Every small business is different, even in the same industry. Services, products, and clients all bring with them unique challenges. But most problems small business owners face fall into similar, broad categories.
Knowing which challenges your business could face can help you prepare for handling them. If you’re in the midst of a challenge, simply identifying it can guide the solution.
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If you experience a job loss, you will of course have numerous questions as to how it will impact your job situation. Whether you are an employee who lost your job or a business owner who had to lay off your workers, here are some important details to keep in mind.
How Will Your Job Loss Affect Your Tax Situation?
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The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected businesses around the nation. Due to this, some impacted businesses can take advantage of a reimbursable tax credit known as the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). The ERC is an incentive meant for employers to encourage employee retention during the pandemic. Read on to find out more about the Employee Retention Credit and its impact to your business during and after the epidemic.
What is Employee Retention Credit?
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Reputation is everything - particularly for a small business owner. Referrals bring you new business, and word-of-mouth can establish you as a trustworthy partner in your community. In the past, your reputation flowed between individuals or written recommendations that you solicited, but all this has changed with the Internet.
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Coronavirus has disrupted the economy, shuttered businesses, and cause major uncertainty for small business owners. For some, it’s been easy to move their business online or continue fulfilling and shipping orders. For others, sales might have dropped, and you need working capital to pay rent.
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For most people, paying taxes is straightforward. You get a paycheck from your employer and the employer has already deducted the amount you owe to the IRS. When it comes time to file your tax return, the discrepancy between what you owe and what you already paid might be minimal. You might have to cut a check to the IRS, but it’s fairly manageable. However, if you get a 1099 or you had other income where taxes weren’t taken out ahead of time, the amount you wind up owing come tax time might come as a shock. What now? What’s the best course of action if you can’t pay your taxes?
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In this gig economy, more taxpayers than ever before are receiving tip income. Whether the tips are from waiting tables, driving for Uber, or making home deliveries, those tips are considered taxable income. However, there is a lot of confusion over how to report tip income, what is the threshold for reporting and who should report it. Here is all you need to know about reporting tip income.
How Does the IRS Regard Tips?
Tips are considered regular income by the IRS. The IRS categorizes the following types of income as tips:
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With the recent coronavirus outbreak, discussions of paid leave, and states of emergency, more attention has been paid to sick time and paid time off than ever before. If you’re a small business owner with just a few employees, you might not have an official sick time policy. Or, you might not have paid much attention to tracking employees’ time off, relying on the honor system.
A lot has changed in the past few weeks. With a focus on self-isolation and quarantine, you might have realized that it’s time to look at your policies on sick time and absences.
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Do you have an elderly parent or adult relative that you take care of? It doesn’t have to be a parent; it could be an adult child with special needs, an elderly aunt or another close relative. As long as it is a qualifying relationship, the IRS allows you to claim such a persons as a dependent on your tax return. There are certain criteria and it must be done in a certain way, but it can be done. Below are the general guidelines, but you should consult with your tax professional for details.
They Don’t Necessarily Have to Reside With You
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Being able to borrow is a huge benefit when you need extra help, but debt is a huge burden that is very hard to dig your way out of. The problem is that debt creeps up on you over time. No one purposely goes into debt for tens of thousands of dollars. But little by little, it’s very easy to wind up owing so much that it’s almost impossible to see your way out of debt. Don’t be discouraged if this has happened to you. It’s happened to many good people throughout time. And there is hope.
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Selling cheesecakes on the side, or DJ’ing friend’s weddings? You’re not alone. Over 15% of Americans work a side hustle, for reasons ranging from building a savings account to paying off debt. The side hustle has become increasingly popular, especially in the gig economy where rideshare and grocery delivery apps have made it easy for people to monetize their spare time.
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Dear Valued Clients,
As everyone knows, the COVID-19 virus has caused a major and unprecedented disruption in our communities. Our top priority is meeting deadlines for our clients and providing them with the information and support that they need. We are working extremely hard to make sure the highest level of service that you are accustomed to receiving from us stays steady, even during the crisis. There is plentiful information that is circulating online but concerning taxes and deadlines; we wanted to share some of the important items directly our clients:
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Whether you run a brick and mortar business or an ecommerce business, you have to deal with charging sales tax. How and when to charge sales tax has always been a confusing issue for business owners. And since more people are now running both an ecommerce operation in tandem with a brick and mortar operation, the issues are even more confusing. Here are the answers to some of the more commonly asked questions about charging sales tax.
Must You Charge Sales Tax?
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As a business owner, you’re entitled to a plethora of tax deductions. These tax deductions can help you to offset business income, which ultimately helps you be more profitable. Of course, you need to be careful with your tax deductions. Always consult with your CPA about which deductions are available to you, and how to take them. You don’t want to get into trouble with the IRS. Here are some common business deductions to be especially careful with.
Mileage Deductions
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If you’ve been relying on word-of-mouth, newspaper advertising, and local networking to bring in new clients, it’s time to expand your thinking. The internet isn’t just for selling products; even service professionals like accountants can build their customer base online.
While you may already have a website that brings in local clients, tweaking it in a few small areas can help you reach remote clients. Before you decide that you want to expand outside your city or state, here’s what you should know.
