Are you nursing a bit of a post-tax-season hangover? Never fear, our favorite Beauty CPA is here!
Kenesha Coleman is an award-winning CPA and IRS Enrolled Agent who specializes in helping ambitious and driven Beauty Entrepreneurs save money by optimizing their tax and financial lives.
I know many of our Sugar Tribe has gone to her to do their taxes and no matter what state they're in, she can help. So instead of helping with the aftermath, Kenesha is here today to set you up with proper tax planning so you can sit back and actually enjoy tax season next year!
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL WALK AWAY WITH:
Take Control of Your Bookkeeping With Kenesha HERE!
If you’ve connected with or been inspired by this episode in any way, leave us a review and let us know your biggest takeaway - I’d love to hear what steps you'll be taking to plan for next year! And while you've got your phone out, make sure to follow us on Instagram @Love2Sugar and check out Kenesha @TheBeautyCPA.
Want more? We’d love to have you in The Sugar Tribe!
If you’ve connected with or been inspired by this episode in any way, leave us a review and let us know your biggest takeaway - I’d love to hear how you embrace Sugaring For All!! And while you've got your phone out, make sure to follow us on Instagram @Love2Sugar.
If you are interested in learning more about Radeq Lab's Premium Prebiotic Sugar Line of products, you can find them at www.radeqlab.us.
Cheers to your Sweet Success!
Are you nursing a bit of a post-tax-season hangover? Never fear, our favorite Beauty CPA is here!
Kenesha Coleman is an award-winning CPA and IRS Enrolled Agent who specializes in helping ambitious and driven Beauty Entrepreneurs save money by optimizing their tax and financial lives.
I know many of our Sugar Tribe has gone to her to do their taxes and no matter what state they're in, she can help. So instead of helping with the aftermath, Kenesha is here today to set you up with proper tax planning so you can sit back and actually enjoy tax season next year!
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL WALK AWAY WITH:
Take Control of Your Bookkeeping With Kenesha HERE!
If you’ve connected with or been inspired by this episode in any way, leave us a review and let us know your biggest takeaway - I’d love to hear what steps you'll be taking to plan for next year! And while you've got your phone out, make sure to follow us on Instagram @Love2Sugar and check out Kenesha @TheBeautyCPA.
Want more? We’d love to have you in The Sugar Tribe!
If you’ve connected with or been inspired by this episode in any way, leave us a review and let us know your biggest takeaway - I’d love to hear how you embrace Sugaring For All!! And while you've got your phone out, make sure to follow us on Instagram @Love2Sugar.
If you are interested in learning more about Radeq Lab's Premium Prebiotic Sugar Line of products, you can find them at www.radeqlab.us.
Cheers to your Sweet Success!
[00:00:00] Shannon O'Brien: Welcome to this Sugar Show. I'm Shannon O'Brien, body sugaring expert and licensed esthetician who's taken my own skincare business from zero to multiple six figures and has helped over 3000 students learn how to do the same. Now, let me tell you, it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked. The time, budget, and knowledge needed to grow my small business as a body sugaring pro.
[00:00:23] If we were to press rewind, you'd see the many failed attempts and lessons learned that have helped me build the profitable business that I have today. One that runs on its own and gives me the lifestyle and freedom that I only used to dream of. I created the Sugar Show to hand you my secrets and give you the simple step by step.
[00:00:43] To help you do the same. So if you're a cosmetologist or aesthetician or wax professional who's looking to fill your books, make more money in your business and enjoy greater balance between your work and home life, you are in the right place. Let's dive [00:01:00] in.
[00:01:11] Woo, tax season
[00:01:14] Kenesha Coleman: is over.
[00:01:16] Shannon O'Brien: There might be some of you that are cringing as you're listening to me say that because either it was just a really difficult tax time for you, or maybe because you owe in your taxes, which. Totally fine. And our job now is to help you make this next year different, right? Or if you have had a great success in your last year's taxes, maybe you got a tax refund and you're thinking about ways to spend your tax money, that is awesome also.
