The Later Tax Register

"We'll figure it out when we're bigger."

It sounds sensible when you're moving fast. But later always arrives, and it charges interest. The fix gets bigger every year you wait, and the risk you're carrying in the meantime doesn't go away.

Shortcuts aren't the problem. Taking them by accident is. This workbook helps you take them on purpose: write down what you're deferring, see what each one is costing you, and decide which to pay down first.

What's in it

• Where to Look: the five places the bill usually comes from, with the questions that find them, and a check on the basics that aren't worth deferring at all.
• The Register: one row per decision you're putting off. Record the shortcut and why, what could go wrong, a rough cost to fix it now and if it goes wrong, how likely that is and how fast the fix gets bigger. It works out the "later tax" (what waiting costs you a month and a year), what the fix will cost in two years, how soon fixing it pays for itself, and whether to fix it now, plan it or watch it. Add a trigger, an owner and a review date, and it flags anything missing.
• Summary: what putting things off is costing you each month, in one line. Then the cost by area, the ten costliest items, and how long your monthly pay-down budget takes to clear them.
• Monthly Review: a twenty-minute agenda to keep the list honest, with a log of what you decided.

It comes filled in with a made-up company so you can see it working. Clear the sample in a few seconds and the formulas stay.

The figures are estimates, meant for comparing decisions with each other, and rough numbers are fine. The point is to put the trade-offs where leadership can see them.

Who it's for

Owners, CEOs and technology leaders at growing companies who know there's a "we'll fix it later" list, but have never seen it written down or priced.

It builds on The "Later" Tax: What Deferred Technology Decisions Really Cost.

Raising money or selling the company? The Tech Due Diligence Checklist shows what reviewers will find, including what's on this list, and how to get ready.

It's a single Excel file. It also opens in Google Sheets and Apple Numbers.