Help! I Don’t Know Where to Expense My Business Cards!
Business owners get stressed over where to properly categorize expenses, when most of the time it does not matter.
morePosted by: Wray Rives, February 11, 2010
Common 1099 Mistakes – Frequently Asked Questions
1099’s were due to contractors on February 1st and are due to the IRS by March 1st when paper filing and March 31st when e-filing. We’ve mined our team of experts at the Outright Community to find the most common 1099-related mistakes and how you can prevent them. (Or, oops, rectify them!)
It’s February 3rd. What [...]
Posted by: Jennifer Escalona, February 3, 2010
The Right Business Checking Account
One of the first things you do as a business owner after filing your incorporation papers or your assumed name certificate is open your bank account, otherwise you might have a hard time getting paid, and yes, you need a separate business checking account. However, the world of business banking is completely different from consumer banking and [...]
morePosted by: Reagan Lynch, January 21, 2010
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Who Can be a Dependent?
You might be surprised the lengths that the IRS has gone to in order to define what a dependent is. Most of the varied rules have been adopted, because some taxpayer somewhere tried to claim a dependent that the service decided was not appropriate. While they don’t list the specific facts that gave rise to [...]
morePosted by: Wray Rives, January 20, 2010
Five Facts about the Home Office Deduction
With technology making it easier than ever for people to operate a business out of their house, many taxpayers, entrepreneurs and small business people may be able to take a home office deduction when filing their 2009 federal tax return next year.
Here are five important things the IRS wants you to know about claiming the [...]
Posted by: John Berger, January 3, 2010
Self-Employment Taxes
Self-employment tax (SE tax) is a social security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves. It is similar to the social security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners.
You figure SE tax using Schedule SE (Form 1040). Social security and Medicare taxes of most wage earners are figured [...]
Posted by: Wray Rives, January 2, 2010
Year End Bookkeeping Checklist
As the end of the year fast approaches, self-employed- and small- business owners are gearing up for tax season. Heading into it we all feel a little overwhelmed, confused, and nervous about dealing with the IRS (okay, a LOT). Below is a checklist that business owners, from freelancers to contractors, home-based businesses to sole-proprietors, should [...]
morePosted by: Wray Rives, December 22, 2009
Home Office Deductions
Persons who use a part of their home for business purposes may be able to claim a home office deduction if they meet certain requirements.
In order to claim a business deduction, you must use part of your home for one of the following reasons:
Exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business
Exclusively and regularly as [...]
Posted by: Wray Rives, December 12, 2009
Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
One big exception to cash basis accounting is that generally, businesses determine cost of goods sold on an accrual basis. For accrual accounting you determine cost of goods sold by calculating the value of inventory still owned by the business at the end of each year. The formula for cost of goods sold is to [...]
morePosted by: Wray Rives, December 6, 2009
Partnership
A partnership is the relationship existing between two or more persons who join to carry on a trade or business. Each person contributes money, property, labor or skill, and expects to share in the profits and losses of the business.
A partnership must file an annual information return to report the income, deductions, gains, losses, etc., [...]
Posted by: Wray Rives, November 29, 2009