[00:01:48] But really, after a tax season, We all take a breath and shake it off and maybe ignore it for a little bit. But this podcast is really [00:02:00] to kind of try to do things differently if you haven't already, and prod you to become. Uber organized in this next year so that you can have next tax season be an absolute breeze.
[00:02:15] And if your tax season was ah, just okay, no big deal. But you wanna learn ways to make yourself better. On the Sugar Show Podcast, I have partnered with Kaneisha Coleman. She is the beauty C p A. She is absolutely brilliant. Uh, C p a, but also she used to work for the I r s, so she's been inside and understands exactly what they're looking for, exactly what you can get away with, what you should be mindful of, and she's super easy to talk to.
[00:02:48] Plenty of the Sugar Tribe has gone to her to do their taxes. No matter what state they're in, she can help. And Kaneisha is so easy to talk to. You'll see that in the podcast if you have not listened [00:03:00] to the previous one. Actually, I think we've done four now with her tune back into Kaneisha because she really, really knows her stuff, especially as it comes down to beauty professionals.
[00:03:12] And Sugar Pros, of course. But this episode we're gonna talk about tax season being over and how to really start your tax planning, what to be looking for, and what. Really the, the a proper year should look like. We're gonna follow up in Q3 and q4, which will be here before you know it. And inside the Sugar Tribe, we're going to be really diving even deeper from what the podcast talked about.
[00:03:39] So if you are not already on the app, you should be, if you are not already in the Sugar Tribe, you should be. But regard, Definitely enjoy this episode of The Sugar Show. I know it's hard to say taxes and enjoyment in the same sentence, but I really know that Kenisha will not only ease your fears, but help you to march on as [00:04:00] a strong, strong business owner.
[00:04:06] Kenesha Coleman: Kenesha
[00:04:08] Shannon O'Brien: tax season is over. How did you
[00:04:10] Kenesha Coleman: do girl? We did. We did great. It is our favorite time of the. But I'm glad it's over cause we get to rest and recuperate now. But we did amazing and hopefully everybody we serve feels like they were best served as well.
[00:04:28] Shannon O'Brien: I have heard nothing but great things from our sugar tribe.
[00:04:32] We have quite a few people in our tribe that took advantage of chatting with you. Even the manager of my shop took advantage of working with you and they, it's so nice to have someone in your corner. Mm-hmm. Thank you so much for, I'm gonna give you a shout out for just being, you know, the, the one that can help us through all of the stuff that we don't really like to do.
[00:04:54] Absolutely. My pleasure. And,
[00:04:59] Shannon O'Brien: I, [00:05:00] I think if we're to just close up the tax season conversation, what do you think people were most like, surprised about? Like, what they could deduct or like what, what were they the most surprised about when you worked with them? Absolutely. I
[00:05:14] Kenesha Coleman: think it was, like you said, I think it was what they could deduct.
[00:05:18] I think that is like by far the top question that I get from. Beauty entrepreneurs is not really understanding the business expense part and what is tax deductible. So when they engage our firm, especially to prepare their tax returns, we're able to put that, put the puzzle pieces together that they gave us.
[00:05:39] Mm-hmm. And also spot some things that are missing that we could expect. So then we follow up with them like, hey, We are expecting this and then we start to get them some thought provoking questions and they're like, oh yeah, I do do that. And then they give us the information and they're able to save even more on their tax returns.
[00:05:58] So that is by far [00:06:00] always the surprising part and like the epiphany for them is what they can deduct and how much it does make a difference on the tax.
[00:06:08] Shannon O'Brien: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So we've taken a breath. I really hope that you've been relaxing this week, and honestly, I hope that you would take an extra week to relax.
