Business Finance Articles

National statistics may indicate that we’re in an economic recovery, but that’s no reason to get complacent about business costs. There’s still plenty of uncertainty regarding sustainable consumer spending strength. The customers you have today are an opportunity to set aside profit for potential slowdowns in the future. This requires a focus on spending. By [...]

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Learning how to build a workable budget is so frustrating that most business owners skip the process completely. But hoping the numbers will work out is certain to cause greater frustration and possibly failure. There’s an effort required to set goals in a budget. However, the process is much easier when following some basic guidelines [...]

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The credit card reform law that went into effect this year shields consumers from such card-issuer practices as large jumps in fees and interest rates. But the new law applies only to credit cards issued to individuals, not to small businesses. Consequently, small-business owners are more likely than ever to be pursued by credit card [...]

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Successfully converting your business accounting to computer software such as QuickBooks requires careful completion of some essential steps. You will identify errors and have reliable data by developing familiarity with basic financial statements such as the balance sheet and profit and loss report. An accountant can explain these and provide valuable assistance in the accounting [...]

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Business owners create multiple problems when they combine business and personal finances. First, the unfortunate mingling needlessly complicates financial reporting, inhibiting accurate tracking of expenditures and assessment of business operations. Second, failure to separate business and personal records causes a mess at tax time, resulting in extra work to avoid lost deductions and misreported income. [...]

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Employers cannot evade responsibility for deducting employment taxes from wages by simply declaring workers as contract labor. Only independent contractors qualify for exemption from tax withholding by employers. The federal tax code defines the necessary conditions for independent contractor status. States also provide guidance on defining an independent contractor arrangement. Independent contractors basically present themselves [...]

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Many companies hold petty cash as a convenient means for making small purchases. The money is also used to reimburse employees for office items they buy. Unfortunately, petty cash is prone to accounting errors. One of the problems is failure to accurately record expenses paid with petty cash. The money is an asset just like [...]

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There’s more to the financial operations of a business than tracking revenue and expenses. The balance sheet shows what happened to the profit or loss and reveals the overall condition of a business. By examining the balance sheet you see the assets acquired with your profits as well as debt you incurred to buy those [...]

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An S corporation is taxed differently than an unincorporated proprietorship because the S corporation doesn’t incur self-employment tax. This is the tax on a proprietor’s profit that substitutes for payroll taxes covering Social Security and Medicare. Shareholders of an S corporation pay only regular income tax on their respective shares of business profit – regardless [...]

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Businesses can avoid trouble with mileage expenses by following a few simple rules. For starters, businesses can deduct mileage expenses only when certain standards are followed. The same requirements apply to self-employed individuals deducting business mileage, and companies that reimburse employees for business miles. Adequate records are required for business mileage deduction. They must document [...]

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