We never want you to be in the dark about the state of your taxes. With that in mind, it’s important to understand the overall process and what can cause a holdup at each phase.
Before we even begin the tax process, we need to close your books for the year. Failing to do this in the first two months of the year is what keeps the majority of businesses from hitting their tax deadlines or rushing to file without the best possible information. Both can leave a business susceptible to penalties and fines.
Your accounting team will use the financial data collected throughout the year to perform your annual close but may reach out asking for clarity about certain transactions they still need to reconcile. When these go unresolved, your books stay open making it virtually impossible to file taxes for that year.
inDinero’s Tax Questionnaire is for small business what TurboTax is for individuals. Things change each year when running a business—within your organization and in the SMB landscape. We use your responses to confirm information about your business and gain further understanding of your tax situation for each tax year.
Based on your answers, which may change year to year, we’ll identify which forms you need to file. This also gives us a chance to provide initial pricing estimates for your filing and determine whether we should file an extension on your behalf.
It’s important to complete your tax questionnaire early in the year (mid-to-late February depending on your entity type). You can even do this in tandem with closing your books as there is a Year End review section that may provoke further questions that impact your books.
With your books closed and Tax Questionnaire completed for the year, your accountant will send over financial statements for you to review and approve. These statements are what your tax team will use to calculate your deductions and credits, so make sure you’re 100% comfortable with the data and information.
Once we have your signoff on the financial statements for the tax year, you will receive your estimated delivery date. This marks the start of tax prep.
During this step, there are at least three sets of eyes looking at your tax forms—a tax preparer, a tax reviewer, and a tax manager (CPA)—over the course of 4-8 weeks. Here’s what they do during this step:
Your tax preparer will use the information gathered to organize and enter the right data in each applicable tax form. You may hear from your tax preparer with follow-up questions or clarifications to capture all the necessary information and documentation for an accurate return. (We estimate that this will take 2-4 weeks* but it may be longer if questions arise.)
Once prepared, your return goes through two to three review cycles first, by a tax reviewer who will make sure every detail is accurate and then a final review performed by an inDinero CPA (tax manager). The tax manager will look for "big picture" opportunities for tax planning, areas that may leave you exposed to possible penalties, and really anything that the preparer and initial reviewer may have missed from being too "in the weeds" so to speak.
You may hear from a tax reviewer or manager looking for additional details or clarity to ensure accuracy. (We estimate that this will also take 2-4 weeks* but it may be longer if questions arise.)
We will always share your return with you to review for feedback and as an opportunity to ask questions before we file. Our team has a wealth of knowledge of tax law and are always looking for ways help you maximize tax benefit and minimize risk. We also need your signature in order to file and don’t recommend you sign any document unless you’ve read it thoroughly.
Signoff on your return at least five days* before your deadline to give your team adequate time to file.