INFOGRAPHIC: Why Franchise Owners Should Care About Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Parties and other events are a great way to engage and reward employees and customers, and it’s also an opportunity to find tax deductions. But the tax rules for such events are strict and require careful planning and navigation to ensure you can claim your deductions with confidence.

Read on how to deduct the cost of a business party while also being conscious of potential tax deductions.

The various taxes that small businesses have to pay out each year are significant, so it’s important to be aware of every opportunity the tax man gives you to reduce your bill. So be sure to consider whether any or all of the items in this checklist apply to your business and discuss them with your bookkeeper and accountant to ensure you are documenting and claiming every deduction available to you.

With tax season approaching, you will want to take advantage of any and all deductions legally available to you. And if you aren’t satisfied with this year’s write-offs, you’ll want to start looking ahead next year to ensure you are aware of and actively documenting everything you could be deducting.

Financial fraud is the number one consumer complaint in the United States, and it can have devastating consequences for victims.

But by being proactive and following some simple steps, you can make it much more difficult for criminals to steal your money or your identity. Read about implementing some measures to protect you!

Now is the time to start thinking about the coming year, and what changes you could make to reduce your bill next time the taxman comes around.

Take a look at several ways businesses are reducing their tax burden.

Good financial reporting can help a business track what is really important for profitability and guide good decision-making for the future. Many small businesses struggle to really take full advantage of their financial reporting.

Take a look at five tips that could make the difference in whether your financial reports tick boxes or truly help drive growth.

Accounting and invoicing for general contractors have always been a paperwork-intensive process, tracking various construction-specific tasks like estimates, sourcing subcontractors, handling change orders, and partial-completion invoicing.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes construction invoicing different – and difficult – and consider a few highly-regarded apps that are worth considering, not only for invoicing but potentially for the entire end-to-end construction process, from submitting bids to paying contractors to customer relations.

Filing as an S Corp eliminates the self-employment tax on all income that many small businesses pay, while at the same time keeping some income out of reach of things like Medicare and Social Security taxes. It offers you the opportunity to take part of your income as a W-2 salary, with the associated federal program taxes, and the rest of it as distributions that are not subject to those taxes.

As with most “great deals,” though, there are potential pitfalls. It’s important to take the process seriously and abide by the rules in order to reap the benefits while avoiding some very serious penalties.

Let’s take a look at the benefits and potential pitfalls of filing as an S Corp, and how you can pay yourself in a way that maximizes your tax benefits while minimizing your compliance risks.

Filing as an S Corp eliminates the self-employment tax on all income that many small businesses pay, while at the same time keeping some income out of reach of things like Medicare and Social Security taxes. It offers you the opportunity to take part of your income as a W-2 salary, with the associated federal program taxes, and the rest of it as distributions that are not subject to those taxes.

As with most “great deals,” though, there are potential pitfalls. It’s important to take the process seriously and abide by the rules in order to reap the benefits while avoiding some very serious penalties.

Let’s take a look at the benefits and potential pitfalls of filing as an S Corp, and how you can pay yourself in a way that maximizes your tax benefits while minimizing your compliance risks.