Category: Running a Business

As a small business owner, paying your own salary may come at the end of a very long list of expenses.  Understandably, you might take less money out when you first start your business and get it profitable, but after a while, you’ll need to determine the best way to pay yourself and how much. There are two primary options: treat yourself like an employee and pay yourself a salary, or take an owner’s draw. Each has slightly different tax… Read More

As a small business owner 20 or so years ago, one of the most confusing and frustrating things I did was reconcile my credit card transactions. They were deposited in my business bank account with a lag of several days from the time the transaction was completed, and at the time, I don’t think I completely understood exactly what a merchant account was or how it worked. I just knew I needed to have one to process credit cards. If… Read More

If financial terms like income and expense, debits and credits, and balance sheet make you cringe, you may not be one of those business owners who are comfortable managing their own financial accounts. And if you don’t have an in-house accounting department, nor the budget to hire a professional accountant, you might not know what your options are in terms of bookkeeping.  There’s actually a middle ground between hiring a professional accountant and DIYing with accounting software, and it doesn’t… Read More

You may have heard the term “disregarded entity” floating around the business world, and scratched your head, wondering what it was and whether your business was one. Disregarded entities have a special tax classification and apply to one primary type of business structure, so it’s important to understand what they are and whether you need to do anything special when filing your taxes. What is a Disregarded Entity? A disregarded entity is a business that is not seen as a… Read More