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Back when I started, I had to pick between a fancy accountant or doing my own taxes
It was my second year freelancing full time and I had a real choice. I could pay this local firm in Austin about $800 to handle everything, or I could try to learn the software myself. I was so scared of messing up, but $800 felt like a huge chunk of my profit that year. I went with the DIY route and got a basic tax program. The first time was a nightmare, I think I spent a full weekend just on the schedule C forms. But after that, I got the hang of it. Now, I can do my whole quarterly estimate in under an hour and I know exactly where every dollar goes. It was stressful at first but it gave me so much control. Anyone else start out scared of the numbers and end up running their own books?
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morgan.jason21d ago
Totally get that. Learning the software yourself is a pain at first, but the control you get is worth it.
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lucasw8421d ago
But what if your time is worth more than the money you save? Spending a whole weekend on taxes sounds like a huge cost when you could have been finding new clients or just relaxing. That control you get is nice, but a good accountant might find deductions you'd never know about on your own. Sometimes paying an expert is the smarter move for your business in the long run.
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