May 18, 2026 · 5 min read
A Calm Approach to Quarterly Taxes for Practice Owners
When you work for yourself, nobody withholds taxes on your behalf. The responsibility shifts entirely to you, and the government expects to hear from you four times a year rather than once.
The mistake is treating each quarter as a fresh emergency. A better approach is to decide on a percentage, move that percentage into a separate savings account every time money lands, and never touch it for anything else. When the payment comes due, the money is already there.
Set the money aside as you earn it and the quarterly payment becomes a transfer, not a crisis.
The right percentage depends on your income, your entity type, your state, and your deductions. This is exactly the kind of question worth answering once with real numbers instead of guessing every year.
Two other habits help. Review your estimate mid-year, because a busy spring changes the math. And keep your books current, because an accurate estimate requires accurate income and expense figures underneath it.
Quarterly taxes are not a punishment for being self-employed. They are a payment plan. Treated that way, and funded quietly in the background, they stop being something to dread.