[00:06:17] But let's talk about, okay, you've done your taxes, you've taken a breath, and now it's time to really get smart. It's like this is like the New Year's resolution for taxes, right? So let's talk about tax planning. We're gonna take a breath, we're gonna push all of our. Bad habits away, and we're gonna start new with Kaneisha.
[00:06:42] So let's just talk about tax planning in general. What exactly is tax planning?
[00:06:48] Kenesha Coleman: Absolutely. So tax planning doesn't have to be anything complex. Tax planning is merely arranging your financial affairs in a way that's gonna [00:07:00] result in the lowest tax bill legally possible. Okay? It's gonna help you mitigate.
[00:07:08] Those nasty consequences of having huge tax bills. Mm-hmm. Okay. And these can be very simple strategies. Now can they get complex? Sure they could. But the theory of tax cleaning in general is just how can we put certain things in place so that we say the most we can on taxes? Mm.
[00:07:31] Shannon O'Brien: I have a quick question.
[00:07:32] Mm-hmm. And we didn't talk about. In my last little burst of excitement. Mm-hmm. What does someone do if they didn't file their taxes? I did. But if they're listening to this and they're like, okay, I really wanna do tax planning. Mm-hmm. But I wanna preface this with what if they're listening? Mm-hmm. And they didn't file.
[00:07:56] Okay, what do you do? Lemme
[00:07:58] Kenesha Coleman: tell you. Okay. [00:08:00] And this,
[00:08:00] Shannon O'Brien: I threw this one out left field for you. So
[00:08:04] Kenesha Coleman: this is what I'll. Fun fact, it is actually worse to not file the return than to not pay the tax. Now, I know some of y'all just heard that like you're right. Like, you're right, but no, for real, because when you don't file the tax return, IRS is gonna think like, oh, you dodging me.
[00:08:25] Oh, oh, you're, you're just not gonna be responsive to me. You're just not gonna follow our laws and our rules. So what I would say is, File that thing as soon as you possibly can. Even if you're afraid or nervous or scared to know what the bill is. Mm-hmm. Okay. Still file the return because that is a worse offense than actually not paying the tax itself.
[00:08:48] Okay. So file the return and whatever the bill is, it is, you can just make em, arrange em with the IRS to pay that off when and how you can but file that returns, that's [00:09:00] the worst offense.
[00:09:01] Shannon O'Brien: Mm-hmm. So remember if you listen to the podcast, The last time we were together, the irs, they're actually really nice people.
[00:09:08] They don't want to be mad at you. Mm-hmm. Right. I mean, you have the experience in the, in the building where you're like, man, I wish these people would at least just file their taxes. Yeah, yeah.
[00:09:22] Kenesha Coleman: They don't like to be ghosted. You can make arrangements to pay the bill off. Believe it or not, the IRS is one of the most friendly.
[00:09:31] People you could, oh, they have so many programs to help you manage the tax debt, but oh, and you ghost them. Mm, you ghost them now. Then they get mad and start doing some things. Do
[00:09:45] Shannon O'Brien: not ghost the irs. So if you ghosted and it's now after April 17th, you can still file. Yeah, you just, Michael Penalty?
[00:09:56] Kenesha Coleman: Yeah. Do a little, do a little guilty, just a little guilty little penalty.[00:10:00]
[00:10:01] Shannon O'Brien: And contact your CPA right away. Yes. Okay. Let's get back to it. Okay. Now the, for those folks that did their job, they filed their
[00:10:09] Kenesha Coleman: taxes, maybe they may not have had to pay.
[00:10:12] Shannon O'Brien: May
[00:10:12] Kenesha Coleman: have gotten returned. Yay. You.
[00:10:15] Shannon O'Brien: How is tax planning different from when we're filing our tax return?
[00:10:21] Kenesha Coleman: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. So that is a great question, and I know this is, it's a common misconception, right?
