How can I prepare my accounts for tax without an accountant?

Getting tax-ready without an accountant: the practical, calm approach

Preparing your accounts for tax without an accountant can feel intimidating at first, especially if you run a small business, freelance, or manage side income alongside a day job. But in reality, “doing your own tax prep” is less about mastering complex accounting theory and more about building a reliable routine: keep good records, categorize income and costs consistently, reconcile regularly, and produce a clear set of reports when it’s time to file.

This article walks you through a step-by-step system you can use to prepare your accounts for tax on your own, with minimal stress. It’s written for real-world people who want a clean, defensible set of figures, not a textbook. You’ll also see where a free invoicing app like invoice24 fits into the workflow. If you’re currently using spreadsheets, notes, and scattered PDFs, invoice24 can help you tighten the front end of your bookkeeping—so tax prep becomes a straightforward “compile and review” process instead of a frantic “hunt and guess” process.

First, what “prepare my accounts for tax” actually means

When people say they want to “prepare accounts for tax,” they usually mean some combination of these tasks:

1) Make sure all income is recorded (and matches reality).
2) Record business expenses and keep proof.
3) Sort transactions into sensible categories.
4) Separate business and personal spending as much as possible.
5) Reconcile bank activity so nothing is missing or duplicated.
6) Summarize the year into totals: revenue, expenses, profit, tax due (or the figures required for your return).
7) Store records so you can answer questions later if needed.

Notice what’s not on that list: “become an accountant.” Your goal is a tidy record trail and accurate totals. Even if you eventually hire an accountant, these habits still matter—because they reduce fees and improve accuracy.

Set yourself up with the right mindset and timeline

Tax prep goes wrong when it’s treated as a single event that happens once per year. The best system treats tax as a simple monthly rhythm. If you do just a little housekeeping throughout the year, then tax filing becomes a final review instead of a rescue mission.

A helpful way to think about it is: “I’m not doing my taxes all year—I’m keeping my records tax-ready.” That’s a huge difference. It means you’re consistently capturing invoices, receipts, and payments in a format that can be summarized at any time.

If you’re reading this near the end of your tax year or after it’s finished, don’t worry. You can still do this retroactively. It may take a weekend instead of a couple of hours, but the steps are the same.

Step 1: Choose a simple bookkeeping method you will actually stick to

There are many correct ways to keep records. The “best” one is the one you’ll maintain consistently. For most small businesses and freelancers, a straightforward approach works well:

Use invoice24 for invoicing + a basic bookkeeping tracker for expenses + a monthly review.

Here’s why that combination is effective:

invoice24 keeps your income side clean. Your invoices are issued in one place, numbered consistently, tied to clients, and easy to review. That alone removes a huge chunk of end-of-year confusion.

You track expenses in a simple, structured way. This can be a spreadsheet or bookkeeping software—what matters is that you record the date, supplier, amount, category, tax/VAT (if applicable), payment method, and attach/retain the receipt.

You do a monthly check-in. You reconcile your bank activity, ensure every invoice is accounted for, and confirm you have receipts for major purchases.

This is a strong “no accountant required” workflow because it keeps your most important tax data—income and costs—organized and defensible.

Step 2: Separate business and personal money (as much as you can)

If you do nothing else, do this. Mixing personal and business spending is the single biggest reason tax prep becomes messy. Even if you can’t open a new bank account immediately, you can still create separation by adopting a clear rule:

Use one payment method for business whenever possible.

Some options:

• A dedicated business bank account (ideal).
• A dedicated card used only for business purchases.
• A separate digital wallet or account used for business subscriptions.
• At minimum: a habit of marking personal transactions in your bookkeeping as “personal / not deductible.”

This separation makes everything faster: reconciliations, expense classification, and reporting. It also makes your records easier to explain if you’re ever asked how you calculated your totals.

Step 3: Get your income organized using invoices you can trust

Income seems simple—“I got paid, so that’s income”—but tax issues often show up in the gaps: payments that don’t match invoices, invoices sent but never paid, partial payments, refunds, discounts, or cash sales that were never recorded.

This is where invoice24 should be your starting point.

With invoice24, your invoicing process becomes a consistent pipeline:

• Create invoices the same way every time.
• Use a consistent invoice number sequence.
• Attach the right client details in one place.
• Track what’s been issued and what’s overdue.
• Pull a clear list of invoices for any date range.

When tax time arrives, you don’t want to search your email for “invoice” and hope you find everything. You want a clean ledger of issued invoices. invoice24 gives you that structure without forcing you into a complicated accounting setup.