Pros of Remote Clients
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In the process of taking stock of your business at the start of 2020, did you decide to look at your insurance policies? Before you review those thick stacks of paper, you should learn about the major types of insurance policies. Each protects a different aspect of your business, so you may not need every single option out there. But if your business has been going through change, it might be time to review your existing policies.
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PPC, KPI, if you’re thinking of hiring someone to help market your accounting firm, you might have heard these terms. But what do they mean? There’s no reason for an accountant to find them intimidating because they’re all based on math. Each of them tells a story about how your website and marketing efforts are producing results.
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Does your 2020 business plan include purchasing fixed assets? Maybe you’re expanding your bakery and will need to buy a new commercial fridge and oven. Or, perhaps you need additional machinery to handle planned growth and new orders.
If it’s been a while since you’ve added fixed assets to your balance sheet, take a moment to review fixed asset accounting. Tax laws have changed recently, and your old templates for booking fixed assets might need to be revised. If you’re planning to purchase fixed assets this year, here’s a refresher of how they’ll impact your accounting.
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Hiring a CPA to help you with your accounting and your taxes is a smart thing to do. Whether you’re a business owner or a regular taxpayer, a quality CPA will be a huge asset in many different ways. A CPA acts in the role of a financial advisor, a strategic unofficial business partner and a confidant. For example, if you’re having troubles with cash flow, your CPA will alert you ahead of time and even offer solutions. The caveat to all of this is hiring the right CPA to begin with. Here’s what you should be looking for in a CPA.
Personal Compatibility
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No one wants to go through an IRS audit. These days, an audit happens when the IRS thinks that the tax money they could recoup from an audit exceeds the cost of performing the audit itself, or if they believe there may be criminal activity involved. As long as you’re doing everything right, there’s no specific reason to worry about an audit. However, sometimes even if you think you’re doing everything right, you may accidentally raise some red flags. Following are seven things that could inadvertently trigger an IRS audit.
1. Unusual Business Expenses
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What are your 2020 small business goals? Do you want to increase revenues by 20%, decrease employee turnover, or launch a new product line? While making New Year’s resolutions, you’ve probably either thought of a direction for your business or made a detailed plan.
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The first month of the New Year can be slow for a small business, particularly seasonal businesses. While you may be glad for a chance to take a break after the holiday rush, now is a good time to take stock of several key aspects of your business.
There’s more to running and growing a successful business than keeping the lights on, but many small business owners get so wrapped up in daily operations that they don’t have time to analyze their business. If business has slowed in the first month of 2020, here’s everything that you should evaluate before going into the new year.
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As a business owner, you know first-hand that taxes can take a big chunk out of your pocket. No matter how small your business is or how large you grow, you’ll always be on the hook for some kind of taxes. However, the tax code is such that there is always room for strategic tax savings as long as you operate within the laws. Your CPA is the best source of tax-saving strategies, but it can help if you present some of your own ideas, too. Here are some that are worth considering.
1. Consider Hiring Independent Contractors Instead of Employees
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Cash flow is one of the most common problems that all businesses face. It’s also one of the most crippling financial situations that business owners contend with. There are several steps you can take to reduce or eliminate your business cash flow issues. One or more of the following ideas will likely help your situation.
Invoice Immediately
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Whether it’s carols blasting in the malls, or menorahs in the window, the holiday season is upon us. For small businesses, it can be a great time to say “thank you” to the clients who’ve helped you have a successful year. Some companies choose to send holiday cards, which only cost pennies, but others want to go above and beyond. Sending a gift can make a deeper impression.
When planning your holiday shopping, should you add your clients to your list?
Reasons to Give Clients Gifts
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Whether you’re setting up your new business for the first time or simply switching financial institutions, choosing a business bank account is an important decision. It can affect everything from how long it takes you to travel to your branch to your business’ cash flow. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly or made based on some temporary advertising gimmick. We’ve all seen those fliers in the mail touting 3 free months of checking or a one-time deposit bonus. As a business owner, you need to look beyond the surface and dig deeper.
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The deadline for implementing the FASB’s new leases accounting standard, ASC 842, is fast approaching. Many private companies are only just now realizing that they need to examine their leases in light of the new requirements to bring most leases on-balance sheet. Adding right-of-use assets and corresponding liabilities could change important ratios and impact lending agreements, and more.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to think about how you will ensure compliance in 2020.
Overview of the Standard
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How to accept payments for your business is always of great concern to businesses. Of course, you need to accept credit card payments so that you can offer your products or services to a broader range of customers. But there are many different options for accepting credit card payments. It’s important that you understand how the options compare with each other so you can ensure that you’re using the best choice for you and your customers.
Why Credit Card Payment Options Matter
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Getting a divorce can be one of the most stressful times in your life. In addition to the emotional toll, it costs, on average, $15,500. As you split your assets, including cars, homes, and retirement accounts, don’t forget to think about the financial implication of your custody decree.
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In business, risk is anything that could negatively impact your revenues, reputation, or future operations. When you try a new vendor, you take on risk. Their products or services could be below your standards, and cost you customers. When you expand an existing business line, there’s the risk that new products and services could not sell. Think of business risk in terms of exposure to anything that could cause your company to fail.
Risk is an evitable part of running and growing a business, but smart business owners try to minimize and hedge against it.
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