“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade,” said Charles Dickens. It’s the start of Spring and a time that’s ideal for cleaning things in your business. It’s a subject I write on just about every year because I’m usually in the thick of my own Spring cleaning. Compelling reasons for Spring cleaning You may think that this activity is just another tedious chore. But if you keep in mind the benefits for your business to be derived, you’ll […]

It seems that today, just about everything involving your business needs a special policy. This includes driving on company business. Having a vehicle and drivers’ policy for your staff can enhance employee safety and avoid costly accidents. Here are essential considerations for crafting a good company driving policy.   Basic rules Because the company may be financially liable for accidents, whether the vehicle is owned or leased by the company or belongs to the employee driving on company business (see this TimeSheets article on point), be sure to have a solid vehicle and drivers policy. Your policy should reiterate to employees […]

The last time you had to deal with a utility, how much time did you have to spend on resolving an issue? Recently I had to change carriers and the matter should have taken only a few minutes. It wound up taking hours and hours, wasting more than half a work day (not to mention the aggravation involved). This prompted me to think about all of the time wasters we face in business and what we could do about them. Various sources have found that employees waste hours each work day, and it’s not because they’re lazy; there are time […]

Most businesses use vehicles—cars, trucks, or vans—to conduct their activities. For example, on Schedule Cs for self-employed individuals in 2015 (the most recent year for statistics), deductions for car and truck expenses was nearly $90 billion! There are numerous tax-related issues for using vehicles in your business. Here are 10 of them: 1. Should you buy or lease the vehicle? The decision involves not only tax considerations, but also financial ones. Leasing usually allows you to use a more expensive vehicle for less cost than buying. But if the vehicle is going to be driven more than 15,000 miles a […]

One of the top complaints from employees is that their leaders do not communicate well. They don’t give clear directions or offer constructive criticism. Some refuse to talk to subordinates or even know their names. If you want to be a good leader, you need to learn to listen and communicate more effectively. As Lee Iacocca said: “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” Communication skills Success has identified 6 key communication skills to master in order to be a better leader: Know yourself (i.e., self-awareness) Know your audience […]

If your business conducts research and development (R&D), you may be eligible for certain tax breaks. This is so whether you’re creating a new product or merely working on new internal-use software to run things better within your company. These tax breaks are significant and greatly reduce the financial cost of your R&D activities. Expensing of R&D costs From a tax perspective, research and development (R&D) costs can be treated in one of 3 ways: Deduct all costs currently Elect to treat the costs as deferred expenses, amortizing them over a period of at least 60 months Elect to amortize […]

The tax law is not static. Since the publication of this book, the IRS has provided guidance on some of the changes for 2018 returns that were made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). And there’s been additional legislation, court cases, and other IRS pronouncements that affect 2018 returns as well as planning for taxes in 2019. Here are the key developments, some of which can apply to your 2018 return while others impact your 2019 withholding and estimated taxes. At the time this Supplement posted, Congress had not yet addressed the tax rules that expired […]

The tax law is not static. Since the publication of this book, the IRS has provided guidance on some of the changes for 2018 returns that were made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). And there’s been additional legislation, court cases, and other IRS pronouncements that affect 2018 returns as well as planning for taxes in 2019. For small business owners, it is important to take action based on what is known now, and to watch for any tax changes that may affect your business and personal taxes in the future. Pay attention to what is […]