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Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

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Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

#1

Post by ericb »

If there is one thing that makes my blood boil, it's doing paperwork, especially taxes. I hate it. I hate keeping records, data entry, well, all of it. I've tried the accountant route, but it's expensive and I end up creating a spreadsheet to give to them that's nearly as annoying as doing it myself.

I'm hoping folks can share what they do tax-wise. Do you have any accounting hacks to make this less aggravating? What's your system and incorporation setup?

Re: Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

#5

Post by brentr »

ericb wrote: post #3
brentr wrote: post #2

Turbo Tax

Couple questions, if you don't mind. Are you incorporated? Is it a specific turbo tax variety? What's the process like, and do you do quarterly estimated tax and all that?

Intuit's Turbo Tax walks you through everything. If you have a personal business, it will step you through the filing. If you have capital gains, it will help you with that as well. I just finished my taxes with Turbo Tax and it only took me about 15 minutes. Yes, I could have done them by hand, but I absolutely hate doing taxes even though I only do them once a year. The government already gets enough of my money, they will not get too much of my time also.

Re: Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

#6

Post by ericb »

brentr wrote: post #5
ericb wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couple questions, if you don't mind. Are you incorporated? Is it a specific turbo tax variety? What's the process like, and do you do quarterly estimated tax and all that?

Intuit's Turbo Tax walks you through everything. If you have a personal business, it will step you through the filing. If you have capital gains, it will help you with that as well. I just finished my taxes with Turbo Tax and it only took me about 15 minutes. Yes, I could have done them by hand, but I absolutely hate doing taxes even though I only do them once a year. The government already gets enough of my money, t…

Sounds promising. I have a C corp. Does TurboTax cover something like that, or only sole proprietorships?

Re: Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

#7

Post by brentr »

ericb wrote: post #6
brentr wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intuit's Turbo Tax walks you through everything. If you have a personal business, it will step you through the filing. If you have capital gains, it will help you with that as well. I just finished my taxes with Turbo Tax and it only took me about 15 minutes. Yes, I could have done them by hand, but I absolutely hate doing taxes even though I only do them once a year. The government already gets enough of my money, t…

Sounds promising. I have a C corp. Does TurboTax cover something like that, or only sole proprietorships?

http://turbotax.intuit.com/small-business-taxes/

It lists C corp as an option, but I don't own a business, so I can't comment on what it can do for something like a C corp.

Re: Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

#10

Post by jyu »

I used a bookkeeper ($50/month) and tax accountant for taxes. He is a retired multi-millionaire, that wanted to see a smart young guy succeed. All expenses were via credit/debit card. All revenues were promptly deposited into the bank account, and reflected on bank statements.

A bookkeeper or accountant is useful once you start making money, because they help keep you objective and should be a useful resource.

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