[00:10:27] For small business owners, you think that you, that tax planning and filing the tax return are one of the same and they are not. There are. Separate activities, two separate exercises that needs to happen when you f prepare and file a tax return. That's you telling the IRS and your state taxing 30, Hey, this is what we did last year.
[00:10:51] Okay, this is all the money made a money we spent. Here is our net profit and this is the tax that we owe to you. Okay. When we are tax [00:11:00] planning though, that's much different. That's taking a prospective, a proactive to pro approach to saving one taxes. By the time you file a tax return, there's really, there's really nothing huge that can be done to save on taxes when you're preparing and filing the return.
[00:11:17] Mm-hmm. But when we tax plan, we're thinking about. Perspectively, what can we do now until the end of the tax year so that when we file a tax return, we can't save, we can realize how much we have saved on taxes for that tax year. Does that make sense? Oh, for sure. Okay. And so
[00:11:38] Shannon O'Brien: my question, I think that sometimes people, when I listen to my students, they, you know, tax season comes, they pay their taxe.
[00:11:45] They breathe the sigh of relief. Maybe they get to spend their refund, maybe they freak out cause they got a bill, whatever their se scenario is and then like summer comes and we just ignore it cuz it's just too stressful to think about, right? Mm-hmm. And then [00:12:00] maybe November we might say, oh, I should probably figure out what I am gonna deduct this year.
[00:12:08] Yeah. And really, why is now a great time to tax plan?
[00:12:15] Kenesha Coleman: Absolutely. You know why? It's because we just got done filing the tax return and either one, maybe you got a refund or a low tax bill and you'd like that feeling, and if you liked it, you need to make sure you're doing some things from now until the end of the year to have that same feeling next year.
[00:12:36] Okay? Or two, maybe you did that type of attorney and you saw a bill and you almost fainted, like, oh my God. If you don't want to feel that pain again, you need to take advantage of the rest of the time We have left for this year. Arrange your affairs in a way that will result in a lower tax bill when we [00:13:00] come to this time next year.
[00:13:02] Yeah, so the reason why this is a good time, because we feel the joy, we feel the. And if you either like that feeling and wanna continue it or you hated that feeling, you never wanna feel it again. Now it's time to do something about it. Because when it comes to tax planning, the more time better. Mm-hmm.
[00:13:18] Or you, you could save more when you allow yourself the most time available while the tax year is still over.
[00:13:26] Shannon O'Brien: Mm-hmm. Okay. So we've taken that breath. We know now is the time to start. Where do we start? Where do we start? Okay.
[00:13:37] Kenesha Coleman: Yeah. So there are a lot of possibilities and it would be absolutely impossible to name them all.
[00:13:43] Right. That's true. That's a big question I just asked. I would, I would love to do that. Right, right. Just sit all day and all night. But there are some major areas, right? I have top three major areas I see [00:14:00] that can really move the needle a lot. For, for Sugar Pros. Okay. With little bit of effort. Okay? Now, I'm not a lazy person.
[00:14:12] I got to call it efficient. I'm an efficient person. I like to get, I like to get a lot for a little. Okay, so let's talk about, I got three major areas I want you all to start with. The first one by far that has made a huge difference tax wise is looking at whether. The way your business is structured is still serving you.
[00:14:38] Meaning how is it, um, how is it affecting your taxes? And when I say how your business is structured, I'm talking about the entity that you're using, whether you are a sole proprietor or a one owner L l C, or maybe your partnership. Maybe there are two or more of you. Or maybe you are an S corporation [00:15:00] owner, okay?
[00:15:01] I want you to look at that entity and I want you to, you can run an analysis to say, okay, if I were another entity, would I save more on taxes and. Myself, our firm, or any c, any competent c p A can do this analysis for you. Okay? But that is single handedly the biggest decision that you can make, whether to switch entities or not.
