File your taxes

5 reasons why you should file your taxes ASAP

March 16, 2021
5 minutes read

As we get closer and closer to tax deadlines, now’s the time to ensure your taxes are in order. Although filing your taxes might not be top of mind right now, we’ve looked into the top reasons why filing your taxes now can benefit you and your business.

1) Faster access to your refund

This is the most obvious and beneficial reason to get your taxes filed. If you’re receiving a return, the faster it's filed, the sooner you’ll receive your refund—meaning more money in your pocket when you need it.

In the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates it should take less than 21 days to receive your refund if submitted electronically. For more information on filing your taxes with the IRS, read what to expect with your refund this year.

In Canada, the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) issues refunds to online tax filings in as little as eight business days. For more information about filing your taxes with the CRA, read how you can get set up online.

2) Cash flow management

Filing your taxes earlier can help you manage your cash flow. By figuring out your tax liability for 2022, you’ll be able to calculate what the minimum amount of quarterly tax estimate payments are for 2023. It’s important to stay on top of your 2023 quarterly tax estimate obligation as it may be accumulating.

3) Discover issues and tax savings before the deadline

The earlier you prepare your taxes, the more time you’ll have to resolve any bookkeeping issues or find any missing receipts, records, and statements. Having this extra time can go a long way in reducing stress during what can be a very hectic time of year.

4) Avoid spending money that will need to be paid later

Having extra money set aside to pay income taxes between now and the deadline can lead to the illusion of “excess” cash. But don’t forget you’ll need to make your payment sooner than later, and paying now will spare you from not having those funds when you need them.

5) Return your focus to running your business

If you’re able to get your taxes filed sooner than later, take advantage while you can to save yourself stress at year end. Checking this task off your long to-do list will give you more time to run your business, which is more important than ever for entrepreneurs.

Let Wave and H&R Block file your taxes for you

Did you know you can make tax time even easier by importing your Wave accounting data into H&R Block and getting access to a personal tax expert specialized in small business? You can either file online with help when you need it, or hand off your documents entirely and have a tax expert file for you (which is super easy, BTW!) It’s available to all US-based customers, and only takes minutes to set up.

You’ll cut down hours of work, receive personal advice from tax pros, get all the latest info on tax deductions, and much more. Simply log into Wave and click the “Tax Filing” link in the navigation menu to get started.

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Digitally capture unlimited receipts
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Payroll
additional fee
additional fee
Hire a bookkeeper
additional fee
additional fee
Option to accept online payments
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0*
per credit card transaction
for first 10 transactions/mo
Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills
Add your logo and brand colors
Automate late payment reminders
with online payments
Wave mobile app
Unlimited bookkeeping records
Dashboard and reports
Auto-import transactions
Auto-merge transactions
Auto-categorize transactions
Add users
Live-person chat and email support
with any paid add-on
Digitally capture unlimited receipts
additional fee
Payroll
additional fee
additional fee
Hire a bookkeeper
additional fee
additional fee
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Plan
$0
Legacy businesses
New businesses
pro
Plan
$16USD or
$20CAD/mo
starter
Plan
$0
Legacy businesses
New businesses
pro
Plan
$16USD or
$20CAD/mo
Invoicing + payments
Option to accept online payments
(and create unique links with checkouts)
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0*
per credit card transaction
for first 10 transactions/mo

Send invoices, estimates, and other docs:

  • via links or PDFs
  • automatically, via Wave
when you add-on online payments
when you add-on online payments
Automate late payment reminders
when you add-on online payments
when you add-on online payments
Add your logo and brand colors
Remove Wave branding from footers
Add attachments to invoices and estimates (coming June 10)
Create reusable message templates (coming June 10)
Invoice and estimate in the mobile app
Accounting
Unlimited bookkeeping records
Auto-import bank transactions
Auto-merge and categorize transactions
Add users to your business
businesses already auto-importing bank transactions and/or that already have users added to their businesses as of May 1, 2024
Digitally capture unlimited receipts
Manage accounting transactions in the mobile app and sync with desktop (NEW!)
when you add-on receipts
when you add-on receipts
Other Wave features
Dashboard and reports
Live-person chat + email support
with any optional add-on
with any optional add-on
Optional add-ons
Receipts
nothing changes
additional fee
included
Payroll
nothing changes
additional fee
additional fee
Advisors
nothing changes
additional fee
additional fee
Invoicing + payments
Option to accept online payments
(and create unique links with checkouts)
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0*
per credit card transaction for first 10 transactions/mo
Send invoices, estimates, and other docs via links or PDFs
Send invoices, estimates, and other docs automatically, via Wave
when you add-on online payments
when you add-on online payments
Automate late payment reminders
when you add-on online payments
when you add-on online payments
Add your logo and brand colors
Remove Wave branding from footers
Add attachments to invoices and estimates (coming June 10)
Create reusable message templates (coming June 10)
Invoice and estimate in the mobile app
Accounting
Unlimited bookkeeping records
Auto-import, -merge, and -categorize bank transactions
businesses already auto-importing bank transactions and/or that already have users added to their businesses as of May 1, 2024
Add users to your business
businesses already auto-importing bank transactions and/or that already have users added to their businesses as of May 1, 2024
Digitally capture unlimited receipts
Manage accounting transactions in the mobile app and sync with desktop (NEW!)
when you add-on receipts
when you add-on receipts
Other Wave features
Dashboard and reports
Live-person chat + email support
with any optional add-on
with any optional add-on
Optional add-ons
Receipts
nothing changes
additional fee
included
Payroll
nothing changes
additional fee
additional fee
Advisors
nothing changes
additional fee
additional fee

*While subscribed to Wave’s Pro Plan, get 2.9% + $0 (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) and 3.4% + $0 (Amex) per transaction for the first 10 transactions of each month of your subscription, then 2.9% + $0.60 (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) and 3.4% + $0.60 (Amex) per transaction. Discover processing is only available to US customers. See full terms and conditions for the US and Canada. See Wave’s Terms of Service for more information.

By Lionel Chen

The information and tips shared on this blog are meant to be used as learning and personal development tools as you launch, run and grow your business. While a good place to start, these articles should not take the place of personalized advice from professionals. As our lawyers would say: “All content on Wave’s blog is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered legal or financial advice.” Additionally, Wave is the legal copyright holder of all materials on the blog, and others cannot re-use or publish it without our written consent.

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