Fall Accounting and Tax Planning Tips – Tally Services

As crazy as it sounds, we’re nearing the end of 2019, with less than a quarter left in the year. While you might feel like you have all the time in the world before the end of the year, with the upcoming holidays and the crunch of other year-end business and accounting tasks, you’d be surprised just how quickly December 31 will be here. To avoid the typical stress of the season, we strongly recommend that you get started on your tax planning this fall to get ahead of the curve and save yourself the headache down the road.

Tally Services has rounded up our top seven fall accounting and tax planning tips to help you prepare now before crunch time is here:

1. Make Time for Organization – We get it. As a business owner, you’re incredibly busy wearing many hats and trying to keep the ship on course. Sometimes your business accounting and tax tasks simply slip to the back burner and get forgotten about for months at a time. If this describes the books of your business, you must make time for your books before the end of the year. Set some time aside and block yourself off in your calendar to make yourself do it. We know you’re busy, but this has to be a priority.

2. Get Your Books in Order – Now that you have the time to focus on your books, USE IT! It can be easy to let reconciliations slide, to let the books get out of balance, or for things to simply get out of date, but you’re going to regret letting this happen when the year’s end hits. Take a couple hours now before things really heat up to bring your books up to date and make sure everything is in order. Doing so not only will help your business remain healthy, but you’ll be glad you did when you’re working on your year-end financials.

3. Collect on Unpaid Accounts – Once your books are in order, you’ll be able to see exactly what’s missing and what your business has yet to collect on. Before the end of the year, work toward collecting these past-due accounts and getting your invoicing current. This will help you be in a better position to close your books once the end of the year rolls around.

4. Review Your Financials – While the end of the year is coming quickly, it’s not too late to review your financials and look for ways your business can add efficiencies, save money, and ultimately grow sales. As a business owner, it’s wise to constantly look up, away from the day to day, and see where opportunities lie. Before the end of the year is a great time to do just that to help you be in the best position possible and excel in the new year.

5. Prepare for Taxes – Tax season will be upon us before we know it. As you begin to sort through your books and prepare for year-end accounting, look ahead to what you’ll also need for filing business taxes and start getting organized for taxes. The more you do ahead of time, the less stressful and time-consuming it will be

6. Review Your Accounting Practices – While you’re getting your books and financial practices in order for the end of the year, now is a great time to review your accounting practices and make some decisions about what is working and what isn’t. It’s best to make these kinds of decisions while you have time to think about them and you’re not overly stressed with year-end work and tax season. Take a good, hard look at where you can improve and what you can do to help you stay on top of your books year round.

7. Ask for Help – We hear it all the time from small-business owners. Sometimes running a successful business and managing the books is simply too much – we hear you. If you’re feeling maxed out, one of the best ways to ask for help is by outsourcing your accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll. It will take a big load off your shoulders, ensure that the work is done right, and free up your time to focus on growing your business.

If you’re to the point that you’re ready to bring on bookkeeping and accounting help for your business, look no further than Tally Services in Fort Collins, Colorado. We partner with businesses and organizations of all sizes to provide bookkeeping and accounting services to help your business grow and succeed, as well as prepare for year-end accounting and tax season. Click here to learn more about our services  and don’t hesitate to contact us if you need help.