Episode 52.5: Bonus! Should I Do My Own Taxes or Hire Someone This Year?

In this bonus episode, I briefly talk about a very common question that I get: Should I Do My Own Taxes or Hire Someone This Year? I have discussed this in previous episodes but because we’re in tax season I decided to bring it up again.

The answer from me is: personal preference.

If your business is more complex, I would suggest hiring someone to handle your tax. The more complex the business is the more nuanced and complex the tax can become which is why I suggest a professional should handle it.

On the other hand, if your business is smaller and simpler, then there is no reason why you can’t handle it yourself using software like QuickBooks, which is great for tax and general bookkeeping for your business.

Regardless of what you decide it is important to weigh up the options available to you and decide from there. For example, if you would pay a similar amount for your software as you would for a professional, it might be a good idea to hire a professional. However, if you also were making use of all the other features of the software, then software would be the way to go.

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.

Sign up for the Bookkeeping Basics Bootcamp here and take control of your business financials and learn how to manage your own books!

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Speaker 1 (00:00):

Hey guys, coming to you today with a bonus episode, just wanting to briefly talk about a very common question that I get, and that is, should I do my own taxes or hire someone this year? And I’ve talked about this in previous episodes. So you may have already heard this, but because we are in this tax season right now, I just wanted to bring it up one more time. To me, the answer is personal preference. Honestly, I’m not going to tell you one way is right. I’m not going to tell you one way is wrong. Now, the more complicated your businesses, the more I’m going to tell you that it’s probably in your best interest to hire it out. Um, because there are so many different facets of the tax system. There are so many gray areas. There are so many things that change from year to year from, uh, presidency to presidency.

Speaker 1 (00:52):

Like they’re just always changes. And even as a tax professional, it can be hard to keep up with all of those too, because there are so many different industries and business types and, you know, there’s just so much. Um, and I think that it could be the most beneficial if you’re okay with it, to just hire it out. Now, I say that, but if you have a pretty simple business, not much going on in your personal taxes and you feel comfortable, there’s no reason why you can’t use a tox tax software tax software. These days are really good about taking you. Step-by-step Haskin questions that would help determine if deductions may fit in with your business or personal. And so I am not against tax software at all. Really just comes down to the personal preference. What you’re comfortable with. If the idea of doing your taxes stresses you out, why not hire someone?

Speaker 1 (01:49):

Um, especially as a small business, it shouldn’t be too detrimental to your finances. Um, once again, that all varies depending on where you live, what you do, what your tax return looks like and whatnot. But it’s definitely something to consider. There’s no reason why you can’t price it out and then end up doing it yourself. You may find that you’re not paying your tax preparer that much more than you are paying for your software. You never know, definitely something to consider long story short. If it brings you stress, if it brings you overwhelm, hire it out. If you feel comfortable enough to walk through it, you have the time allowed to do it, to do your own taxes. Then go ahead, give it a try totally up to you. I want to keep this brief today super short. I just wanted to kind of give you my insight to tax prep, my opinion, like I said to each their own, whatever makes sense for you is what you should do.

Speaker 1 (02:52):

And there’s no reason why you can’t do one this year and another one next year. If you change your mind, honestly, go back and forth as much as you want. If that’s really something you needed to do, if you needed to take it year by year, there is no right answer. There is no wrong answer. Figure out what works best for you and go from there. If you have any other questions, reach out to me or join us in our Facebook group. Business might a mama asked. They’re happy to help hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day.