[00:15:26] That can literally save you. Tens of thousands of dollars
[00:15:29] Shannon O'Brien: a year in tax. Yeah. So you solos, maybe it's time to think about being an L S C. Mm-hmm. Maybe it's time to think about for your day spa being a corporation. Mm-hmm. And what kind of corporation, and that's what your C P A can help with.
[00:15:43] Kenesha Coleman: Absolutely.
[00:15:44] Absolutely. Now, one little tidbit I'm gonna throw out there, right. For you, corporation owners, some people reach the corporation mountaintop and they're like, I've. This is it, and I want y'all don't forget [00:16:00] about the C corporation, okay? C Corporation. That tax rate is at a historical all-time low of 21%, the lowest I've ever seen in it in my years of being alive, okay?
[00:16:12] There is a point S corporation owners, where the S corporation may not be serving you. So do not forget about the C Corporation, but again, run the analysis across all the entity. See the bottom tax number for each one and make your decision based off, you know, the actual data run the numbers. Okay. The second area.
[00:16:37] Okay, and I can get on my soapbox about this, but stop me, Shannon, if I do stop. Maximizing your tax deductions. Like I said when we first started, this is one of the areas that is still like, um, that Sugar Pros are really in the dark about what can be deducted on the tax return to lower the [00:17:00] tax. Okay.
[00:17:01] Maximizing deductions is single handedly by far one of the easiest ways to save on tax. Just by making sure we're capturing all the data, like I said, for my tax preparation. We give them all, we take all the data they provide to us, we put this puzzle together. There's always these missing pieces though.
[00:17:21] We're like, wait a minute, this puzzle's almost complete. There's some missing pieces here, and I know what they should be, so I'm gonna go back to the sugar pond. I'm gonna ask them some questions. And it's always like, oh, I didn't know I can do that, you know? And then we get the info from them. But we gotta make sure it all stems with you understanding what business expenses you can deduct in your taxes.
[00:17:44] And once you understand that, you're able to create systems that will capture all that financial data and then your tax professional can use that to save you the most they possibly can. Yeah,
[00:17:56] Shannon O'Brien: they, there's only so much they can do. You gotta help.
[00:17:59] Kenesha Coleman: [00:18:00] Yeah. Yep. Yep. And I like to say it like this and um, I promise this is like no shade to, you know, the Sugar Pro, but garbage.
[00:18:09] He ain't garbage out. Right. When you give the tax pro just stuff a box of receipts. Okay. And in the accounting world, I won't say garbage. That's bad. My apologies. But like, if you give them unorganized data, What could you don't expect? A superior tax return as the output? Yeah. Okay.
[00:18:35] Shannon O'Brien: I think it's really important for people to understand, cuz I've been doing the taxes a long time now cuz you know, I'm a little bit older baby than you.
[00:18:43] Um, but I've been doing taxes a long time and I think that what I've come to understand in working with CPAs, If you, if you understand what it is that you can deduct what it is, you know that your business, if you understand that from the jump mm-hmm. [00:19:00] Then you can collect the things you know they need.
[00:19:03] Mm-hmm. And if you're organized, you can organize the things that they need and then they can take that and easily, basically like translate it for you. Mm-hmm. Right. They can take any new tax laws or any new. Rules and regulations, any new percentages, any new entity levels or whatever that. And they can then give you the best case scenario.
[00:19:29] If you walk in with like a, I don't know, attitude or a giant basket full of junk and dump it on their table, they're, it's not as easy for them to sort through the laundry pile, so to speak, and then give you the best case. They're gonna sort through the laundry pile and give you the basics because it's taken so long to sort through the laundry.
[00:19:55] Right. So I, I think that working with CPAs, the [00:20:00] smartest thing that I can tell you Sugar Pros is to work with someone like Kaneisha and say, Hey, here's all my data, like you said. And then from there, someone like Kaneisha can then work with the best case scenarios and, and massage it. That way she's not spending time doing your laundry.
