One week into the new year and resolutions have been made, gym memberships purchased, betterment apps downloaded, and we’re all ready to tackle the next 12 months. For business owners, resolutions may be a little different.

Obtaining and managing PPP, reconciling stimulus payments, and an increase in state audits over the past year have small business owners entering tax season with dread. Taxes stop for no one though and every business is responsible for reporting their financial life to the IRS. Here are things we help our clients with throughout the year to reduce last minute stress:

• Processes. Tax prep starts as soon as transactions begin to be entered and need to be completed in full monthly. Daily, weekly, monthly, and quarter processes are the foundational way to simplify tax filing. The financial landscape can change quickly for small businesses and being proactive reduces the chances of unexpected tax implications at filing.

• Organization. Many self-employed individuals and small businesses aren’t focused on organizing their numbers, and as a result, deductions are missed, and tax planning is nearly impossible. The good news is, we do this for our clients with proven systems for tracking and processing in real-time, and the data is readily available through an easily accessible dashboard.

• Security. Online risks are plenty, but so are secure options for tax documents containing important data. Most importantly, have options available other than email for sharing and storing documents. By offering our clients a secure portal for data sharing, risk of fraud and theft are reduced dramatically. This also means we manage information proactively and don’t accidentally discard necessary documents. In case of an audit, a document management and storage system saves time and probably money as well.

Ultimately, if your bookkeeping is a mess, your tax return will be incorrect. With our approach of daily entries and transaction processing plus monthly one-on-one reviews eliminates tax hassles and last minute scrambling.