Junaid Ahmed

Both terms, which are often used interchangeably, indicate that a specific section of any given whole unit has a defined allocation for an underlying reason. For instance, a tenant’s rent may be prorated if they move into their apartment in the middle of the month rather than on the first day. To calculate a pro rata share, you must know the amount you want to calculate the pro rata amount of and the criteria you are using to calculate it. The criteria could any number of things, including ownership shares, days or hours worked during a pay period, or miles driven for a specific purpose. When that’s the case, you’d only pay in proportion to the time you benefited from the service. Pro rata in the insurance industry is used to determine the amount of premium due for a policy that only covers a partial term. Allocating the appropriate portion of an annual interest rate to a shorter time frame can also be done via pro rata. As another example, if you are renting out a room in your house and your tenant moves in in the middle of a month, you need to prorate the rent for the first month. If a full month’s rent is $800 and your tenant only spends 12 of 30 days during the first month living with you, divide 12 by 30 to get 0.4. Then, multiply 0.4 by $800 to find your tenant owes you a prorated rent of $320. Shareholders receive dividends in direct proportion to the number of common stock they own. The term “pro rata” comes from the Latin word for ‘proportional’. So, put simply, a pro rata wage is calculated from what you would have earned if you were working full time. Your pay would be proportional to the wage of someone working more hours. For example, if your monthly software subscription costs $30, but you only use it for half the month, a prorated charge would be $15. This differs from standard billing, where you might pay the full $30 regardless of usage time. When Is Proration Used? Common Applications Or maybe you’re renting and you move in mid-month, but your rent is calculated on a monthly basis. In both cases, you can’t just slap the full amount on one period; it wouldn’t be fair or accurate. That’s where prorating comes in – it’s all about assigning the right portion of the amount to the right period. Rental agreements that require rent to be paid on the first day of each month may need to be prorated when a tenant moves in or out in the middle of the month. In this situation, the monthly rental amount is divided by 30 to find cost per day. The property manager then charges or refunds the prorated amount depending on the situation. Business owners may need to calculate pro rata amounts in figuring tax deductions. If the owner travels for business and spends part of the time engaging in leisure activities, the expenses need to be separated. When prorating in Excel, it’s important to be aware of leap years, as they can affect your daily rate calculation. Additionally, consider the start and end dates of your prorating period. Are you including both dates in the count, or is one of them excluded? By multiplying the daily rate by the number of days in your prorating period, you calculate the exact amount that should be allocated to that period. It’s like measuring out the exact amount of pie each person gets – no more, no less. Boost your confidence and master accounting skills effortlessly with CFI’s expert-led courses! Choose CFI for unparalleled industry expertise and hands-on learning that prepares you for real-world success. Bricks is an AI tool that makes creating dashboards & reports from your spreadsheet data a breeze. Just import your data, describe what you want to build, and get a high quality dashboard in seconds using AI. If you encounter issues while prorating in Excel, don’t worry; you’re not alone. The buying and selling of goods or services sensitive to time – and the companies responsible for the buying and selling – are the primary users of the pro rata system of allocating value. Find the number of billable days in month by subtracting the number of days in the month plus one. For Example, if the move in day is August 5th , subtract 5 from 31 plus 1 is 27 billable days. Calculating Prorated Amounts And when you’re ready to take it up a notch, dive into Excel’s advanced functions to make your prorating even more powerful. If you want to simplify the process and cut out human error, put Ramp’s expense management software to work. Ramp makes it easy for every member of your team to record and send in copies of receipts and Ramp’s tracking features give you a real-time view of you expenses. Understanding how to properly apply proration can help save you money and prevent disputes, making it an essential skill in managing your finances. The hotel bill would be prorated, and three-fourths claimed as business expenses when filing income tax returns. You might run into prorated amounts for other reasons, as well, or might want to make an offer of a prorated payment to a business. For example, if you join a trade association, a gym or a tennis league, you might pay your annual dues starting on the date you pay, and that will be your renewal date each year from then on. Accounting Crash Courses Because some transactions are so expensive, companies prorate down to the specific day, not just the month. This is often the case when you buy or sell a house and are dealing with things like insurance payments, points out Clever. Another situation arises when you pay for a full contract in advance to receive a discount. In this instance you’d only owe half the advertised monthly price, reflecting the time you were enrolled

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The online version offers the flexibility of accessing your tax information from any internet-connected device, with data securely stored in the cloud. You can switch back and forth between TurboTax online and the app seamlessly. Interest Rates, Inflation, and Your Taxes Whether you’re getting started or getting serious, here is everything you need to know about taxes and investments. If you don’t have your forms on hand, you can auto-import your info from your W–2s or 1099s directly from more than a million participating employers and financial institutions. After installing the software, open it and follow the onscreen instructions to file your return. TurboTax software can be downloaded directly from the TurboTax website, or purchased from popular retailers like Costco and Best Buy, both online and in-store. The company is also investing heavily in AI to help automate filing and catch potential mistakes in real-time. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by our customers. Another common tax question is whether to file your taxes jointly or separately with your spouse. The answer depends on several factors, including your income, deductions, and credits. If you’ve already received a letter from the IRS for a return you filed with TurboTax, please review our Audit Support Guarantee for instructions on how to receive FREE step–by–step audit guidance and the option to connect with an expert. These volunteers also offer tax counseling, along with free basic income tax return preparation. TURBOTAX ONLINE GUARANTEES If you have a 1099-NEC, your taxes may be a bit more complex—which means the TurboTax Free Edition likely won’t cover it. If you’re self-employed, a freelancer, or earning gig income, you may need to upgrade to a paid version to unlock tools that maximize your deductions and help you keep more of what you earn. TurboTax’s free options are available to taxpayers who have W-2 income and claim a handful of common credits and deductions, such as the standard deduction, earned income tax credit, child tax credit and student loan interest deduction. Already, Intuit’s near-decade of deep expertise in AI-driven document understanding with TurboTax enables broad support for tax document import, upload, and photo capture, and auto-fill of a majority of tax returns, minimizing manual data entry. Already, Intuit’s near-decade of deep expertise in AI-driven document understanding with TurboTax enables broad support for tax document import, upload, and photo capture, and auto-fill of a majority of tax returns, minimizing manual data entry. The free version is designed for simple tax returns and may not cover more complex situations like itemized deductions or certain types of income. For example, once the IRS opens e-filing for tax year 2024 returns, you can only e-file 2024, 2023 and 2022 taxes. Don’t worry about paying taxes on the entire amount reported on Form 1099-K. You can claim your expenses directly related to your business, lowering your income reported on Form 1099-K. Those who qualify for the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program can also file their taxes for free. TurboTax is proud to support this program, which  provides free electronic tax return preparation for individuals who fall within set income thresholds. Qualifying active-duty and reserve military members can also file for free. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Features like document import and deduction-finding tools can help maximize your refund, but it’s important to consider whether you actually need the higher-tier upgrades or expert help. Not every filer will benefit from these paid add-ons, so review your tax situation carefully before choosing a version. Finally, users can file state tax returns through TurboTax for an additional fee in most cases. Over the past 10 years, Americans have filed approximately 124 million tax returns completely free of charge using TurboTax, more than all other tax prep software companies combined. About IntuitIntuit is the global financial technology platform that powers prosperity for the people and communities we serve. With approximately 100 million customers worldwide using products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to prosper. We never stop working to find new, innovative ways to make that possible. “Google Cloud’s partnership with Intuit showcases the power of AI to solve real-world problems by simplifying the tax preparation process for millions of TurboTax users this tax season,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “With Document AI and Gemini models, TurboTax can extract, categorize,