You face plenty of challenges as a small business owner. Finding ways to protect yourself against lawsuits is a major one. You may be able to add protection by structuring your business as a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). Both these entities may shield the owners’ or members’ personal assets from the company’s debts and liabilities. The protection isn’t bulletproof, however. Requirements must be met, and the separation between… Read More
Tax Advantages of a Health Savings Account
Health savings accounts (HSAs) have been around for nearly two decades, but many people are unfamiliar with them and the benefits they offer. This article is an overview of how they work, who is eligible for them, and what tax advantages they provide. An HSA is essentially an interest-bearing, medical savings account that you can use to pay or reimburse certain medical expenses that you incur. Such qualified medical expenses… Read More
How Small Businesses Can Use Artificial Intelligence
Science fiction movies and books may portray artificial intelligence as a human-like giant brain with thousands of wires coming from it that control whole cities and their populations. The reality today is that artificial intelligence is unobtrusive, everywhere, and we are interacting with it multiple times daily without always recognizing that we are. Artificial intelligence is being used by large corporations in a range of areas, including sales, marketing, customer… Read More
Starting a Side Gig in 2022? Your New Tax Obligations
It’s not just self-employed individuals who must pay estimated taxes. Here’s what you need to know. W-2 income tax withholding isn’t perfect. You’ve probably had years when you owed more than you expected to on April 15. Or you were pleasantly surprised to receive a sizable refund. The idea, of course, is to try to come out as even as possible. You can usually do this by adjusting your withholding… Read More
Start 2022 Off Right: Clean Up QuickBooks
Is Your QuickBooks company file ready for 2022? Three things you can do to put things in order. January is always such a transitional month. You’re trying to wrap up everything that didn’t get done during a hectic December. At the same time, you have to jump into the new year and start doing your regularly-scheduled work. It can be hard to tell sometimes which year you’re working on. Don’t… Read More
Don’t Wait: Year-End Tax Actions You Should Take Now
Unless you’ve been planning for 2021 taxes all year, it’s time to take actions that can reduce your IRS obligation. We’ve talked before about the importance of planning for taxes year-round. If you haven’t been able to do that because 2021 has been another complicated year, it’s not too late. There are things you can still do in December that will have impact on this year’s taxes. It may be… Read More