The holidays are almost here, so bookkeeping is probably the last thing on your mind! But for those of you whose business’ financial records run by the calendar year, there’s no time like the present to start thinking about how to manage your accounting. Tax season will be here before you know it. With all of the holiday hubbub, you can easily lose track of important records, or just shrug off your bookkeeping, telling yourself you’ll get to it later. Well, we can tell you that that box of receipts in your closet is not going to do anything but get bigger. By the time you come back from your holiday vacation, you’ll have one big mess to take care of, and you’ll be feeling that post-vacation stress.
So, how do you avoid all of this craziness? You’ve got two options: let Ten Key handle your bookkeeping and accounting (naturally, we recommend this option) or start organizing your records…NOW. Tax season is right around the corner (yes, we know, it feels like it was just yesterday), so you need to get all of your records in order.
Here’s a checklist of some important records you’ll need to keep for tax season:
-Business bank account statements
-Copies of invoices and receipts
-Deposit slips and check stubs
-Bookkeeping files with summary of expenses
-Business-related bills for phone and internet
-Vehicle expense records, mileage log, and odometer reading
-Office maintenance receipts
-Credit card and loan statements
Don’t just throw all of these into some dark corner of your office where they’ll sit and collect dust; create an organized file system so that you know where to find all of your records later on. When tax season arrives, you’ll save lots of time and you’ll be glad you took the time to get organized!
The New Year is a great time to start fresh and move from paper to electronic accounting. The transition can be tough, but it’s worth it in the end, and we’re here to help you. Check in next month for our blog on write up projects so that you can get moving into the 21st century!