Is FBAR efficiency an oxymoron?
Streamlining my FBAR preparations made it less of an oxymoron.
After my last post here in March, I thought I’d write multiple posts about FBARs and their preparation. Those posts didn’t materialize. I feel your disappointment.
Instead I seized on the irrational belief I could easily prepare a more comprehensive guidebook. I was wrong about the “easily” part, but the Guide is done.
The written Guide is integrated with an accompanying spreadsheet. The spreadsheet does lots of annoying calculations and automatically converts your local currency into US$.
No spreadsheet experience is needed and you can use Google Sheets, which is free. It also works in Excel, which is part of the Microsoft family of apps.
Below is an image of the resulting worksheet with some fictional entries.
You enter all the necessary FBAR information on the worksheet while it works behind the scenes for slave wages.
The worksheet sums your FBAR-worthy account balances and tells you if you exceed the filing threshold of US$10,000.
The worksheet is organized to parallel the online FBAR form.
You can quickly copy and paste into the FBAR form so nothing gets typed twice.
Lastly, the Guide advises about recordkeeping requirements and sets you up for even faster FBAR completion next year.
In brief, the Guide and spreadsheet will:
→ highlight FBAR rules in plain terms:
→ organize your info for fast online filing:
→ correctly convert currency to US$:
→ tell you if you reach $10K & must file:
→ teach a hack for speedy form entry:
→ guide you thru FBAR form completion:
→ detail steps for filing & getting receipts:
→ explain & provide recordkeeping tools:
→ help you set up next year’s worksheet: and
→ save you time now & more in future.
Is FBAR efficiency an oxymoron? Not entirely. Some efficiencies are possible, and I’ve included them in the Guide.
Using the methods described there have cut my FBAR prep time roughly in half. Your mileage may vary.
Interested in more details? There’s a button to press below.