If you are not yet in a position to have a CPA or bookkeeper, then you, like me, are faced with the momentous task of sorting through your paperwork, adding up the numbers, and finding just the right tax form, so you can place the information on it. After that, you go back and check it over again in an attempt to lower your tax burden or get a bigger refund.

As for those of you who look forward to your yearly tax refund check, I have to share a bit of advice from my years as a licensed financial advisor: You need to turn your thinking around.

When you get a refund from the government, that means the government has been in control of funds that belong in your pocket, not theirs! Even worse, any interest, no matter how low the rates are, has been earned and given to them instead of to you! So, why not keep your money and earn the interest yourself?

Now that I have gotten that sage advice off my chest, let's return to the matter at hand . . . making your next "tax day" a whole lot easier.

Like you, I have a folder where I keep all my receipts. Every time I purchase anything business-related, I faithfully place it in the folder. Then, at the end of the year, I open the folder up and begin the sorting and adding process.

Papers and receipts cover the dining room table; one stack for legal fees, another for travel, and yet another for supplies. The piles continue to mount and the categories increase until I can't see the table anymore.

Once that is done, I pick up the stack of restaurant receipts and try to recall what exactly they were for. Was it for out-of-town travel, entertainment, or an in-town business meeting? Yes, it does make a difference to the IRS.

Well, as Olive Oyl in the movie Popeye says, "Nevermore, I say, nevermore!" Starting this year, I'm going to make things a whole lot easier for next year's tax day. You can, too, with a little helpful advice from one of my clients, Dr. Ron Mueller.

Ron's book, Home Business Tax Savings, Made Easy! (now in its 7th Edition) suggests that when you return from a business trip or meeting, take your receipts and put a label on the back. List all the pertinent information while it's still fresh in your mind.

I took his advice on this point a couple of years ago, and I'm glad I did. This is how I do it. First, I get a sheet of address labels out. Then I open my template for the labels, and in that template, I place the following words.

• Date
• Amount
• Place
• Relationship/title
• Purpose

With today's receipts printed on paper that invariably fades as if it was printed with invisible ink, taking just a minute to fill in the label and place it on the back of your receipt will save you not only time but eye strain as well, come tax time.

However, I still faced the mountain of receipt sorted piles. So, I put my thinking cap on and let the organizational part of my frontal lobe loose.

What I came up with will make next year's filing that much easier for me and for you, too. Come tax time it will be much easier if you spend a half-hour or so now to organize your receipts, just as I have done.

Pull out that existing folder of receipts that you already have started. We're only dealing with about four months of receipts. That's a whole lot less work than trying to do it for the entire year all at once. Therefore, doing this task now won't seem so overwhelming.

Next, take a few sheets of colored paper. I used two different colors. One color was used to represent a main section, and the other sub-sections.

For example, office expenses can be broken down into several subsections such as office supplies, software, and hardware.

After I got all the piles sorted with their appropriate colored sheets, I added sticky tab labels to each long edge of the colored sheets. Along that side, I placed a label with the content categories listed on them. To make it easier to read and find later I placed the label in graduating, sequential order along the long side of the colored papers.

I suppose you could use an accordion folder instead, but since the whole year of receipts fits nicely in the file folder, the folder is big enough for me and probably for you, too.

I would suggest you look at your current tax form for the sections and subsections you filled in. Use these as your category labels for your colored sheets and tabs. That will make it easier to know which ones you need to make and which ones you don't.

With this prep work done, all you have to do during the rest of the year is put your receipts in the right sections. Then, come the end of the year, tax time will be a simple task of adding up and filling out your tax forms.

If you want more helpful tax savings advice, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Ron Mueller's book, Home Business Tax Savings Made Easy! He updates it whenever significant changes are made in the tax laws, so you can be sure the advice he shares is always current.

Home Business Tax Savings Made Easy! is the only "plain English" guide to special tax deductions approved for small and home-based businesses. You'll love the subtitle: "The More You Know, the Less You'll Owe!"

The author, Ron Mueller, is so confident that his book can help you slash your taxes that he promises, "If this book cannot lead you to new, additional tax deductions worth at least 100-times what you pay for it, return the book in any condition at any time, and I will refund every penny."

This easy-to-read-and easy-to-use-book is available at Amazon.com or directly from the author at http://HomeBusinessTaxSavings.com