Get Organized for Tax Time

Taxes… they’re inevitable for all of us. Usually tax season starts with a generalized sense of anxiety in January, followed by increasingly acute stress in the months leading up to April 15. To prevent tax-related meltdowns, get started on your tax prep now. Here are a few key things you can do to get started:

Talk about taxes. Ask your tax preparer what documents and other information they will need, how they’d like everything organized, and any other ideas they have about how to make preparing your taxes as painless as possible. Most tax preparers will be very happy to share this information with you—it makes their lives easier when your information is organized. They DON’T want a bag full of crumpled receipts - it wastes their time and costs you money. You can even ask if there are discounts on tax prep if you get your information to them before a certain date.

Start the sorting. Once you have a list of required information from your tax preparer, start sorting your receipts, invoices, bills, and bank statements. For many, this is often the most dreaded task in preparing for taxes, so it’s an especially good idea to get started on this well before the tax deadline looms. If you’re using an accounting or bookkeeping system like Quicken, Quickbooks or Mint, sort your information along the category lines used in that tool. If not, ask your tax preparer for their suggested list of expense categories.

Collect the details - digitally. Use a scanning app like Scannable to capture your paper receipts, bills, and statements, and collect them in a notebook for the tax year in Evernote. For each item you scan, tag it with the category of the expense (auto, medical, and so on) - that way, you can easily sort your expenses later, and they’ll match up with your accounting system. They will also be searchable, so you can quickly pull up a receipt right when you need it. The same is true for electronic bills and statements. Simply drag them into Evernote, and they can live alongside your (formerly) paper documents. Many tax preparers are happy to accept scans of your documents; check with your tax preparer for retention guidelines for your paper and digital records.

After you’ve collected your tax-related details in Evernote, share the notebook for the tax year with your tax preparer or accountant. They’ll be able to view everything you’ve gathered, and can move ahead with your tax preparation without having ask you to send them stacks of paper bills and crumpled receipts.

Prepare for the future. Once this year’s documents are in order, why not get ready for next year? Create a notebook in Evernote for the next tax year, and start collecting your bills, statements, and receipts in it as the year moves forward. When next year’s tax time rolls around, you’ll already be organized and prepared.

Joshua Zerkel is Evernote's Director of Worldwide Account Management and Training, a Certified Professional Organizer, and is the author of the best-selling book "Evernote at Work."