Small Business Record Management Tips to Ease Federal Tax Filing

Tax season is here. For a lot of small business owners in Florida, it’s a stressful and busy time. With the pressure of tax filing deadlines and documentation requirements, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

At Gilmore Services, we help our clients with document management, something that can streamline the federal tax filing process. Here’s what you need to know to stay organized and meet your tax obligations in 2020.

Deadlines to Know

The first thing you need to know is what your tax filing deadlines are. Here’s a breakdown of the most important dates.

• March 16: The federal tax filing deadline for S corporations and partnerships.
• April 15: The federal tax filing deadline for sole proprietorships, which is the same as for individual taxes.
• January 31: The deadline for distributing forms to employees, contractors, and vendors, including forms 1097, 1098, 1099, 3921, 2933, W-2, and W-2G.
• For other corporations, deadlines can vary and should be specified in your corporate resolution
• Employment taxes are usually reported semi-weekly or monthly and paid quarterly. Quarterly filing deadlines are April 30, July 31, October 30, and January 29.
• Excise taxes are paid monthly, quarterly, or annually

All important tax filing deadlines and commitments should be noted on your calendar, so that you don’t miss one and wind up paying late fees and penalties. You can find a full list of deadlines from the IRS here.

Gather and Organize Your Records

Small business taxes are based on several things. While some business types use pass-through taxation where the owner files individual income tax returns, others (including most corporations) must pay federal income tax.

You are likely dealing with payroll taxes on an ongoing basis. Your records should include:

• Details of all employee salaries, hourly compensation, and contractor fees and payments
• Receipts for all purchases and expenses, including rent, inventory, raw materials, and office supplies
• Documentation of all income, including sales and rent.

If you use accounting software such as QuickBooks to track your accounts, you should be able to pull information directly from the software and import it into your tax program.

The right document management company can help you keep your documents organized by digitizing them, storing them in the cloud, and destroying documents and data according to your schedule.

Find the Right Form

The next step is to make sure you know which forms to file for your federal taxes. There are multiple possibilities depending upon the structure of your business.

If your business is a sole proprietorship or a single-member LLC, you may simply attach Schedule C to your personal income tax return.

However, if your business does not fit into one of those categories, you must file a separate federal income tax return on form 1120. (S Corporations should file form 1120S.)

Keep Good Records Going Forward

If you’re struggling to gather the documentation to support your federal tax filing in 2020, this is a good time to get organized and partner with a document management company to ensure that everything is in place for the next time you pay taxes.

At Gilmore Services, we offer an array of document management services to help small businesses, including:

• Secure document imaging
• Cloud storage
• HIPAA, FACTA and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
• Secure on-site or off-site document shredding
• Data destruction per Department of Defense standards

We are a NAID-certified company with decades of experience in document management. We work closely with our clients to ensure they have the documentation they need to keep the stress out of filing their taxes.

Conclusion

Proper record management and documentation can take the guesswork and stress out of filing your federal business taxes. 

Need assistance keeping your tax documents organized and accessible? Click here to learn how Gilmore Services can help!