placidlynx92 said:At Bank of America, you can easily arrange to have your statements sent straight to your email, and that's also when you'd cancel your service with Fidelity if you had it set up that way previously. Honestly, the most practical move is to request statements on an as-needed basis rather than strictly once a month. Regarding those personal expenses, silversailor pointed it out: you can pay them, but you shouldn't record them as business expenses since they aren't legitimate business costs.
I swear, bank statements drive me absolutely insane. And what even is a "monthly statement" anyway? I’d rather save the trees, honestly. Is there an option at Chase to just skip the monthly thing?
Robin Cook4 said:hey, anyone got a sec? using Synesis and just realized I messed up my January sales tax filing—sent it like a month ago. 😵 In my first entry, the 25% use tax ended up in the "non-deductible" column instead of being deductible. My total use tax matches on both the ledger and the form, but the taxable base is totally off. Any idea how to fix this mess?
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’d probably just call up the IRS agent, explain the mess, and send over a corrected form. Like the seasoned pros on here have already suggested, you basically just file the new one to overwrite the old one.😁
shadowdrifter99 said:So, I’ve got this small business owner who rents out a condo—it’s his personal property, not tied to the business at all—to regular folks. Since he’s registered for sales tax, he’s gotta issue rental receipts, but obviously without the sales tax tacked on. Now, the tax hit isn't some flat 12% deal; it could swing anywhere from 12% up to 40% depending on how much he actually pulls in by the end of the year. He’s looking to write off actual expenses related to the place to lower that burden. I'm trying to figure out what qualifies here... we talking utility bills, interior design stuff, or what else?
Since nobody's answering, I'll just throw my two cents out there. If someone wants to correct me, be my guest...
You won't be able to claim utility costs or anything similar unless you actually add "property rental" to your business license. And honestly, why wouldn't you? You're already in the sales tax system, so you might as well add that activity to your books and take advantage of being able to write off everything related to the rental. It's just common sense, right?
Aaron Young85 said:So, I’m thinking an owner's draw from their own small business doesn't actually count as taxable income, right? Or am I totally off base here? Also, what's the deal with filing quarterly sales tax returns instead of monthly? 😁
...it’s not an expense. Sales tax isn't even a business cost; it's just money you collect to hand straight over to the IRS. 🙂
Brandon Jackson4 said:amberbadger17, thanks for getting back to me. I have more questions coming, but right now I'm just stuck on filling out the Sales Tax return...
Back in April, I bought a laptop—fixed asset—and applied the full input tax credit on my standard sales tax filing under the line for "domestic purchases at 25%."
Now I'm looking at this amended return form and the second page is confusing me... there's Section VIII for input tax adjustments, section 1.5 for fixed asset acquisitions, and all sorts of other things.
Does any of that actually apply to my specific credit, or do I just put it in the regular line and leave the rest of the page blank?
Ugh, I dealt with this last year and just dumped everything into the regular line. I didn't even touch those other columns. Honestly, I probably should have, but whatever, it's done. I'm totally lost here.
Anyway, column V on the main return is giving me a massive headache. Since I already filed the credit form without actually reading the fine print, I was thinking about just carrying over the credit from the last filing into the February calculation and calling it a day for the rest of the year.
But I didn't.
So, here's the thing: I have outstanding credits from 2013 and 2014 sitting there. Do you think it would be a disaster if I just lumped both of those into the February filing and kept moving forward like that?
I really don't feel like calling the IRS agent again because she honestly couldn't tell me anything useful. I asked her the same thing last year when they sent out those notices about how to fill out these specific columns, and she basically told me to leave it blank and not include previous filings.
graniterider10 said:Personally, I don't record those kinds of things in the general ledger right now; I just track them under KPIs and then list the foundation amount as a link. I guess... I'm not sure if that actually works?
Honestly, I don't see why not if it makes your life easier. In fact, it actually makes more sense that way. My own system is pretty stripped down—it just feeds directly into the KPIs automatically. If I tried to do everything through formal foundation entries, my standard date-range reports would completely break. It’s infuriating. Keeping it this way is much cleaner for my workflow. If some IRS auditor decides to come sniffing around asking questions, I can easily walk them through exactly how I set it up.
Brandon Jackson4 said:Self-employed, registered for sales tax.
I was hoping for some clarity... when filling out my ledger, do I only include invoices that actually have sales tax listed? Or should I also be logging ones where no tax is charged, like those that fall under an exemption?
For instance, I have a service fee from JPMorgan Chase for managing my account, and the statement says it's exempt from tax based on specific IRS regulations...
Do those types of entries go into the ledger?
Thanks.
Yeah, I would. Honestly, it just makes my life way easier if everything is in one spot.
David Green642 said:Can someone please double-check my process for closing down a small business?
- We close out all open accounts receivable and accounts payable using the official business dissolution date—recording them as in-kind transfers. - We run the final depreciation calculations. - Regarding remaining inventory—we clear it through accounts payable by taking the quantity left on hand multiplied by the current market value—recorded as an in-kind transfer. - For any physical assets listed on the balance sheet, we research their current market value and clear them through accounts payable—in-kind. - We reconcile the cash account and all outstanding liabilities (taxes, local permits, etc.). These go through expenses since they were incurred even if they aren't paid until after the shutdown—in-kind. This means I only book the bank statements up to the actual closing date, right? Not after?
