Starting Your Year On The Right (or Left) Foot: T-K-A Style
The beginning of the year is a GREAT time to kick things off in style, and it’s important to start NOW before things become so incredibly busy! At The King’s Accountant (TKA), we like to keep it simple with our T-K-A approach: Track Proactively, Kickstart Your System/s, and Align Your Strategy. Whether you’re a brand-new entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, this article will help you begin 2026 with the confidence to hit the ground running.
T – Track Proactively
Take the first step into the new year by proactively tracking these commonly missed (and incorrectly tracked) “audit magnets” such as:
- Business Mileage: Use an app like MileIQ to track your drives automatically & swipe left/right for business/personal. ($9/month)
- Meals & Meetings: Must be necessary, ordinary, & have you/employee present; don’t forget to note the WHO/WHAT in your digital calendar to make this searchable.
- Travel Expenses: Primary purpose MUST be for business, you must be away from your (tax) home, commuting miles (to/from office) are generally not deductible.
- Home Office Deduction: If you aren’t using the Simple Method ($5/sqft), the Actual Expense Method (your direct & indirect home expenses x % sqft dedicated for business use (ex. 100 sqft office / 1,000 sqft home = 10% expense allocation*) could add up to significant tax savings for you.
Pro Tip for advanced readers: Track your TIME by project, client, service item, etc to better understand your profitability and to confirm what IS and IS NOT worth your time. Often this is a simple permissions update in your accounting software and an extra box when you’re logging your time. This information pays dividends when you’re looking for Clarity about your business.
K – Kickstart Your System/s
A resolution is easier to stick to when you develop a system, a process, or have an accountability partner. Here are some suggestions (that even TKA uses):
- Capture Those Receipts! Use technology like your camera phone to help keep it simple (and prevent receipt fading).
- Keep “It” In One Spot: As tax documents start trickling into the mailbox, stack them all in one place (or ask TKA for one of their iconic bright, yellow folders).
- Add Deadlines Now: Add your Estimated Tax Payments, Filing, business decision, and accountant deadlines into your calendar now and create reminders so you don’t forget about any key dates! (BOTH the IRS & FTB state that YOU are ultimately responsible for your stuff!)
- Partner Up With Your Professional: You don’t know what you don’t know. As FANTASTIC as you might be at underwater basket weaving, your tax professional is just as good at his/her chosen profession. Get a leg up by communicating with your accountant ahead of time and consider setting a regularly scheduled appointment (even once a quarter) to help keep you on track!
Pro Tip for advanced readers: Digitize your document and receipt retention process and Leverage Technology! At TKA, we have used two different approaches. The “inbox” approach requires you to set up an email, alias, or group (ex. bills@domain.com) so that emails go directly to a specific inbox. Alternatively, the “subaddressing” approach has you add a “+(something)” between your actual email username and the “@domain.com” portion of your email (ex. yourname+2026taxes@domain.com). If you couple this with an inbox filter, you can auto-sort all your “+2026taxes” messages into an inbox sub-folder. (Auto-filtering also works with the inbox approach.)
A – Align Your Strategy
Make a plan using SMART goals. Really look to align the major pieces of your business and life. WHAT do I like doing? WHO do I want to become? HOW can I take steps towards that version of me TODAY? Consider these ideas:
- Select your theme: Do you want to GROW? How about adding some STABILITY? Or would you rather SIMPLIFY things in your life?
- Examine pricing or bundle changes: Did you undercharge for something last year and you need to adjust pricing? Was there a particular bundle of services/products your customers frequently bought together? (Don’t forget to notify your customers about pricing changes according to any applicable regulations.)
- Adding (or removing) Services / Items: Is there a thing that everyone keeps asking you to sell? What about that one thing you just HATE doing/making? Or maybe there’s just one product that takes you three times as long as you’d like to do and it’s preventing you from making three other things that ultimately make you more profitable/happy/fulfilled.
- Align your tax strategy with your life goals BEFORE your taxes are filed. If you’re planning to buy a house, refinance, or take out that expansion loan in 2026 or even 2028, talk to your tax professional NOW, BEFORE your taxes are filed so your strategy can support both smart taxes AND lender-friendly outcomes.
Pro Tip for advanced readers: Check in about Owner’s Comp / Entity Type. Are you interested in switching from a Sole Proprietor to an LLC or from an LLC to an S-Corp? Are you paying yourself enough? There are many considerations here with tax implications. Plan EARLY! Some options become limited as the year progresses.
Wrapping Up
Q1 is your chance for a new beginning. Start your year off on the right (or left) foot by not forgetting to Track Proactively, Kickstart Your System/s, and Align Your Strategy (T-K-A) which should help you to prioritize what matters most.
For those just starting out, focus on the basics: hit your deadlines, keep your records clean, and don’t miss deductions. For the advanced crowd, tracking detailed metrics, digitizing your processes, and planning with foresight can unlock both an increase in overall profitability and real tax savings.
Either way, the key is the same: don’t wait until April! Take action now, and you (and your tax accountant) will thank yourself during the thick of a crazy, busy tax season.
Deadlines:
- JAN 15 – FINAL ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENT DEADLINE FOR “TIMELY PAYMENTS” (ESTIMATED TAX PENALTY)
- JAN 31 – 1099s & W2s ARE DUE
- MAR 15 – S-CORP & PARTNERSHIP RETURNS ARE DUE (OR EXTENSIONS, LATE FILING PENALTY)
- MAR 15 – TAX “PAYMENT” DEADLINE FOR S-CORPS & PARTNERSHIPS (STATE-LEVEL, LATE PAYMENT PENALTY)
- MAR 15 – DEADLINE IF YOU’RE CONSIDERING AN S-CORP ELECTION BEFORE IT’S CONSIDERED “LATE” AND MAY BE APPLIED TO NEXT YEAR VS THIS YEAR (2027 vs 2026)
- APR 15 – PERSONAL & C-CORP RETURNS ARE DUE (OR EXTENSION, LATE FILING PENALTY)
- APR 15 – TAX “PAYMENT” DEADLINE FOR PERSONAL & C-CORPS (LATE PAYMENT PENALTY)
- JUN 15 – S-CORP PTE ELECTION DUE (HARD DEADLINE)
Written by Joseph Ensley