Many agriculture producers are making income tax preparations in anticipation of the April filing date. Those who have made the conversion from paper to software aids for record keeping are enjoying the ease of having all information readily available.

Of course, that depends if you've been keeping track of receipts and business transactions throughout the year. But what is the best way to export your tax information and from which software program?

According to one accounting professional that deals with agriculture producers, many use a software program found at most office retail stores.

"Most of our producers that use a computer program use either QuickBooks or Quicken with more of those using QuickBooks," said James R. Schroeder, CPA and partner with Seidel, Schroeder & Co. LLP of Brenham.

For smaller operations, the standard base version of Quicken can do the trick, allowing categories to be established for various expenses incurred throughout the year, such as feed, fuel, supplies, etc.

How can you present this information in such a way that it's easier on your tax preparer?

"We do prefer that those farmers and ranchers using Quicken or QuickBooks have the income and expenses broken up by category, preferably in the order that they are reflected on Schedule F," Schroeder said. "We prefer that as far as fixed assets additions that there is a description of the asset purchased and the date purchased. A copy of the actual invoice is very helpful, especially where there is an asset traded as well."

Having this information ready becomes handy when creating budget forecasts for an operation for the upcoming year. Setting up categories in Quicken per the Schedule F form that is filed with your tax return doesn't take much at all. In Quicken, click under the "Lists" tab and select "Categories & Transfers." Click on "Lists" and you will see the various categories established. You can then choose to create a new category.

For a more advanced program, QuickBooks offers several features for those agricultural operations that are much larger and require extensive transaction recording. Overall, either software program can assist in recordkeeping throughout the year and help an individual stay organized. It beats dumping a pile of receipts out onto the desk at the end of the tax year and trying to make heads or tails out of income and expenses.

Notes - Apple Inc. announced at MacWorld in San Francisco its new MacBook Air laptop. Apple touts MacBook Air as the world's lightest notebook computer. The concept behind the machine is wireless data transfer. The laptop has no Ethernet port and comes with a fold-down USB port, headphone input and digital video output port. The new MacBook Air uses a Core 2 Duo processor, which Intel engineers had to 'miniaturize.' Laptop height at the largest point is only 0.76 inches and the smallest is a mere 0.16 inches. Total weight is 3 pounds. It took Apple engineers about two years to get the product to market, company official said. It has lots of possibilities for those in the agricultural industry, especially those who live out of a pickup truck working in the field and traveling.

Meanwhile, John Deere has announced it is now providing its dealers with the capability to upload their used equipment inventories directly from a dealer's John Deere inventory system to eBay. This new capability will allow dealers to list their used agricultural and lawn and garden equipment on eBay, from the same system that they also use to list their used equipment inventories on Deere's http://www.machinefinder.com used equipment Web site, in Google Product Search, and partner Web sites.

Finally, here's a URL address of interest: Check out the Intelleflex MultiProtocol RFID Readers (http://www.intelleflex.com/Products.Readers.asp) used in yard and animal tracking. The technology was demonstrated at the Calgary Stockyards recently and the company offers a battery-assisted RFID tag solution that increases range beyond the traditional RFID tags used today.

• Blair Fannin reports on technology in agriculture. Email Fannin at agtechreporter@gmail.com.

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