subject: How To Prepare For An Audit [print this page] How To Prepare For An Audit How To Prepare For An Audit
You head out to the mailbox on a typical day. You sit at the table coffee in hand and sift through the many envelopes in your hand. Then you see it. The envelope from the Internal Revenue Service and time halts momentarily. This panic is normal and expected. It is a letter informing you that you are being audited. If you take the time to properly prepare for an audit you should not have anything to really worry about. Take it from a small business consulting expert who has seen this many times in businesses. The best thing would be to hire an attorney who has experience with this sort of thing but if you cannot afford one you must prepare yourself for the process. Read on to find ways that will help you to get prepared for the meetings that will hold the rest of your life hostage.1. Since you do not have a lawyer the first piece of advice is that you should notify the IRS 10-days before the first meeting that you intend to record the session. Do not rely on your memory of the event and this will give you a record of what was said by whom. After the meeting have the tape transcribed by a professional. During the meeting you want say as little as possible. This is to avoid inadvertently giving them some information that could harm your case in the future.2. Keep accurate and extensive records of all business dealings this includes all meetings and transactions no matter how small. If the paperboy delivers paper to your office and you tip them this should be in the records. Keep a secondary file of all the paperwork in another location just in case. Keep all records for each year with the appropriate tax return. The company that my clients buy web hosting from recently got audited. In there case, the accuracy of their paper and online records allowed them to complete the audit with no damage done. Few sloppy companies ever get this lucky.3. If you haven't been as good a record keeper as you would have liked to then it is now that you should begin to assemble your records and to make sure you have receipts for everything you claimed. If you cannot find the originals you will have to contact the vendors or individuals for replacements. Organize everything by months or quarters, summarize the information but have the documents available to support your statements.4. Research the auditing process to prepare yourself for what is to come. Never go into this thing cold. Talk with people who have been through the process. If you cannot find anyone locally there are plenty of blogs from people who have gone through the ordeal and lived to tell the tale. 5. The IRS is nobody's friend, especially your now that you are being audited. Be professional when coming to the offices. Have your papers neatly organized and in a tote or file box. Do not show up for a business audit with your papers hanging out of a paper bag or shoebox.These are just a few of the things you can do to prepare for the big audit. If you would like more information go online today and read up on the auditing process. You may not have an audit on the horizon but being prepared just in case is a wise start.
