As you head into a new year, you also have a lot of new opportunities for your business. But how do you know if you’re well-positioned to take advantage of these opportunities? The best thing you can do for your business this coming year is to be sure you know how you finished up last year. Having an accurate picture of what happened in the past will help you prepare for the opportunities that lie ahead. In fact, spending a few hours on this now could make or save you thousands or more this year. Since you will need to have all this information together for preparing your taxes anyway, you should go ahead and get it done before getting too far into the new year.

If you haven’t been keeping up with your income, expenses, and other transactions throughout the year, it can be rather daunting to think about even where to begin. We have a very handy worksheet available here that will help you with the process. One particularly important area to be sure that you have an accurate accounting of is your business mileage and travel expenses for the year. We have a mileage log available here to help you with this, but there is more to consider than just how many miles you put on your vehicle during the year. For example, miles to and from your home are considered commuting miles and cannot be taken as a business expense, unless you meet a specific criteria. Also, you must substantiate certain travel and meals expenses in order to receive any tax benefit. You can read about some of the requirements in this same brochure, but your particular situation may vary. Come and see us to be sure you are staying compliant and receiving the full benefit available to you.

We hope that this coming year brings with it exciting new opportunities for you and your business. As always, we are available to help you in this process, as well as with the year ahead. Come in and see us!

-Heritage Accounting and Tax Services

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