PS Young Bookkeeping

11/10/2026

💵 Tax TuesPAY | Quick tax-bracket test.

The IRS released the 2027 federal tax brackets last week.

Suppose your income increases enough that part of it enters the 24% bracket.

Does that mean:

A) All of your taxable income is now taxed at 24%

B) Only the portion falling within that bracket is taxed at 24%

C) It depends on your standard deduction

D) I’ve been earning money for years and still have no idea 😅

No calculators needed.

Which answer—and why?

11/03/2026

Tax TuesPAY | Not every business owner needs a new tax strategy.

But your old strategy deserves another look when your facts change.

Which happened to you in 2026?

A) Profit increased substantially
B) Added employees or payroll
C) Changed entity structure or owner compensation
D) Bought equipment, vehicles or property
E) Added a new income stream
F) Cash and reported profit stopped making sense
G) Nothing materially changed

If you're a G, doing more just for the sake of doing more probably isn't planning.

But when the facts change, the tax strategy may need to change with them.

Which letter are you?

Send a message to learn more

10/27/2026

💵 Tax TuesPAY | Your 2026 tax return is already being written.

Business owners have roughly 65 days left in the calendar year.

That makes this a much better question than “What will I owe at tax time?”

"What can I still influence before December 31?”

Profit. Estimated payments. Retirement contributions. Expenses. Recordkeeping. Business decisions.

Tax preparation reports what happened.

Tax planning asks whether you still have time to change the outcome.

Quick business-owner poll:

A) Already reviewing 2026
B) Planning to before year-end
C) Haven’t looked yet
D) My strategy is currently “hope” 😬

10/21/2026

Hello if you are a business owner in the Mesa, Arizona or surrounding areas this may be for you: My friend Matt Vosburgh is hosting an in-person working session in downtown Mesa called Chaos to Control on Wednesday, October 28th (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM) at The Studios at Mesa City Center. It’s put on in partnership with the City of Mesa’s Mesa Business Builder program.

Matt has spent 30 years helping small business owners eliminate daily operational fires and build systems that scale sustainably.

This isn't a passive presentation or an awkward networking mixer. It’s a 2-hour strategic sprint where local business owners sit at small mastermind tables to:

Diagnose Pipeline Leaks: Identify where prospective clients are slipping through the cracks between inquiry and sale.
Automate Follow-Up: Build a multi-touch follow-up sequence so warm leads convert without manual babysitting.
Eliminate Bottlenecks: Take routine administrative tasks off your personal plate to buy back your time and sanity.
Registration is normally $20 to cover materials, but Matt gave me a code so a few of my friends and colleagues can claim a seat for free.

Event Details:

When: Wednesday, October 28th | 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Where: The Studios at Mesa City Center (59 E 1st St, Mesa, AZ 85201)
Cost: Free with code FRIENDS20 (regularly $20)
If you've been wanting to step out of the daily firefighting and put repeatable systems into your business, it’s well worth two hours of your afternoon.

👉 Reserve your seat here:

In Partnership with East Valley Small Business Events, Mesa Business Builder, and City of Mesa Office of Economic Development

10/20/2026

Tax TuesPAY | Business owners: quick retirement reality check.

If you wanted to stop working 5 years from now, where would your retirement income come from?

A) Business sale
B) Retirement accounts/investments
C) Ongoing business income
D) A combination
E) 😬 No real plan yet

“The business is my retirement” only works if the business has value beyond the owner.

Which letter are you?

If you’re an E, message me PLAN.