[00:20:20] Kenesha Coleman: Yep. Yep. Very well said, right? I mean,
[00:20:27] Shannon O'Brien: if, if you've gotta, if you've gotta have your CPA sort through your junk, they're spending more time doing that than they are being strategic with you. So if you start now, a great call I imagine to Kaneisha or one of the CPAs in your area would be, Hey, I know that it was, um, very messy last year.
[00:20:48] Mm-hmm. Um, or I know that I could have been more organized. Mm-hmm. What can I do now? C p a to start this now? You've already listened to this podcast, so you get that, like you need to [00:21:00] ask them about your entity. You need to ask them about, you know, the deductions and the things so you can start doing that now, work with them and what's number.
[00:21:09] Kenesha Coleman: Number three is retirement planning. Retirement planning. I cannot stress this enough. And this is, you know, if we just put tax aside for the more, just one second. Right. We gotta, we gotta save for our future selves. Cuz let's be honest, um, the government ain't gonna do it for, they not gonna do it for us.
[00:21:31] Right. It can't depend on them. So we gotta do it for ourselves. So we wanna set aside money to be, to put into, you know, investments or the stock market, but for the purpose of saving for our future selves. Alright? Um, but in the process you do get lots of tax benefits for saving for retirement. There are a multitude.
[00:21:59] Like [00:22:00] options for Sugar Pros, um, that own their own businesses to start saving, but you always get a tax benefit for the contributions for the money. You suck away into this account to save. Mm-hmm. The reason why this is a very special step in the tax planning process because this is one of the areas.
[00:22:25] The cutoff isn't 1231 with all this other stuff. If you haven't done it by 1231 at 1159 Eastern, mm, it's, but for retirement planning, you have until the day you actually file the tax return to make the contribution and still have it. Um, credited for the tax year that you want it to be, which will be the year before.
[00:22:49] Okay. So that's why that is a very special area of tax planning that can, again, save you tens of thousand dollars and it gives you like four extra months to implement the [00:23:00] strategy.
[00:23:02] Shannon O'Brien: Hmm. I would venture to gift that we could talk for hours about all the different strategies, right? Oh yeah. So, so let's break it down.
[00:23:11] Like you've have the three like things to start with. That's plenty. We're gonna talk about this throughout the year. We're gonna bring you back on the sugar show so people you can check in with everybody. Let me ask you one more thing. What are the business systems mm-hmm that we should be utilizing in our tax planning?
[00:23:31] To help with this sorting out of 2023 and beyond to be the most amazing years in our business. Absolutely.
[00:23:40] Kenesha Coleman: And you, this is the B word. Uh, the B word. Now, I know a lot of you think, I may say something vulgar, but I'm gonna say bookkeeping and a lot of you may even think that is a vulgar word book. Keep it.
[00:23:54] We have to have our bookkeeping system in. Wanna know why. The [00:24:00] reason why this is, it's not a system. It is the system because it captures all the data that you need to be able to tax plan right before you can come to Comac to me or to any c p a to write your tax plan. The first thing, okay? The second thing we're gonna ask you after we ask for your tax.
[00:24:25] We're gonna ask you for some financial statements, and those statements are a culmination of the data that's in your bookkeeping system, right? Because I always say this, you can't manage or deduct what you're not tracking. So if we're talking about, um, entity conversions, a lot of that deals with net profit.
[00:24:45] I don't know what your net profit is. If you haven't been tracking all the money you're making and all the money you're spending, I can't maximize the deduction for you and find loophole. If I don't know where the money is going and what it is going for, that [00:25:00] comes from the bookkeeping. I can't tell you how much you can afford to save for retirement if I don't know what the bookkeeping numbers look like.
[00:25:08] So that system is hands down bookkeeping. And in addition, we don't do it just for the sake of doing it. We gotta actually prepare the financial statements on a monthly basis. And we gotta look at 'em. I know you don't like to look at the numbers. We gotta look at the numbers. Okay. That's right. We gotta look at those numbers.
