Category: Small Business
-
FreshBooks Certified Accountant
I just completed about 4 or 5 hours of accountant training for FreshBooks small business accounting platform. It has some impressive features and I’m sure I’ll write about them soon. The short version of my review: FreshBooks is an excellent choice for sole proprietors who bill for their time. Support is excellent; they are “trying…
-
Revenue Ruling 99-6 LLC partnership conversion to disregarded entity
I have a client who is considering converting an LLC that has elected treatment as a partnership to a disregarded entity owned by husband and wife in a community property state. The goal is to simplify accounting and tax reporting while still retaining the liability benefits of the LLC. No information is available as to…
-
A real life health care payment mix-up
This is a real-life personal health care story that I am trying to settle right now. I know that the same pattern is repeated for countless health care consumers every day. That’s why I posted it here. I rounded off the numbers for easier communication. The situation unfolds like this: Last month I required a…
-
The delicate issue of professional snobbery
An administrator for a small trade association invited me to participate in a panel discussion on issues related to the Affordable Care Act as it affects the small businesses of the member firms. The brief biography of the other invitees was underwhelming. The offer was extended by telephone where I had no time to prepare a…
-
Tax planning is tough for high income clients
Many people do not realize that tax planning becomes more difficult as income increases. The easy strategies like those discussed in the article “Top 10 easy tax strategies” do not work as well. Tax planning sometimes requires adjusting to rapidly rising income; not such a terrible problem to face. But the tax calculation changes triggered…
-
Wix vs. WordPress for small business web sites
I spent some time tonight reading about Wix web site building options for my small business clients. I use WordPress now and a consultant suggested that I consider switching to Wix for ease-of-use. There are several reviews available by Googling “Wix vs. WordPress“. I read them and basically they conclude that the options are equally…
-
The gap in small business employee benefits advice
Yesterday I had a great telephone conversation with a guy I met on LinkedIn. His business sells a variety of innovative employee health care solutions. I was impressed. The problem is that they focus on groups with 50 or more employees. I explained that my business is driven by incoming inquiries and that these are…
-
General power of attorney
General power of attorney forms are useful for a wide range of purposes. They can be customized to specific scope of authority, length of time, and the third party. A sample power of attorney form is attached that I use for individuals and small business clients. Note that this is not a durable power of…
-
Avoidable small business taxes in 2015
Small business owners know that some taxes are unavoidable. Taxes are the price we pay to live and work in this society. Yet other taxes are simply the result of sloppy management or failing to keep up with changes in the tax law. It is this latter category of small business taxes that is grabbing most of my attention…