The Profitjets Blog
Finance Writing for People Running the Business
Practical articles on bookkeeping, accounting, tax, payroll and financial strategy, written for founders and operators rather than for other accountants.
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What is Bookkeeping: A Step-by-Step Guide
What bookkeeping covers, how it differs from accounting, and the five-step process behind a clean set of books.
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How to File Form 1041: Estate and Trust Income Tax Return
Who Must File Form 1041, Tax Year Options, and Types of Income Reported on Form 1041.
How to File Form 1099-NEC: Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses
Who Needs to File Form 1099-NEC, Payment Threshold, and Step 1: Collect Form W-9 Before Making Payments.
How to File Form 1099-Q: Payments from 529 Plans and Coverdell ESAs
Who Issues Form 1099-Q, Understanding the Boxes on Form 1099-Q, and When Distributions Are Tax-Free.
How to File Form 1120: Step-by-Step C-Corporation Tax Return Guide
Who Must File Form 1120, Filing Deadlines, and Estimated Tax Payments, Form 1120-W.
How to File Form 8027: Employer's Annual Information Return of Tip Income
The records behind it, and what allocation means for staff.
How to File Form 8082: Notice of Inconsistent Treatment or Administrative Adjustment Request
Whether to file, what follows, and what supports the position.
How to File Form 8606: Nondeductible IRA Contributions
Why it matters in years with no tax, and the pro-rata trap.
How to File Form 8801: Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax
What Is Form 8801, Who Can Use Form 8801, and Why Form 8801 Matters More After TCJA 2017.
How to File Form 8804: Partnership Withholding Tax (Section 1446)
How the return, the statements and the payments fit together.
How to File Form 8814: Parent's Election to Report Child's Interest and Dividends
Convenience against cost, and how narrow the eligibility is.
How to File Form 8824: Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchange
Timing first, what qualifies now, and the file you keep afterwards.
How to File Form 8858: Foreign Disregarded Entities and Foreign Branches
Knowing you hold one, and preparing the figures each year.
How to File Form 8862: Information to Claim Certain Credits After Disallowance
Why it was denied, what supports the claim, and avoiding a repeat.
How to File Form 8863: Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning)
Which credit, who claims it, and why the statement is not the answer.
How to File Form 8865: U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships
Your category, the information problem, and the penalty exposure.
How to File Form 8868: Extension Request for Exempt Organization Returns
What the extension covers, and the cost of not filing at all.
How to File Form 8938: Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets (FATCA)
How it differs from FBAR, and what to do if you have missed years.
How to File Form 8960: Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)
What falls inside the charge, and the two ways to reduce it.
How to File Form 8962: Premium Tax Credit (PTC)
Why reconciliation is required, and what changes the calculation.
How to File Form 8978: Partner's Additional Reporting Year Tax (BBA Audit Adjustments)
Why it arrives, what the recomputation involves, and who decided.
How to File Form 8990: Limitation on Business Interest Expense (Section 163(j))
Who files it, where the figures come from, and what carries forward.
How to File Form 8995: Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction
What qualifies, how structure affects it, and what supports the claim.
How to File Form 941-X: Amending Your Employer's Quarterly Tax Return
Why You Would File Form 941-X, Two Correction Processes, and Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Amendments.
How to File Form 982: Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness
Proving insolvency, and the attribute reduction that follows.
What we write about
Eight topics we come back to
Pick a topic and the library above filters to it.
Bookkeeping
Clean books, reconciliations, chart of accounts and month-end close.
Accounting
Close process, financial statements, cash against accrual, and reporting that gets used.
Tax
Preparation, planning, entity choice, deductions, quarterly estimates and the IRS forms behind them.
CFO
Forecasting, cash flow, fundraising readiness and the executive roles founders confuse.
Payroll
Withholding, payroll taxes, W-2s and 1099s, and multi-state teams.
Metrics
The ratios and statements that tell you what is actually happening in the business.
Software
QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite and the tools that feed them.
Business Finance
Entity formation, banking, budgeting, funding and getting the finances in order.
Would You Rather We Just Did It?
Reading about reconciliation is useful. Not having to do it is better.