[00:25:26] So yeah, that V system is. Good bookkeeping that is going to be maintained consistently and always
[00:25:34] Shannon O'Brien: up to date. Yeah. You know, if you are a solo or even especially a day spa, um, you know, employees can do this too and take a look at the things that they're doing in their business. You know, the things that they're doing as employees, whether they're, you know, whether they have a retirement, you can do it as an employee.
[00:25:53] But let's talk about solos for a minute. Mm-hmm. And first of all, get that business account. And [00:26:00] set that bookkeeping system up. I use QuickBooks. Are there any others that you like if people wanna look into them besides QuickBooks?
[00:26:07] Kenesha Coleman: Absolutely. They're my second favorite is Zero. I know it's sounds like a Z, but it starts with an X.
[00:26:14] Yes. R O zero. Um, fresh Books is a very decent one. There's another called NetSuite as well. They are practically, they're very similar platforms. Um, it's all about do you like the way the platform looks and its usability. Mm-hmm. But they do all the main functions mm-hmm. Of a good bookkeeping
[00:26:38] Shannon O'Brien: system. Yeah.
[00:26:39] And I got into a habit of. The first week of every month, the end of the first week usually, or actually the Mondays, I usually do all my kind of bookkeeping work, you know, business work, and the second Monday of the month. It kind of gives everything a time for me to get my statements that first week of the [00:27:00] month.
[00:27:00] I go back, say now we're in February in this recording, right? Maybe we're in April. We're looking back, we're in, you know, March. We're looking back, whatever. So when we look back, we can take that last month's. Statement. And if we just do the month, it really doesn't take that long. Mm-hmm. And everything is so automated now, you guys, you can literally just click in your bank.
[00:27:27] I mean, I remember the day when I ha, I waited for the statement to come in the mail, and I would go line by line by line and categorize everything. Now it automates everything for you. So connect your bank with your QuickBooks, your Zero, whatever you have, you connect. You go through and make sure that everything is categorized right, like your Amazon charges, make sure they're categorized right.
[00:27:52] Um, so one time I had, um, I think it was the, the gas station, the Chevron, right? Mm-hmm. It said, it, [00:28:00] it like categorized it as like meals. So I just adjusted that to auto, right? Like, yeah, like I just went through and cuz I happened to be going to teach somewhere and so I wrote that off. Mileage and for auto gasoline, right?
[00:28:15] Mm-hmm. So I did that, and then once you go through, that month is done, it's only four or five weeks, then it's done. Then you, you're, you can go to the next month and then the next month, and then by the time you need to take a look and do your profit and loss statements, and you're accountant might say, okay, I want you to send me your profit and loss statements.
[00:28:36] It's a click of a button. Yep. If you keep up with it, if you have a whole year's worth, it's going to grab, grab your iced tea and take a few days, because it's gonna take a few days. But if you just take, I usually do
[00:28:51] Kenesha Coleman: the second Monday of every month, I usually do about an hour.
[00:28:54] Shannon O'Brien: Mm-hmm. Or I kind of take a look.
[00:28:56] The other thing is I catch stuff. Mm-hmm. I [00:29:00] catch that subscription. I thought that was, I had never signed up for. Mm-hmm. Or I catch, you know, Hey wait a. That shouldn't have been $600, it should have been $400. I catch any discrepancies and then I can hand them to my CPA and say, okay, this is what my books look like.
[00:29:17] And you can make great planning choices from there. Yep,
[00:29:21] Kenesha Coleman: yep. Very true. You'd be amazed at, um, how. How much time it does not take. I think that when you, when you hear the word bookkeeping, you just think how, you know, tedious it might be, or how boring it might be. Your mind, the imagination starts to wander and make up its own situation.
