Knowing how to run a business means staying on top of your finances. This is true even if your business is in your home. Perhaps you are a freelancer who works alone or an entrepreneur with employees.
Your home business or freelance career relies on many factors. The ones most in your control are managing your finances and business taxes correctly. To do it, there are three ways to play it smart.
- Keep your paperwork organized.
- Be sure to get the right tax forms filed on time.
- Get help to prevent an amateurish and costly mistake.
Keep Your Home Office Paperwork Organized
If you are an entrepreneur, you and you alone are responsible for staying on top of your paperwork. It is essential to come up with a solid system for ensuring that all your business information is organized and accessible for when tax season arrives. If your business is bigger than one person and you have employees, you probably need professional bookkeeping help.
Many home office systems are available to help you keep your business information in line. This includes your income, expenditures, payroll, all your official business information, and more. Of course, you want to be proficient in the software you choose; otherwise, you may make costly mistakes.
A professional business tax preparer, like those at Slaton Financial Services, already has the software needed to keep you on track. That’s one reason so many small businesses rely on us for bookkeeping and tax preparation.
Know What Forms Apply to Your Home Business
Filing your taxes as an entrepreneur or as a self-employed individual can feel overwhelming. You should learn in advance what forms to file and make sure to maintain your records to meet those requirements.
Choosing the right tax form depends on many factors. These include the official legal designation of your employment status, whether you are a business owner, freelance worker, or otherwise self-employed.
It is also vital to remember that these forms may have different deadlines for tax preparation. This is the second reason to make sure you have the right forms early and can be prepared to act when it’s time to do so. If you don’t, you may have to repeat the entire process of filing your taxes with extra fees or penalties for missing the deadline.
This problem is even bigger for the home business owner who has employees. Even though you are working from home, you can’t afford to handle your bookkeeping, payroll and taxes like an amateur. Taking a professional approach to all of these issues is essential to staying in business.
Consider Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping and Payroll
All of this is a confusing and complex topic, especially if you are trying to tackle it alone. For this reason, many small business owners prefer to work with financial professionals who can handle bookkeeping, payroll and taxes. It’s less expensive than hiring a full-time employee to handle your finances, and it is just as effective, maybe even more so.
With the pros at Slaton, your home business can be conducted with the same professionalism as a big business. This ensures that you not only file your business taxes correctly, but also reach the proper deadlines and supply the right information — the first time. In other words, it eliminates the guesswork.
When finances are secure and all issues are dealt with up front, a business owner can spend his or her energy on growing the business, and a free-lancer can focus on snagging their next assignment. Please contact Slaton Financial Services if we can assist your small business with any daily, monthly or yearly financial tasks.