If you have a new business and are searching for a small business consultant near me in Florida, it’s important to learn all you can before even securing an advisor. There are some major pitfalls you will want to be aware of in order to avoid falling into them, such as what your federal and state tax obligations are and the best way to handle them. Making even a small error regarding your small business can hurt your chance for future success. There is no guaranteed, fool-proof plan, but it’s imperative to make the wisest decisions possible.
What a ‘Small Business Consultant Near Me’ Actually Does
Before hiring a local Florida small business consultant, it’s wise to understand what they do for your company – or what they should do. The more you know about their role, the better able you’ll be at choosing a competent one. Here are 7 money mistakes to avoid with financially managing your business:
1. Failure to make a cohesive business plan
Many entrepreneurs are pantsers which means they fly by the seat of their pants – making decisions on the spot rather than planning their business all out. A clear-cut business plan is a necessity for those who are looking for investors or a loan to get their business off the ground. Even if you are not needing a plan for financing, you will need one to succeed. One of the best ideas is to hire an expert to help you put together a pitch deck, so you’ll see all your plans fall together in one presentation.
2. Neglecting federal and state tax obligations
It’s tempting to take a shortcut when doing your taxes. Don’t! Be sure the powers that be will find out and penalize you dearly. You’ll need a professional accountant or an excellent tax program you can run yourself online or one that you can hire someone to run. Ignorance is no excuse, so be sure to properly tend to your federal and state obligations.
3. Not being a goal-setter
If you aren’t setting goals, you’re probably not reaching them either. Setting long and short-term goals helps you take steps to achieve first the short-term ones and then those that take longer to reach. Start by writing your long-term goals down and figuring out the smaller steps it will take to reach them. Make sure to list your short-term goals too. Mark them out as you achieve them, one by one. It is motivating to cross them off, so you’ll be pumped to continue the winning cycle.
4. Avoiding innovative new technology
It’s easy to shy away from new technology that you’re not familiar with. It’s important to realize though that often, the technology was invented to remedy some of the exact problems you have with your new business. Being open to trying and to learning new technical devices and programs will set you up to succeed.
5. Over or undervaluing your products or services
To balance your business finances, such as the cost of your services or products, you’ll need to have an accurate value of your goods or services. Lack of knowing a realistic value will upset the entire foundation of your business, down to huge legal factors such as your federal and state obligations.
6. Fear of marketing
Marketing is the wave of the future. Hiring a pro to tend to market management is most likely the wisest decision you can make as a business owner. From branding to marketing you on social media and all points in between, investing in marketing is equivalent to investing directly in your company.
7. Identifying your target customer
Once you know who your ideal customer is, you can market accordingly. You’ll save a lot of useless ads if you direct the ones you put out to the people who are most likely to buy from you. Taking the time to identify that group is a wise decision.
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By heeding the warnings above, you’ll have a good start to making your company work. Then, when you conduct a search for a new business consultant near me in Florida, you’ll already have a jump start in areas such as federal and state tax obligations and so forth. Then, you’ll be well-informed to find a great consultant to help you manage your small and mid-sized business.
Are you filing small business taxes for the first time? Tax preparation and planning are vital parts of owning a company. You’ll need to be sure it’s filed accurately and in a timely manner, which can be stressful. Along with state taxes, federal taxes are another area you’ll need to focus on.
6 Tips For Safe Tax Preparation and Planning for SMBs
Not only will you want to make sure your taxes are completed properly and on time, but you’ll also certainly want to maximize your tax return and claim all your deductions as well. Here are suggestions to follow to help ensure your first time filing taxes is successful:
1. Cash vs. Accrual Basis
Small business tax services recommend that one of the first steps you take is to analyze your business situation when deciding if you want to prepare your tax return on an accrual or cash basis. Under the accrual basis, your income is recognized by being effective when it’s earned and expenses are recognized when they are incurred. Under the cash basis, however, income becomes effective when it’s collected, and expenses are recognized as they are actually paid. If you have a small business accountant, he or she will most likely go with a cash basis if your new business has more unpaid expenses than paid ones. Later, as business begins to pick up, the accrual basis may work best for you.
