The Tax Scramble Has Begun on Music Row. Here Are Some Tips for You.

[James A. Rose]

This article is a service of James Rose, Creative Business Lawyer®. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Foundation Audit or a STARTUP Foundation Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule. 

The Big Day is not until April 15, but, if you own a business and are doing things right, you’ve already started scrambling (or dreading the next couple of months as “Taxes” climbs higher on your to-do list).

Forms 1099 were due to your independent contractors February 1.  If you are filing an S-Corp or C-Corp tax return, it’s due March 15.  Personal returns are, of course, due April 15.

That means you should have all documents to your bookkeeper and tax advisor right around now.

If you don’t, or you are feeling stressed about the whole tax time scenario, here’s where we can help:

1. Get set up with a great bookkeeping team that can meet with you each month to categorize your expenses so you aren’t scrambling at the end of the year or the start of a new year when you should be focusing on business growth;
2. Ensure that your bookkeeping team never pays anyone more than $600 for the year without collecting a W-9 and then you won’t have to hustle at the beginning of the year to track down the people you paid so you can send them 1099s;
3. Meet with your tax advisor during the fourth quarter so you can make wise decisions about your income and expenses. We can attend this meeting with you so you ask all the right questions and so we can support in execution of the strategy.  If you’ve been having monthly bookkeeping meetings, your bookkeeper can submit your books to your tax advisor in early January to prepare your return.
4. Review your return no later than mid-February so you have time to look for anything that seems “off” before you sign.

Preparing for taxes doesn’t have to be difficult.  If you have good “financial hygiene” practices throughout the year, you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle. If you don’t, make 2017 the year you get them set up.  Start by sitting down with us.  As your Creative Business Lawyer® we can help you identify your needs and wisely choose a bookkeeper and tax advisor who will make tax time a breeze for you. This will allow you to stay focused on innovation, creativity, income, and creating a great product or service for your clients in this business of music we love. 

[Grig]

Working with tax records has always given me a lot of inconvenience. My business was on the verge of collapse and so I decided to try outsourcing. I read good reviews about Singapore's Osome service and ordered a package of accounting services. If you have a problem, you will be helped to solve it safely here https://osome.com/sg/accounting-services-singapore/.