Business Law
Nothing will ruin an entrepreneur's day faster than a lawsuit (or an arrest!) Here's some insight into the legal and regulatory issues that many business owners might expect to face. Hopefully, it'll keep the cops and the tort lawyers from gunning for you. [Big Disclaimer!] We're not lawyers. We're offering our opinions about general topics. Our first and best legal advice for a company wrestling with a specific legal issue is always the same: Hire a lawyer you can trust.
Articles & Advice
Taxes for Entrepreneurs
Limiting Your Audit Risk
As quoted in the Los Angeles Times (March 15, 2010)
You can never eliminate that chance of being audited, because a perfect tax return will be suspicious, too (who files perfect taxes?) Company.com has ten ways to reduce your risk of an audit – we figure that most small businesses don’t have big accounts in the Caymans or Switzerland, and that if you’re reading this you haven’t run into significant tax problems in the past. Otherwise you'd know this stuff already.
Taxes for Entrepreneurs
Tax Resolution
Taxes can be the death of your business. Or rather, a failure to understand, or a willful underpayment, of taxes can be the death of your business. If you happen to be unlucky enough to get audited, or careless enough to underpay your taxes over a period of years, and you land yourself a $5,500, $20,000 or $150,000 tax liability, there are tax resolution services you can go to for help.
Taxes for Entrepreneurs
Your First Tax Season
If, like tens of thousands of individuals in 2009, you started a business, 2010 might be the first time you’ve ever needed to file business taxes. You might think that they’re just like individual taxes, but you’d be wrong. Business taxes are the Complete Works of Shakespeare. Your individual taxes are the Cliff Notes of “Where’s Waldo?”
What the Austin Plane Crash Means for Small Businesses
On February 18th 2010, Andrew Stack III allegedly crashed a Piper Cherokee PA-28 into the Internal Revenue Service building in Austin, Texas. In an apparent suicide note, Stack railed at the government and the IRS, and quoted Section 1706 of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. But what does 1706 say, and how does it affect you as an employer? And yes, it probably does.
Credit Card Processing - How Does It Work?
The financial services world is about credit. Retail outlets and service providers that can't handle credit card processing, or haven't passed PCI compliance, are at a disadvantage to those that have credit card processing terminals.
Taxes - How Do I Choose a Tax Preparation Company?
A good preparer also has the business acumen to tell you when you should make changes to the way you work. Anyone can run Quicken or use H&R Block automated tax preparation software. It takes brains to know how to use the tax information to glean business insight.
Taxes - Tips for Small Businesses
Paying taxes and filing taxes can be a daunting job. If you’re in business, then you know why accountants drive nice cars. However, before you sign up with any company offering tax services, it is essential to know what they offer and what you really need.
Taxes - Filing and Payment Services
Taxes bring joy to no one. For creative entrepreneurs, it can be the very worst part of their job. Companies are out there to keep your tax records and file your business taxes for you. Given the intricate and ever-shifting tax code, this may be one area in which a professional hand can really be valuable.
Taxes - What Are the Big Names in Tax Preparation Services
Which companies are the best known tax payment services? Do they offer services targeting small and medium-sized business?
Taxes - Why Should I Pay Someone to Do Them?
If you fully understand how to apply the dozens of different classification categories for depreciating fixed assets on a double-declining basis, feel free to keep your own tax records. Of course, if you do you’re probably an accountant, so that’s not exactly fair.