The end of the month of January

For those of us who are self-employed and who use contractors, well, January 31 is a looming deadline. 1099s have to go out - but first you have to confirm your numbers are correct. And make sure you have all the tax ID numbers and correct addresses.

Then, at least in our state, our business personal property reports are ALSO due. That means you have to list all the purchases you made during the preceding 12 months. Oh, you also have to list what you've gotten rid of - like old printers, fax machines, steno machines, computers - and know what year you added them so the tax people know where to remove them from.

Added to that, you still have to work on your year-end stuff. To add insult to injury, if your firm/agency is a corporation, you have a March 15 deadline instead of the April 15 deadline to get your business taxes done.

Makes one appreciate a good system of accounting and filing. And wish for another snow day.