Greetings,
I hope you and your families had a lovely Thanksgiving and are enjoying this holiday season. Year round, I am thankful for the opportunity to work with all of you but the holiday season is an important time of year to share that sentiment.
In the next couple weeks, we will be sending out information on a holiday gathering for our community to take place sometime in January. I look forward to gathering in person and seeing you all.
Please reach out if you have questions or want to get a jump on preparing fillings for the 2023 tax season that will begin in January.
Here’s to a safe and joyous holiday season!
Ubuntu!
Angela
December 2023 Business Due Dates
During December, ask employees whose withholding allowances will be different in 2024 to fill out a new Form W4 or Form W4(SP).
December 15 – Social Security, Medicare and Withheld Income Tax
If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in November.
December 15 – Nonpayroll Withholding
If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in November.
December 15 – Corporations
The fourth installment of estimated tax for 2023 calendar year corporations is due.
December 31 – Last Day to Pay Deductible Expenses for 2023
News
Governor Announces Nearly $1.5M in Federal Road Safety Grants for Kansas Communities
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today announced seven Kansas communities will receive a combined total of $1.47 million through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grants program. The funds go toward projects that improve safety and prevent deaths and serious injuries on local roadways. Read more here. (Links to PDF.)
U.S. SBA and US Department of Ag Strengthen Partnership to Create Jobs and Economic Growth in Rural America
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the SBA is strengthening its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to create jobs and expand access to new and better market opportunities for people in rural America. Read more here.
End 2023 on a high note by completing these 5 essential Quickbooks tasks before January 1
December always seems to fly by. In just a few short weeks, it will be time to welcome the New Year. The holiday season brings personal obligations, but for retailers, it’s also the busiest time of the year. Even if you’re not in the retail business, you probably have sales goals or other metrics to meet before 2024 arrives.
Amid all the responsibilities that come with owning a business during the holiday season, you also need to finalize your bookkeeping for the current year to prepare for the new one. If you’ve been using QuickBooks Online throughout the year, your job will be considerably easier. However, you should still allocate some time for essential year-end tasks.
While it might not be possible to wrap up everything by New Year’s Eve, there are five things you can accomplish during your busy November and December to get a head start on January.
1. Analyze Your 2023 Income
You may not have your final sales and income figures until the year concludes, but you can get a good start by November. QuickBooks Online offers several reports that provide a clear, comprehensive view of your 2023 sales. By clicking “Reports” in the toolbar and selecting “Sales and customers,” you can run reports to examine your sales based on Class, Customer, Customer Type, and Product/Service. These reports can be displayed in summary or detail format and are customizable, allowing you to specify date ranges and group results based on criteria such as Transaction Type, Customer, and Account.
2. Know What You Owe
Managing your financial obligations is crucial. To determine what still needs to be paid, click “Reports” and navigate to “What you owe.” For a quick overview, run “Unpaid Bills.” For a more detailed perspective, generate the “Accounts payable aging detail” report, which categorizes your outstanding payables by days past due.
3. Know Who Still Owes You
Monitoring unpaid invoices is a year-round concern, but it’s especially important as the end of 2023 approaches. December might not be the ideal time to collect from delinquent customers, but it’s important assess where you stand with them. Under the “Reports” tab, look for “Who owes you” and generate two reports: “Accounts receivable aging detail” and “Open Invoices.”
Consider dedicating some time to brainstorm strategies that could encourage customers to settle their debt faster.
4. Create Statements For Past-Due Clients
Client statements resemble reports, displaying sales transactions within a specified period. Statements serve two purposes. Some customers simply want a list of their invoices and payments for their records. Others may require statements as reminders of overdue accounts. You can create statements by clicking “New” in the upper left corner and selecting “Statement” under “Other.” While there are three types, you’ll most likely create and send the following two:
Open Item Note:This type displays all open, unpaid invoices from the past 365 days.
Transaction Statement Note:This option lists all transactions for the selected date range.
Statements are useful for reminding customers of overdue payments or providing a transaction record for a specific period.
5. Clean Up Your Customers and Vendor Lists
If you have only a few customers or vendors, your list is probably up to date. However, if you’ve been adding customers or vendors for months – or even years – without managing the list, you might be wasting time scrolling through an extensive roster. Instead of deleting them, you can make them inactive. Click “Sales” in the toolbar and select “Customers.” If you have inactive customers with no open activity, you can hide them. Simply click the box next to the customer’s name and then click “Batch actions” in the upper left, followed by “Make inactive.”
November and December are hectic months any way you slice it, and it’s perfectly fine if you can’t accomplish all these tasks by the year’s end. However, consider adding them to your January to-do list if they remain incomplete. It is also wise to run standard financial reports available in QuickBooks Online Reports, particularly the ones found under “For my accountant.” Having regular meetings with your tax professional throughout the year can help avoid surprises before New Year’s, every year.
