The month after you file is when tax season is freshest in your mind. Use it to save the return, settle what you owe, set this year's estimated payments and fix whatever made filing harder than it needed to be.
Save the return and the backup
Keep a copy of the full return, every schedule and the documents your CPA used. Store them in one folder by year. You'll want them for a loan application, a lender's questions or next year's return.
Settle what you owe or what's coming back
If you owe, pay by the deadline from your personal account, unless your CPA tells you otherwise. If the practice pays it, your bookkeeper records it as an owner draw or distribution, not as an expense. If you're getting a refund, note whether it was applied to this year's estimates.
Set this year's estimated payments
Ask your CPA for this year's four payment amounts while the numbers are in front of them. Then set up a monthly transfer to a tax savings account. In a made-up example, if the four payments total $18,000, that's $1,500 a month. Here's how estimates work.
Write down what went wrong
Most tax seasons have a few pain points. Write them down now, before you forget:
- Documents your CPA had to ask for twice.
- Months that weren't reconciled.
- Transactions nobody could explain.
- Questions about owner pay, loans or equipment.
Each one points to something that should happen monthly instead of in March.
Ask your CPA one planning question
Ask whether anything about your setup should change this year, like your entity, your salary or a retirement plan. A planning conversation in spring has room to act. The same conversation in December has much less. Here's when an S corp tends to make sense.
Fix one process for next year
Pick the biggest pain point from your list and fix it now, while it's fresh. If statements were missing, set up automatic statement access for your bookkeeper. If receipts were the problem, start saving them as you go. If the books weren't reconciled, make monthly reconciliation part of the plan. One fix in April or May saves hours the following March, and your CPA will notice the difference.
What I'd do this week
- Save the return and its documents in one folder.
- Pay any balance due and keep the confirmation.
- Get this year's estimate amounts and start the monthly transfer.
- List the three things that made filing hard.
Common questions
How long should I keep my tax return?
Keep returns and the records behind them for at least several years. Ask your CPA how long for your situation, since some records need longer.
What if I filed an extension?
An extension gives you more time to file, not to pay. If you haven't paid what you expect to owe, talk with your CPA now.
Should I change CPAs if this year was hard?
Look first at what made it hard. If the books weren't current, a new CPA won't fix that. If communication was the problem, it may be worth a conversation.
Want next tax season to be easier?
We reconcile every account every month and send your P&L and Balance Sheet by the 15th, so decisions like this start from real numbers. If that's what you need, apply to work with us.