Accountants are more than just Tax Time Assistants

When most people think of accountants, they think of people who help with tax return preparation. While accountants certainly do help with tax returns, it’s important to understand that they actually do a whole lot more as well. Did you know, for example, that many accountants can act as financial advisors of sorts?

If, for example, you’re having a hard time making ends meet, despite bringing in (at least on paper) more than enough, you may need a little help with budgeting and with determining where your money is going vs where it should be going. In that situation, an accountant could help you to set and stick to a smart, workable budget for your lifestyle and goals.  

An accountant could also help you to invest money in smart places, to keep better track of your financial records, and more. Good accountants will even recommend you to other financial professionals as needed. In other words, accountants are wonderful resources, not just for tax return preparation, but for your financial needs as a whole. For a great accountant in Naperville, contact Susan S. Lewis, Ltd.

No Dishonesty Allowed!

Professionals who offer tax return preparation services are expected to be honest and to file all peoples’ taxes accurately. Unfortunately, though, in recent years, there have been problems with tax preparers filing inaccurate earned income tax credit claims. The IRS is smart, though, and quickly caught onto this problem, and as a result, the organization is now doing something about it. As of this year, the IRS will be sending out letters to those tax preparers whom it believes have filed incorrect earned income tax credit claims.

The letters tax preparers will receive are not form warning letters either; no, each letter will detail what problems were discovered with each return, what the consequences are for those problems, and furthermore, that the IRS will be monitoring all of the tax preparer’s claims more closely in the future.

While you may not get in trouble if your tax preparer is dishonest, issues with your tax return could cause delays and other problems for you. As such, you’ll want to rely only on tax return preparation professionals who are honest and who follow all the rules as they relate to tax filing; you can find honest preparers at Susan S. Lewis Ltd. of Naperville.

Organize Your Financial Records

Establish a regular system for all your important paperwork to save time and money.

Paperwork (Photo credit: Sean Rogers1)

By Sandy Fernandez

Ever missed the window on a money-back rebate or paid a steep price for accidentally skipping a credit card payment? Then you know that disarray can cost you. This month, organize your paperwork once and for all. The system described below can help you easily locate your records when you need them, reduce your chances of identity theft, and simplify filing come tax time. 

STEP 1: Create a file system for this year's financial records.
Keep credit card and insurance statements as well as sales receipts here—but only for the current tax year. Everything older should be tossed, stored with past-year tax documents or put in a permanent file. 

What you will need: Manila or colored folders, hanging file folders with stick-up labels (including several with a wide bottom for large files), and a drawer or file box. 

The easiest way to avoid overdrawing is to pay all of the bills that come due within your pay period at once. If you pay online, the bank will subtract the funds, leaving you to spend (or save) whatever you have left over with no worries. 

Get started: Designate hanging files for the following categories: banking, business, cars, credit cards, household, income, insurance, investments, kids, legal, medical, warranties and miscellaneous. Inside each hanging file, include several manila folders that fit within that category. For example, keep folders for each vehicle in the cars file, including all the current paperwork for payments, insurance and maintenance. Don't sweat the categories: Do what makes sense to you. You can always make changes.

STEP 2: Put together an action file.

Think of this as your running to-do list. Store pending bills, statements you need to review for accuracy, recent receipts and anything else requiring action until you have time to read them and reconcile or file them.

Get started: Label your folders Bills to pay, To do later, To do this week, To file, To read and To shred. Stash these folders someplace accessible so you can drop in just-arrived credit card offers, that afternoon's receipts, the fund-raising request for your daughter's Brownie troop and similar items.

STEP 3: Maintain your system. 

Set aside enough time on a regular basis to go through each item in your action file. This is an important step; do it consistently so nothing slips through the cracks. What you will need: A calendar, your files and a block of time. 

Get started: During your session, pay any bills that are due, balance your checkbook, reconcile receipts with your bank or credit card accounts, file your papers, check items off your to-do lists and shred papers you no longer need. Don't forget to empty your "To do this week" folder and move up items from your "To do later" folder.

STEP 4: Organize your remaining files.

Aside from permanent vital records and tax documents, you don't need to hold on to most of your paperwork for more than a year. Audit your existing files to find a place for everything.

