Why Tax Reporting Takes So Much Time

Recent statistics have shown that tax reporting takes far too long, especially for small business owners. These hardy individuals are so busy running their businesses that they do not have the time to spare during working hours to take care of keeping records. Instead, they use their evening hours or weekend time to keep their records up to date.

It would be far too much to expect governments to make things quick and easy with tax reporting. Part of the trouble is that there are so many different business models and so many variations within each model – and it seems that there is a host of different rules and regulations for each one. You have to know what you can get tax cuts for and where you can save as well as where you have to pay. And it all gets very complicated, especially when you do it yourself.

One of the best ways to save time – if not money – is to outsource your tax reporting tax accountant toronto needs to a specialist accounting or stocktaking firm. This will probably not cost as much as it would first seem when you take into account what you save by doing so. Firstly you will save all that working overtime and so your health will be better. And you cannot put a price on that.

Then if you decided to bring in the hardware and software needed to take care of the job yourself, you have to pay for it first up, then make sure you maintain it regularly. The cost of a computer and other hardware such as a printer, software and virus protection, and then training someone to use it properly all adds up. It you train someone else and they leave, you have the cost of training another person. If you do it yourself, you are still up for those late nights or weekends. The job may be easier, but it is not always quicker, depending on how well you know your software.

Statistics show that 21% of small business owners still do their account keeping and reporting by hand. That includes using a hand-written ledger. It seems amazing in this day of modern technology that so many people still prefer the old way of doing things. This is partly because it seems simpler to just get out the old book and pen rather than booting up the computer and travelling through the unfamiliar territory of accounting software.

They probably learned about keeping a ledger in school, but their school days were before many schools had computers to train people. Therefore they feel more comfortable with what they know. However, it is not that hard to learn how to keep the books with accounting software, much of which is designed to automate procedures, thus making record keeping much easier and quicker.

So rather than drown in a sea of paper, take steps to either outsource the work or learn how to do it with the computer. Like everything else, once you know how to do it, it is really quite easy. Regular and consistent stock take is an important aspect of operating any business. It is also important that inventory management is done properly. Sid started his career in stock take and now runs his own stocktaking business and offers free tips and advice to anyone interested.