Spring is finally here, bringing fresh flowers, warmer weather, and of course, TAX DAY!  I don’t know about you, but numbers are not my strength.  As April 15th gets closer and closer, I thank God everyday for giving me a husband who LOVES them.  While I am editing pretty photographs in the evening, Matt is creating new excel spreadsheets or updating our Quickbooks like it is his job.  Back in October, Matt even lead a Quickbooks class at our home for photographers in the area.  He spoke on the importance of tracking cash flow in your business and briefly demonstrated how to work Quickbooks.  At the end of the discussion, he emailed everyone who attended the Cash Flow Worksheet he uses to help manage my business finances.  I was wondering if it was ever put to good use when I received this in my inbox this morning:

AMY!!!

Can you please tell Matt that his Cash Flow Projection worksheet SERIOUSLY saved my life!! Like I mentioned at Spark on Tuesday, I was super stressed about figuring out all of my accounting stuff. Especially because my accountant wants a list of expenses by category…and I hadn’t been keeping track of anything! Well, thanks to Matt’s AMAZING spreadsheet…I was able to customize the “outflows” tab and easily add my expenses to the appropriate category as I went through each of my bank and credit card statements (item by item!). Thanks to him to didn’t have to mess with Wave or Quickbooks or create an excel doc from scratch. 

Long story short, a project that haunted me for months and I thought I’d never be able to manage…took me ONE DAY! I’ve customized each tab and made sure all the formulas match up…and in ONE DAY I have a whole year’s worth of finances at a glance. You have no idea how happy I am and how free I feel!

Please make sure he knows how much he helped and how thankful I am to you both for sharing!! 🙂

So sweet right?!  Since the Cash Flow Worksheet helped Cassi so much, I wanted to share a few more tips on how to make it through tax day!  Confession, Matt might have had something to do with this advice. (Thanks hubby!) 

STEP 1: HIRE AN ACCOUNTANT 

Unless you know how to file state and federal tax returns for your business, hire an accountant!  An accountant can file on your behalf, making sure you are protected from the IRS by doing things correctly. The best way to find an accountant is by asking for recommendations from your friends in the industry.  Don’t have a great recommendation, check out a company like H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt.

STEP 2: GATHER ALL OF YOUR COMPANY INFORMATION AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS

You will need your Federal Tax ID number, proof of ownership of any assets (cameras, lenses, computers, etc), and a categorized list of expenses so your accountant can see where your money was spent throughout the year.  If you have made any owner contributions to the business or have taken any distributions over the course of the year, you will need a record of this as well.

STEP 3: SUBMIT, SIT BACK + RELAX

Your accountant will put together your tax return and send to you to review.  You will then sign the return and send it back to your accountant who will file it electronically with the IRS.  YOU’RE DONE!  YAY!  Take some time to celebrate with your friends. 🙂

HAPPY FRIDAY!