As the tax season approaches, we would like to express our gratitude for the opportunity to assist you with your tax preparation. To ensure a smooth and efficient process, we kindly request your cooperation in providing the necessary tax materials in a timely manner.
The accuracy and completeness of the information we receive from you are crucial for preparing an accurate tax return. Timely submission of all required documents will enable us to adhere to filing deadlines and avoid any potential complications. To assist you in gathering the necessary materials, please see the following best practice recommendations.
- In most cases, you will likely have a significant amount of documentation readily available, but the remaining items may take a few weeks to organize. It is best for us to get started with tax preparation immediately and include the remaining data as it becomes available.
- In some instances, we may have sent you a list of adjusting journal entries to make. Please make sure these entries have been entered in Quickbooks or your accounting software. If you received them and have questions, please contact us.
- Partnerships: If you made any partner distributions in the prior year, please close them out so that the current amount shown in your financials reflects only the current year’s distributions.
- Corporations: Please look at a detail of your retained earnings account and make sure that you did not make any adjustments to it. Your prior year ending retained earnings + prior year net income should equal retained earnings. If you made any adjustments directly to the retained earnings account, this would need to be corrected.
- Once you send us your financials or “greenlight” our access to Quickbooks Online, please do not make any changes to your books. We use Quickbooks to download your financials and do not access Quickbooks after that, so any changes would not be included.
- Please complete/submit the “The KNS Tax Document Request List”. This is our primary way of tracking your documentation. If you have not received one from us, please contact us for a copy. Note that this spreadsheet is broken into two tiers – “Urgent” and “other”. We cannot make any material progress in preparation without the “Urgent” items. Other items can be provided when we are underway. If an “Urgent” item is not readily available, please reach out to us so we can discuss the best way forward.
- Items that typically slow clients down are sales by state info, payroll by state, R&D/R&E, and foreign info. Don’t let these items fall off your radar.
- R&D and R&E rules are complex. We will also provide a spreadsheet to help you organize your information in this area. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions on this topic or completing our spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is merely an organization tool and is not a substitute for a formal R&D/R&E study.
- Extensions: It is very common to file an extension. Extensions only extend the filing date, not the tax owed. We will still need a lot of documentation to accurately extend your return, but estimates are permitted. Please contact us regarding these reduced requirements.
- Email tips: A) Please use our secure link (or request one from us) if sending SSNs or any personal information. B) Do your best to consolidate information into as few emails as possible. Sending everything separately is very inefficient. C) Please try to respond in-line when replying to questions in emails. D) Please try to respond to questions quickly
- Scheduling: Once we receive your material, there are many steps before your return is filed. Your return gets scheduled for preparation, multiple layers of review, and processing/assembly/e-file. It is important to respond to questions and data requests quickly once we begin. If we are not able to complete your return in a timely manner, your return will need to be rescheduled, effectively moving it to the end of the queue. We cannot guarantee a timely filing when there are repeated client delays.
- Partnership Deadlines:
- KNS Information Due Date: February 1, 2024
- Filing Deadline: March 15, 2024
- KNS information Due Date – extended returns: July 15, 2024
- Extension deadline (if applicable): September 16, 2024
- Corporation Deadlines:
- KNS Information Due Date: March 1, 2024
- Filing Deadline: April 15, 2024
- KNS information Due Date – extended returns: August 15, 2024
- Extension deadline (if applicable): October 15, 2024
In case you encounter any challenges or have questions regarding the required documents, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office. We are here to assist you every step of the way.
Rich Federico, CPA, is a Tax Supervisor at Katz, Nannis + Solomon, P.C. If you have any questions or would like to speak with one of our tax professionals, please contact our office at 781-453-8700.