In January 2019 I decided that I would focus my business in a new direction by January 2020. I intended to fully shift from managerial work to accounting work. I had recently passed my CPA exam and had a clear vision on what I needed to do. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; I had been […]
The majority of small businesses don’t file taxes outside their home state. This is simply because they are typically local and don’t have physical locations or connections to any other states. But in our current interconnected and virtual world, small businesses have access to employees not only in other states but across the globe. Hiring […]
I recently attended IMA’s annual conference, ACE2021. One of the hot discussion topics was Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The technology itself isn’t new—let’s face it, we’ve all dealt with chatbots—but now RPA is more streamlined and in a price range that small businesses can afford. While chatbots are ubiquitous, there is a broad spectrum of […]
After a very productive tax season, I find myself analyzing my lifestyle spending more than I have in a few years. I’m very aware of how lifestyle creep, also known as lifestyle inflation, can sneak up on you and I try to be aware of it. However, it seems that sometimes just being aware does […]
Small business owners wear many hats. They tend to fill every role—from the chief executive to the janitor. Business owners also need to keep in mind their business taxes and the complexities involved in documenting the money moving into and out of the business. They have to know what to track and what is tax […]
It’s tax preparation season, and like most business owners, Kim decided to just file for an extension to give herself more time. After reviewing the return prepared by her accountant Frank, she was surprised to see that she owed dividend tax on her S-Corp distributions. Confused, Kim phones Frank and gets straight to the point: […]
Small businesses don’t budget—or at least that’s the overall consensus I get from most small business owners. Outside of the vague, “I need six thousand to cover operating costs” or “Sure we have a budget, it’s somewhere in the filing cabinet,” there’s not much budgeting happening in the small business world. Effective budgeting is likely […]
Jose has been using an online bookkeeping system for the last five years. He’s hired multiple bookkeepers and accountants but his accounting remains messy. The last accountant he hired cleaned up his books by making manual adjustments, but this brought to light all the previously made mistakes. And he’s tried to fix the issues himself […]
There have been a few times in my consulting and accounting career that I have had to explain very basic financial topics to seasoned business owners. I have talked to VPs of billion-dollar companies that didn’t understand a balance sheet, and to new business owners that couldn’t understand why they had to pay tax on […]
Due to the current pandemic, business travel has decreased dramatically. No more large conferences, trade shows, or company retreats. But although travel has declined, it hasn’t stopped, and some industries like transportation and shipping have even seen a surge in demand from the massive uptick in online shopping. Zoe recently returned from a business trip, […]