Admit it: after all the celebration, best wishes, and renewed hope that any new year brings, the reality for most of us is that January, the first month of the year, is spent catching up on your company’s accounting. With a bit of planning and foresight, though, this could easily have been avoided. To lessen the stress, here are a few but very important tips you can do today to truly start the year right.
First, know the deadlines of annual forms you need to submit on January 2014. Here’s a list of the most common ones.
- Form W2 – Copies B, C and 2 – Submitted to Employees and Deadline on January 31, 2014
- Form 1099 – Submitted to Vendors and Deadline on January 31, 2014
- Form 940 (and 940-V if needed) – Submitted to IRS and Deadline on January 31, 2014
The deadlines may appear simple but can entail a lot of preparation and work. Here’s what you have to do to avoid rushing through the deadlines:
1. Set an internal deadline. Set your company deadline at least a week before the actual deadline. A lot of things can go wrong, so putting a buffer will lessen any chances of missing the due date.
2. This is the most important step. Communicate, align and prepare for those deadlines TODAY, NOT TOMORROW, NEXT WEEK OR NEXT MONTH. Reach out to your accounting team or payroll provider and coordinate with them on how to prepare for the upcoming deadlines. That way, they can start preparing as early as possible.
3. If you are outsourcing your accounting or payroll, notify your provider that you would want to submit these forms early. Note: Your provider should be proactive enough to remind you about those, not the other way around.
4. If you are doing your accounting in-house, then ensure your team is qualified to complete the deadlines above. Otherwise, seek outside help.
5. Monitor your team’s progress regularly.
6. Be available for any issues that may arise.
Sounds easy? Totally. There’s no rocket science to this; it only takes a little effort on your end. After all, it will be you that will benefit. Toast to the New Year, don’t get toasted by it.
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