Stop Leaving Thousands on the Table Every April.
BUSINESS OWNERS OVERPAY TAXES EVERY APRIL. YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
April 15th isn't the deadline that matters.
The real deadline is now. Strategic moves — entity elections, catching up your books, setting up quarterly taxes — have to happen BEFORE you file. Most of them can't be fixed once you're staring at a number you don't like.
On March 4th at 1:00 PM CT, I'm hosting a free webinar to walk through what to do with the time you have left — including live Q&A where you can ask your specific questions.
Keep reading for the framework. The webinar goes deeper.
1. Check Your Entity Structure
If you filed as a sole proprietor in 2024, you paid self-employment tax on every dollar of profit. That's 15.3% on the first ~$176,000, and 2.9% above that.
The S-Corp election changes that math. You split your income between a reasonable salary (subject to payroll tax) and distributions (which aren't).
At $200,000 net profit, the S-Corp election can save $10,000-$15,000 annually. At $400,000, you're looking at $20,000-$25,000. Over 10 years at 7% growth, that's real wealth — not a rounding error.
The LLC must be formed in the calendar year you want S-Corp status. If you're planning to elect S-Corp for 2026, you need to form your LLC before December 31, 2026. The earlier, the better.
Once your LLC exists, the S-Corp election is flexible — we can file Form 2553 anytime throughout the year with late election relief, and the IRS tends to approve these requests.
Bottom line: Form your LLC now. Don't wait. The S-Corp election paperwork can happen later, but you can't elect S-Corp status without an LLC already in place for that tax year.
2. Catch Up Your 2025 Books Now — Before Tax Season
You can't file an accurate return from messy books.
Most business owners wait until March to think about bookkeeping. By then, your CPA is rushed, you're missing deductions, and you're paying tax on phantom profit because expenses weren't categorized.
Here's what complete 2025 books should include:
- All business income categorized by source
- Expenses allocated to the right categories (not lumped as "miscellaneous")
- Personal vs. business expenses separated
- Loan payments split between principal and interest
- Mileage logs and receipts organized
If you're looking at QuickBooks that hasn't been touched since August, or your "bookkeeping" is a folder of receipts — you're not ready to file.
The fix: Get your 2025 books caught up now, while there's still time to find missed deductions and fix errors. Waiting until your CPA asks for documents in March means you'll file based on incomplete data.
During the webinar, I'll walk through what "caught up" means and how to get there before April 15th — even if you're starting from zero.
3. Set Up 2026 Estimated Taxes
This is the move that prevents next April's panic.
Most business owners either:
- Don't pay estimated taxes at all and get hit with penalties
- Pay the same amount every quarter, regardless of actual income
- Guess at numbers and hope they're close
Here's what you should do instead:
Calculate your 2026 estimated taxes based on your actual projected income — not last year's. If you're growing, last year's safe harbor won't cut it. If you're down, you're overpaying and killing cash flow.
Quarterly taxes should adjust as your business does. Made more in Q1 than expected? Increase Q2. Had a slow Q3? Reduce Q4.
The 2/7 rule for S-Corp owners: A useful starting point is setting your W-2 wages at roughly 2/7 of your business income. This helps maximize your QBI deduction (that 20% write-off) without overpaying payroll tax. It's not an IRS formula — it's a target range to start modeling your salary before you file.
Most accountants set your salary once in January and never touch it again. That's leaving money on the table.
4. Treat Extensions as Strategy, Not Procrastination
An extension is not a last resort. Sometimes it's the smartest move you make.
Filing Form 4868 by April 15th buys you until October 15th to finalize your return. The extension costs nothing. You still need to pay any tax owed by April 15th — the extension covers the filing deadline, not the payment.
When to extend:
- You're waiting on K-1s from partnerships or S-Corps
- Your books aren't clean and you'd be guessing at numbers
- You want to maximize a SEP IRA contribution (up to 25% of W-2 wages, capped at $70,000 for 2025, deductible for 2025 even if contributed by October 15th)
- You haven't had a real tax planning conversation yet
When NOT to extend:
- Everything's ready, books are clean, no planning moves left to make
- You're owed a refund and want it sooner
Don't file a rushed return you'll have to amend. Extensions give you breathing room to get it right.
5. Audit Your Deductions Before You File
Before your return goes out, check these. Most service-based business owners miss at least one:
Home office: The actual expense method often yields $8,000-$15,000 for a dedicated space. Most people use the simplified $5/sq ft method and leave thousands behind.
Vehicle: The 2025 standard mileage rate is $0.70/mile. 15,000 business miles is $10,500 in deductions. If you're not tracking mileage, you're giving away money.
Technology: Business phone percentage, internet, software subscriptions, equipment upgrades — these add up fast.
Professional development: Courses, certifications, conferences, coaching, industry memberships. All deductible if they maintain or improve skills in your current business.
The killer: Personal credit cards with business expenses buried in them. Most business owners have $3,000-$8,000 in deductible expenses sitting on personal cards they forgot to categorize.
These add up to $5,000-$20,000 in missed deductions for the average service business. If your books aren't clean, you won't catch them in time.
Go through your personal cards right now. Find those business expenses before you file.
Join Us March 4th
This email covers the framework. On March 4th, we go deeper — the full mechanics behind each strategy, the math for your specific income range, the 2026 setup moves that need to happen now, and live Q&A where you can ask your specific questions.
This is for:
- Business owners making $150K+ who felt their 2024 tax bill was too high
- S-Corp owners who aren't sure their salary is structured right
- Anyone who's been meaning to get organized and is ready to do something about it
This isn't a "one weird trick" session. It's structural, strategic planning for people who earn real income and want to keep more of it.
60 minutes. Free. Recorded for anyone who can't attend live — but the Q&A only happens once.
Want personalized help before the webinar? Book a consultation with Better Bookkeeping →
P.S. If you're reading this thinking "I'll just wing it this year" — that's what you said last year. The strategies we're covering on March 4th can't all be implemented if you wait until April 1st. Timing matters.