It's a new year and with the start of every year there seems to be a sense of "refresh" or "restart". The problem is so many people do nothing at all or give up by the end of January. My goal in this article is to give you some actions steps and things to be thinking about as we start a new year. My hope is that you take action on these items an actually make 2023 the year your make a major impact to both you and your business.

Lets dig in!

Is Bookkeeping Important for My Business?

If you have been around our content for awhile you know that the answer to this is a big YES! Bookkeeping is the back bone to every business. You may be one of those business owners that right now, as you read this, are working on bookkeeping still for last year. It doesn't have to be that way.

If you do not even know what bookkeeping is or why it is so important, I recommend taking an hour and going through our Everything You Need to Know About Bookkeeping series that we did a year or two ago. This will really put you ahead of the game as far as understanding what bookkeeping is.

I don't want to go through all of that today but what I do want to do is go through a few action items and steps that you can start doing regularly, NOW, to setup your business for success in 2023.

• Update Your Bookkeeping Regularly (Monthly at a Minimum)
  • Continually putting it off causes you stress, anxiety, and a higher likelihood of mistakes. Put a task on your calendar every week/month/etc to just take the time out and get it done. By doing bookkeeping on a regular basis you now have data available to you that you can use to improve your business, understand your performance as the year goes on and better plan.
• Have a Separate Bank Account (and Credit Card) Specific to Your Business and No Commingling
  • This will make the actual task of bookkeeping that much easier because you do not have to sift through personal transactions. Always ensure you run no personal expenses on the business accounts. In the rare occasion that you accidentally put a personal expense on the business account, record it as an owners draw or reimburse the business for it. If you accidentally have business expenses on your personal account, create a spreadsheet of them so you have record for it when doing year-end tax filings.
• Keep Great Records and Receipts
  • First things first, do not worry about keep a paper copy of everything. Keep everything stored digitally so it is easier to find if you ever need it down the road. Keep receipts for everything. Write directly on the receipt the details of the transactions (who, what, where, when, and why) and then take a picture of it and put it in your digital file. 

Here's my promise to you. If you keep up with your bookkeeping on a regular basis, keep business and personal items separate, and file all necessary documents, invoices, receipts, etc. in a digital file as soon as you receive them, you will have:

1. Less Stress
2. Be On Top of Your Business
3. Pay Less in Taxes

What better time than now, at the beginning of the year to get into this practice and setup your business for success here in 2023!

Is Tax Planning Important for My Business?

Again, if you have been following us for awhile you know the answer to this and if you are just joining, you will know soon why tax planning is so important. Most business owners when they hear the word tax they think about tax filing when they should first think about tax planning.

Do not get me wrong, tax filing is important and required by law. However, it is simply taking information, after the year is over, and sending to the federal and state agencies. Tax planning is something that is done throughout the year and tax filing happens at the end.

We are coming up on tax filing season, where you will be filing your tax returns for the 2022 activity. However, January also is the beginning of the 12 month tax planning season for 2023. That's right, you should be learning and implementing tax strategies throughout the entire year.

Here are some tips and suggestions so that you can ensure 2023 is the year you pay the least amount in taxes as legally possible.

• Listen to the Small Business Tax Savings Podcast Weekly
  • Shameless plug but this Podcast was built for YOU! All of my time and effort goes into ensuring small business owners like you are aware of the tax strategies that are available and this Podcast serves as my tool to deliver that. Listen weekly.
• Read the Weekly Blog Posts
  • Each episode we produce comes with an accompanying blog post. Therefore whether you prefer to learn via audible or visually or some combination of the two, we have an option for you.
• Implement, Implement, Implement
  • Learning never stops but you need to do more than learn, you need to implement. If you find a topic that we talk on that really resonates with you, put it on your to-do to act on it while it is fresh in your mind.

Here's my promise to you. If you start learning and thinking about tax planning here in January you will be set yourself up for success to make 2023 the year you pay the least amount in taxes as legally possible. However you prefer to learn and implement we have a solution for you. 

• Free Content
  • As discussed above, our Podcast and Blog are both great free resources. This is a no fluff zone, we get right to the point and describe the strategies exactly in easy to understand ways.
• Join Our Tax Minimization Program
  • If you are looking to dig deeper on everything we talk about here on the Podcast, we have built a complete training program for you to do just that. Included is content, videos, templates, downloads, monthly private webinars, a private Facebook group, and access to our team for general tax and accounting questions.
• Hire a Tax Strategist
  • If you do not want to go about this alone and would rather have a tax planning expert work alongside you to provide a tax plan, implementation, and monitoring we have custom packages for that as well.

Hopefully now when you hear the word "tax" you think tax planning first and tax preparation second. Get listening and start implementing!

Is Strategic Planning Important for My Business?

We haven't talked about this much on the Podcast yet but this is an area we want to dive deeper on. Next week we are going to be going through what strategic planning is and why now is a great time of year to knock it out. 

Check back next week where we dive into that.

How Can I Setup My Business for Success in 2023?

January is a time to do a refresh for your business and get on the right track to start the year. My hope is that you take what we discussed here today and take action on it and stick to it. Get an accountability partner to ensure you are sticking with it throughout the year.

Here are some take-aways:

• Take Bookkeeping Seriously: Update it regularly, no commingling, and keep your receipts/documentation
• Start Tax Planning Now: Learn, research, and most importantly implement!
• Put a Strategic Plan Together: We will be digging deeper into this next week.

Lets do this together and make 2023 the best one yet!