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miss something, monetary penalties. You must assign a folder for each account separately or for very closely related subjects. And for your receipts it's a good idea to purchase an accordian size folder and as you acquire your receipts, you place them in a crease for that month. If you have a larger business, you can devote an entire folder to one month or a section of a file cabinet. What matters most is that you collate the information so once it's time to go through your information for tax time, it's readily accessible.

You don't have to do much to keep your paperwork in order. If you R.E.L.A.X., tax time can be a good opportunity to go over your financial information for the year and make future predictions for the year to come, and for some us a chance to get back some of our hard earned money. Set up your paperwork with these thoughts in mind and you'll be on your way to tax filing heaven and command a heartfelt thank-you from your accountant.

R - Reevaluate your opinions about paperwork. Some people, especially those with accountants, believe that the accountant will sift and sort through their paperwork, so they don't have to keep things orderly, they just don't have the time to do it. While this may be true, what you should realize is that if your accountant is spending time, getting your paperwork in order, that's less time they can spend filing your forms to receive the best refund within Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

E - Expect that you will sometimes get so busy that it is not easy for you to update your information every month. This is especially true for start-ups and entrepreneurs who often are working by themselves. You don't have to forsake your whole system just because you weren't able to update this month, when the next month comes around make it a priority to catch yourself up. Catching up for one month is alot easier than catching up for the last six months.

L - Learn from your previous mistakes. If you realize that every year, you stress yourself out and spend hours getting your reports together because you have to go through a complete year of receipts, bank deposits, etc, it's time for a change. If you never had software to keep track of your transactions, invest in it and if you don't know how to organize a paper filing system, so you can designate file space for your records, hire someone to do it for you. Don't keep making the same mistake year after year, your time is valuable.

A - Always be consistent. This may seem simple but if you name your April folder, Apr Receipts on your computer, use that term on anything else that will group all of your April receipts. This consistency in headings, titles and group names will be a great help for you and those that must go over your information. If they see Apr Receipts, 04 Receipts and April Receipts, they may second guess as to whether these are related.

X - 1X1=2. You may be thinking, huh? That's because if you claim you have $50 in meals and entertainment expense but you only have receipts for $35 you can leave yourself vulnerable to penalties for incorrect accounting. Although, the example given is not likely to flag an audit, (fewer than one in 100 tax returns are audited) you want to build a foundation based on satisfactory evidence of your income and expenses. Penalties for under-reporting income and over-inflating expenses can be a greater pain in the neck than making sure you keep your receipt from your business lunch or logging your marketing campaign expenses.

For important dates, new tax information and forms, and accounting tools, visit these sites:

http://www.irs.gov
http://www.tax.state.ny.us
http://www.taxsites.com/state.html
http://www.turbotax.com
http://www.intuit.com