Hello WCR Nation,
Question about the best process to get into from the ground floor year one as far as taxes and accounting goes.
Quickbooks? Wave? Other software.
If the suggestion is to get an accountant, what kind of accountant works best for getting the most deducted, etc.
Thanks!
Great question Drew. I hope you don’t mind me piggy backing on the thread and adding a question; Does anyone here do their own Taxes. If so why and how difficult is it to maximize your deductions without an accountant?
you can’t answer this question properly without first determining your business structure: sole proprietor or s-corp/llc?
Interview accountants, find one that you feel comfortable with and let them handle things. I use quickbooks to handle the daily operations and have a great accountant that handles the taxes and is there for me when I have questions. I can’t even imagine having the irs find something wrong with my taxes because I did them myself and then trying to plead ignorance with them. A good accountant is money well spent. Talk to other small business owners that you know and see if they can recommend an accountant, then set up an interview with them. We are an S corp and my accountant specializes in small business and handles the owners personal taxes.
Most accountants use quickbooks so you can transfer files back and forth. I could probably do accounting on my own and most people could clean their own windows, but I hate accounting for the same reason most people hate cleaning their own windows.
One part of the whole from day one: Open a “Sales Tax” account with your bank. As soon as you deposit an invoice into your primary account, transfer the amount of sales tax collected into the tax account. When the time comes to file state taxes (in Ohio it’s every January and July 23rd), the money is there, ready to go. Being diligent in this means you won’t be “caught behind the 8 ball”.
LLC - I have a healthy fear of the IRS and am pretty organized but I will get an accountant because from what I’ve heard the right one can save you so much more than an average one. Seems like Quickbooks is getting the nod as far as keeping track of the daily things. Has anybody had luck with any of the free software (Wave or others)? I’m a little skeptical of anything that is free, especially something like this.
Thanks again!
LLC - I have a healthy fear of the IRS and am pretty organized but I will get an accountant because from what I’ve heard the right one can save you so much more than an average one. Seems like Quickbooks is getting the nod as far as keeping track of the daily things. Has anybody had luck with any of the free software (Wave or others)? I’m a little skeptical of anything that is free, especially something like this.
Thanks again!
I don’t think Indiana collects sales tax on services. But that’s a good idea for States that do.
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Interview accountants that specialize in small businesses. After you find one have them set up quickbooks for you and explain how everything works.
[MENTION=1]Chris[/MENTION] The “reply with quote” button is locking up
Haven’t used any free ones, but I used quicken home and business for years. It’s simpler and easier to use than quick books and a lot cheaper.
We only switched to quick books when we started doing a lot more payroll.
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Another good read… I’ve been wanting to buy quick books for awhile now
Mike Radzik
Pro Window Cleaning
Central Massachusetts
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We use quick books and then hire an accountant at tax time.
Also, practice touching your toes…
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Hey Jim might have been your browser or server load, looks like its working now.
Best practice for taxes:
pay them
