Category: Small Business
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QuickBooks Payments Drops PayPal
Beginning next month, PayPal will no longer be available as a payment method when paying an invoice through QuickBooks Payments. This is significant to me (and many other small businesses) because I do most of my invoicing through QuickBooks Payments and make most of my payments through PayPal. Suggestions for other options? We will review…
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Withdrawal of universal support for QuickBooks Online
We all know that business and technology are in a constant state of change. Certainly the small business accounting industry has seen plenty of change in recent years. After years of supporting the transition of private businesses and nonprofits’ accounting platform to QuickBooks Online as the core technology platform, I am withdrawing that universal endorsement.…
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The Real State of the Union
I’ve spent much of my career, now in its 5th decade, focused on addressing the devastating impact of the widening wealth and income inequality gap. I first recognized the problem while working for two Wall Street firms in the middle 1980s. The problem has gotten much worse lately. It is not just an issue of…
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My unlikely ramble into national politics
A reflection on my unlikely journey from neighborhood flood response to construction techniques to national politics. Before 2016 I was not personally active in politics. Yet as a small business owner I financially supported a number of candidates in both parties, typically in small dollar amounts from $250 to $500 per campaign over several decades.…
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Benefit of 401(k) tax credit for small business that start 401(k) plans
My brother John Novak, a well established 401(k) expert, shared some calculations that he made for his own clients illustrating the impact of the SECURE act tax credit for small businesses that want to start a 401(k) plan. This is the first analysis of this type that I’ve seen using “real life” 401(k) plan fees…
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Big tax savings for New Jersey small businesses
Today New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Pass-Through Business Alternative Income Tax Act. This new law allows flow-through businesses in New Jersey to elect to pay income taxes at the entity level instead of at the personal income tax level. Since there is no limit on deductions on the federal level for…
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Update on Gig Workers
The evolving saga of “employee vs contractor”, from the small business employer’s perspective, means that you should revisit the conversation for business planning purposes now. Background In case you’ve been so engrossed with other headlines that you haven’t read any business news: the world of independent contractors, so-called “gig workers” is facing rapid and dramatic…
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Worker classification status; proposed change in New Jersey
This is how the so-called ‘ABC’ codification test may change for determining proper classification of independent contractors in New Jersey. Under current law, a worker can be classified as an independent contractor if: A. Such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such service, both…
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Fast paced change brings 2020 opportunities to small businesses
After some tweeking (thanks to my peers for the crowd-sourced feedback!) this is the version of the email message that will be used this week: Dear _ : This past year brought more changes for small business owners than any other year in the past generation. This means new opportunities to save money but also…