Category: Small Business
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QuickBooks Self-employed revisited
This month I took a fresh look at QuickBooks Self-employed version. As much as I want to endorse and offer this platform for self-employed individuals, I can not. The simple reason is that Intuit does not support this product under the same platform as other QuickBooks products. I find the support to be inefficient, unprofessional…
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LAST CALL for Form 1099 filings for small businesses and nonprofits.
LAST CALL for Form 1099 filings for small businesses and nonprofits. The cost of filing these is small compared to the penalty for not filing a single one of these forms. The deadline is January 31 and we typically request at least 24 hours notice to complete and file the forms correctly. Instructions from IRS are…
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At one month, panic is setting in as we learn what government shutdown really means
The federal government shutdown is affecting an increasing number of my small business and individual clients in ways we never expected or anticipated. All indications are that these problems will get worse before the situation gets better. I am scheduling calls this week to address contingency and emergency plans with those most affected. I don’t…
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Last minute 1099 preparation
At this time of year (the last 10 days of January) it is typically too late for small businesses to order the required paper forms to prepare and mail Form 1099s to avoid penalties by the January 31 deadline set by IRS. This triggers questions about whether I can do it as a stand-alone last…
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Blogging that doesn’t work
Accountant blogging doesn’t bring new clients but is useful for other reasons. We often read that business blogs are supposed to help with business marketing. They can build brand identity, familiarity, goodwill, and confidence. My marketing adviser calls this the “know, like, trust factor”. But read more and you’ll learn that technical advice blogs provided…
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Simplify the business of life
This blog title is a slogan used by the world’s most popular personal and small business software maker. For my purposes as an adviser, I’m using it here to refer to the accounting for essential financial transactions between an employer and employee: payroll, taxes and employee benefits. Small businesses have wide latitude in some areas of…
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Three changes to small business health plans for 2019
Small business employers who choose to offer health benefits to employees will find more options available in 2019 under rules proposed late last year for adaptation this year. The IRS and Treasury Department clarified that employers who meet other conditions will be allowed to offer reimbursement of individual health insurance on a tax-free basis. These…
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Five economic forecasts for small business in 2019
A decade ago I probably would have said that there is little value to a small business adviser in attempting macroeconomic and political forecasts. But over this most recent decade I’ve watched shifting macroeconomic conditions wipe out over two million dollars of personal net worth and put one of my businesses into idle for over…
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Small business payroll fees for 2019
I’m sending this email message to my smallest business payroll clients: In planning for 2019 services, I’ve noticed that payroll processing fees have risen sharply for me. This seems to be an industry trend apparently related to spreading out the cost of state and local tax compliance issues for some companies but doesn’t otherwise affect…
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Employee vs. Independent Contractor: protecting the small business employer
The question of independent contractor or an employee has long been a concern to small businesses. The IRS has changed its guidance significantly over the decades of my career. The most current IRS guidance is perhaps the most complex and subject to interpretation. In the small business world, classification as an independent contractor often result…