How to Start Using the Internet
Tax Helper
PRO Like a
Seasoned Pro in 30 minutes or LESS...
I highly recommend that you spend 7 minutes and read through this page completely.
It will save you a LOT more time in the future and help eliminate some costly mistakes.
Feel free to print this page for your review.
This is the
Getting Started page for the Internet Tax Helper PRO version.
First, if you have not already done so, download the
Internet Tax Helper
PRO version by [Clicking
Here]. You will need the download password
provided to you in your order information.
Second, after you have installed
the program to your computer, you will find it located
in a folder called "InternetTaxHelperPro" in C:\ Program
Files folder as well as a "shortcut" to the
program in your Start menu -> Programs folder. I recommend opening the program by going to Start
menu -> Programs -> Internet Tax Helper Pro .
Are you upgrading from the Basic version of the
Internet Tax Helper? If you previously used the Basic
version, click here
to jump to instructions on importing your old data.
Now, using the "File" pull down menu in the
upper left corner, choose the "Save As" option and save
a copy on a
different section of your computer's hard drive or on a floppy disk. That way, you have a
blank file that you can use in the future. To make life easier for you, you can rename the copy
you are using for the tax year 2006 to "InternetTaxHelper2006".
Then next year you can
name that copy "InternetTaxHelper2007" (be sure to use the "Save As" method
above whenever creating a new copy).
Okay, I value your time, so I'm going to keep this as
short and to the point as possible so you can focus on
building your business. If after reviewing this
page you still have questions, please visit the FAQ
page.
If you are brand new or not very familiar with how
software or spreadsheets work then I recommend
purchasing one of the "Computers for Dummies"
books that covers basic computer skills and
spreadsheets. If you are a new computer user and
need to learn the basics, I highly recommend Web
Site Tricks, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide"
by Marlon Sanders. He explains all the essentials that
you will need to know if you want to learn how to use
your computer fast. He makes confusing and
intimidating things easy to understand. However,
to use the Tax Helper, you will not need to know how to
do anything complicated other then just add and enter
numbers.s
I also recommend checking out the Frequently Asked Questions
section of this website. You will find all of the commonly asked questions and their
answers and if you can not find your question, you can submit it to us and we will email
an answer back to you.
Next, open up the Internet
Tax Helper program and click on the "Get Started" tab
along the top. You will see that you need to enter four different
items in the first section, your income sources in the
next section and expense categories for your business in the last section. All
items that you need to enter or change are in dark grey boxes. Any items
in light grey boxes or the descriptions off to the side of the boxes can not be changed.
If you try and change or enter something in a box that is not set up for you to enter
information, you will not be able to, as the field is protected. This just means you do not have to enter anything in that
field of the program.
The 4 Items in the Top Section:
The first of the four items in the top section of the "Get Started" page is
simple. It is the name of the your business.
The next item is the particular tax year you are entering
data for. Be sure that you save a separate file for each
year so that you do not lose the previous year's data.
Later on, we'll talk about how you can compare data from one
year to data from another year to review your business results.
The next two items you need to enter are for your Home Office deduction. First, enter
the total square footage of your home. Next enter the total square footage of your home
office. This will then calculate your home office deduction for all 12 months.
For your reference, square footage can be calculated by
measuring the length and width of a room in feet (you'll
need a measuring tape for this one!).
Then multiply the length and width together. For
example, a room that is 20 feet wide and 10 feet long
has a total square footage of 200 square feet (20 x 10 =
200 SF).
The last of the first four items to enter is the mileage reimbursement rate for the
current year. This will be used to calculate any business mileage expenses for using your
vehicle. (Note: This only applies if you use the simple mileage
deduction. If you use the actual expenses of your car's upkeep and depreciate the
cost of your car then this is not required. Simply enter
$0.00 for the mileage deduction rate. I recommend consulting with your accountant or
checking out the tax
tips section for more detailed information on this.)
Please refer to your order information for the Mileage
Log bonus download information.
Income List:
All of the items listed in the Income list and also below in the Expenses list
may be
deleted and replaced with whatever expenses you need for your
specific business situation. You can modify the list to
exactly fit your needs. The items listed are there as
suggestions.
To edit a category, simply click on the
existing text and type in over it what you want it to be.
The changes will now automatically show up throughout all the
other sections of the software.