2. Depreciation Method
For optimized tax preparation and planning, you’ll need to choose a depreciation method. In the first year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will allow up to $1,040,000 in deductions for furniture and equipment. You’ll be able to elect if you want to take the deductions all at once or to write the cost over five or seven years. There are advantages to both ways of figuring out the deductions. A small business tax service can help you make the most advantageous choice, but with some research and analysis, you can figure it out on your own if you want to do so.
3. Home Office Deduction
In your tax preparation and planning, you’ll want to deduct for your home office if you are a sole proprietor. That is when you deduct a portion of your residence if it is used in conducting business. The area must be used only for business when you claim it, however. It is figured by the square footage. You cannot take this deduction if you are claiming a loss through. But, if you do claim it, you are also able to deduct such things as landscaping and maintenance as well.
4. Non-Employee Compensation
Non-employee compensation is an area that many small business owners forget about or don’t completely understand. This deduction comes from independent contractors you’ve paid during the tax year. To set it up, you give any contract for whom you pay $600 or more a 1099-NEC rather than a W-2 form, as you do pay to your regular employees. Failure to report wages paid to an independent contractor gives you a false gross income, which means you’ll owe more in taxes.
5. Automobile Expenses
Be sure to file your automobile expenses because there will be a deduction. Keeping an auto log is highly recommended by most accountants who work for small business companies. Record where and when the travel took place, who was driving, and if there was business conducted on the trip. Each vehicle should be kept separately as it will be filed separately.
6. Self-Employment
You’ll need to prepare for paying self-employment taxes, as it will be a significant part of your federal taxes for small businesses. It includes Social Security and Medicare tax, which is part of your total taxes. Monitor your available cash flow to ensure the amount covers self-employment tax.
Hire an Expert Small Business Accountant for Reducing Your Business Taxes
If the points above and the process of filing federal taxes for small businesses is overwhelming to you, you can get help with your tax preparation and planning by hiring a small business tax service.
Bill payment is the lifeblood of your business. The money that comes in from paid invoices and goes out to pay bills is what keeps your business going. Too little money coming in and too much going out mean an unhealthy business. That is why it is important to be on top of the bill payment. However, even for a small-mid-sized business with fewer than 500 employees, bill payment can turn into a complicated and time-consuming process. That is when a small business bill pay services company can save the day. In this article, we will look at five reasons for your small business to outsource your bill payment process.
1. Online Bill Payment Services will Improve the Efficiency of your Business
Online bill payment services give you a big advantage, they help you get a better picture of your profits and losses, invoices, and bills. A small business bill pay services company gives you the ability to predict your future funds. It also ensures that all your invoices are sent out and paid on time.
2. Using a Small Business Payment Services Company Streamlines Invoice Processing
If you want your business to thrive, you have to pay your bills. It’s as simple as that. If your business gets a reputation for making late payments or not making payments, it will suffer. If you don’t ensure that your invoices get out on time and are paid, your working capital will suffer. Search for, small business bill pays nearby your area. They examine your uploaded invoices and bills and make sure they are paid on time, making the whole process go smoothly.
3. Keep Track of your Invoices in Real Time
Wouldn’t it be easier to make your business run better if you could easily track your invoices? Online bill payment services process your company’s invoices and date stamp them, giving you the ability to quickly track due dates. You will also be able to track who authorizes payment and what your company’s payment liability is. You get updated reports that let you track invoice payments at any time.
4. Online Bill Payment Services Provide you with Centralized Processing
Does your company have different departments that all generate invoices? That is a recipe for chaos. It means things can be disorganized. When you search for, bill pay services near me, and hire a bill pay service provider firm, they can help you solve the problem. They provide a central place to process all invoices, review them, enter them into the software, and follow up to make sure bills are paid, or that payment is received.
5. Get Access to Advanced Software
Online bill payment services provide your company with all the benefits of the latest in bill payment services software without the expense and hassle of buying, setting up, and maintaining the software. This software ensures that all the fields of an invoice (date, amounts, vendor ID, due date, etc.) are correct through the use of specialized recognition technology. This accuracy help to avoid mistakes and resolve issues that may arise.
Does it make sense in this day and age to outsource your payroll? If you are a small business owner, you may think it doesn’t make sense to hire a payroll company because you don’t have that many employees. You should reconsider. Small business payroll processing is more complex than you think. If you take into account the need to keep track of payroll taxes, withholdings, and tax deadlines, you will soon be asking where can I hire a payroll service provider near me in Florida? In this article, we will look at when and how to outsource your payroll.
