death and taxes

[lagilman]

Shirley Temple Black has died, at age 85 (somehow, I'd thought she was older).  I always found her movies far too Precious, but set in a historical context, they were amazingly positive and useful films, and she always seemed very aware of and pleased by the important role she played in American social history.  Plus, she's a solid example of how child stardom doesn't have to lead to wrack and ruin once you pass puberty.

Rest in peace, madam.

In other news....

Tax guy appointment this afternoon. Despite having 90% of the forms and information needed, I'm still certain he's going to give me that Heavy Sigh and tell me he's going to file for an extension...

(we go through this every year. He's so horrified by the rest of my work schedule, I think he just likes getting me an extension on deadlines where he can...)

Last year was a bit of a disaster, money-wise.  I did well enough in terms of monies earned, but there were so many unanticipated expenses ($5,000 in vet bills alone, for Pandora) and so many checks not arriving on time (and some that STILL haven't arrived), that I had to shuffle through the savings account more than I'm comfortable with, and I'm still trying to recover.  Which also means that my record-keeping slacked off from my usual standards.  Bad meerkat, no cookie.  Need to do better this year.

Also need to re-jigger my spreadsheets.  There are things that made sense 5 years ago that no longer make sense, and new categories and allocations to consider...

When it comes to taxes, are you a careful-keeper, or a shoebox-receipt-thrower?

Comments

[kriz1818.livejournal.com]

I enter all payments & expenses into the computer ... and then store the original receipts in a shoebox. :)

Sure, I'm still using Quicken 2001, but why change when it still works?

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Same here - we have to, in case the business is ever audited.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

A proud W2 1040 EZ filer. rosefox is the careful keeper. Do you two use the same accountant?

[lagilman]

We do, actually! (they gave me his name, a few years back)

[jesskastar.livejournal.com]

I track everything in a spreadsheet, with categories. Then I file in a cabinet (and file folders.) #extremeorganization #nerd #cfo_of_nonprofit

[jemck.livejournal.com]

shoebox-equivalent which is emptied and everything tallied and reconciled every three months.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Shirley Temple was only a bit older than my mom. Many people her age are starting to go now, and I don't know how she's feeling, but it can't be wonderful.

Shirley was an icon... I think people still call ginger ale with a Maraschino Cherry a Shirley Temple, even now. But yes, in the context of the Great Depression, the curled and dimpled smiling Shirley helped make everyone believe there was still some good in the world and that everything would be alright.

As for the tax situation. I've been fortunate in having a job that deducts taxes, which makes things a bit easier when it comes to calculations. But when it comes to itemizing, that does require more meticulous skills.

My typical move is the shoebox, which, when you're doing your own taxes, probably is horrific - and would require an immediate - like January - start. If you're paying someone, then it's still not great but at least they get to sift through and know exactly what to look for. But if they're a good CPA, you likely aren't their only client!

But yeah... when things aren't going well, that's when the record-keeping has to be better than usual.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

All receipts that will be or might be needed for taxes go into a container. Ceramic equivalent of shoe box. Then I pound it into submission with tax software. Day job usually sends too much to Uncle so it is simply a matter of getting a little bit back.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

I aspire to a shoebox.

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

Likewise. Shoeboxes have lids. Actually, I have a file cabinet. It's just that the papers never get there. Thank goodness for Quicken.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Moving from throwing receipts into a file and tearing my hair out as I enter them once a year to a more detailed accounting of expenses and income as it happens. Just need to get back into old habits--when I did the oh-so-Portlandia beaded jewelry business, I had things expensed down to the individual bead, and I could easily calculate materials cost and time cost for a final pricing. So I can do it, just hadn't chosen to because the teaching work eats up so much time and energy and the writing income wasn't that big. Now...I plan to change things, which means changing the system back to that rigorous data tracking....

[rosefox]

Say hi to Lewis for me!

I have so few business expenses that I just take standard deductions and don't sweat the receipts. I'm very careful about tracking all my business income, though, since most individual clients don't pay me enough (or know enough about doing business) to send 1099s.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I buy *everything* for my business online, putting the e-receipts in one folder. At the end of the year, I get tab separated data files from Paypal and my credit card, and import them into Open Office, sort them into sales and purchases, sort the purchases into type, and use the sum functions. Those few transactions I do in any other way, I put in the spreadsheet manually. So, it's essentially paperless... but more of a shoebox method than otherwise, because I don't PERSONALLY do any book-keeping until the end.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I enter the expense in the spreadsheet, then file the receipt in the correct manila file in the file cabinet, after said receipt has Aged to Perfection on top of the cabinet.