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To add a new Income category, click on the #add#
field and type in over it the title of the income
category that you want to add. For income, list the different sources of income you have for your business. Maybe you
sell multiple products that you have created
yourself. And you also resell other products as
either affiliates or as a joint venture
endorsement. Perhaps you also provide a consulting
service. You can
list each one of these separately to track income from all your
individual sources.
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Expenses List:
Just like the Income list, the Expenses listed are suggestions. You can delete and
add whatever expense items you have for your business. The only ones you can not change
are the Home Office deduction and the Mileage deduction. That is because these use
specific formulas to calculate these items for you.
OK, now lets browse through some of the features of the
program and how
they benefit you.
On the top of the screen are a list of different tabs. There is an
"Info" tab that gives you links to information contained at this site. There is
the "Get Started" tab which you just went to (if you
followed the instructions above!). There is a
"Transactions " tab and a "Search"
tab. We'll talk about those in much more detail
below. There is a "Year End"
tab that combines all 12 months (and all 4 quarters) into one handy
sheet. There is
1 tab for each of the 4 quarters and for each month of the year. If you are
producing a net income in your business then you will need to submit Quarterly tax returns
and pay estimated income taxes each Quarter of the year - consult your accountant or the tax tips section of
this site regarding this.
Before we go any further, lets go over some simple terminology. Each "tab" is
a worksheet that is setup much like a spreadsheet
application would be. That means you have a worksheet for each of the 12 months, 4 quarters
and the Year End. All of these worksheets are contained in one
database (this entire
program).
In each worksheet you have rows and columns. A ROW goes from left to right on the
computer screen. COLUMNS go from the
top to the bottom of the screen. Where a row and a column
meet is called a CELL. These are the boxes (or grids) that make up the
worksheet and
where your information is displayed. You'll notice that
each cell is read-only on all of the monthly, quarterly and year
end tabs. You can not enter data directly
into the cells, they simply display information.
Entering Transactions
To enter new information, for both Income and
Expenses, you will go to the "Transactions" tab.
Here are the steps to enter a new transaction:
1) Enter the Date.
You should enter the date in a 'MM/DD/YY' format, with two
characters each for the month, the date and the year. For
example, if you have transaction dated December 15th, 2005, you
will enter it as 12/15/05. You can only enter transactions
for the tax year that you setup in the Get Started
section.
2)
Enter the Payment Type.
Use the drop down box to select the most
appropriate payment type, as listed to the
right. If none of the items are applicable,
select Other. |
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3) Select the Category for the transaction.
Use the drop down box to select the most appropriate
income or expense category. This will give you a list, sorted by
Income and Expense and alphabetically, of all the
categories that you have listed on your Get Started
section. For example, if you are entering your
income from one of your affiliate programs, you would select the '[Income]
Affiliate Commission 1' category (or whatever you have
named it. If you are entering your
long distance phone bill, you would select '[Expenses]
Long Distance'. Note: We'll cover Mileage Expenses in more detail below.
If you do not see the income or expense category that
you need, simply go the Get Started page and enter
it. The new category will then instantly show up throughout
the whole program.
4) Enter the Description for the
transaction.
Enter whatever description is appropriate. For
example, if I was entering my January commission check
from marketing the popular Amazing
Formula marketing course, I would enter the Description as
' January commission - Amazing Formula'. If I was entering my travel
expenses to a marketing seminar, I would enter the
Description as 'XYZ marketing seminar'. The Description field is for you to
use as you see best fit. Keep in mind that the
more specific you are, the better the chances are you'll
remember the transaction at a later date.
5) Enter the Amount for the transaction.
Simply enter the dollar amount. You do not need to use the
$ sign, simply enter in the numbers. For example,
$129.72 can be entered as 129.72
6) When you have made sure the transaction information
looks the way you want it to, simply click on the 'Save'
button. Bingo! Your transaction is now saved
and will show automatically be displayed under the
appropriate month in the Month, Quarter and Year End
tabs.
Mileage:
Entering mileage is slightly different than
normal income and expense transactions, but just as
easy. You'll notice that the fields will
automatically change slightly as you enter the mileage
data.
There are two ways you can enter mileage, depending on
how detailed you want to be. If you want to be
very specific, you can enter each individual mileage
transaction. The software will automatically total
up the amount of miles and appropriate expense on the
monthly, quarterly and year end tabs. The quick
and easy way is to simply enter your total miles at the
end of the month. You are free to choose whichever
method you prefer. Either way, here are the steps
to enter your mileage:
1) Enter the Date the mileage was driven.
2) For Payment type, you can either leave it blank
or select 'Other'.
