The Tax Appointment Where We Just Sign

It's spring, and you're sitting down with me for your tax appointment. It's on the calendar for an hour and a half.

Your return is on the table. We walk through it together, and the number is the one you expected. You saw a version of it back in the fall. The money to pay it has been sitting in its own account since December.

You sign it. We file it. That part takes a few minutes, because we already did the work.

So what do we do with the rest of the hour and a half?

We talk about next year.

What the rest of the appointment is for.

This is my favorite meeting of the year, and it has almost nothing to do with the return.

Are you hiring another crew? What jobs do you have on the horizon? Are you adding a new service line, or bringing out something new for your customers? What's happening in your personal life and your family life this year that we need to plan for?

And the big one: what are your goals for 2027?

Each of those answers shows up in the numbers. Another crew means payroll, trucks, and tools. A new service line means new pricing and new costs. A change at home might mean a different plan for how you pay yourself. We plan for it in the spring, so next fall holds no surprises either.

We spend the time on the year in front of you. By the time you leave, next year already has a plan, and it's built around what you want your business and your life to look like. It's the conversation you never have time for when tax season is a scramble.

Every year you swear you'll get ahead of taxes. That appointment is what it looks like when you finally do.

What that spring feels like.

There were no late nights at the kitchen table in February, digging for receipts. The January 15 estimated payment was the right size, because it was based on where the year actually landed. When it came time to gather your documents, they were already in one place.

So you spend the spring running your business. The spring bids are going out. The crews are back to full weeks. The phone is ringing with new work, and you have the time and the headspace to answer it.

There's a quieter piece too. Nobody at home hears "I can't this weekend, I have to deal with the taxes." A Saturday in April is just a Saturday.

Where that spring comes from.

That appointment gets built between now and December 31.

Look at the calendar. There are ten weeks left in the year. Count Thanksgiving week, the kids' holiday concerts, the last jobs before the ground freezes, and the week between Christmas and New Year's when the crews are off. Ten weeks on the calendar is closer to seven working weeks in real life.

That's still enough time. It just isn't enough time to wait.

What makes the difference is one sit-down with your numbers this fall. Your numbers get checked through the most recent month, so they're true. You see where the year is going to land. You bring the questions you've been saving, and we answer them one at a time, with your numbers open.

Then you leave with a punch list, each item with a date next to it. You've heard me name them all month: how you pay yourself, including your own retirement through payroll. When bills get paid and invoices go out. Whether equipment goes into service before December 31. And a plan for winter pay and the slow months.

Each one is a decision you make in the fall and feel in the spring. Take owner pay. Say you decide in November how much more to take before year-end, and you set up your own retirement contribution with the payroll company. In December, that's a couple of lines on a payroll run. In the spring, it's the reason the number on your return makes sense to you the first time you read it.

By December 31, your return is mostly written. The spring appointment just puts it on paper, and the rest of the time goes to your plans.

The meeting you get to have.

Most business owners spend their spring appointment catching up on a year that's already over. They find out what happened, and they leave with a bill and a feeling that next year needs to be different.

You get to spend yours on what's next. Your crews, your jobs, your family, your goals. That's the whole point of doing the work in the fall. It buys you the conversation that actually moves your business forward.

Ten weeks is enough.

The December with the laptop closed and the spring appointment where we just sign and talk about your plans start in the same place: one meeting this fall, with your real numbers in front of you and your questions answered.

You have ten weeks. That's enough to see where this year lands, make the few decisions that only move before December 31, and walk into spring knowing exactly what's coming.

Every year you swear you'll get ahead of taxes. This is the year you can.

If you want someone to look at your year before it closes, book a Year-End Walkthrough. We walk through your real numbers, go through what's still open before December 31, and you leave with a punch list for closing out the year. Let's Talk

Leslea Burnett-Little, EA, is the founder of Simply Balanced Accountants. She works exclusively with women who own and operate contractor businesses in Michigan — helping them get clear on their numbers, keep more of what they earn, and build a business that works for their family.