Three Ways Professional Tax Services Can Help Your Small Business

Completing your business taxes is a year-round endeavor for small business owners. Small business tax services can help ease the burden in many situations. The first two ways professional tax services can help your small business go hand-in-hand, because tax professionals save you both time and money. The third is that hiring a tax service reduces your chance of an audit, and in the event you are audited, it helps to have someone familiar with your tax and business situation.

Now is a great time to start planning for the upcoming tax season by hiring a tax professional to help develop a tax plan for your business. You should not hire a tax service just to file your tax return. They should be there before and after-tax preparation to help you with planning throughout the year. A little time spent planning can get you on track to make tax time less painful.

Saves You Time

Hiring professional small business tax services will save you time, allowing you to concentrate on what’s more important -- running and growing your business! A tax service can save you time not only by advising you on how best to plan for tax preparation, but by tracking your income and spending to ensure you do not have a cash flow issue. This can make the difference between small businesses growing and thriving and not surviving.

Also, a tax professional can help you develop a plan that will help you be prepared for your estimated quarterly payments and tax preparation time. This way you will not be spending hours trying to pull things together at the last minute, because you were tracking your taxable income and expenses throughout the year. Depending on your situation, your tax plan can involve complete management by your accountant to a system such as accounting software or an Excel spreadsheet that works for you. By integrating preparing for taxes into part of your day-to-day business management activities, it won’t feel like a huge, time-consuming chore come tax time, because you will have already completed the work throughout the year.

Saves You Money

As they say: “Time is money!” A professional accountant saves you valuable time, which saves you money. However, they also save you money in other ways. By having a tax plan and knowing what to concentrate on throughout the year, you will be able to not only make sure your business income is recorded correctly but also make sure you don’t miss any tax deductions or credits. Have you ever caught yourself at tax time, wishing you had known that an expense you had paid qualified as a tax deduction sooner, so you could have saved the receipt. Do not let that happen again! Be prepared, so you know what qualifies for tax deductions and what you need to do to qualify for them. A detailed tax plan will help you maintain adequate records, so your tax return is correct, including all the tax deductions and credits you qualify to take.

Professional small business tax services can help you save money in numerous ways, including:

  • Maintaining adequate and accurate records by separating business and personal income and expenses;
  • Understanding the difference between net and gross income;
  • Correctly classifying your business as the best entity for tax purposes;
  • Manage payroll; and
  • Determine estimated tax payments.

It’s important to make your estimated tax payments, which are due to the IRS and in most states (including Ohio), in a timely and accurate manner. Completing your estimated tax returns to determine your quarterly payments can be complicated. And, if your business income fluctuates throughout the year, you may have to revise your estimated tax returns for each quarterly payment. One of the easiest ways a professional tax service saves you money is by saving you from needing to pay interest and penalties by ensuring your estimated tax payments are accurate and submitted on time.

Be Prepared for an Audit

The five-letter word that strikes fear in the hearts of many does not have to be more than an annoyance if you have kept adequate tax records. Hiring a professional tax service helps you to avoid an audit just by having your tax returns completed accurately. However, if your business is still selected for an audit (people are chosen at random), having a small business tax services professional, who is knowledgeable not just about the tax code but about your tax situation, will provide the assistance you need to get through the audit with a lot less stress.

The Bottom Line

Hiring a professional small business tax services company to help with your small business can be a lifeline to help ensure your business does not just survive but grows. A tax professional can help you develop a tax plan and work with you throughout the year to ensure tax preparation is just another box you need to check off, not something that gives you migraines. A tax plan for your business (and for yourself!) helps you make sure you do not miss valuable tax deductions and credits and saves you valuable time. To start working on your business tax plan and to ensure you have your business set up under the correct tax entity to maximize your tax advantages, schedule an appointment today with the accounting and tax preparation professionals at Gudorf Tax Group.