Payroll Taxes for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses are still complicated
Let’s start with an important fact: it doesn’t matter if you have one employee, 10 employees, fifty, or a hundred, you still have to deal with the taxman. Regardless of the number of employees that you have, it is essential that you are prepared to keep track of their earnings and their withholdings. Consider for a moment what must be done for each of your employees.
Small Business Payroll Processing: Step by Step
You start with your employee’s W-4 form, which indicates their desired tax withholding. Remember that they can change that as often as they want! Then you must also keep track of their state withholding, which is on their state W-4. Don’t forget that you also have to figure out FICA taxes on wages at 7.65%. Have higher earned employees? Make certain their social security withholding is capped at the yearly maximum, and withhold the additional Medicare tax. If you have employees in multiple cities or states, you must also keep track of the taxes for those localities. Starting to think that you should hire a payroll outsourcing company near your area in Florida now?
What are the options for Small Business Payroll outsourcing?
There are many companies out there that offer SMBs payroll processing services. Some are small businesses themselves and some, like Paycheck and ADP, are larger. They offer services like filing, direct deposit, and cutting paychecks. They help you keep track of withholdings and tax deadlines. Most payroll providers charge a basic fee for the service with a small, incremental fee per employee. There are also self-service payroll tools, such as Intuit, online that you can use yourself. The IRS also has information on payroll service providers that you can look up.
Time to hire a Payroll Service Provider near me?
Even if you only have one or two employees, it can still be highly advantageous to hire a small business payroll service provider near my area. To begin with, you will save yourself a great deal of time. The time that you can better spend on business and clients. If you are producing a product, it will also help you determine the cost of labor for your product. A payroll service provider also helps you avoid penalties for filing late or making mistakes on what is owed. Both can be costly. Remember that you are always responsible for unpaid federal taxes if you own your company. Outsource your payroll today and have confidence that your company’s payroll is in good hands.
These days when you think of accounting software, you think of QuickBooks. In fact, more than seventy percent of businesses utilize it online or on their desktop computer. It isn’t surprising that it is so popular. It is powerful, accurate, and has an array of tools that let one accountant or bookkeeper do all financial work easily and effectively.
Along with the rise of QuickBooks, there has been the rise of Software as a Service (Saas) or software products that pay a subscription for and are bought and sold online. No more installing software from a CD. There are many critical software tools available this way that can help you maximize your business operations and offer you flexibility in how you use their products. That concept has been something that Intuit has embraced as they have changed how they sell and service their products. The question is, where is the expert who can help you with QuickBooks and is trained to help your business? The answer is to hire the best certified QuickBooks Proadvisor.
What is a Certified QuickBooks Proadvisor?
A QuickBooks Proadvisor is actually more than just a bookkeeper or accountant. They are trained as bookkeepers or accountants, but they are also trained as software management specialists. They blend the expertise of both worlds into one expert who can help you with bookkeeping, accounting, and even tax issues. They are trained, tested, and certified by Intuit in advanced QuickBooks management. They must pass an exam with 80% or better and be certified on an annual basis. They provide training and consulting for small businesses.
Why should I hire the best certified QuickBooks Proadvisors?
What are the advantages of outsourcing QuickBooks bookkeeping and accounting? For small to medium-sized businesses there can be significant savings. Hiring someone else to do the bookkeeping for your business is obviously beneficial because it saves you time and lets you focus on your business growth. By hiring an outside consultant rather than hiring a full-time bookkeeper, you save money as well. A consultant can help you and your staff avoids costly accounting errors.
When you hire a QuickBooks Proadvisor there are also some other benefits. To begin with, they will ensure that QuickBooks is set up correctly for your business. They will also tailor how the accounting software fit for your business. They can pass on their knowledge and train your company’s employees in accounting software. They know how to take full advantage of all the features that will help you and which features you don’t need. It is all about getting the most out of your accounting software. This will save time and dramatically increase the efficiency of your accounting process. They also are the first to know about updates and new versions of QuickBooks. They can give you expert advice on when it is time to upgrade. Their hands-on, individual experienced assistance is a big step up from the basic tech support you get from QuickBooks online.