Has anyone ever accidentally entered 0.00 when they were adding a dependent child to their filing? Those zeros show up right next to the percentage for the standard deduction, and I left them there even though my plan is to claim the child for the tax credit for 2017—plus, I haven't shared the standard deduction with anyone else. Now I’m sitting here thinking I totally botched it. Any advice? Thanks!
If anyone feels like helping... I’m finally pulling the plug on my small business. I get the whole deal with reporting unpaid income as paid, but I’m stuck on the logistics. Can I just file my sales tax through the IRS website? And if I officially shut things down by September 30th, is my deadline actually October 20th? Also, can I handle the deregistration for Social Security and Medicare online, or am I going to have to trek down to the local SSA office in person? And please tell me I don't have to physically show up at the courthouse to file for basic state registration.
I book those payments as revenue on my business account the second the cash actually hits the bank, and I record the full amount right then. Same goes for sales tax—I pay it once the money lands, because as small business owners using the cash basis, that’s exactly what we’re allowed to do. When the monthly processing fees finally show up on the statement, I just deduct them from the total revenue recorded and then log the fee itself as a separate expense.
And honestly? Everyone handles their bookkeeping differently. My system is a bit of a headache to set up, but man, it makes reconciling everything at the end of the year an absolute dream.
Nancy Jones said:Thanks, I actually did things the exact same way last year, but this time around the NPR system was giving me a bit of a headache regarding section V.2.1... apparently, I need to report any cash income that wasn't actually deposited into the business account, since the owner kept some of those funds on hand to cover various cash expenses, right?
Same here. Last year, this year, and probably next year too.
Because that un-deposited cash—which, let’s be honest, never matches the actual cash receipts on my QuickBooks—is exactly what I use to pay my vendor invoices in cash.
And according to the law, you can keep doing that as long as you aren't falling behind on your taxes.
Look, I’m actually jealous as hell, mostly because I have zero clue what to do with this trash form, so I figured I'd ask you guys:
I’ve got two entities that basically hit zero by the end of 2016. The first one bottomed out by the end of June, and the second one hit the floor right at the end of the year.
Both have a rate of 25, but for the first one, I changed it to 12.5 after reading some post on an accounting forum.
After I did that, I double-checked everything and—voila'—the form looks correct.
Now I'm just sitting here stressing over whether I should actually hit send. 🐔
Olivia Cruz86 said:Ugh, okay, now I’ve got two different numbers staring me in the face... and honestly? I have zero clue which specific payments I should actually be logging here...
I just record everything that hit account 1430 by December 31st. Simple as that.
Henry Edwards33 said:Ever since they patched that sales tax form, everyone seems to be hitting the exact same wall. 🤣
Here’s the error message popping up on my screen:
The total purchase value for this period shows an increase compared to last year, yet there are no recorded purchase invoices for the current filing year. This form is invalid.
Mark Torres45 said:Hey there! I’m looking for some advice from veteran bookkeepers who have been using Synesis for a while now. I’ve got a client running a small hospitality business—basically a local cafe owner—who is registered for sales tax. How are you guys handling credit card sales? Up until now, my process has been a total headache: I’ve been recording every single individual credit card transaction one by one. Then, once the funds actually hit the bank account from the processor, I record the payment in the sales tax module using the gross amount and log the processing fees as miscellaneous expenses. Honestly, with the sheer volume of transactions we're seeing lately, I just can't keep up with this manual grind. Is there any way to make life easier? I want to be able to record everything in one lump sum based on the monthly merchant statement, while still making sure the bank deposit matches perfectly and the sales tax stays accurate regarding those processed fees.
Sadly, I’ve never figured out a better way myself. For five years now, I've been stuck grinding through it day by day, card by card.
But hey, if it helps me stay sane during year-end reconciliations, I guess I'll keep suffering.
Nicole Lee6 said:Here is my workaround for the credit: record it as in-kind revenue with a negative sign (-), then close out the original invoice it's tied to by entering a corresponding in-kind receipt with a positive sign (+). At least, that's how I handle it....
Yeah, my bad. I totally butchered my explanation. It has to be the minus (for the approval) and the plus (for the invoice); both recorded as in-kind. 🤦
Look, at its core, it’s basically a receipt since the approval went through. Honestly, who cares why they approved it? But if it wasn't settled via a standard bank transfer—and if my amateur brain isn't totally failing me here—it should be recorded as an in-kind transaction. (Of course, please feel free to correct me, I'm definitely not a CPA.)
Maybe try logging it as an in-kind payment? Just do it manually if the software is being a pain and won't let you?
Jose Myers said:The same thing keeps popping up for me, so I just print it out and send the form over for manual entry.
Has anyone else run into a situation where the assets are fully depreciated by the end of the year—meaning the book value hits zero at year-end? I can't make the math work; there's no way it should pass. It feels like there's a glitch in the system somewhere.☕
What does she mean by "SENDING THE FORM FOR MANUAL ENTRY"?
I just type everything straight into the IRS portal myself; no importing files or anything.
But even then, it keeps throwing an error for fixed assets that have a book value of $0.00 as of 12/31/2016.
The warning pops up constantly. I’m stuck—should I just try to submit it despite the error, or should I call my contact at the tax office or some intern to see what's up?
I still get the chills whenever I have to deal with the cash drawer at the Department of Health and Human Services. Gross.
In my opinion, the most important thing is getting the bookkeeping right—since this wasn't paid via wire transfer, we’ve gotta record it as a cash expense.
Has there been any news regarding the rules for the HHS cash drawer? They aren't actually required to maintain one, right? Sure, fiscalization always pops up, but if you just look at the KPI recap, it should be pretty easy to figure out exactly how much needs to be deposited as revenue so you don't end up sitting on way too much extra cash...
So, quick question for the tax pros out there: can a small business owner write off a phone top-up if the phone itself is already listed on the company’s asset registry? And—here’s the kicker—what if I bought the credit without getting a formal receipt?
Well, I guess it all depends on who shows up for the audit. You either get the guy who thinks his life mission is to bleed your budget dry by nitpicking everything, or you get someone like stormybadger8 who’s just like, "Look, man, you didn't even know where you were sleeping last night, so using a credit card is fine."
Honestly, thank God we have laws that basically cancel each other out. You just have to memorize every single clause and sub-section to make sense of it all. :-D
I was digging through some small business guides earlier, and honestly, the way they write about sole proprietorships is just... clunky. They completely gloss over retail. Like, what happens if I’m running my own small business and I swing by a local farmer's market stall to grab some lettuce for my restaurant? If the vendor is also just a solo operator, am I supposed to ask them to generate a formal transaction receipt for a single pound of lettuce?! It sounds absolutely ridiculous.