The new year has kicked off and it is time to finalize developing your new year’s tax strategy to set your business up for success.
It’s not uncommon for businesses to run into accounting frustrations at the end of the year, which prompts them to want to implement changes that would eradicate these types of mistakes in their business forever. But, then, to their dismay, business owners find themselves experiencing similar issues during the next tax season. Why? Because they did not implement the fixes into their tax strategy once they managed to get the burden lifted from their shoulders. This is why our CPAs advise all businesses to prioritize their tax strategy and implement accounting practices to aid a smoother tax filing process for their business.
Overwhelmed by anything to do with taxes? We take a look at a good place to start when it comes to preparing your tax strategy.
1. Take note of important tax dates
It may sound simple, but one of the most common issues accounting firms experience is the calls of frantic business owners who want to submit their taxes on the day of the deadline. This not only places a business at great risk of incorrect submissions, which could lead to tax penalties, but it is not always possible to do as there is a lot of checking and cross-checking that takes place when doing reconciliations that form part of the tax submission process.
Study these important tax dates and use them to guide your tax strategy. Note that where extensions are available, you have to submit applications for the extension by the given deadline. Don’t delay implementing tax calendar guidelines into your new year’s tax strategy.
2. Let the data guide your tax strategy
There’s no better guide to your taxes than looking at the raw data. Your previous year’s tax submissions will not only indicate where your business can cut costs, but will also show you where your company needs to build better processes. Couldn’t account for all your deductions? Your tax strategy may need to include incorporating an integration like Bill.com that links to your credit card and records this back in your books.
Bill pay accounting software integrations help to streamline and organize your accounts payable functionality while ensuring that all of your expenses are appropriately accounted for, which aids accuracy for tax filing.
3. Build tax credit considerations into your tax strategy
When you aren’t submitting taxes like a headless chicken, fast and in a hurry, then you can actually use your tax strategy to implement the tax credits that your business may be eligible for. Find out more about commonly overlooked tax credits.
4. Implement the changes
Having a plan does not always mean the plan is being executed. Once your management team has taken into account lessons from previous years’ tax filing and decided on the changes you wish to implement, this should be assigned to a staffer or your CPA to help you to implement these changes. As they say, nothing changes, if nothing changes – so it’s best to get the upgrades to your strategy implemented soonest and assign a dedicated person to ensure that it gets done. If you do not know where to start or how to go about developing a strategy to help you change things, then speak to your CPA.
At Fusion, we don’t only help businesses prepare and submit their taxes, we also make recommendations based on the challenges we discover within the business entity. We look at your business holistically and offer business advisory services to help you grow your revenue while ensuring your business remains compliant with the IRS.
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This blog article is provided by our tax-incentive partners, McMillian & Associates. It is not intended to be the rendering of legal, accounting, tax advice, or other professional services. Articles are based on current or proposed tax rules at the time they are written and older posts are not updated for tax rule changes. We expressly disclaim all liability in regard to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this blog as well as the use or interpretation of this information. Information provided on this website is not all-inclusive and such information should not be relied upon as being all-inclusive.
