Works for Me Wednesday: Easier Tax Prep
It has only taken me all morning to get online. I'm probably so far done the list on Works for Me Wednesday that everyone has already read them all. At times my internet seems to want to be the death of me.It's coming up on tax season and if you're like me, you're possibly sitting down and at least thinking about your taxes. My hubby is an ordained pastor and therefore our tax bracket is a bit different than if he were not. We need to keep track of everything we purchase that is or could be ministry related. We keep all receipts for home improvements, a list of who we've entertained each month, etc...it gets quite large. I've found a great system that works for me in keeping track of all these receipts. It works wonderfully if I keep up to date each month. Last year I failed at keeping up on anything and thus I've spent the last few weeks going through receipts.
I do a few things. First, I have manila files that are labeled with each category that is on our tax worksheet (the one our tax guy sends us). I also have files for PUD, etc...since all of that is tracked as well. Each time I buy something that is "ministry" related it goes into the appropriate file. I have also labeled envelopes by month and simply place the receipts in the correct months envelope. At the end of the month I take that months receipts and enter them into the computer.
The computer is my second huge help! I have created in Excel a wonderful tool that helps me keep track and keep my sanity. If i use it correctly then once tax time comes I simply need to fill in the blanks on our tax worksheet. At the end of each month I add up my receipts for each individual category and enter that number in the grid. I've arranged it so the last column adds up all the previous columns. So for example if under the category of Yard we spent $30 in January, $20 in March, and $15 in July, then the final column will read $65. On my tax worksheet I would just write $65.00. I will also insert comments if needed, often saying where each receipt was from so I would know later for reference.
The computer is my second huge help! I have created in Excel a wonderful tool that helps me keep track and keep my sanity. If i use it correctly then once tax time comes I simply need to fill in the blanks on our tax worksheet. At the end of each month I add up my receipts for each individual category and enter that number in the grid. I've arranged it so the last column adds up all the previous columns. So for example if under the category of Yard we spent $30 in January, $20 in March, and $15 in July, then the final column will read $65. On my tax worksheet I would just write $65.00. I will also insert comments if needed, often saying where each receipt was from so I would know later for reference. There may be an easier way, but for us, this works great. I'm determined to do better this year, but I better get busy because I'm already a month behind...oops.
I'll send you mine today then :)Actually I will just bring it by then we can have lunch and take a zipline somewhere :)
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