PLEASE, if anyone actually knows this stuff, let me know if I'm on the right track or completely off base. THANKS 🎉
To be honest, I've been there. I was shutting down my own LLC once. You'll still file your standard tax returns for the year (especially if you're looking to jump back into a W-2 job soon), but watch out for the sales tax filings. I think the deadline used to be three months, but that was way back when I closed mine in 2011. I can't remember if the IRS or state laws changed since then, but I have a nagging feeling they might have. 🙂
Never heard of that. A small business owner gets to handle their cash however they damn well please—no explanations required. At the end of the year, they just subtract their deductible business expenses from their total revenue and pay the tax on whatever is left over.
@Chloe Harris77, did you try using that workaround in Explorer through the tools menu to import the certificate? I can’t quite remember what my specific headache was—I think the certificates just weren't showing up as an option for me to pick. You don't really need a reissue in your situation. Customer support is usually decent and actually helpful, though I once had this lady on support call me on Christmas Eve asking to fix a problem for an hour and a half... only to find out her card reader was completely fried. Good luck!
If that asset falls under the two-year depreciation rule—you know, that 50% thing—then honestly, the easiest way to handle this is just to take the purchase price and divide it by the total number of months in the depreciation period:
4,313.59 / 24 = $60/mo.
Just whip up a spreadsheet, call it "Depreciation Schedule," and make sure you label which tax year you're working on... yeah, that should do it.
I actually ran into this exact thing once. I paid an invoice early back in July for some equipment from GE, but since everything was handled over email—no formal signatures, no official corporate seal, nothing—I couldn't claim the sales tax deduction right away. I didn't have what the IRS would call "proper documentation." Not until my supplier finally sent over the actual receiving report dated August 20th. Since we had already put that gear to work back in July, I just listed the purchase and start date as August 20th in all my paperwork. Then I started the depreciation on September 1st.
And honestly? Who cares. At the end of the day, nobody got screwed.
Since I’m already online, can someone please clear something up for me regarding chamber fees versus income for the HOK? Are we supposed to be calculating those? What about the monument rent? (Specifically for hospitality businesses)
Net Value (assuming you already cleared out the sales tax)-4313.59 OV (Depreciation from 2014)-1977.03 REMAINING TO DEPRECIATE-2336.49
MONTHLY DEPRECIATION-179.73
-I was working under the assumption that depreciation kicks in the month after something actually goes into service. Please, feel free to set me straight if I'm totally off base here.
Richard Howard55 said:Just dropping in to say hi to the masses, since it's a bit late for ☕ coffee. The public, I assume, is already sleeping the sleep of the righteous (as am I) and gathering some "energy" (is that the right word?) while they still can. 😁 It’s got me thinking about those recent sales tax changes and the possibility they might let corporations pay based on actual cash receipts instead. Once that happens, they won't be able to pull one over on us anymore. We'll finally get some peace. 🤔 And things were going so smoothly before! Just easygoing! 🤣
If anyone needs a heads-up, I just got an email about this. For all the small business owners out there who haven't hit that $3 million revenue threshold yet and have been sticking to the cash basis for sales tax—you don't actually have to file a statement saying you want to stay in the current system. You're already good to go. If anyone has heard otherwise, please, speak up now. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut forever. 😁
I don't even know how many times I've said this, but thanks, Brenda Chase3!!!!
Honestly, I fully expected that if I actually did this, someone would just burst through my door and start screaming about tax evasion and all that legal nonsense.
It’s honestly great—the app is incredibly straightforward. I grabbed my username and password, logged in, and boom, done. Now I can just sit here and check my balance and interest calculations for all those state grants without any headache. Total lifesaver!
Hope you all survived this stingy little summer... I know I did. I spent most of it grinding away at work, but hey, it was still pretty great! Sending good vibes to everyone here, especially my fellow bookworms!
I’m looking into buying a tiny cabin/trailer and flipping it so I can run a little hospitality business out of it. My plan is to handle the purchase, roll it into my LLC, and start writing off the depreciation.
The catch is that this place is a total trek from where I live, so I’ll definitely need a hauling service. Following that whole "everything is connected" logic—blah, blah, blah—can I write off that transport bill as a business expense? And is it even possible to claim a tax credit on it? Honestly, I don't care much about the sales tax side of things, but I'd love to at least sink it into my expenses.
Please let me know, because I am seriously stressing over this. Thanks!
I’m looking at picking up a little house and flipping it into a small B&B or some kind of hospitality spot. The plan is to handle the purchase agreement, register it under my LLC, and then just write off the depreciation.
The catch is that this place is way out in the middle of nowhere, so I'll definitely need a moving company. Based on that whole "business necessity" logic—blah, blah, blah—can I write off the transport invoice as a business expense? And is it even possible to claim a tax credit on it? Honestly, I don't care much about the sales tax side of things, but I'd love to see it count toward my deductions.
Please let me know, I'm kind of stressing over this. Thanks!