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Iowa | I meet with the CPA near the end of each year as many of you probably do. We hash everything over and decide where I need to be when the ball drops. I leave the meeting taking away one significant number as many of you probably do: it's the amount (edit: amount of net deductions needed) that I need to lower the taxable federal income before the end of the year to get where I need to be. We don't do this to eliminate taxes, but rather to keep things reasonably even as the years pass by. There are ups and downs in this business, so the door swings both ways.
If we have the meeting a couple days before the end of the year, I can almost hit the mark without using a calculator. If the meeting is earlier in the month, hitting the mark is a longer shot. Too many things happen to keep it all in my head. I like using a spreadsheet instead of banging these things out on a calculator. On a spreadsheet, you can easily check all the numbers and formulas for mistakes. Notes can be added as needed. Estimates can be made and adjusted as one progresses towards hitting the mark.
Anyway, I'm attaching a spreadsheet to do that sort of thing. It's nothing fancy, just grade school math your ten year old could probably do by hand. I just find this sort of thing to be useful & thought I'd share it with anyone else in the same boat. As always, use this at your own risk. Double check all formulas and numbers.
Edited by tigger 12/26/2015 10:56
Attachments
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 Tax Planning Blank.xlsx (14KB - 944 downloads)
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Year end tax planning and hitting the mark
