Taxes Made Easy with TurboTax Self-Employed and QuickBooks Self-Employed

posted by Stacie on March 10, 2017 // Comments Off

This Taxes Made Easy with TurboTax Self-Employed and QuickBooks Self-Employed post is sponsored by TurboTax.

Taxes Made Easy with TurboTax Self-Employed and QuickBooks Self-Employed

For years, I worked for others. I spent a long time in the corporate world at various jobs that all revolved around marketing. Those years centered around the typical 9-5 job although that really is a myth because I have never had an employer who thought working only 40 hours each week was ok. In fact, most of my salaried positions were around 55-60 hours per week and that seems to have been standard in my industry.

One of the best things that I have ever done was to start my own business. After having three children, I realized that I no longer fit into the corporate world and that I really need to stretch my creative wings. I started my blog and social media company in 2009. In 2013, my husband was able to leave his full time job and work with me. Our children work with us as well and while we have a unique family dynamic, our entire family has never been happier.

One of my favorite quotes about being an entrepreneur is from someone who I really admire. Lori Greiner is called the Queen of QVC on Shark Tank each week as she makes decisions on whether or not to invest in a business. She said, “Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” This quote sits on my desk because every single day, I think to myself, “I am so lucky to get to do something that I absolutely love. I work for myself!” This is me. I sometimes work 100 hours in a week (especially during 4th quarter) and honestly it never feels like it.

This year, we are filing our taxes with TurboTax Self-Employed.

TurboTax Self-Employed

Although working for myself is one the best decisions I have ever made, being self-employed is no easy feat. TurboTax Self-Employed helps me manage and find every business deduction plus offers credentialed industry experts on-demand to answer my tax questions at no charge. With over 55 million taxpayers who are self-employed, TurboTax “delivers the first and only year-round integrated tax preparation and expense tracking solution.”

Here are a few tools that I used with TurboTax Self-Employed that really enhanced my experience:

Expense Finder

Expense Finder, exclusive to TurboTax Self-Employed, helps you find deductible business expenses that many of the self-employed might not know they can claim which saves you money. The beauty of Expense Finder is that you can start to add your expenses and then come back at any time to finish them. This is great for me because often I need to locate some paperwork or a file.

Expense Finder works by securely accessing and then scanning your credit card transactions and bank accounts. Next Expense Finder will recommend potential deductible business expenses and gives you the opportunity to confirm which expenses apply to your business. Expense Finder found several deductions for me that I hadn't even considered plus it automatically imported, organized and categorized all of my expenses.

SmartLook

Need personalized help? TurboTax SmartLook provides you an exclusive way and priority access to “connect live, via one-way video, to credentialed CPAs or Enrolled Agents to get personalized, real-time answers to their tax questions whenever they need it – at no additional cost.”

Connect in real time with a TurboTax representative after scheduling an appointment at a time convenient for you. The best part about SmartLook is that there is screen sharing capability that allows your tax expert to guide you while circling and highlighting info on your screen. In addition, there is one-way video allowing you to see your tax expert but they can't see you providing an extra layer of privacy.

QuickBooks Self-Employed

TurboTax Self-Employed customers get a free subscription to QuickBooks Self-Employed through the next tax year. This lets you:

calculate automatic expense and mileage tracking
capture your receipts
quarterly tax estimates
filing year-round
effortless tax preparation at tax time

Essentially QuickBooks Self-Employed helps you by preparing your taxes throughout the year rather than during those last few weeks before the due date. You can stay on top of your expenses and deductions while categorizing them. Your data is automatically imported from QuickBooks Self-Employed into next year’s TurboTax for a simple experience.

With TurboTax Self-Employed, I can file my taxes with confidence knowing that my questions have been answered and that I have maximized my deductions. TurboTax Self-Employed tools like Expense Finder lets me confirm my business expenses with a click which means I keep more of the money that I earn.