10/06/2026

Tax TuesPAY | Is the business itself your retirement plan?
Many business owners spend years creating value inside the company while building surprisingly little retirement wealth outside of it.
That can create concentration risk.
A profitable business may eventually be sold, transferred or continue producing income—but none of those outcomes should automatically be assumed.
Tax-favored retirement plans give owners another tool.
For 2026, the basic 401(k) elective-deferral limit is $24,500, and the overall defined-contribution limit can reach $72,000, subject to compensation, plan design and other rules. SEP plans can also permit substantial employer contributions. IRS
But the broader planning question matters more than the limit:
What is supposed to happen when the owner wants to stop working?
A retirement strategy can involve:
- retirement accounts,
- business value,
- succession,
- eventual sale,
- and tax planning around each of those decisions.
The earlier those pieces are coordinated, the more choices an owner generally has.
Business owners: is retirement already part of your business plan—or still something you'll address later?

Send a message to learn more

09/29/2026

👻 Tax TuesPAY | Tax Horror Story Edition
The October 15 federal extension deadline is approaching.
Individuals who timely requested an extension for their 2025 Form 1040 generally have until October 15, 2026 to file. One important distinction: an extension to file was not an extension to pay IRS

With Halloween coming, though, I want to hear something different this week:

What is the strangest, most unusual or downright scary tax situation you've encountered?

A surprise IRS notice?

A missing K-1 discovered at the last minute?

Years of bookkeeping that didn't match the tax returns?

A 1099 nobody remembered?

An old tax problem suddenly resurfacing?

One thing I've learned in tax work is that the unusual cases are often where careful questions matter the most.

No confidential details necessary — tell me your tax horror story in the comments.

And if yours isn't a story yet because you're currently living it, feel free to message me.

Send a message to learn more

09/22/2026

🚗 Tax TuesPAY | The IRS just clarified the new car-loan-interest deduction—and there's an interesting provision for business owners.

Treasury and the IRS have finalized regulations governing the new federal deduction for qualified passenger-vehicle loan interest.

For tax years 2025–2028, qualifying taxpayers may deduct up to $10,000 annually of eligible car-loan interest, even when taking the standard deduction.

The basic requirements include a new vehicle, qualifying financing incurred after December 31, 2024, U.S. final assembly and income limitations.

But the final regulations also address something relevant to entrepreneurs and sole proprietors: mixed-use vehicles.

A vehicle can potentially satisfy the personal-use requirement when, at the time of purchase, the taxpayer expects it to be used more than 50% for personal purposes—even if it will also be used in the business.

That doesn't mean simply deducting the same expense twice.

It means vehicle use, loan interest and the method used to deduct business-related costs should be evaluated together.

Tax planning isn't just knowing that a new deduction exists. It's knowing how the rules interact with your actual situation.

09/15/2026

Tax TuesPAY | September 15 is more than another day on the tax calendar.

Today is the third 2026 federal estimated-tax payment deadline.

A common misconception is that estimated payments only apply to self-employed taxpayers. They can also become relevant when a taxpayer has investment gains, interest, dividends, other income without withholding, or simply insufficient payroll withholding.

For business owners, September 15 carries another important deadline: calendar-year S corporations and partnerships that received a six-month extension generally must file their 2025 returns today.

The larger lesson is simple:

Tax preparation looks backward. Tax planning looks forward.

By September, business owners should have enough 2026 financial information to begin estimating income, reviewing withholding/payments, and identifying potential year-end planning opportunities.

Waiting until March or April means many planning decisions are already gone.

09/08/2026

TAX TuesPAY TIP | September 15 has multiple business-tax deadlines.

For business owners and independent professionals, September 15 isn't merely another date on the calendar.

The third 2026 individual estimated-tax installment is due September 15, and the IRS can assess an underpayment penalty when insufficient tax is paid during a payment period — even if the taxpayer ultimately receives a refund.

September 15 is also the extended filing deadline for calendar-year S corporations and partnerships that timely requested six-month extensions.

For Arizona taxpayers required to make state estimated payments, Q3 is also due September 15.

Good tax management isn't simply preparing a return in April. It's knowing what obligations are developing while the year is still happening.

Business owners: are quarterly tax projections part of your financial-management process, or are taxes still being calculated after the year is over?

Send a message to learn more