• Date the partnership started
• List of partners
• The amount of money each partner initially put into the partnership, and current ownership percentages
• Details about any specific income or expense items that are NOT allocated based on profit, loss or ownership percentages
• The method you use for tracking your business finances

Income and expense records are the basis of your tax return. Depending on your level of gross receipts and assets, you may need balance sheet information as well. If you use accounting software, like QuickBooks or Quicken, to record your financial information, print out a Profit and Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet for quick reference as you begin your tax return. If not, you may wish to compile this information in an Excel spreadsheet. Regardless of what software you use, having organized accounting records makes tax preparation much easier.

Your bank statements or checking account records are a window into your income and expense activity for the year, particularly if you don't already have organized accounting records. Analyzing deposits and expenditures will enable you to categorize income and deductions to prepare your tax return. Even if you do have compiled accounting records, it's worth it to reconcile your ending cash balance to the last bank statement cash balance of the year. This will help ensure you've captured all cash transactions and activity in your accounting records.

Many small businesses use credit cards for day-to-day business transactions; credit card charges can include expenditures for gas, parking, meals, supplies, equipment, and other items. However, small business owners often don't have time to sort these expenses into categories for tax purposes when they're paying the bills.

Categorization can be important because some expenses, like meals and entertainment, are not fully deductible. Also, major equipment purchases may need to be capitalized and depreciated rather than fully expensed. Have your credit card statements handy for review if necessary.

Your payroll tax filings, both federal and state, will help ensure that you have the correct payroll and payroll tax expenses in your accounting records. Remember that the payroll taxes you withhold from your employees' wages are not an expense to the business.

If you're preparing your own tax return for the first time, you'll need to enter the details of the business's depreciable assets up to this tax year into the software. The software will calculate the depreciation on these assets going forward. If your business is new for this tax year, see Detail of Asset Purchases to begin depreciating your assets. For each depreciable asset, you'll need the following:

• Description of the asset
• Date put into service
• Original cost of the asset
• Accumulated depreciation up to this tax year
• Business use percentage (if applicable)
• Recovery period of the asset (3 years, 5 years, 7 years, etc.)
• Any Section 179 Expense (or first-year expense) taken in the first year of service

Major asset purchases generally need to be capitalized and depreciated for tax purposes. Have the following information available for these purchases:

• Cost of the asset, including any sales tax paid
• Description of the asset
• Date put into service
• Amount of time the asset is used for the business (as opposed to for personal use), stated as a percentage

If your business sold any depreciable assets during the year, you'll need the following information to calculate any gain or loss on the sales for tax reporting purposes.

• Description of the asset
• Date of sale
• Sales price of the asset
• Any expenses of the sale
• Accumulated depreciation (if not calculated by the software)