Published Jan 12, 2012

Farminar Jan-10 on Tax Preparation tips for farmers

By Luke Gran

On Tuesday January 10, 2012, the 2012 Winter Farminar Series began. 41 folks tuned in live to learn from farmer Jerry Peckumn and his accountant Leo Brooker, both of Jefferson, IA.

Attendees learned the potential tax savings of filing with a knowledgeable adviser to help take advantage of all the tax credits and techniques available to legally reduce tax liabilities for farmers.

Good recordkeeping was also stressed by Jerry including using a bookkeeping service if you don’t enjoy doing it yourself. Use cost accounting and cash to accrual conversions annually to really know how much the farm is making by looking at net worth overtime. Know how much you have in inventory from year to year and what the value lost from depreciating assets. Avoiding the temptation to make large capital expenditures and depreciate the full value of the asset in the first year was also encouraged as this might not lead the business to the best outcome over time.

Watch the complete recording of this session online now by clicking on this link!

Farminars continue to draw 25% of attendees from outside of Iowa and they have a committed, eager audience from around Iowa and as far away as Homer, Alaska!

Please join us next week for “Scale and Profit: a financial snapshot of three CSAs” Tuesday January 17, 2012.

 

 

Supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2010-49400-21843