As a small business owner, you know tax season can be overwhelming. But there’s a simple habit that can save you tons of time when tax season rolls around next year: creating a master list of all your income sources, expenses, and investments. Here’s how I do it, and trust me, it makes tax prep so much smoother.

Every year, your CPA will send a tax organizer to gather all the necessary details. Rather than scrambling to pull everything together at the last minute, I keep a master template with all my tax information updated annually. It’s a Word doc (yes, I’m a bit old school on this) that I revise each year.

Here’s what I include:

• Income sources: List all your business income and side gigs.
• Bank and investment accounts: Include all account details for both personal and business entities.
• Investment properties: Add property addresses, purchase dates, and any refinancing info (this affects your taxes).

When tax season hits, I just copy last year’s file, change the date, and update any necessary information. I color-code it—everything I need to gather is in red, and as I receive documents (like 1099s), I update the doc and turn the text black. This makes it easy to see what’s done and what’s still pending.

For example, for each investment property, I list the loan servicer, so when it’s time to track down a 1099, I know exactly which bank’s website to visit. It’s a simple step, but it eliminates so much last-minute scrambling.

You’re already gathering this information for your accountant—so why not create a master document for yourself? Trust me, you’ll thank yourself next year when tax time rolls around, and everything’s organized and ready to go.