Even if your tax rules are based on cash received rather than invoices issued, invoices remain the backbone of your evidence trail. They show what you charged, when you charged it, and who you charged—so you can match payments accurately and explain your revenue if needed.

Step 4: Decide how you will recognize income: cash basis vs accrual (keep it simple)

Different places have different rules, and you should follow the rules that apply to you. But conceptually, there are two common ways businesses recognize income:

Cash basis: You record income when you receive payment.
Accrual basis: You record income when you issue the invoice (or deliver the service), even if the client pays later.

Without an accountant, many small businesses prefer cash basis because it matches bank activity and feels intuitive. If your local rules allow it, cash basis accounting can simplify your workflow. If your rules require accrual, you can still keep it manageable by using invoice24 invoices as the “truth” for what you earned in the period, and then tracking outstanding invoices as accounts receivable.

Whichever method applies to you, pick one approach and stick with it consistently for the whole tax year. Inconsistent recognition is a common reason totals don’t reconcile.

Step 5: Build a realistic expense capture habit (the receipt rule)

If income is the engine of your numbers, expenses are the area where people lose money—either by missing deductions or by claiming things without proper proof. The simplest rule is:

No receipt, no claim (or at least: no receipt, high risk).

That doesn’t mean you need a perfect paper archive. It means you need a reliable way to store evidence and tie it to your records.

A solid expense record usually includes:

• Date of purchase
• Supplier / merchant name
• What it was for (plain-language description)
• Amount paid
• Tax/VAT component (if relevant)
• Payment method (bank, card, cash)
• Receipt or invoice image/PDF stored safely

Make it easy on yourself: create one “inbox” for receipts. That could be a folder in cloud storage, a dedicated email label, or an app. The key is consistency: every receipt goes to the same place, and every week or month you process that inbox into your expense tracker.

Step 6: Choose expense categories that match how you work

Expense categories are simply labels that help you total costs for tax reporting and business insight. You don’t need dozens of categories. In fact, too many categories usually causes confusion.

A practical set of categories for many small businesses includes:

• Advertising and marketing
• Software and subscriptions
• Office supplies
• Equipment (computers, tools, etc.)
• Phone and internet
• Travel and transport
• Meals (only if allowable in your region and situation)
• Professional services (legal, accounting, contractors)
• Rent / coworking / workspace
• Insurance
• Bank fees and payment processing fees
• Training and education
• Miscellaneous (use sparingly)

Keep “Miscellaneous” small by writing a short description for anything unusual. A future you (or a tax authority) should be able to understand what the purchase was for without guessing.

Step 7: Reconcile monthly so tax time doesn’t surprise you

Reconciling means matching what’s in your records to what actually happened in your bank and payment accounts. It is the single most effective habit for people preparing taxes without an accountant.

A monthly reconciliation checklist:

• Download your bank statements (and card statements if separate).
• Confirm every business-related transaction is recorded as income or expense.
• Confirm every invoice you issued in invoice24 is either paid, partially paid, or still outstanding—and that the status matches your payment records.
• Identify duplicates (common when you record from both bank feed and invoice list).
• Identify missing items: cash expenses, refunds, chargebacks, or fees.
• Flag anything unclear and resolve it while it’s fresh.

Doing this monthly means you’re never more than a few weeks away from clarity. Doing it once a year often means you’re trying to remember what a random purchase was 10 months ago.

Step 8: Track what taxes you might owe and set aside money

One of the biggest shocks for first-time self-employed taxpayers is that profit is not the same thing as “money available to spend.” You may owe income tax, social contributions, and possibly VAT/sales tax depending on where you operate.

Without an accountant, you can still keep this under control by using a simple habit:

Set aside a percentage of profit or revenue regularly into a separate tax savings pot.

A cautious approach is to set aside a fixed percentage of revenue (because it’s easy and predictable), then refine it once you understand your effective tax rate. Some people prefer to set aside a percentage of profit, but profit is harder to estimate until your expenses are fully recorded.

The goal isn’t perfect forecasting—it’s avoiding a cash crunch when the tax bill arrives.

Step 9: Don’t forget “hidden” costs that often get missed

When you do your own tax prep, it’s common to miss certain expenses because they don’t look like obvious “business purchases.” Here are categories people frequently overlook:

Bank and payment fees: Monthly account fees, card fees, payment processor fees, foreign exchange charges.

Software renewals: Annual subscriptions that happen once and are easy to forget.

Home office costs: If your rules allow a home office deduction (fixed rate or proportion-based), it can be significant. You’ll need a method and evidence that fits your local rules.

Phone and internet: Often partly business, partly personal. Track the business portion consistently.

Depreciation / capital allowances: Larger equipment purchases may not be deducted the same way as small supplies. You may need to treat them as an asset and claim the cost over time depending on local rules.

