Recent News

Business Owners, Lean Into Sales Staff Retention

Although there have been some positive signs for the U.S. economy thus far in 2022, many businesses are still reeling from last year’s “Great Resignation.” This trend of a historic number of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs, combined with the difficulty of hiring new employees, didn’t spare sales teams. However, one could say that the Great Resignation only threw gasoline on an existing fire. Historically, sales departments have always trended toward higher turnover rates. Maybe you’ve grown accustomed to salespeople coming and going, and you believe there’s not much you can do about it. Or can you? By leaning into...

5 Ways to Control your Business Insurance Costs

Common sense dictates that every company, no matter how small, should carry various forms of business insurance. But that doesn’t mean you should pay unnecessarily high premiums just to retain the coverage you need. Here are five ways to better control your insurance costs without sacrificing the quality of your policies: 1. Review coverage periodically. Make sure existing policies reflect your current circumstances. For example, if you’ve sold or sunset some equipment, remove it from your schedule of current assets. If you’ve reduced the number of workers on your payroll, adjust workers’ compensation estimates accordingly. (We’ll address this further below.)...

Can You Deduct the Costs of a Spouse on a Business Trip?

If you own your own company and travel for business, you may wonder whether you can deduct the costs of having your spouse accompany you on trips. The rules for deducting a spouse’s travel costs are very restrictive. First of all, to qualify, your spouse must be your employee. This means you can’t deduct the travel costs of a spouse, even if his or her presence has a bona fide business purpose, unless the spouse is a bona fide employee of your business. This requirement prevents tax deductibility in most cases. A Spouse-Employee If your spouse is your employee, then...

Keeping Meticulous Records is the Key to Tax Deductions and Painless IRS Audits

If you operate a business, or you’re starting a new one, you know you need to keep records of your income and expenses. Specifically, you should carefully record your expenses in order to claim all of the tax deductions to which you’re entitled. And you want to make sure you can defend the amounts reported on your tax returns in case you’re ever audited by the IRS. Be aware that there’s no one way to keep business records. But there are strict rules when it comes to keeping records and proving expenses are legitimate for tax purposes. Certain types of...

Important Tax Aspects of Operating Your Business as a Sole Proprietor

If you’re in business for yourself as a sole proprietor, or you’re planning to start a business, you need to know about the tax aspects of your venture. Here are eight important issues to consider: 1. You report income and expenses on Schedule C of Form 1040. The net income is taxable to you regardless of whether you withdraw cash from the business. Your business expenses are deductible against gross income and not as itemized deductions. If you have any losses, they’re generally deductible against your other income, subject to special rules relating to hobby losses, passive activity losses and...

Let Your Financial Statements Guide You to Optimal Business Decisions

Now that 2022 is up and running, business owners can expect to face a few challenges and tough choices as the year rolls along. No matter how busy things get, don’t forget about an easily accessible and highly informative resource that’s probably just a few clicks away: your financial statements. Assuming you follow U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or similar reporting standards, your financial statements will comprise three major components: an income statement, a balance sheet and a statement of cash flows. Each one contains different, but equally important, information about your company’s financial performance. Together, they can help...