Doing your taxes as a small business owner can be complicated. There are lots of forms to be filled out and regulations are constantly changing. Thankfully, there are still steps you can take in advance to make tax season easier for yourself.
The simplest way to make tax season easier for yourself is to plan ahead. When creating a calendar for your business, make sure to include important dates such as your tax filing deadlines. For 2024, small business filing deadlines are:
Knowing these dates ahead of time so that you can plan accordingly and ensure that you’re prepared when these dates arrive.
Having a dedicated business checking account for your business finances is a great way to create an easier tax season for yourself. If you’re running your business through your personal bank account, you create an overlapping of your personal and business finances, which can make your business calculations even more difficult. Having a seperate account for your small business funds can help you to stay more organized and more secure in your tax calculations.
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Bookkeeping is an essential aspect of running a small business, particularly during tax season. By maintaining adequate records, you can better ensure accuracy in your tax return and reduce your risk of being audited. It’s vital that your bookkeeping is being done sufficiently, so check out our small business bookkeeping guide if you find yourself lost in the process.
It’s also possible to automate your bookkeeping, thanks to accounting software. By using software to do your bookkeeping for you, you can free up time to focus on other aspects of your business, such as your tax filings. With Innovator Business Checking, you can easily connect your account information to Quickbooks, a popular accounting software for small businesses, and instantly start enjoying the benefits of automated bookkeeping.
If you find yourself getting lost in your finances, the best thing you can do is hire an accountant. A good accountant will work with you throughout the year to track your profits and make sure you have good cash flow. They can even offer advice on how to grow your business. When you use a professional to manage your finances, you can feel more confident that they’re being handled properly, which makes tax filing less stressful.
When deciding to work with an accountant, make sure you know exactly what functions you need them to assist with and how often you’ll require their services. These factors can help you decide whether to hire an accountant directly onto your team as a dedicated employee or outsource your accounting to an independent accountant or an accounting firm. Regardless of where you source your accountant, make sure you’re taking the time to ensure that they’re right for your specific business.
Brana Webb is a versatile marketing professional with a decade of experience leading brand, content, and digital strategies across industries ranging from financial services to consumer goods. With 8+ years of experience driving brand growth and customer engagement across the banking and fintech space, she has developed a strong track record of translating complex ideas into compelling campaigns that resonate with target audiences. In her current role at Grasshopper, she leads strategic marketing initiatives that support product launches, deepen client relationships, and fuel business growth. With a background spanning both in-house and freelance work, Brana brings a thoughtful, creative, and data-informed approach, helping teams connect more meaningfully with their audiences and move faster toward their goals.
