If you’re running a business then you know how important it is to balance your income and expenses. As your business scales there is a good chance that you will stop wearing your CFO hat and hand it over to someone who really knows what they’re doing. Don’t take this as an insult, just know that you can’t be a jack of all trades, you need to know what you know and know what you don’t know. For the things you don’t know, find an expert who can make sure you’re running your business the right way.
One mistake I made early on in my business was not thinking about taxes until March or April. This is fine until your business grows and then you start to look back and say, “I wish that expense took place just a few months earlier!” It’s a balancing act and when your business is making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or more, making sure expenses are taken at the right time is critical.
On top of this, the US has one of the most complicated and ever-changing tax systems out there so consulting with your accountant before the year is over will help you optimize your finances. I make sure to meet with my accountant mid-November so that I have a good six weeks to digest it all and make any last minute tweaks to optimize for the coming tax year. Don’t wait until December because then it might be too late, and please don’t wait until next year because then it really is too late to do anything that will impact the 2012 tax year.
So take a moment now to look at your schedule and pick a day to meet with your accountant. Don’t let the year slip by and don’t try to go it alone, unless you’re an accountant yourself, leave it to the experts.