3) For the Category, select [Expense] Mileage.
4) For the Description, enter a description of the
business use of the mileage. You can get this
information from your mileage log. For example, if
you drove to the bank, enter that as the description.
5) For the Amount, there are two fields to
enter. First enter the Total miles that you
drove. And then enter the number of those miles
that were Business related. (If you are
using the "once a month" method, simply enter
the total miles you drove for the month, and the number
of those miles that were Business related).
6) Click on Save. You'll notice that once
you enter that data, the software will automatically
calculate the dollar amount of the mileage expense based
on the Mileage Rate you entered on the Get Started page.
NOTE: If you are using Actual Expenses instead of the Standard Mileage deduction then you
will need to compute that manually. This program will provide you with the percentage of
miles driven for business use (be sure to enter 0 for mileage reimbursement rate in the
top section of the Getting Started page of the spreadsheet). However you will have to
create a separate Expense item called Driving Expense, total your actual expenses,
depreciate the value of your car and then enter the correct percentage of this amount - as
you can see this is a more advanced technique.)
Editing Transactions
To edit existing information, for both Income and
Expenses, you will go to the "Transactions" tab.
You'll notice that all of the transactions are sorted by
Date, with the earliest transactions appearing at the
top, and the most recent records appearing at the bottom
of the list.
To edit a transaction that was previously entered,
and if you know the date it was entered:
1) Scroll through the list to find the record
that you want to change.
2) Click on that record to highlight it.
3) Click the Edit button toward the bottom right
of the screen.
4) The information for that transaction will now
be displayed in the top transaction area of the screen.
5) Make the desired changes to the transaction
information.
6) When you are done updating the record, click
the Save button that is below the Amount field.
Your record is now updated!
To delete a transaction:
1) Scroll through the list to find the record
that you want to change.
2) Click on that record to highlight it.
3) Click the Delete button toward the bottom right
of the screen. A confirmation window will pop
up. If you do want to delete the transaction,
confirm be clicking on OK.
Searching
Transactions
To find information, for both Income and
Expenses, you will go to the "Search" tab.
You'll notice that all of the fields initially appear
blank on the Search section. There are several
combinations of ways that you can choose to search
through the records.
1) If you want to look at ALL of the records,
simply do not enter anything into any of the search
criteria fields. Then click on Search. All
of the transactions in your file will be
displayed.
2) If you want to search for records by Date,
enter your date criteria in the start and end date
fields and then click on Search. Leave these
fields blank if you want to search by all dates.
3) To search by a certain payment type, use the
drop-down box to select the payment type. Leave
this blank to search by all payment types.
4) To search by Category, use the drop-down box to
select the particular type. Leave this blank
to search all categories.
You can also search for records by any combination of
Date, Payment Type and Category. For example, if
you wanted to see all of your long distance bill
transactions from January to June of 2001, your screen
would look like this:
The Search function is a powerful tool that you can use
to quickly and easily find previously entered
information. Also, be sure to notice that number
of transactions found, and the total dollar amount, are
displayed in blue in middle right-hand side of the
screen.
You can also delete a transaction from the
search tab. Simply click on the transaction to highlight
it. And then click on the Delete button in the
bottom right.
Search becomes very powerful when combined with
Printing and Exporting. For example, if you
wanted to print a complete list of ALL your
transactions, you would do a search with all of the
criteria fields blank. When the list is displayed,
click on the Print button in the lower
left. Your complete transaction list will then be
printed. And you can print any of your searches
for your records or analysis.
Instead of printing, you can also Export the data.
This is a more advanced topic that we will cover in more
detail at a later time. Basically, when you select
this option, it allows you to save your current search
to what is called a 'comma delimited' or CSV file.
This is a format that can be opened using most
applications and business analysis tools. If you
understand what I just said, the Export function
probably does not need to be explained to you at
all. If you didn't understand a word of what I
said, don't worry, you can come back here once you have
some more experience with the program.
Comparing current data to a previous year.
This a more advanced tool that allows you to compare
the current year's data to a previous year.
Of course, this won't be very useful your first tax
season using the Tax Helper. However, once you
have one year's worth of data entered and are starting
on your second, you can start comparing your income and
expenses to the previous year. To start this tool,
simply go to File -> Compare to Other Year. A
pop-up window will appear. Use the Browse button
to find the data file for the previous year that you
want to run a comparison against. This will show
you how your income and expenses vary from year
to year.
What this program offers you?
And how to keep your tax records organized - the simple and easy way!
