Bookkeeping Service Dallas The tax return

Closed months, then the return

The tax return uses the same numbers as the months that matched the bank. A month that is still open does not go on the return. It goes on the return after it closes, and not before.

An old year gets cleaned before the return is built. The months of this year stay current so the next return is a shorter job. The point of the close is a return you can explain without a stack of guesses beside it.

The return we file is only as long as the months that already match the bank. You review the income, the large costs, and the owner pay, and you sign it. We flag any figure that still depends on a month that is open.

May and the legal name

The Texas franchise report is due in May, and it uses the legal name on the account. A shorter name painted on the window does not replace that legal name on the report.

May's franchise filing and the federal return share one stack of closed months, so we do not keep a second set of totals for May. When the name painted on the glass is shorter than the name on the account, we put the account name into both filings before either one leaves.

A blue norther and a useful November

A blue norther is the fast cold front that drops the temperature under a dark sky, mostly between November and March. We feel that patio empty out the same night you do. It does not move the return, and it does not move the conversation about owner pay.

November is still the stretch when a large purchase, or a change in owner pay, can change what the return will say. After the year has closed, that choice is only a record of money already spent.

July is early enough to see owner pay, a large purchase, and a quarter that ran hot. Bring the closed months you have and a note about the ones still open. We name the choice that can still move the year, and the ones that are already spent.

What you look at before you sign

You look at income, the large costs, and owner pay before you sign. If a figure still depends on an open month, that figure is marked and the return waits. The return does not go out with a blank dressed up as a number.

The year already filed is the year that had to be cleaned. The year you are in is the year a choice can still change. The next year is shorter when both of those are already true.

We prepare the return. You sign it. The number on the return is the number from the close, because the same practice did both jobs.

Statements the return can use

The statements that feed the return are the reconciled months, written in the names the business uses. They are the books, not a separate story told at filing time.

A buyer or a bank can read those statements. They still carry no signed opinion. If someone asks for a signature this practice does not give, that request is named on the first call and pointed to the limits page.

Owner pay is one of the figures you should be able to point at. If the pay and the draws are mixed in one line, the return waits until that line is split.

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