Best Tax & Financial Resources for Small Business Owners

Where can a small business owner obtain tax and finance information?  When you don’t know what questions to ask, it’s very helpful to take some classes, and read a few articles prior to visiting with a CPA. Enjoy these resources:

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the best free classes around! Call your local office to find out when the home business or sole proprietorship classes are held. The home business class is a half-day class; the sole proprietorship class is a full day. The difference between these two classes — the extra half day — is spent dealing with employee tax information. Take a class every year. Expenses are deductible and I bet you will learn quite a few things each year.

Visit the IRS website or call toll free (800) 829-3676.   Tell them what type of organization you are considering, how many employees you will have, etc., so they can send you other free helpful publications. They’ll even send you a very nice Tax Calendar. Just ask for it!  Here’s the link directly to the IRS Small Business Center.  And there is the link to the https://www.irsvideos.gov/SmallBusinessTaxpayer/virtualworkshop

US Small Business Center  They offer small businesses an excellent learning center. “Whether you’re looking to start a small business or expand your current one, SBA’s digital learning platform has everything you need to educate yourself on entrepreneurial best practices and available financing options.”

USAGov is the Official Guide to Government Information and Services.  Need financing to start or grow your business? Start here at this small business section. They also have a money and tax section.

Local Authorities Let’s look at some local taxing authorities. In some states, the Department of Taxation provides monthly classes for new business owners.  I’ve attended classes in 2 states and they’re worth attending.  They cover state-specific topics such as business income tax, occupancy tax, and sales taxes.

While we’re on the local level, don’t forget to contact your county, city or town revenue offices, too. Yes, everyone gets in the act of collecting some sort of tax! It could be yearly, quarterly, or monthly. At the very least, call each entity to see what they need from you and what materials or classes they provide.  Don’t want to call? The end result could be fines and penalties later on — usually many times more than you would have paid in the first place.

Colleges – Often colleges, through their Continuing Education programs offer accounting, marketing, and other business courses.  Check the colleges in your area.

Small Business Incubator Association – They run on different models.  Some offer business classes. Others space and shared offices.  But their goals are to help grow small businesses. 

Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) (sba.gov)  There are also Rural Business Development centers, depending on where you live in the USA.   Also with the goal of helping small businesses grow.

Web Sites Non-Finance People Can Learn About Finances From:

• • Sandy Botkin, CPA and attorney, is a well known national lecturers in the field of tax reduction and audit proofing techniques for small business.  http://www.taxreductioninstitute.com/index2.htm
  • These two websites offer lots of resources on accounting and small businesses. Small Business Accounting Resource Center and  Accounting.com

• Not all people should own a business, for many reasons.  This article will give you some should — that you can turn into OKs in the long haul — as many of us have.  Should You Turn a Hobby Into a Business?
• Article about accounting as it relates to small business owners plus a video. Accounting Basics for Small Business Owners [By a CPA]
• Dealing Effectively with the IRS
• John S. Curtin CPA’s tax and expense organizing resources

CPA, Accountant, or Bookkeeper?

Besides trading on Wall Street, I moved around Wall Street, as a department manager in branch, operations, and accounting.   At one point, I had bookkeepers, accountants and a few CPA’s working for me.  I was able to sign off on the work performed by the bookkeepers, but I wasn’t unable to sign off on any  internal audits.  Why?  Because I didn’t have a CPA License!

So you can see, there is a difference between a CPA, accountant, and bookkeeper.   Now-a-days, with so many software programs out there to use, many of us can set up our own bookkeeping and send out invoices – if that is how we choose to use our time.  (I don’t recommend doing this for long.  Best to use your time working with your clients and hire a CPA, accountant, and/or bookkeeper).

If you are a small business owner, you have many choices.  You can: 1) Hire a CPA or accounting firm that has book keepers to do your monthly bookkeeping 2) Hire a CPA or accounting firm that will help you set up your monthly bookkeeping system and then you can do your bookkeeping or hire a bookkeeper yourself. 3) Hire a bookkeeper to do your monthly bookkeeping 4) do it yourself and if you must, but the idea of NOT doing your own books once you’re earning well, please!

As my business grew, which for me meant that my Excel spreadsheet was getting out of hand, I hired a bookkeeper who set up a monthly bookkeeping system.   The system was set up as suggested at the IRS Tax Class I attended – with categories names and in close order to the tax forms used by sole proprietors (Schedule C & Form 8829).  I’ll choose the names of the sub-categories based on how I spend money.   They also suggested that you set up your file cabinet with similarly named files.

What do I suggest to my non-financial clients?  #1 is that they use their time, money, and efforts wisely.  Often that means hiring someone to do their books and make sure that they don’t get into any hot water regarding business taxes.

When hiring a bookkeeper.  Make sure that they’re not just data entry clerks who knows how to use accounting software, like QuickBooks.  You need them to be to answer your basic questions about your finances or to work with a CPA or accountant that can help.   Then before quarterly taxes are due, send a copy of the files to your CPA or Accountant to review.  Work out any kinks to what’s there quarterly.   Or hire an CPA or accounting firm who charges a lower fee for bookkeeping and manages the bookkeepers.   As your business grows, so can you!

Your financial team can not only help put your profits and losses on paper, they  can create your taxes, consult on how you can do “x” better, and keep you out of trouble.  But they must look at your books and know your business.

And remember, one of my fortes on Wall Street was saving money.  That’s why in addition to a financial team, my clients get me to review their P/L (Profit/Loss) Statements or similar facsimiles.  Because I can almost always find ways for them to save money.

(c) 2022  Maria Marsala               Revised 2006, 2012, 2022