Small Business Tax Preparation Checklist How to Prepare for Tax Season

checklist for accountant when filing taxes self employed

Businesses should keep copies of articles of incorporation to clarify how the business is structured. Another piece of year-end tax returns is the review of independent contractors you paid, to see whether the government must be notified of their non-employee compensation. While lenders will generally prefer to see accrual-basis financial statements, tax returns can still be prepared on the cash basis, even if the financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis. Here are key considerations to take into account when filing your first business tax return. The Get It Back Campaign helps eligible individuals claim tax credits and use free tax filing assistance to maximize tax time.

If you received COVID-19 relief through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan , the EIDL grant, or the Paycheck Protection Program, the good news is that the funds you received are not taxable. Even better, you can write off eligible expenses paid for using your grant or loan funds. This includes payroll expenses, rent, employee benefits, and more. Learn more about how PPP loans and EIDLs affect your taxes. In addition to knowing which forms to file, it’s also essential to know your deadlines. While a Schedule C, for example, can be filed with your individual income tax return due on April 15, other forms (such as the 1120S for S-corps) have other due dates as set by the IRS.

Specialized in small business

Our small business certified tax pros have an average of 12 years of experience and undergo annual Block Advisors training to specialize in small businesses. You’ve come to the right place — you can also use this as a self-employed tax checklist. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. In addition to Social Security cards, driver’s licenses or other federal IDs, those claiming a dependent might need to bring Form 8332 . In order to calculate the true profitability and growth of a business, all details of income and expenditure need to be kept.

  • ” You’ll be surprised with how much money can be saved with this simple exercise.
  • You’ll also want to gather information about any business expenses you incurred throughout the year as a result of self-employment work.
  • Browse videos, data, interactive resources, and free tools.
  • Recap last year’s fixed and variable business expenses and ask yourself two very important questions.

You should also visit our updated Online Tax Guide for more information. Also, be prepared to locate copies of your estimated tax payments. And, find your previous year’s business tax return.

Help and Support

The key to success is organization or an outstanding tax expert who keeps you in line. Either way, you have other important things to worry about. If there’s one thing you’ve likely noticed by now, the IRS not only loves its forms but has an absolute ton of them.

checklist for accountant when filing taxes self employed

And, an accountant can help you through the filing process to make sure your return is solid. Once you’ve assembled all of your records and made some preliminary decisions about which deductions and credits you can claim, it’s time to turn to your accountant. Although estimated tax payments help, you may have miscalculated your liability and left too much of an expense come tax time. If that’s the case, you must know your options and pursue one that meets your business’s needs. Next, gather and analyze your balance sheet and income statement.

File

Here are a few other things you can do to get ready for tax season. Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. This is not intended as legal advice; for more information, please click here. Say goodbye to unnecessary tax season-related stress.

A new business might have more unpaid expenses than uncollected income at year-endz and therefore might consider taking those additional net expenses as a deduction. This would be done by selecting the accrual basis. Many of these forms won’t be needed to file taxes every year. For example, you will only receive the investment forms you may need to file your taxes if you had distributions or other activity.

Employment Income

These are just a handful of the deductions that can help reduce your tax burden. Check out our complete list of small business tax deductions to learn more about how you can save money this tax season. You can also maximize your deductions by talking with an accountant or tax professional. The next step in your small business tax preparation checklist is to know when are business taxes due.

checklist for accountant when filing taxes self employed

All steps in the small business tax prep checklist are important. But this one is arguably one of the lengthiest, most intricate, and important parts in preparing an accurate tax form. First, take a look at a copy of the business tax return you will file, to see which line items you’ll be expected to fill accountant for self employed in with amounts. By authorizing H&R Block to e-file your tax return, or by taking the completed return to file, you are accepting the return and are obligated to pay all fees when due. The IRS requires you to make payments of 90% of your current year’s liability or 100% of the prior year’s tax liability.

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