It’s that time of year again, time for us in the United States to calculate what we owe in taxes to our Federal and State treasuries. Whether you choose to do your own tax returns or hire another professional to help, you should have a good and complete accounting of the financial information you need to complete the task.

At Red Wing Software, we believe that you should keep records for your own business analysis. You need this information more than any other person or entity to ensure you have a firm grasp on the profitability of your business. On the plus side, it also allows you to easily prepare your taxes. If you keep good records for yourself, information for your accountant, banker, consultant, or anyone else should be an easily extracted by-product of those records.

If your records aren’t complete, you should seriously take a look at the process you use to keep these records. Since most of you reading this are likely using some Red Wing Software accounting product, you have the foundation to keep accurate, detailed, and complete records.

While I’m certain most of us don’t want to pay more taxes than we owe, we need to remember that taxes are the rent we pay for the privilege of living in this great country.

On a topic closer to all of us at Red Wing Software, this month marks the end of an era. Long-time co-worker and mentor Jon Isackson has decided to retire. Jon has been with the company since the beginning. You can only imagine the number of hats a person can wear over a career that spans more than three decades. Jon has had a huge impact on making the company what it is today, and his vast knowledge, history, and leadership will be missed. Knowing Jon, he won’t be slowing down, and will likely look back and try to figure out how he ever had time to work. We certainly wish Jon the best in his well deserved retirement.