To receive your quarterly tax estimate, simply complete the Quarterly Tax Checklist. Access this checklist by logging in to your Heard account and navigating to Taxes > Quarterly Taxes in the left-side menu.
Completing all checklist items is essential to ensure you receive your estimate in time for the quarterly tax payment deadline. The checklist is broken down into four main sections:
- Update your income and withholdings
- Enter your quarterly tax payments
- Review your transactions
- Upload your statements
Navigating to the Quarterly Tax Checklist
Log in to your Heard account and go to Taxes>Quarterly Taxes. This page includes your checklist and all relevant information about quarterly tax estimates.
To ensure you receive your estimate in time to meet the quarterly tax payment deadline, please complete all checklist tasks.
Need a walkthrough? Watch this video tutorial from the Activation team for a step-by-step guide to completing the checklist.
Completing the Quarterly Tax Checklist
The checklist has four sections; work through each one before the deadline to receive your estimate in time for the payment deadline.
1. Update your income and withholdings
This section gathers information necessary for calculating your tax liability.
- Confirm your filing status and state of residency
- Provide Income Percentage Breakdown - the percentage of income earned in each state where you provide services to clients.
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Enter any outside Taxable Income, such as W-2 or other 1099 income earned outside of your private practice. For W-2 income, you can choose between:
- Year-to-Date Income from a Pay Stub: Recommended if your pay is consistent or you don't expect significant changes to your gross income this year.
- Estimated Annual Income Amount: Recommended if you earn variable hourly income, commissions, bonuses, or expect changes to your gross income (e.g., taking time off, significant raise, starting/ending a job mid-year).
- Enter federal and state withholding amounts
- Note any additional income not already recorded in Heard.
- Provide spouse income information (if you file Married Filing Jointly)
2. Enter quarterly tax payments
Enter any quarterly tax payments you've already made this year, including quarters where you did not make a payment. Prior payments directly affect your current estimate, so it's important they're up to date.
3. Review your transactions
If transactions need your review, clicking Start will take you to the Bookkeeping Transaction section of your account. Review and categorize any transactions flagged as "Needs Review" to ensure your income and expense data is accurate before the estimate is generated.
4. Upload your statements
If you need to upload any bank statements, we'll ask you to do so here. Click Upload to upload the requested statements.
After Completing the Checklist
In many cases, your estimate is ready as soon as you complete all checklist items. We'll email you as soon as it’s ready, and you can view it under Taxes > Quarterly Taxes.
After you have made your federal and state quarterly tax payments, return to Heard to mark them as paid and upload a copy of the receipt. This keeps your records current for the next quarter. For more, please see: How to enter quarterly tax payments in Heard
Review your estimate with Haven
If you have questions about your estimate, Haven can walk you through how your numbers were calculated, what changed since last quarter, and what to do if you can't pay in full. From the Quarterly Taxes page, click Ask Haven about my estimate.
Haven knows your practice, so the answers are specific to you. Ask in your own words and follow up with as many questions as you like.
Need to make changes?
If you entered income or withholding information that needs correcting, click Let's see on your estimate page to open your estimate breakdown, then click Make Adjustments to walk through the checklist again. You can also go directly to Recalculate Estimate. A new estimate is generated once you submit.
Why are my books still in review?
If you have completed all the necessary steps and your books are still under review, your bookkeeper may require additional time to categorize your transactions and finalize your monthly books. You will not receive an estimate until your books are complete, so that your income and expenses can be accurately accounted for when generating the quarterly tax estimate.
If your bookkeeper needs more information, they will contact you via Messages. You will receive an email notification as soon as your estimate is ready, and you can view it under Taxes > Quarterly Taxes.