How many entrepreneurs are thinking of tax season now? Very few. But how many should be? Every single one! There are three things you can do today to make tax season a breeze:

Save Your Receipts. Whether you save them in a file folder or in the cloud, it's up to you. The important thing is that all your business receipts are saved. Why? Because they are required by the IRS if you are audited. They want to see the receipt from Target showing you actually bought office supplies and not a new wardrobe. The burden to prove all those transactions in your bank account are business related will be on you. Taking the time to file receipts today will save you a lot of stress should you be audited later. ​

Setup a Bookkeeping System. I highly recommend QuickBooks Online. It's a cloud-based accounting program. Before you run away because you're scared of numbers, let me tell you how QuickBooks Online has helped my clients!

• Tracking income and expenses, simplifying tax season
• Sending professional invoices
• Easily collecting payments
• Storing receipts using QuickBooks Online’s mobile app
• Tracking sales tax

Is this something you need? Click here to get 50% off for your first three months. 

Tax Plan. I highly recommend all my clients (and you too!) find a local CPA to work with. A good CPA will offer tax planning services. This is a meeting before the end of the year to help you take tax-saving actions such as identifying deductions, making charitable contributions, or buying new equipment. It is best to schedule this meeting sometime between mid-October through December. 

How prepared do you feel for tax season?

​Recently, QuickBooks Online rolled out an update to its receipts feature and you need to know about it! It will save you time and even money by eliminating the need to subscribe to other receipt storage systems. You have three options to upload receipts. 

Using QuickBooks Online Desktop.

• Login to QuickBooks Online on your desktop.
• Click the Banking menu, select the Receipts Tab. 
• Drag and drop receipts directly into QuickBooks Online, or select Browse to upload them. 

Using email.

• Setup a custom email address. Go to the Banking menu, then select the Receipts tab. It'll walk you through the steps.
• Email or forward receipts to your customized email address. Attach receipts to the email—receipts sent in the body of the email will not work. If you send a file it should be a pdf, jpeg, jpg, gif, or png. Note: You can send multiple receipts in one email. But the total file size should be under 20 MB. Also, be sure each image or file contains only one receipt.​

Using the QuickBooks Online app on your phone.

• To scan a receipt, install the "QuickBooks Accounting" app on your phone. 
• Open the app and tap the menu button. 
• Select Receipt Snap and take a photo of your receipt. 
• It will automatically appear in the Receipts tab with any other receipts you've added. 
• Use your computer to manage your receipts from there.

Bonus Tips: 

• No matter which way you choose to upload receipts, you'll see them under For Review in the Receipts tab. From there match each receipt with it's transactions in QuickBooks Online.
• Be sure that each image or file contains only a single receipt.
• ​File size cannot exceed 20 mb.
• Processing might take a few minutes. If something didn’t quite work, you’ll get an email that lets you know.

One of the best ways to streamline your invoicing process is to setup your Products and Services list in QuickBooks Online. Here's how:

• Log into QuickBooks Online, hover over the Sales tab and click Products and Services.
• Click New on the top right.
• Choose the correct category: Inventory, Non-inventory, Bundle, or Service. Read through each description if you need help deciding. 
• Name your service/product and choose a category which helps you classify and organize the things you sell.
• Optional: add a description that will show up on the sales form. 
• If you fill in the price/rate box it'll automatically fill in the pricing on your invoices.
• Choose an income account or create a new one. You want this to correlate with the product or service since it shows up as a line on your Profit & Loss Statement. For example, I have a service called Monthly Bookkeeping (surprise!) and the income account I use is Monthly Bookkeeping. When I look at my Profit & Loss Statement, I can see how much I made from Monthly Bookkeeping. Note: You do not need to setup a separate income account for each service you offer. You may generalize the categories to fit your needs.
• Finally, check the box if it's taxable and choose the sales tax category. Click Save.

Now your product or service is setup and ready to go!