Tips to have a tax-free season
In this podcast we discuss how you can have a stress-free tax season in 2021.
QuickBooks
I know that it can be stressful during tax season especially when your books from 2020 are in disarray due to the pandemic. The single most valuable piece of advice I can give is to get your books in order! QuickBooks is a great piece of affordable software that I recommend for managing the bookkeeping of your business. Find out more about QuickBooks here.
Bookkeeping Basics Bootcamp
Be current and consistent in your bookkeeping. The most challenging thing is to get over the initial foundation building of your bookkeeping. I know that getting started with a new piece of software can be daunting but that’s where my Bookkeeping Basics Bootcamp comes in. It allows you to take control of your business financials. Through the course, you will learn how to manage your own books efficiently and correctly with QuickBooks! Sign up for the course here.
Additionally, I break down how you should be setting aside your time for managing your bookkeeping. The most important thing is to set a regular time during which you will be managing your books every week. In practice this should be around 30 minutes per week.
At the end of the year you don’t want to find yourself trying to think back to transactions that took place in February.
Remember: be current and consistent!
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello briefly before we get onto di with today’s podcast episode, I wanted to remind you that I am running a special right now on the bookkeeping basics bootcamp for today. And tomorrow only you can get $50 off with code, be the boss 2021. So now is the opportunity to save a little money, to get, um, to dive into your books, to get set up for success for this new year. If you have questions, reach out to me, but I hope to see you there in the bootcamp. And I hope that you are ready to have the best ear yet.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Business-minded mama. I’m so grateful that you are here and that you are ready to grow an authentic community and scale your impact. Hi, I’m Stephanie. Parenza the voice behind business minded, mama podcast, local and small business advocate and entrepreneur. I’ve created this community because I want to help business minded mamas. Like you build your dream business by finding your authentic community and gaining control and clarity on the financial aspects of your business by managing your own bucks. Now let’s tap into your own potential
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Happy Friday. Thank you for tuning in with me this weekend on the podcast in the Facebook group, I hope the information I’ve been giving you has been very valuable. I know this is a very overwhelming and stressful time for many of you as entrepreneurs and not knowing what to do for your books and not knowing what to do for tax season. And today, I want to come to you to help you understand how you can have a stress free tax season as an entrepreneur. How can you set yourself up so that when it comes to taxes, you are not in a state of panic and this is going to be so good. You may be in that state of stress and panic right now, but what we’re going to do right now is we’re going to start with 2021 K, get yourself through this, this season you are in right now for 2020 taxes, but in 2021, we’re going to really dial in and we’re going to figure out how to make the next tax season.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So stress free that on one, one 20, 22, you hand over your stuff to get to your tax repair. And you never have to think about it again until they tell you it’s time to sign. So here is my biggest piece of advice. Okay? That is do your bookkeeping really, really simple guys, do your bookkeeping and start it now. Now, um, I’ve, I’ve told you this before, uh, we’re in this shift of 20, 20 to 2021, and many of you may be like, how in the world can I focus on 2021 when 2020 books are a disaster? Okay, guys, that is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it. But if you don’t start your 20, 21 books right now, then you’re going to feel this way again, when we get to 20, 22. So first and foremost, your priority is getting your books set up for success right now for 2021.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Once you have done that, you can go back to 2020 and start working on that. You have about three months to get 2020 in order. So set up a plan, right, but put 2021, January, 2021 at the very top of that list so that you’re not behind. Okay. And then if you’re still in February working on 2020, February, 2021, the very first, the top of the list before you dive in to 2020, my number one piece of advice is said taking the time right now to set up your books, okay, let’s set up your books, lay that foundation. If you already have that. Great. Now let’s think about how can we consistently be in our books without taking away a lot of time. And here’s what I want you to do every Friday, or if there’s a better day for you, that’s fine. I want you to spend 15 to 30 minutes coding your transactions and QuickBooks.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Okay. I hope that you all are in QuickBooks and using, uh, this very affordable software for your business, because it is going to save you time. And you are going to realize the benefit of spending the $7 and 50 cents a month very quickly. And if you are not in QuickBooks and are super overwhelmed by the idea of actually setting up QuickBooks or getting started with QuickBooks, that is where I come in. I have the bookkeeping basics bootcamp, where I walk you step by step through setting up QuickBooks for your business. What you really need to look at when in QuickBooks, what to do each week, month, quarter, year in QuickBooks, really? Um, I break it down so that you can easily put this together yourself. Okay? It’s not a long course. Um, you need to set aside maybe two hours, uh, depending on if you’re going to do the task while watching my course, um, a couple hours to set your foundations in QuickBooks, to really understand what exactly you actually need to be doing in your books in QuickBooks.