It’s that time of year. The lull after the holidays is looming, the days are short, and the weather is cold and rainy (at least it is here in Portland. For those of you in warmer climates – we are all supremely jealous right about now!).
It’s also time to start collecting your 2018 tax records.
Depending on how you keep track of these records, such as income, mileage, expenses, and receipts, this task could be as simple as a few mouse clicks or hours categorizing old faded receipts from a year of business purchases.
I work with a few systems that I really like and recommend to my clients. If you haven’t used any systems to keep track of you records, I’ve included some methods you can use to find and organize your records.
For my clients, here’s how to pull records and reports you’ll need for taxes from these systems.
*Note: before you pull any reports, make sure all drives and expenses have been categorized for 2018!
MileLogger
Export your drive data through the app. You’ll get an email attachment. Open the attachment, make the columns wider so you can see all the data. Print and/or save on your computer.
If you want to print then you’ll likely get a whole lot of extra pages with very little or no data on them. An easy way to get your report to print on only a few pages is to select the columns and rows you want to print then go to Page Layout>Scale to Fit>Width and select width of ‘1 page’.
MileIQ
In the app export your report by tapping the top left icon. Select 2018 and check your email. There will be 3 options for how to look at your report. Select the third (.pdf). Open, print, and/or save to your computer.
Wave
Go to Reporting at the bottom of the menu in Wave. Scroll all the way down and select ‘Account Balance’. Filter for 2018 and update. This report will show you all the money that you either received or spent for the year, by category (in accounting, categories are referred to as ‘accounts’ hence the name of the report, Account Balance).
This report has most of the information you’ll need to fill out your Schedule C.
Income
Gather up your 1099’s and W2’s (if applicable). These should either be received in the mail or posted to an online system from your employer by January 31st. If you don’t have them in hand and you’ve checked your client’s online portal, go ahead and call them.
When records are everywhere…
If you weren’t super diligent this year about tracking tax information throughout the year, no worries. There are a bunch of work-arounds. The IRS has standards of proof that you’ll have to meet for certain expenses.
If you’d like help getting your records together or are interested in implementing some tracking systems to make 2019 records easy and accessible, contact me at GigSerious@gmail.com or through the contact form here.