Proper planning can eliminate last minute crisis in the accounting department. There are deadlines throughout the year but they can all be accomplished easily if one begins EARLIER in the year to plan for the future deadlines. This will enable your accountant to properly audit, review and finalize the data.
October 2010:
- Pick out your Halloween costume
- AND all of your 2010 accounting should be input, reconciled (through September 30th 2010) so that you can take this information to your tax preparer for strategic planning the following month.
November 2010:
- Eat lots of turkey
- AND get prepared for the holiday season because you won’t get much work done until after Christmas
- Meet with your tax preparer and review draft 2010 financials
- Make important tax strategizing decisions for end of year
December 2010:
- If you have payroll, begin the audits of W2’s to be mailed to employees by December 31, 2010
- Go to some holiday parties, buy some gifts AND……
- Prepare 1099 vendor records and accounting mapping to issue 1099’s the next month
- Make sure you have a W9 form completed for all subcontractors
- December 31, 2010 – mail W2’s to employees
- Print draft financials to begin stategizing for tax return deadlines coming up
January 2011:
- Do December bank reconciliations as soon as the statements arrive, finalize financials for reviews
- January 31, 2010 mail 1099’s to recipients (but hold the copies for the IRS until their deadline February 28th)
February 2011:
- Mail 1099 copies to the IRS by February 28th 2011 (the IRS deadline is a month after the vendor deadline – this gives you an opportunity to correct 1099’s with questions from vendors before the final copy goes to the IRS on February 28th).
- Begin final financial reviews to hand off to tax preparer – they need time to prepare the return
March 2011:
- March 15th: tax filing deadline for SCorp and Calendar year C Corp (final deadline September 15th)
April 2011:
- April 15th: tax filing deadline for individual and Partnership filings (final deadline for individual is October 15th and partnership final is September 15th)
- Don’t think you have until the deadline dates to start working on your accounting
- Beginning the prior October (and having all of 2010 already input and reconciled) will result in this month sailing into Spring
May 2011:
- Spring is here and flowers abound
- Each month in accounting there is an end of month dealine
- If these steps are done all the other deadlines will fall nicely into place
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