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I promise you that if you can just do this, now you will see that managing your own books. Doesn’t have to be so complicated. Doesn’t have to be so overwhelming. And as we talk through what you should be doing to set your up, set yourself up for a stress free tax season, it will all make because everything is housed in this software. This software is going to help you tremendously. I promise you, it’s going to make it so much more clear. And once you’re clear on your business, finances, the sky is the limit. You will then be able to take it to the next step where you really get to look at your income. You get to look at your expenses. You get to determine if you’re making a profit based upon the decisions that you’re making your business. And if you aren’t, you get to figure out how you can shift or pivot to make 20, 21 an even more profitable year for your business.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Okay? So you have everything in QuickBooks. Let’s say that, okay, you’ve gone through this course or you’ve already done it. You already understand it. Now each week, like I said, perhaps on a Friday, perhaps a different day, 15 to 30 minutes, you take the time to code your transactions. That’s it? Okay. That’s all you need to do. And then when we get to the end of the month, one, making sure that everything is input, everything’s coded all the transactions are cleared and taken care of. I want you then to spend about 15 minutes, that’s it looking at your profit and loss. You’re going to look at your current month profit and loss, and perhaps look at your prior month, profit and loss. Do you see any large variances? Is there anything that sticks out that you need to look further into? This is all I want you to do.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
That’s simple, making sure everything looks good and making sure all the transactions are N making sure. Um, you have set aside money for estimated taxes, which we cover in other podcasts. Um, and I will dive into more, as we progress through the year. All you need to do to set yourself up for successful stress fee free tax season is to be current and consistent in your bookkeeping. It is really not that complicated. It is really, uh, something honestly that I passionately believe that you can do. It is getting over the fear of the, of setting up the foundation that I think most of us, um, need to work through. And that is why I have the bookkeeping basics bootcamp, because I want to set up the foundation for you. And even at the end of the course, if you are still thinking, Steph, I just don’t know if this is right.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I don’t feel confident, messaged me a book, a consultation with me. I can go in and, and give you the, the confidence that everything is set up correctly so that you can each and every month take control of your bookkeeping. Then at the end of the year, you’ll have done this month by month, that there is no playing catch up. There is no, uh, taking your memory back to, uh, 11 months prior thinking why in the world did I buy this for? Was this really business? Was this personal? You already know, because you took a month by month when it was all fresh in your mind, the end of the year, you have 100% confidence that you can close your books at 1231 and pass them on to your tax preparer, or import it into your top tax software on one, one 2022. It is this simple.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
And I realize, um, that still, some of you are very overwhelmed by this idea. Um, and I want you to know that my inbox is always open for questions. I love hearing from you all. Um, the Facebook group is completely free. I love answering questions on there, and I really truly hope that as we are in the beginning of this year, that you will really take this one piece of advice. If anything, do your books. Now don’t allow yourself to get behind. This is absolutely the only way you can set yourself up for a stress free tax season next year, the only way. So please make sure you are current and consistent and your bookkeeping processes, whatever that may look like, whatever you have determined is best for you. If you are on the same page as me and know that QuickBooks is right for you, but you are overwhelmed with the idea of where to start, please consider looking into the bookkeeping basics bootcamp. I promise you that it will help you determine what is actually necessary. And in setting that foundation, it will walk you through step-by-step. I have laid out a plan for what you should do each week, each month, each quarter, each year, only the things that you absolutely must do. And I hope that I can really help you get a better understanding of your financials this year, so that you can have the best year yet in your business. Thanks for tuning in. I’ll see you all later.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Did you like what you heard on today’s podcast or do you know a business-minded mama that could benefit from hearing this, take a screenshot and share the best with your community? And don’t forget to give me a review, want to chat more? Find me on Facebook and the business minded mama Facebook page or on Instagram at Mrs. And SIS or through my website, www dot business-minded moma.com.
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