🕐 Read Time 5 Minutes

As fall rolls in and the leaves start changing, you might be thinking about cozy sweaters, pumpkin patches, and holiday plans. But your accountant? They’re thinking about taxes. Believe it or not, autumn is the perfect time to get ahead on tax prep, and your accountant definitely has a wishlist of things they wish you were doing now to make tax season less stressful.

From organizing paperwork to making smart financial moves, here are five things your accountant wants you to tackle before the year ends to set yourself up for a smooth tax season next year.

1. Organize Your Receipts and Documents Early

Accountants everywhere would cheer if their clients took the time to organize tax-related documents in advance. Avoid the chaos of hunting down paperwork at the last minute by getting organized now. You’ll thank yourself when tax season arrives.

What to Look For:

• Receipts for Deductible Expenses: Did you donate to charity this year? Keep those donation receipts handy. What about business expenses such as mileage, office supplies, or client lunches? Make sure they’re all saved and sorted.

• Medical Expenses: If you had significant medical expenses this year, gather those bills and payments. Medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income can be deducted. 

• Education Costs: Did you pay tuition or student loan interest? Save those documents! The American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit can provide a nice tax break.

Pro tip: Snap photos of receipts and store them digitally. Create a folder on your computer or cloud drive titled “2024 Taxes” and start filing things away.

Why It Helps: Organizing now reduces the risk of missing deductions and speeds up the tax prep process. The more organized you are, the less likely you’ll need to file an extension because you can’t find that crucial document.

Tax Filing Checklist

As a bonus, here is a quick checklist of the types of documents you should be gathering.

• Personal documents: identification, identity protection PIN, last year’s tax return

• Employment and self-employment tax forms such as W-2s and 1099s

• Banking statements for all accounts

• Proof of deductions: healthcare, childcare, educational expenses, charitable giving, retirement contributions, etc.

2. Year-End Tax Strategy: Maximize Retirement Contributions

Taking full advantage of tax-saving retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s can help you build a nest egg and significantly reduce your taxable income.

What to Look For:

• 401(k) Contributions: If you’re not already maxing out your 401(k) contributions ($23,000 for 2024), try increasing your contributions this fall. Some employers allow you to make extra contributions before year-end.

• IRA Contributions: The 2024 IRA contribution limit is $7,000. If you have extra savings, consider contributing more now instead of rushing in April.

• SEP IRA for Business Owners: If you’re self-employed, check out SEP IRAs or Solo 401(k)s, which allow you to contribute up to 25% of your income or $69,000, whichever is lower.

Pro Tip: Not sure if you’re on track? Log into your retirement account to see how to meet the maximum contribution before December 31st.

Why It Helps: Maximizing your retirement contributions not only boosts your savings but can also reduce your taxable income. That’s money you don’t have to pay taxes on today, and it’s growing for your future.

3. Year-End Tax Strategy: Review Your Tax Withholding

Your accountant definitely wishes more people reviewed their withholding throughout the year. Fall is the perfect time to adjust your W-4 to avoid a surprise bill—or a missed opportunity to keep more money in your pocket through the end of the year.

What to Look For:

• Over-withholding: If you got a big refund last year, that’s money you could have had in your pocket instead of letting the government hold it interest-free. Consider lowering your withholding so you get more take-home pay.

• Under-withholding: If you owed a lot last year, you might need to bump up your withholding to avoid another unpleasant surprise. Talk to HR or use the IRS’s withholding calculator to make adjustments.

Tip: If you’ve had a life change (marriage, divorce, a new baby), that could affect your withholding, too! Be sure to update your W-4 to reflect any changes in your tax situation.

Why It Helps: Adjusting your withholding ensures you’re paying the right amount of tax throughout the year, reducing the risk of a nasty surprise when tax season arrives.

4. Year-End Tax Strategy: Harvest Tax Losses (For Investors)

If you have investments, your accountant wants you to be strategic about tax-loss harvesting. This involves selling underperforming investments to offset the taxes you owe on gains from other investments. It’s a smart way to lower your taxable income without dramatically impacting your portfolio.

What to Look For:

• Capital Gains Offsets: If you made significant profits on some investments this year, sell off some of your underperforming stocks or funds to offset those gains. You can even deduct up to $3,000 of capital losses against your ordinary income.

• Wash-Sale Rule: Be careful! The IRS has a wash-sale rule, which means you can’t repurchase the same investment within 30 days of selling it to claim the loss.

Tip: If you’re not sure how tax-loss harvesting works, Financial Fitness Coaching can help you connect with a tax professional to evaluate your situation before making moves. We can help ensure you follow the rules from your tax pro while optimizing your tax savings.

Why It Helps: By strategically selling off losing investments, you can lower your tax liability on gains and even reduce your overall taxable income, potentially saving you thousands come tax season.

5. Check for Major Life Changes

Big life changes can mean big changes to your taxes, and your accountant hopes you’re planning for them now. Whether it’s a new baby, a change in marital status, buying a home, or starting a side gig, these events can all impact your tax filing, deductions, and credits.

What to Look For:

• Marriage or Divorce: Did you tie the knot or end a marriage this year? Your tax filing status changes and that could affect your tax rate and deductions.

• New Baby: Congratulations! Make sure you’re prepared to claim the child tax credit and other deductions for dependents.

• New Home or Rental Purchase: If you bought a home, you may be eligible for mortgage interest deductions, property tax deductions, and more.

• Side Business: If you started a side gig, you may need to begin tracking business expenses, setting aside money for taxes, and planning for quarterly tax payments.

Tip: Make a list of any major changes this year and speak with your accountant to ensure you’re optimizing your deductions and credits.

Why It Helps: Planning ahead for life changes helps you take advantage of every available tax credit or deduction, ensuring you’re not missing out on money-saving opportunities

Become Your Accountant’s Favorite Client

At Financial Fitness Coaching, we know that for many, the very mention of tax planning incites an urge to find a binge-worthy show and tune out for a few hours (or days/weeks/months). But tax planning can be exciting! We specialize in helping you understand what it takes to tackle these financial “chores” and frame them in a way that brings fresh excitement about your future. We’ll also help connect you with a tax pro if you need one! Planning is all about making choices that lead to your desired goals! 

Join the Financial Fitness Academy where we're having conversations like this every month with our coaches and guest experts. In our October call, Coach Jess who is QBO Certified will be digging into how to prepare for 2025 taxes and beyond.