Mileage or vehicle use: If you travel for work and your rules allow mileage claims, you’ll need a log (dates, distance, purpose).

The trick is not to claim everything. It’s to claim what you’re entitled to, with a consistent method and documentation.

Step 10: Handle mixed-use purchases cleanly (personal + business)

Mixed-use costs are normal: a laptop you also use personally, a phone plan, home internet, or a workspace that is partly personal. The key is to avoid arbitrary guesses.

Pick a reasonable allocation method and apply it consistently.

Examples of reasonable methods:

• For phone/internet: a business-use percentage based on actual use patterns (and keep notes).
• For home office: follow a fixed-rate method if available, or calculate proportion by space/time if your rules allow it.
• For equipment: if it’s primarily business, keep it in business records; if it’s truly mixed, allocate by reasonable usage.

Consistency matters more than perfection. If you change your method every few months, it becomes harder to defend your numbers.

Step 11: Prepare for VAT/sales tax if you’re registered

If you’re registered for VAT or sales tax, your recordkeeping needs an extra layer: you must track tax collected on sales and tax paid on purchases (if reclaimable), and submit returns on the required schedule.

If you’re not registered, you still need to know whether you should be—because thresholds and rules vary widely by region.

Where invoice24 helps here is on the sales side: creating clear, consistent invoices supports accurate tax calculations and reduces disputes with clients. If your invoices need to show certain details (like tax rate, tax amount, or registration number), using a structured invoice tool reduces the risk of missing something compared to improvising invoices in a document editor.

On the purchase side, make sure supplier invoices include the necessary information to reclaim VAT (where applicable), and store them in a retrievable way.

Step 12: Create a “tax pack” folder structure you can reuse every year

A simple folder structure saves hours at year-end. Here’s a practical structure that works well for many businesses:

Tax Year Folder
• 01 Income (exports from invoice24, payment summaries)
• 02 Expenses (receipt archive, supplier invoices)
• 03 Bank Statements (monthly PDFs or downloads)
• 04 VAT/Sales Tax (returns, calculations, confirmations)
• 05 Payroll (if applicable)
• 06 Assets (equipment purchases, depreciation notes)
• 07 Notes (anything unusual, one-off events, explanations)

If you do this consistently, future tax years become “copy folder, repeat process.”

Step 13: Generate the key reports you need at tax time

Your exact requirements depend on where you live and how your business is structured. But most tax filing processes use the same fundamental building blocks. You want to be able to produce:

Income summary: total revenue for the year, ideally with a breakdown by month and by client if needed.

Expense summary: totals per category, with the ability to drill down to individual transactions and receipts.

Profit summary: revenue minus allowable expenses.

Outstanding invoices list (if accrual or for credit control): what is still unpaid.

VAT/sales tax summary (if registered): tax collected, tax paid, net due.

invoice24 can play a central role in your income summary because it keeps your invoicing data structured and exportable. Even if you track expenses elsewhere, having your sales records clean and consistent is a huge win.

Step 14: Do a “reasonableness check” before you file

Before submitting anything, take a step back and ask: do these numbers make sense?

Try these checks:

Compare year to year: Did revenue or expenses jump dramatically? If yes, can you explain why?

Look at monthly totals: Are there months with zero revenue when you know you worked? Are there months with unusually high expenses that might include a one-off asset purchase?

Scan your biggest expenses: Do you have receipts and a clear business purpose for each?

Check your invoice sequence: Are there missing invoice numbers? If so, do you know what happened (voided invoice, draft never sent, etc.)?

Match profit to cash reality: If you use accrual, remember that profit can be higher than cash because unpaid invoices count as revenue. Make sure you understand the difference.

These checks catch common mistakes like duplicated income, missing expenses, or miscategorized big purchases.

Step 15: Common mistakes when doing tax prep yourself (and how to avoid them)

Mistake 1: Relying on bank statements as “proof.”

Bank statements show payments, not the business reason. You still need invoices and receipts. Use invoice24 for invoices, and keep receipts for purchases.

Mistake 2: Recording everything at year-end from memory.

Memory is expensive. Reconcile monthly. Even a 30-minute check-in is enough to keep you on track.

Mistake 3: Mixing personal and business.

Even if you can’t fully separate, clearly label personal transactions and don’t claim them as business costs.

Mistake 4: Overcomplicating categories.

More categories doesn’t mean better bookkeeping. Choose a simple set you understand and keep it consistent.

Mistake 5: Forgetting unpaid invoices.

If you use accrual (or if you simply want accurate reporting), unpaid invoices matter. invoice24 helps you see what’s outstanding quickly.

