This Podcast Is Episode Number 0233 And It Will Be About Contractors Struggle To Save Paperwork Needed For Taxes Tax Time! Corporate Income Tax Returns are due to the IRS by September 15th for S-Corp and LLC’s filing as an S-Corp Other types of corporations may be in a fiscal year with varied due dates. The only exception is any emergency extensions granted due to hurricanes (Harvey) or others. Personal Income Tax Returns are due to the IRS by October 15th which falls on the weekend and extended to Monday, October 16th. Keeping Paper Documents is necessary. Most contractors go from one extreme to the other. One extreme is saving everything for decades, and the other is tossing everything out. What To Save? What To Toss Out? We no longer need to print and save every document in file folders and keep adding new file cabinets. Happiness is every document that can be retrieved electronically at any time in the future. Sharie's Seven Paper Tips... Sharie’s Paper Tip 101 Save your receipts. If you have it in paper Get a file box and toss in all the gas, food, misc receipts paid by credit card.  Make a note on the receipt. You have the receipt for backup. I remember a story where someone needed to prove where they were. Charges on the credit card statement weren't enough.   Sharie’s Paper Tip 201 Make individual file folders for your state taxes, quarterly payroll reports, W-2’s, 1099’s. Other helpful folders are for your Bond, Liability Insurance, Worker’s Comp Insurance, Tools, Office Equipment and Cell Phones. All the statements you may need to reference over and over again and Receipts with extended warranties. Sharie’s Paper Tip 301 Print a copy of the Contract with your client (electronic signatures is fantastic) use a service that will time and date stamp in case you have an issues. Contracts are great in case of dispute. If all goes well, then The Signed Contract is just another piece of paper. I have heard stories of customers altering the contract, and the contractor did not double check. Magically things happen with software. Be sure what the client signs are the same copy of the contract you sent them and expected to be signed.   Sharie’s Paper Tip 401 Take credit cards. Use multiple services if that is what is available. If you use a service to send your contracts for signature and they have a Merchant Services; then sign up for it. Everything that happens seamlessly is the best. Approval Now + Authorization of Payment means you have real money (their money) to start the job.   OPM (means using Other Peoples Money – meaning you are using the Client’s money to start, continue and finish the job). Build in the Merchant Services Fee into your pricing. Cost of doing business.   Many contractors lost money on Groupon Coupons as customers only would do the One or Two Rooms as was prepaid on the coupon. (Example Carpet Cleaning – Drywall Patching)   Sharie’s Paper Tip 501 Use an invoice built on Excel. Word is pretty and is needed for all the descriptions. But to properly get the money, you expect to be paid Contractors need a form that adds up the money. Do not call all the payments a Job Deposit all the way from beginning to end. Call it a Statement, Progress Invoice, once work is approved it is no longer an Estimate or a Work Order. If you are in a sales tax state (Washington State) and need to collect sales tax; then be sure to add sales tax to every invoice. Customers have selective memory. Be sure to use “Plus Applicable Sales Tax” on the Estimate, Contact and all future billings. If sales tax increases you need to be able to pass the increases on to the customer.   Sharie’s Tip 601 Contractors who are doing remodel projects like to have job costing. To achieve basic job costing reports the accounting software needs to know what job the expenses should apply to. Many contractors will create a single file folder and drop all of the...