Mid-Year Financial Review

Every year, small business owners wait until the end of the year to even start thinking about their tax returns. Well, guess what? There's no time like the present.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

- Benjamin Franklin

Have you ever been told that you could have saved on your taxes, but it was too late? Or that you should have been a different tax structure? Too often, small business owners fall victim to procrastination. Proactively checking in with your Tax Professional can

unnecessarily tax liabilities and ensure that you make better business decisions for the upcoming year.

Summertime is a Tax Professional’s downtime, which makes it the best time of year to set up a consultation. Meeting with your Tax Professional at the end of summer will help you set expectations for the remaining part of the year and develop a detailed tax plan. Every good tax plan involves actionable items that the client should consider in order to minimize their tax liability. Starting this process early gives everyone more time to make decisions and monitor the cash flow required.

Tax Professionals commonly work over 60-70 hours a week during tax season. During their slow season, however, they have more bandwidth to offer expertise on the past tax season's trends and where they see you heading. Your Tax Professional can identify areas that need improvement or changes. You'll have enough time to implement them and potentially see your tax returns increase when Tax Day comes around.

Tax Professionals will evaluate your midyear point with regards to:

• Reviewing your financial statement to discuss leaky faucets and tax planning.

• Identifying potential investments in specific areas of your business that could help create growth and tax deductions.

• Providing feedback on how the new tax laws affect you.

• Reviewing projected net income and possible retirement plan contributions to help you decide whether you should defer more income to decrease your overall tax liability.

• Evaluating how first-half performance will affect cash flow and tax planning

Tax Professionals can also help assess the success of your business goals by comparing your year-to-date revenue with the same time period. You may find that the business isn't achieving goals or growing at the rate you expected, in which case, you'll need to find out why and determine how to make changes. Knowing this information now impacts your decisions and goal-setting going forward.

In the same vein, your business may be doing better than projected, but you can still benefit from feedback on ways to keep it on track.

How do I save on taxes?

This is the most commonly asked question I receive from business owners. The best approach? Have regular reviews with your Tax Professional, financial advisor, retirement plan consultant and industry peers to generate ideas and learn what has worked for other businesses. For example, our new tax laws have new rules that provide tax incentives to reinvest in your business.

Does your business have significant growth or net cash flow that you don't want taxed? One option might be to utilize retirement plans that go beyond a traditional 401k plan. You can also reap tax savings by investing in your company, including tax-advantaged preparations for a sale or purchase.

Quarterly estimated tax payments

Don't waste money by paying underpayment penalties to the IRS or your state. Estimated tax payments are due four times a year. Meeting with your Tax Professional now allows you to readjust your estimated tax payments based on how your year is developing.

Getting ahead and getting organized

Record-keeping throughout the year can be a tedious process, but it will benefit you later when tax season arrives. A midyear review with your Tax Professional gives you time to prepare and organize documents and gather your tax deductions, expenses and receipts. It also helps you figure out who owes you money. Careful, ongoing record-keeping helps you make better business decisions and create more success within your business.

In summary, reviewing your midyear financials is always a great move. Scheduling time to meet with your Tax Professional to review your year-to-date financials helps you plan for the rest of the year, and determine what actions you can take to improve your business and reduce taxes. You'll also be able to confirm you're making the appropriate amount of estimated quarterly tax payments.

Your access to more accurate information is critical to helping you accomplish your personal and financial goals, whether you're making decisions on your own, with your internal key people, or in working with your other professional advisors.

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