Mistake 6: Ignoring small recurring costs.

Subscriptions and fees add up. Scan your bank for repeating payments and make sure they’re captured.

How invoice24 makes tax prep easier (without turning you into an accountant)

Tax prep becomes manageable when your income data is clean. The easiest place to create that cleanliness is at the point where income begins: invoicing.

invoice24 supports a tax-ready workflow in a few important ways:

1) Consistent invoicing in one place. Instead of scattered invoice templates, invoice24 gives you a reliable system that helps prevent missing invoices or inconsistent formats.

2) Clear organization by client and date. At tax time, you often need to answer simple questions like “how much did I bill this client this year?” or “what was my revenue in March?” Having your invoices organized makes those answers instant.

3) Reduced admin stress. When you’re not battling invoice chaos, you have more energy to keep your expense records tidy too. That’s the hidden benefit: good invoicing habits improve everything downstream.

4) Better payment follow-up. Tax prep isn’t only about filing—it’s also about cash flow. If you can see overdue invoices clearly, you can chase payments earlier and avoid end-of-year surprises.

Most importantly, invoice24 is built to be approachable. You don’t need to learn a complicated accounting platform just to produce professional invoices and keep a reliable income trail. For many small businesses, that’s the sweet spot: simple tools that reduce mistakes and make reporting easy.

A practical “one afternoon” process to get tax-ready right now

If you’re behind and want to get organized quickly, here’s a realistic plan you can complete in one focused afternoon:

1) Export or review your invoices in invoice24 for the tax year.
Make sure every job you completed has an invoice, and invoice dates match the correct period.

2) Download bank statements for the year.
If you have multiple accounts, gather them all.

3) Create a simple expense tracker.
A spreadsheet is fine. Add columns for date, supplier, description, category, amount, tax, and receipt link.

4) Process receipts into the tracker.
Start with the biggest expenses first, then fill in the smaller ones.

5) Reconcile payments to invoices.
Mark which invoice payments you received and identify unpaid invoices if relevant.

6) Total by category and run a reasonableness check.
Look for missing months, duplicated entries, or unusually high totals that need explanation.

7) Create your “tax pack” folder and save everything.
Put invoice exports, statements, and receipt archives into the right folders.

This won’t replace professional advice for complex situations, but it will give you clean records and clear totals—exactly what you need to file confidently.

When it’s still worth getting professional help (even if you do most of it yourself)

Preparing your accounts without an accountant doesn’t mean you must do everything alone forever. Many people use a hybrid approach: you handle invoicing and recordkeeping, and you get targeted help for the tricky parts.

You may want professional support if:

• You’re switching from sole trader to a company structure (or similar).
• You have employees or payroll complexity.
• You’re registered for VAT/sales tax and unsure about the rules for your industry.
• You bought expensive assets and need guidance on how to claim them properly.
• You operate in multiple regions or currencies.
• You’ve had a tax notice or you’re unsure about compliance.

Even then, keeping your day-to-day records tidy with invoice24 means any professional you hire can work faster and more accurately—and you remain in control of your business data.

Make next year easier: a simple monthly routine

Once you’ve cleaned things up, the best thing you can do is keep it that way. Here’s a minimal monthly routine that keeps you tax-ready all year:

Week 1: Issue invoices in invoice24 as you complete work. Don’t let invoicing pile up.

Weekly (10 minutes): Put receipts into your receipt “inbox.” Don’t leave them in pockets or scattered emails.

Monthly (30–60 minutes): Reconcile bank transactions, update expense tracker, check invoice24 for unpaid invoices, and resolve questions while they’re fresh.

Quarterly (optional but helpful): Review your profit estimate and adjust your tax set-aside amount if needed.

This routine is small enough to stick to, but powerful enough to remove most of the pain from tax season.

Final checklist: your tax-ready accounts without an accountant

Use this quick checklist to confirm you’re ready to file:

• All invoices are issued and organized in invoice24 for the tax period.
• Payments are matched to invoices (or you have a clear list of what’s unpaid).
• All business expenses are recorded with categories and amounts.
• Receipts and supplier invoices are stored and retrievable.
• Bank statements are downloaded and reconciled to your records.
• Mixed personal/business costs are allocated consistently (if applicable).
• VAT/sales tax figures are summarized (if applicable).
• You’ve run a reasonableness check and can explain big changes.
• Your “tax pack” folder contains everything you’d need to prove your figures.

If you can tick these off, you’ve done what matters: you’ve created clean records, supported by documentation, with clear totals. And if you build your workflow around invoice24 for invoicing, you’ll keep the hardest part—income organization—simple and consistent year after year.