You might be very well documented for your monthly financial and have great support. However, there could still be some more to be done.

The tax world can be a world of its own and they have things to be looked at that go over and above.

Meet with your tax advisor prior to the start of the year or very early on in the year to go over what kind of special documentation might be needed. It’s so much easier to create it while it’s happening rather than having to backtrack. Sometimes it’s very difficult to recreate it after time. Memory fades and papers are lost.

An example of one such area can be with travel expenses. There can be a certain receipt that you need from out of town travel or other local entertainment. There can be the vehicle tracking as another example because you have the corresponding expense reports to back things up when there’s out of town activities involved. It’s so much easier when you get a process going. It’s pretty hard to recreate vehicle mileage after the fact when you can make it fairly painless day by day.

That’s just one example, but there’s many others too. Here’s a few to think about:

1. International activity. If you have international activity, there might be reason to have some documentation such as sales by country data.

2. Equipment purchases. You’ll need to be able to back this up to show that you’ve been paying the appropriate state sales tax. You also need it to back up any deductions such as section 179 taking advantage of same year depreciation.

3. Expense distribution and payments. It can be helpful to have breakouts on expenses for key areas and be ale to quickly reference any applicable supporting documents. As in all areas, your tax advisor can help with guidance there.

4. Donations. It’s important for donations, in particular non-cash donations.

5. Payments on accrued expenses. In order to be able to get deductions on various accrued expenses, they need to be paid by the time you file your tax return. Have that support handy.

6. Accrued expense support. If you’re doing books on an accrual basis, you get the benefit of being able to accrue expenses for activities such as services received during the year but not paid for until the subsequent year. Have that support taken care of and be able to back up your numbers.

Those were just some examples. Meet with your tax advisor and know the special needs that your advisor suggests. It can make it a lot easier for them and you come the year end.