What you will need: A file box will suffice for old tax paperwork. Consider a locked filing cabinet to keep permanent documents, such as passports and property titles, accessible yet safe. Feed old statements into a crosscut shredder.

Get started: Bring all your financial and legal papers to one central location to complete this task. Then pull each paper out and toss, shred or file it. 

More tips for ultimate organization

Designate a command central: Choose one place to store your financial paperwork. It doesn't have to be a filing cabinet. If you prefer working in a kitchen nook, use a portable file box.

Stay on schedule: Maintain a regular routine so you don't miss critical deadlines.

·         Daily: Place your mail in a spot you've designated. Put all the financial papers (bills, credit offers, coupons, bank statements) in your action file, the garbage or the shredder.

·         Weekly: Dedicate at least a half hour to a finance update in which you clear your financial to-do list.

·         Monthly: Spend 45 minutes on file maintenance. Sort through bulging files for reconciled statements that can be shredded.

·         Annually: Review all your policies, long-standing accounts and will. If there has been a birth, death or divorce, consider updating your beneficiaries. Check for outdated terms and premium costs that seem too high. Put a note in your "To do later" file, and set aside time to investigate these items further.

Keep (or toss) important documents: Having an overstuffed filing cabinet makes it harder to stay organized. 

Make a treasure map: In case of emergency—your house catches on fire, say—make sure you have a single file with copies of identification documents, lists of accounts and other need-to-know information that can help you reconstruct your financial affairs. 

Download and complete the free vital documents map at juliemorgenstern.com/downloads.php; store one copy at home and another outside the house for safekeeping.

The information contained herein represents the opinions of a third party and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Mercer HR Services, LLC or MMC Securities Corp. and are unaffiliated with any of the entities referenced above.

Adapted from the January 20, 2012 issue of All You. © 2012 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

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Naperville Tax Return Preparation Tips

We can probably all agree that it would be wonderful if technology was to a point where our tax returns would simply prepare themselves. But we need to get real, that's just not going to happen. So that means when the time comes for you to file your Naperville Tax Return, you'll need to have done a little bit of pre-planning. Here are some tips to help with your Naperville Tax Return Preparation.

-    Checklist. Have a basic checklist on hand, so that you know you're prepared when you take your information to your accountant. On that checklist, include things like – last year's paperwork, W-2s, pay stubs and all the usual financial papers. By having a checklist of what you need, you won't feel like you're in a mad rush to get everything together.

-    Get Help. Did you know that it's been estimated that 80% of people end up either paying too much on their taxes or not getting a big enough return? And that happens to people who have the best intentions of being thorough, but simply don't have an in depth understanding of the latest tax laws. It's always smart to at least have an accountant look over your returns; just to make sure that you're not leaving any money on the table.

To get your checklist together and the help you need, you can set up an appointment to talk to the accountants at Lewis CPA. We're known for being the go-to Naperville tax return preparation experts. And by taking the time to prepare and get the professional tax help that you need, you'll be less likely to overpay or get underpaid when tax season is over and done with for another year.

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Naperville Tax Return Preparation

You can almost set your watch by it, or at least your calendar... As tax day comes around each year, people become frenzied. It's really something to see business people, home makers and all sorts of everyday folks going a bit wild with trying to get their tax preparations completed. Some of these people will choose a tax program to do the dirty work for them. Which is fine for some, but it's important to know that some of these programs can miss a lot of deductions and savings that you could have coming to you when you file your tax return. If you don't want to miss out on those deductions, you owe it to yourself to work with the Naperville Tax Return Preparation experts at Susan S. Lewis Ltd.

Knowledgeable Staff

It's important to know that when you do get your Naperville Tax Return Preparation done by the experts at Susan S. Lewis Ltd, you are getting the assistance of real, financial professionals. There are lots of fly-by-night or seasonal tax preparation centers that pop up as we get closer to tax time. Unfortunately, though, many of the people preparing taxes for these centers simply don't have the professional knowledge and skills that you'll get when you get your taxes prepared by us.

Don't let tax preparation confusion cause you undue stress or anxiety this year. And – whatever you do – don't trust your taxes to someone who doesn't have a reputation and skills to get you the most favorable return possible. Instead count on the experts at Susan S. Lewis Ltd. You'll be amazed at how much easier it is to get through tax season when you have the pros on your side.