Taxes can be tough for small business owners

“I wish I would have been thinking ahead when I first opened,” Rutledge said. “When you start your own business, nobody is telling you to set so much money aside for taxes — you're used to having somebody else do that for you.”

While Rutledge hasn't sat down to file his taxes for the first time as a business owner, he has sought out a CPA to help and has asked for advice from the Small Business Administration's Oklahoma City office. He's also started setting aside about 30 percent of his profits for taxes.

Diana Rawdon, regional manager of branch business banking for Bank of Oklahoma, said getting the help of a tax professional is one of the most important things a small-business owner can do to make sure they navigate tax season successfully.

Rawdon oversees a team of business experts at Bank of Oklahoma branches who often field tax questions from small-business owners.

“Small-business owners are typically experts in their field, but might not be accounting experts,” Rawdon said. “You need to have a good accountant or CPA that will really look at your needs.”

Good record keeping and keeping business and personal expenses separate are vital to ensuring a headache-free tax filing, Rawdon said.