes are not your money. They belong to the government and the government is coming after this money.

The government is going to collect what it’s due!

What you want to do is make this collection as easy on yourself as possible.

The second thing that you need to do is organize your finances properly. Here, there are two major things that I recommend. First is that you have a separate tax account where you put a portion of every commission or every paycheck that you get into this account and make sure that you have money there when the taxes are due.

The second thing I recommend is that you hire a bookkeeper or get a bookkeeping system and use regularly throughout the year. Make sure that you track all your expenses, your profit and loss and that your books are always in order. That way, it will make it very easy for you to provide information to your CPA when they ask for it.

Last but not least, what I recommend is working with a CPA who not only does your taxes, but helps you with tax projections and tax strategy well before the year ends.  

When I work with my clients, I collaborate with a CPA who does exactly that -- she's fantastic -- and having projections for my clients back in October and November to position my agent clients for a really good, controlled, organized tax season.

By the time the year ends, my clients know what they owe and with the way I help them organize their finances, they have the money for the taxes and they don't sweat it. Tax season is not a factor when you're organized.

So do yourself a favor, get organized, get your tax season under control and have more time in your life to enjoy things that you enjoy.