Give yourself a raise: keep good books and educate yourself on taxes

I was told once that "education is expensive" - like attorneys, bookkeepers and accountants are always more expensive when the !@%! hits the fan. When your business catches fire, and the money is rolling in: - A handful of incorrectly tabbed transactions can lead to paying too much or too little in taxes. - A stack of improperly marked receipts can set the IRS aflame looking way deeper into your lives than you’d ever guess capable. - But worst of all, if your books are behind, confusing, or inaccurate the multiple you’ll achieve in a sale or merger will be substantially decreased, or ruin a deal altogether. All in all I spent more money receiving this education than most people spend on a 4-year degree and I thought I’d pass it along. My specific advice: Get in the habit right now of keeping clean books, spend a weekend learning how to do it yourself so you can competently hire a bookkeeper and train that person to do it for you. Invest at least 3 - 4 hours with a CPA, find one on recommendation, make sure they have experience in business, and plan for success. Spend one hour a week for the rest of your life managing receipts, and properly entering transactions. With the advent of online accounting systems such as QuickBooks Online there’s no excuse not to keep things up to date, and believe you me, the money & stress that you save in the long term is the simplest way to give yourself a raise.