Using Neat at Tax Time

A guide to tax reports in Neat 5

Taking Advantage of Neat Tax Reports

Using Neat 5, you can create three different types of tax

reports: Tax Category Reports, Sales Tax Reports, and

Tax Form Summary Reports.

This guide will explain the three different types of reports,

how to make a report, and how to troubleshoot any issues

you may have while creating the report. First, let’s look at

the options you have to pick from, then learn how to make a

report.

Tax Category Reports

Tax Category Reports allow you to view individual reports on

each tax category you select. These reports break down your

selected receipts by tax category. You can run a report on

every tax category in the program at once, or as few or as

many as you wish.

Each individual report is broken down further by a grouping of

your choosing. You can select any column heading currently

used in the program to group items in your report.

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Tax Category Reports, Continued

The picture to the right illustrates a

sample tax category report for

Schedule C:Meals and

Entertainment.

The heading of the report tells you

what tax category it covers, and the

date range included.

This particular report has been set

to be grouped by Vendor. Reports

can also be grouped by Receipt

Date and Category, an option

chosen in Step 3 of the Report

Wizard

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Sales Tax Reports

Sales Tax Reports are

specifically designed to pull

Sales tax from selected receipts

and folders. This is particularly

helpful if you are able to claim

sales tax as a deduction.

In the example at the right, the

report is broken down by

Category. These categories

are user-created, and differ from

Tax Categories. In addition to

Category, you may also choose

to group receipts by Receipt

Date and Vendor in Step 3.

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Tax Form Summary Reports

Tax Form Summary Reports are our most general report

option.

The Tax Form Summary Report organizes your expenses

according to the tax form your tax category assignments belong

to.

This layout can be particularly helpful when preparing tax

reports, because it matches your receipts to the exact lines to

which they apply.

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Tax Form Summary Reports, Continued

In the example at the right, you can see

a specific heading in grey at the top of

each section of the report. Beneath that

are the Tax Categories you assigned to

your receipts when filing them in the

Neat software.

For example, there were three (3)

receipts in this particular report that

were filed under the Tax Category

Meals and Entertainment. On the

report, these display as being part of

Schedule C, Line 24b: Profit or Loss

from Business.

The total of all receipts included in the

report appears as a Grand Total at the

bottom of the report.

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Creating a Tax Report

To create a tax report, click the Reports button at the top of the

screen. The Report Wizard will appear.

In this window, select Tax Report, the center option in this window.

You will see a dropdown box appear– in this box, choose Tax

Category Report, Sales Tax Report, or Tax Form Summary Report,

then press Next Step.

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Creating a Tax Report, Continued

In Step Two of the report creation

process, you are asked to set the

parameters of your report.

First, select the database contents you

wish to include in the report. To run a

report on all folders, leave My Cabinet

selected on the left side. You can also

limit to a single folder, or folder set. For

example, in the image to the right, the

folder Travel is selected.

With this folder highlighted, the report

would contain the Travel folder and all

of its subfolders, but would not include

any other information in other areas of

the database. This is helpful if you need

to run separate reports for home and

business, or on multiple properties.

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Tax Reporting, Continued

On this screen, you can also set

filters.

To tell the report which year you

wish to run the report on, click on

Receipt Date. By default, it will

choose Last Year, as this is the

time on which most tax reports

focus. However, you can also run a

report on the current year, a

particular quarter, or a past year.

Currently, our software will allow

you to run a report on any year

between 2005 and 2012. To select

a year older than the previous one,

choose In Tax Period and pick the

appropriate year.

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Tax Reporting, Continued

You can also set limits on your report.

By default, all ninety-five tax categories

included in Neat will be reported on; any

categories with zero receipts assigned

to them will automatically be omitted

from the final report. Click on the Tax

Category dropdown box to limit to

specific categories.

You are also able to include further

filters within the report, to set limits

based on any of the columns you

currently use in Neat. To add a filter,

click on Add Filter, set your desired

parameters, and be sure to press Apply

when finished.

Press Next Step when satisfied with

your selections.

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Tax Reporting, Continued

At step three in the report creation

process, you make final selections on

how you want the report to look.

Choose the appropriate paper size and

page orientation, and if you wish, title

your report.

For Sales Tax and Tax Category

Reports, you have the option of

choosing the grouping used in the

report. You have the option of grouping

by Vendor, Category, or Receipt Date.

In the example at right, Vendor is

selected. When using the Tax Form

Summary Report, grouping is fixed,

and cannot be changed.

Press Next Step to finish your report.

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Viewing and Saving your Report

At Step 4, you are finished, and can preview, then print and/or

save your report. You must save your report to have a copy

outside of Neat.

Press Save As to choose a file format to save your report to.

Many popular formats are available, including .PDF, Word

documents, rich text files, Excel files, and TIFF image files.

You can also save a Document copy of this report to Neat itself,

by choosing the Neat Document option. To print your report,

press Print.

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Troubleshooting your Tax Report

To successfully create a report, the Report Wizard requires certain

information to be included for receipts. Your receipts must have all of

the following information filled out:

Vendor Name Receipt Date Tax Category Amount

If any of this information is missing, you will see this error:

Close the Report Wizard, and double-check the content you have

included in the report, to ensure that everything is filled out

appropriately.

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Troubleshooting your Tax Report, Continued

If it appears that your report is not showing the correct date

range, go back to Step Two of the report, and check to make

sure you have selected the correct date range. Remember, to

run a 2011 tax report in 2012, you will want Last Year selected

as your year option.

To ensure you are always working with current tax information,

be certain to keep your software current. You can always

check for updates by going to Help Check for Updates

within the Neat software.

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