[00:29:42] Mm-hmm. But then when you really sit down at it and you realize just how. Much work the system system actually does for you. Mm-hmm. Because QuickBooks, that that process you just described of the categorizing QuickBooks is about 85, 90% Correct? Most of the time, [00:30:00] yeah. Okay. And then once you correct them, the, the, I hate to use the a, the algorithm, whatever, it will start to.
[00:30:08] Yeah. Like, okay, she keeps changing this to auto, so maybe Chevron is really auto. Yeah. And we'll just do it like that from now on. But you gotta use it consistently to start teaching it so you can start learning it. Right? And so when you just don't think of it so tedious without giving it a shot, give it a shot and you'll see just how little time it actually takes.
[00:30:31] Yep. And I bet the first time you run those, And you see where all that money is going and how much made. It really is enlightening and you're gonna get it, how many ways you're gonna get into it. Watch. You're gonna get it to it, you're gonna be like, what? And then it may encourage you to want to do it month over month because you'll feel this sense of empowerment, of knowing exactly what your numbers are and worth how much you're making and [00:31:00] how.
[00:31:01] Money is going out the door to things. It's very empowering to know. The knowing is empowering.
[00:31:08] Shannon O'Brien: Oh my gosh. It really changes the course of your business. Mm-hmm. To be honest. Yep. So, okay, so q2, April, may, and June, our focus is planning. Mm-hmm. And Kaneisha. Thank you so much for getting us through tax season.
[00:31:26] Oh girl. Uh, thank you so much for helping us be prepared. And the next time that you are with us, we will be, will bring you back for the next quarter and you're gonna focus us on what we should be doing kind of mid-year, uh, which I can't even believe that's, it's gonna be here before we know it. Um, you know, gosh, if it's already April, then it's gonna, we'll probably have you on like the end of summer and I can't even believe it.
[00:31:52] Oh. Girl. Um, but thank you for really walking us through all this cuz it really doesn't need to be [00:32:00] scary and I think you've seen a lot of very happy tax clients that I I bet you get that a lot. Like, wow, if I just planned this, it's really not that scary. Yeah.
[00:32:11] Kenesha Coleman: Yeah. Yeah. I think the last thing I would want to leave the Sugar Pros with this tax, let's just, as long as you're in business, okay.
[00:32:20] Tax is not a. All right. As long as you're in business, tax is not a season. Mm-hmm. So let's always ob obviously run your. But let's always know where that money is coming from, know where it is going, and know how much we gotta pay the tax man, cuz he gonna want his cut. Mm-hmm. But one way to control that amount is by tax planning.
[00:32:43] And we need to be doing that, you know, month after month and quarter after quarters. Not just the season when it comes to our money. It ain't never just the season. Okay. So, um, taxes here. Taxes here to stay. It's not just the season, let's just plan for. [00:33:00] I told you,
[00:33:02] Shannon O'Brien: I told you she's amazing.
[00:33:04] Kenesha Coleman: Kaneisha.
[00:33:06] Shannon O'Brien: I, I don't know what we would do without her, to be honest.
[00:33:09] I really don't. She helps break things down so easily, and if you really, really just trust us, if you take these baby steps in this next year, once a month, the second Monday or Sunday of the month, spend an hour, organize the last month. Celebrate your successes. If you're inside the Sugar Tribe, we celebrate your wins always and really take a look at that last month.
[00:33:40] Make some adjustments, set some goals for the next, for the month coming up and take it one month at a time, one bite at a time. And by the time you hit the end of the year, you are going to be shocked. It is possible to be a six-figure sugaring [00:34:00] professional, even part-time. It is possible. I am a walking t.
[00:34:05] And my staff is getting to that place and our students are getting to that place. Our Sugar tribe is already marching forward together and. We are here to make this not as difficult for all of you, so I hope you enjoyed that episode. We have so many more in good ones in store for you. Thank you to those who are sending me testimonials about the success that you're having financially in your business as well as with technique, and I look forward to having you hear the next episodes and seeing you live.
[00:34:37] Very, very similar.