First, this program makes it very simple to keep your tax records up to date. One
of the most simple (and very effective) ways to handle your taxes is to purchase a set of 12
folders, one folder for each of the 12 months to keep all of your receipts after you
recorded them. You can also have another folder to hold the receipts that you have not yet
recorded in your records. Then, once a month or a couple times a month you can take all of
the receipts out of this "temporary" folder, record them in your
Internet Tax Helper and
file them away in the appropriate month.
Also, don't forget the items you do not have receipts for. Although it is very
important to have a receipt, if you paid for a business expense and forgot it, or maybe
you paid with it with your credit card or check. You will need to document that expense. I
recommend in these situations writing on a sheet a paper what the item you paid for was,
how it relates to your business, the amount paid and the date. This way you have a record
of the expense. And don't forget to record all of the items you paid with check or credit cards that
you do not have a receipt for.
Just think, you no longer need to have nightmares every February as you try and figure up
your taxes for your business at the last minute! That is because now you have
the Internet Tax Helper to easily record all of your income and expenses and then you file them away
in your folders in case you need the receipts. By taking a few minutes every couple of
weeks throughout the year you can save hours (even days) of time and many headaches when
tax time rolls around.
The other major benefit is that you can now see how well (or not so well) your business is
doing.
- What are your biggest expenses?
- How much money are you REALLY making?
- Where can you cut expenses?
- Compare this year's figures to last year's figures.
- and many more...
You can now quickly look and see how much money you made for each month, each quarter
and year to date. This can (and probably will be) a major eye opening experience for you.
I know it was a real kick in the pants for me when I first
looked at my data. With a crystal clear picture of how
your business is doing, you can make better business decisions
and take new actions that will allow you to reach your
goals.
What to do next...
It is very simple to get started after you entered those 4 items, completed the Income
List and Expense List on the "Getting Started" page. Now all you need to do is
enter your income and expenses for each month. As you will see, these numbers are then
automatically carried forward, to the Monthly, Quarterly and Year End statements. You do
not need to enter anything into the Monthly, Quarterly or Year End statements, ONLY the
Transaction area.
As you will notice, all of your Monthly, Quarterly and Year End statements are completed for you
and all you need to do is print them out and take them to your accountant at the end of
the year. To print off a page, simply click on the tab for
the page you'd like to print, and then select the File
menu -> Print. In the Print dialog box, select
the printer name and the number of copies you want, and
click on OK. It's as easy as that!
If your accountant is computer savvy, you can also
have them download the Tax Helper viewer. Then
they can see your exact information displayed right on
their computer. Download details were provided for
you in your order information.
If you have any other questions or feedback then please submit them to
Support at this page
and we will email you back. [CLICK
HERE]
How to Upgrade your Basic version data
If you are upgrading from the Internet Tax Helper Basic version
you can upgrade your old data into the PRO version with a few
simple steps.
1) Make sure you have downloaded and installed the PRO
version. You can download the Internet
Tax Helper
PRO version by [Clicking
Here]. You will need the download password
provided to you in your order information. Your Pro
version software will be in a different directory than your
Basic software was (C:\Program Files\InternetTaxHelperPro)
2) Start the Internet Tax Helper PRO application.
3) Click on File -> Open, scroll out and find your
file that you used in the Basic version. It should be
under C:\ProgramFiles\InternetTaxHelper\yourfilename.xml
unless you saved it somewhere else. If you did not
change the filename, it should be saved as 'data.xml'
4) An Upgrade window will appear like the one
below. Click on Yes.
5) A Confirmation window should appear saying 'Your data
has been successfully upgraded'. If you have any
problems with the upgrade process, please contact Support.

6) Now save the new file under your Internet Tax Helper Pro
directory. Simply c lick on File->Save As, scroll out
and go to your C:\Program Files\InternetTaxHelperPro
directory. Then type in
your desired filename, and click on Save.
7) You're now all set to start using the
Internet Tax
Helper PRO. Every time you start the
application it will open with the last file that you
used. To start a new file at any time, click on
File -> New. If you need to open a
different file for any reason, click on
File -> Open.
8) You will see that your
converted data is listed under the Transactions tab
with a Description of "IMPORT: Data imported
from previous version". If you'd like to
change any of your old data, select the individual
transaction with your mouse, and click on the Edit
button. The transaction info now appears in
the entry fields. Change it to what you want it to
be, and then click on the Save button below the
transaction entry area. This is how you can
update all of the Descriptions if you
wish.
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