A client called us last month in full panic mode. Revenue was solid, business was growing. But when we asked for their books, they had nothing. No expense tracking. No records of contractor payments. And a tax bill looming that they hadn’t saved a single dollar for.
They’re not alone, not even close. We see this all the time at BizBud. Talented entrepreneurs, freelancers, photographers, influencers- all crushing it in their craft but flying completely blind on the financial side. Then January hits, and there’s this gut-punch moment where taxes are suddenly real and nothing is in order.
Getting ahead of tax season isn’t complicated, it’s just three things that separate business owners who actually sleep at night from ones spending weeks trying to piece together a year’s worth of financial chaos (those weeks are not fun).
Let me walk you through them.
Step 1: Get Your Bookkeeping in Order
First, the foundation – everything else falls apart without it. If you don’t know your revenue and expenses from last year, that is problem number one. You cannot make smart business decisions or file accurate taxes when you’re just guessing your numbers.
So what’s the takeaway?
If you have a bookkeeper, talk to them. Are they caught up? They need be by as soon as possible. But if they aren’t, push them because you need those numbers before tax prep starts. If you don’t have a bookkeeper, getting one is your first move. Getting to this “eventually” is going to cost you a lot of time and money, so do it sooner than later.
Pro Tip: keep your business and personal expenses on separate cards. Mixing them creates a mess. Your bookkeeper (or you, if you are handling it) will have to sift through every transaction to separate business from personal. Nobody wants to do that. It’s time-consuming, full of errors, and totally avoidable. But if you mixed things up last year, the damage isn’t permanent. A good bookkeeper can sort it out.
The goal is to build a habit so you don’t find yourself in this position again. Start the year strong, and by next January, your books will be clean, current, and ready to go.
Step 2: Gather Your 1099s
This one catches people off guard every single year. 1099 season hits at the end of January, and there are two sides to it you need to handle.
The 1099s Coming TO You
If you earned income from clients, brands, platforms, or anyone else, you should be receiving 1099 forms by the last day of January. These documents report the income paid to you, and your tax preparer needs every single one of them.
To be fair, this is where it gets tricky. Maybe you moved. Maybe you are a digital nomad without a consistent mailing address. Maybe you just never set up the right systems to receive these forms.
The fix is simpler than you think.
Log in to your IRS account online. All the 1099s filed on your behalf should show up there in one place. Download that document or documents, send it to your tax preparer, and you are covered. No chasing down paperwork from five different companies. No wondering if you missed something.
The 1099s YOU Need to Send
This part, people often forget entirely.
Did you pay someone over $600 last year? A second shooter, a video editor, a freelance designer, a virtual assistant? If that person is a US citizen or resident and they aren’t operating as a corporation (in most cases), you are required to issue them a 1099.
This is not optional. It’s a legal requirement, and yes, the IRS does check.
Pro tip: Start collecting W-9 forms from every contractor you pay before you pay them. Make it part of your onboarding process. Getting this information upfront saves you from the frantic “hey, can you send me your tax info?” emails in January that half your contractors won’t respond to promptly.
If you are sitting here thinking, “I have no idea what a 1099 even is,” that’s okay, you are not the first person to feel that way. Reach out to us or ask friend who runs a business. Just do not ignore it.
Step 3: Set Aside Money for Taxes
Setting aside money for taxes saves business owners from financial disaster later in the year. Yet, it’s the step most either don’t know they need to do or skip altogether. If you are reporting income, you will owe taxes. Period. We all want to minimize what we pay, and a solid tax strategy helps with that. But the goal is not to pay zero its to pay as little as legally required. Zero is unrealistic for a profitable business. Ignoring this means you’ll face big, unexpected tax bill and potentially legal issues.
Here’s how to handle this using the Separate Bank Account Method.
- Open a new bank account at a different bank from your normal business account.
- At the end of every month, transfer 25% to 30% of your net income into that account.
- Pay your estimated quarterly taxes from that account.
- Don’t touch it for anything else.
Why a different bank? It’s all about psychology. If the money is next to your operating funds, you’ll be tempted to use it. Out of sight, out of mind. That separation creates a mental barrier that keeps the money safe. This method comes from the Profit First approach. You don’t need to set up the whole system with multiple accounts. Just get the tax account going. That one change can be transformative.
We see it all the time. Talented business owners, influencers, creators who never set aside money for taxes. They are always behind. They never have enough for their quarterly estimates. They get hit with underpayment penalties on top of their existing debt. Worst of all, it affects their operations. They can’t invest in growth because their tax bill consumes everything. They cannot hire help or upgrade equipment. They are stuck in survival mode when their revenue suggests they should be thriving. This is a completely preventable problem. That makes it even more frustrating to watch.
Why These Three Things Matter More Than You Think
Nobody got into business because they were pumped about bookkeeping and 1099 forms. But when you nail these three fundamentals, you stop worrying about taxes. You start thinking about growth. Your headspace shifts from “how do I survive this tax bill” to “how do I land more clients, more brands, more revenue.”
That mental shift alone is worth the effort and your sanity.
And the business owners who actually do these things? They’re miles ahead of everyone else. Not because they’re smarter. Not because they have more resources. Just because they built the habits that most people keep putting off.
You don’t have to tackle all three at once, just start with one thing. Maybe it’s just figuring out how much revenue you made last year by pulling up your invoices. That’s a perfectly fine place to start. From there, you pull your business credit card statements and see what you spent. Then you open that tax savings account.
Your Quick-Start Checklist
Here’s what we just talked about, boiled down to action items you can tackle this week:
- Bookkeeping: Check your books for last year. They need to be up to date. If you don’t have bookkeeper, get one. And if you do, see to it that everything’s tidy.
- Separate your finances: Stop blending your business and personal expenses on the same card. If you need one, get a business card dedicated to that purpose.
- Collect your 1099s: Log into your IRS account online and grab transcripts of all 1099s filed for you.
- Issue 1099s: If you’ve paid any contractor more than $600, send them a 1099 by the end of January. Collect W-9s for future payments.
- Open a tax savings account: Choose a different bank and set aside 25-30% of your monthly net income. Don’t touch this account for anything except tax payments.
- Pay quarterly estimates: Use that tax savings account to keep current all year. This way you won’t get blindsided in April.
These are not just optional practices. They’re the bare minimum for running a successful business without chaos when tax season rolls around. If any of this sounds overwhelming, that’s why BizBud is here. We handle bookkeeping, tax prep, and help you keep more of your earnings.
Reach out, and let’s kick off your year the right way so you can focus on what you love to do.
About The Author:
Cameron Botes is the founder of BizBud, a tax and accounting firm built for content creators, influencers, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs building businesses across borders. A former professional soccer player across four continents, Cameron brings the same discipline, preparation, and pressure-tested execution from his athletic career into helping business owners plan ahead, stay compliant, and keep more control over their financial future.
Since founding BizBud in 2020, Cameron has grown the firm from a one-person practice into a team of CPAs and tax advisors serving hundreds of clients across the U.S. and around the world. With an MBA in finance and accounting, international business experience, and a team with backgrounds at firms like PwC, Deloitte, and EY, Cameron helps creators and founders simplify taxes, clean up their books, and build smarter systems so they can focus on the work they actually love.
