How to Succeed in Business Taxes for the Self-Employed Going into business for yourself means learning about a lot of things, and not all of them are necessarily fun. Take taxes, for example. Unless you’re an accountant, dealing with the tax issues that come with your business is probably not your favorite task. But once…
Completing a Succesful Year-End Review There’s been a lot of hullabaloo in recent years over the “after-action review.” The general concept is that after you’ve weathered a major event, you reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of how your company performed. The goal is to improve your performance in similar events in the future. Some…
Keeping Up Good Communication When you engage the services of a lawyer, an important thing to keep in mind is confidentiality. If you are a business owner in need of advice or representation, confidentiality of your business information can be critical. To understand the confidentiality present in your relationship with a lawyer, you need to…
How Can I Avoid Business Identity Theft? It seems like major retailers report breaches of their customer’s private data almost weekly. But businesses themselves are also subject to identity theft, and unfortunately, they are more apt to not discover the theft until much later in the game, after significant damage has been done. Businesses identities…
According to Merriam-Webster, an entrepreneur is a person who “starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money.” But being willing to take risks isn’t the whole equation, at least when it comes to succeeding in business. After all, the majority of businesses started by entrepreneurs, ultimately fail. So what…
Working at Home Successfully: What Does It Take? Many people fantasize about working from home. Just imagine: How amazing would it be to roll out of bed, get to work, and have time to enjoy the things that really matter in life? Working at home isn’t for everyone. To be successful, you must set boundaries…
One facet of the Affordable Care Act is specific benefit requirements that have to be offered by small businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees). These requirements were scheduled to begin applying to employers with up to 100 employees on January 1, 2016. Business leaders were concerned, however, this change would result in substantially increased…
Mark Zuckerberg Did Not Pledge 99% of His Facebook Stock to Charity — Here’s What He Did Instead Recently, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced that they were donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares — currently worth more than $45 billion — to charity. Most immediately assumed they had been the beneficiaries…
Marijuana Laws: They’re Real and They’re Here All of 58 California counties are currently updating and establishing local policies on Cannabis retailing, manufacturing, and cultivating laws frequently as well as tax laws. Now that California is implementing new Medical Marijuana laws and viability of Recreational Cannabis, it is recommended to be aware of how these…
NerdWallet reports that the S&P 1500 companies have more CEOs named John than female CEOs. The company recently compiled an analysis of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Small Business Administration related to female business success. Its conclusion: Seven of the best locations for women to start small businesses were in California and…
Welcome back to our third and final article in our series on how you can save big money on your taxes this year. Just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. In part 1, we discussed the first step in saving big on taxes: strategize with your…
Welcome back to our series on how you can save big money on your taxes this year. Just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. Last week, in part 1, we discussed the first step in saving big on taxes: strategize with your tax advisor at key…
It can be shocking to realize that our biggest personal and business expense, bar none, is taxes. The good news is that just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. The first thing to know about taxes is that it is not illegal to strategize to save…
It’s a question we hear a lot. Should we be an LLC? Many small-business owners have heard that they should operate their business as an LLC (limited liability company). But is that true for you? Three major factors you should consider in choosing a type of business entity are liability protection, taxation, and convenience. For many businesses,…
The Affordable Care Act If you have more than 100 employees, the Affordable Care Act requires you to provide health insurance coverage to your full-time workers. On January 1, 2016, the threshold drops to 50 employees or more. The Act defines full-time employees as those working an average of at least 30 hours per week….
The National Labor Relations Board General Counsel issued a report earlier this year commenting on unlawful employee handbook rules. The goal of the report is to help employers avoid establishing rules that may discourage employees from engaging in activities that are protected by the National Labor Relations Act. The Employee Handbook Section 7 of the…
A short while ago, civil rights for those who identified as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender were effectively non-existent. However, there has been a recent flurry of activity in this area. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a person can legally marry someone of the same sex. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that…
The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in King v. Burwell clears up a final lingering question surrounding the Affordable Care Act. Issued June 25, 2015, the decision upheld the tax credits that are intended to make health insurance affordable for millions of Americans. The credits are available to those whose employers do not provide…
The Family and Medical Leave Act may provide unpaid time off due to the serious health condition of an employee or an employee’s immediate family member. However, only certain employers, known as “covered employers,” are required to comply with this law. Additionally, employees must meet certain basic requirements before they are entitled to the leave….
Most business owners are savvy enough to know that a contract is an enforceable agreement between two or more people or entities. However, you may or may not realize the fundamental elements of a valid contract. Understanding the basic components of a legally valid contract can be very helpful in conducting daily business activities so…
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