The Joy of Paperwork
The Joy of Paperwork
Paperwork is one of those things that most of us would rather not do. A mentor of mine once told me “be prepared to do the paperwork or be okay being poor”. When I first heard this I thought it was rather extreme and what I know now is how true it is.
Over the next few weeks we are going to cover the 5 Tax Mistakes Small Business Owner’s MUST Avoid and mistake #2 is a common one.
Mistake #2 – Not getting updated information early enough.
Is April 1st when you first feel the nudge to look at your financial information?
Is it the time you start searching for bank statements, client contracts and vendor payments?
If it is, while you are not alone, you may be too late. The IRS estimates 20% of tax payers wait until a week before the filing deadline to gather their information. If they run into any problems they typically miss the deadline.
So what are the deadlines?
January 31st is the first. Last week we talked about the January 31 deadline for filing 1099’s and W2’s and how it is easy to miss if you don’t have current information on file for your Vendors (W9) and Employees (W4). Click here to learn more.
March 15th – S Corp and Partnership Returns.
April 15th – Personal Returns and C Corporations with a Dec 31 year end.
If you have not yet learned the skill of connecting with your financial information on at least a monthly basis I invite you to think about stepping into it for 2020!
There are penalties and interest associated with either late filings or failure to file and amendments can be time consuming and costly. There are even steeper penalties if the IRS deems you are doing this as a tax evasion measure!
Then there is the cost of lost opportunity, not knowing what to say yes to and what to say no to and when.
And the cost of paying too much in tax from lost deductions.
What I have found in the 30+ years of working in money management and with tax deadlines is that most people don’t have a system that works for them when it comes to doing the paperwork and since it’s an activity that most people don’t truly enjoy, well this is why April 1st may be the only time the nudge is felt.
If you are ready to set yourself up to win in 2020 and you know that having the systems and structures in place for money management is a big piece for your success then I invite you to give us a call and see if we are a good fit for getting you on the path. Simply email wealth@thecfoagency.com and at the very least you will know the next best step for you!
In Abundance,
Sue
