The IRS… a helpful agency?

Even those of us who feel like we’ve got it together when it comes to our bookkeeping can still feel intimidated by the faceless (and perhaps heartless?), bureaucratic IRS. Sure, taxes make the wheels on the bus go round and round but the form-filing and obfuscation and stomach-churning audits can make us think about moving to tax-free places, like the moon.

But the IRS is changing. And although they are still collecting taxes and auditing people (which is less cool), they are working towards actually being helpful (which is more cool). Their website still looks a little stodgy and web 1.0 but it now contains tools, resources, and information for far more than understanding your income tax forms. Now, they are providing tools like retirement planning or workshops for small businesses or calendars for tax deductions. You can read more about the list of ways that the IRS is becoming more relevant to taxpayers at AllBusiness.com.

What caught my eye was the IRS channel on YouTube. Right away I thought: “Oh! I could watch this when I want to fall asleep!” but it’s actually pretty helpful. There is information on upcoming events, there are helpful tips and ideas, and it’s actually pretty engaging!

I realize that these fun, engaging videos are still telling you how to pay taxes, but I appreciate that the government is stepping into the 21st century with some fresh and helpful guidance to navigate their otherwise unwieldy processes.

So grab some popcorn and your spouse and cuddle up with a blanket for an evening of IRS videos! (Okay, maybe not).

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

What next?

Now that tax season is over, it can be tempting to file away the thought of taxes until next year when you need to do them again. Instead, we recommend making a few small changes right now while your thoughts of taxes are still fresh on your mind. Yes, it’s slightly annoying to extend out all that thinking-about-taxes for another day or two but it can save you time and money through the year and it can save you plenty of hassle and frustration when you do your taxes next year.

Here’s what we recommend:

Change how you file through the year. Think about the sorting, filing, and digging through a mountain of paper that you did this year. How can you change that next year? I’ve seen other people who have a filing system that they stick to diligently and think they’re being really disciplined when in reality, the filing system isn’t “attuned” to the information they need on their taxes so they still have to do the sorting and filing in a year’s time. Avoid that hassle by thinking about the information you need at your finger tips and how it’s sorted in your taxes and create files to that effect.

Schedule earlier. If you do your taxes yourself but tend to procrastinate, why not schedule some tax prep into next year’s schedule right now. Yes, right now! But break it up over a few weeks so you only have to do a few minutes a day. Schedule a reward at the end.

Find a tax preparer. Is the pain of taxes really worth it? If not, find a tax preparer. Here are some tips I found to help from the Herald-Dispatch.

Read this stuff: I’ve mined the web looking for some great ideas to help people prepare for taxes. Some of it will mention this year’s tax season but most of the information is relevant for any tax year. This isn’t necessarily “tax season” information. It’s mostly good ideas to implement into your life and business throughout the year so that tax season is way less painful:

• Avoiding Small Business Tax Mistakes
• Small Businesses Can Avoid a Tax Time Train Wreck
• How to Minimize the Pain of Small Business Taxes
• One Year to an Organized Financial Life
• Nine Simple Things to Do to Get Ready for Tax Season Right Now
• Simple Tax Strategies to Maximize Your Tax Refind
• Tax Organization Tips for Freelance Writers
• Take Steps to Minimize the Pain of Small Business Taxes
• Five Tax Trends Every Business Should Follow In 2010

Yes, the last thing you WANT to be doing right now is thinking about taxes. But a few minutes now, while it’s still on your mind, will make a world of difference throughout the year and during next tax time.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

Sounds boring but you won’t want to skip it

I just read an article called “Liquidity, Crime Woes Shake Up Chief Risk Officers” at CFO.com. I suspect I lost about half of my blog readers just reading that sentence. Nothing seems quite as boring as words like “liquidity”, “risk”, and “CFO”. It’s all I can do to stay awake.

But it’s important for small businesses to understand this stuff. The problem is, small businesses don’t buy into the importance of risk management until they become bigger. They are just as exposed to risk as bigger companies but they are often underinsured, over-extended, and ill-prepared for when risks become realities.

If you are breathing a sigh of relief because you are still in business after what seems like the worst of the recession is over, STOP feeling relieved. Your business is still in danger. And many businesses (perhaps yours?) are not prepared for risks.

Please take a moment as soon as you are done reading this blog and list the potential things that could happen to you. Then, figure out how to prepare for it. (Yeah, it’s depressing. Yeah, you’d much rather be playing with your cat or doing billable work. I get that. But risk preparation will save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of your time.)

For example, if you live in an area where hurricanes are frequent, think about how your business can continue should a hurricane strike. Will your customers get their work if you lose power or experience flooding? A solution might be as simple as getting work out the door as quickly as possible and saving all work to multiple off-site servers.

I don’t need to tell you that mother nature isn’t the only potential risk that businesses face (it’s just often the least predictable). There are other risks, as the article at CFO.com suggests. In fact, they highlight liquidity and crime – both are key risks that you might be able to control with wise investments and careful planning. Maybe the addition of insurance or even just a better lock on your door.

Read the article here. Then, make your risk list. Then, figure out how to mitigate those risks.

The truth is, most businesses will click away after this blog and think “that’s not a bad idea, maybe I should do that someday”… but it’s the businesses that actually do it that will survive the next catastrophe.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

Getting Ready for 2010

It’s nearly the New Year and you know what that means! Resolution time! While some of your resolutions might be related to other aspects of your life (stop smoking, exercise more, you know all the regular ones!), doubtlessly there will be a handful of resolutions related to your business. But how many of those resolutions are related to your business’ financials? You should have business goals, that’s rarely a problem for business owners; but what is more often a problem is making some of those goals FINANCIAL goals! No one likes talking about financials so financial goals get swept under the carpet. However, it’s the financial goals that can make or break your business!

We want you to be fully equipped with all kinds of ideas and habits BEFORE the bell strikes midnight and we discover that it’s the New Year! So this blog is going to be some “required reading” that you need to do before 2010 so you can prepare a few financial resolutions for your company.

Geekery for Rent: Five Accounting Tips for Small Businesses as they Enter 2010: This article isn’t easy to find but it’s a gem! Good, solid advice for business owners including ways to track your finances, reduce your overhead costs, manage relationships, reduce bills, plus a way to help you borrow money.

The Microenterprise Journal Blog: How to Select and Use Small Business Credit Cards: You may need to borrow money next year and credit cards are a type of loan (but a high interest loan!!!). This article shows you exactly what the title promises, empowering you to get a business credit card that is right for you.

WebWorkerDaily: How to Plan for a Successful New year: This article doesn’t seem to be related to finance at first, but it is, in fact, closely related to generating revenue from projects you like to do. It’s a step by step exercise that is well worth doing!

MintLife Blog: 8 Tax Strategies to Consider Before 2010: This article lists some smart ideas to help you get higher tax deductions or pay less tax. Now all of these ideas will apply to everyone, but even a few of them will make a difference on your tax return.

About.com (Small Business): 6 Year End Small Business Tax Tips: If the MintLife blog was more about finding tax deductions in your personal life, this article at About.com is about gaining some tax advantages in your small business.

Happy New Year!

- Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