Tax Deductible Business Expenses That Many Small Businesses Miss

Tax Deductible Business Expenses

Far too many small businesses, particularly start-ups and sole traders, are paying tax on things they do not need to. Largely this comes from not understanding which business expenses are tax deductible. These business expenses are there for small businesses to exploit – so is there something your small business is missing?

Employee Costs

Many costs to you or your employees incurred by your business are tax deductible. Expenses include cell phone bills for business calls, union dues, relevant magazine or periodical subscriptions, staff uniforms or business attire and memberships to relevant societies amongst others. Even if you are not currently using any of these services it may be worth looking into them knowing you can use them a little bit cheaper.…

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5 Ways Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Are Bootstrapping Their Companies

5 Ways Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Are BootstrappingStarting a small business is hard. And in today’s economy, getting the most for your money often equates to the creative distribution of your financial resources.

That’s why so many entrepreneurs and small businesses are inventing ways to bootstrap their operations.   Luckily, there are a number of affordable tools and strategies that cost little but deliver big, which is ideal when your business is on a budget.

As a provider of business services and entrepreneur myself, here are five resources I’ve found that are currently working well for small businesses.

  • Inventive marketing – Generate interest in your business through creativity. For example, try promoting a contest like The Royal Society of Chemists.
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3 Critical Financial Steps to Starting a Local Business

3 steps to starting a successful local businessStarting a business is an exhilarating time. It can also be a very stressful and busy time. As a local business owner, you often end up wearing all of the hats (CEO, Accounting, HR, Marketing, etc.) in the beginning due to lack of funding early on.

In all honestly, this isn’t such a bad thing because it’s nice to know how things work and how all the pieces fit together if you’re the one running the business. At the same time, the goal is to be able to hire experts to handle other departments at some point in the future so you can focus on building and growing the business.…

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What Improvements Can Your Small Business Make in 2012?

business improvements for the new year 2012

With 2012 right around the corner, your small business is likely hoping the New Year allows you and your employees a fresh start, especially if the return on investment (ROI) for 2011 has been less than stellar.

For those small businesses that struggled this year, there are creative ways to move forward in 2012 and return your company to the black.

Among the things to keep in mind are:

“¢ Review this year – The first and foremost thing to do is to sit down and go over what did and did not work well in 2011. If you have been in business for a short time, did you meet your goals for this year or are you still in the growing process?…

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Reduce The Risk Of Employee Fraud

reduce the risk of employee fraudIn any business – small or large, good or bad economy – internal theft or employee fraud can occur.   Actually, in my experience, I have seen more employee fraud occurring in small to medium-sized businesses because there is a greater level of trust, a less formal process at times, greater familiarity with each person in the company, and a greater breadth of duties for each employee.

While the percentage of employees committing fraud may be low, I have seen some small businesses devastated and almost have to close their doors because of one or more employees who stole from them.

Types of Employee Fraud

There are a few types of employee fraud that are prevalent in small businesses.  …

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Perfect Your Small Business Skills With Open Courseware

Perfect Your Small Business Skills With Open Courseware

While yes it is true that one doesn’t need a Masters of Business Administration degree in order to run and manage a successful small business, the leadership and business skills one learns pursuing an MBA can in fact help one launch their business to even further heights. Unfortunately not everyone has the time or the money to return to school in order to learn a new set of managerial and business skills. But thanks to open courseware, it might just be possible.

Open courseware is a term used to refer to free online classes offered by various prestigious institutions such as Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.…

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How A Debt Attorney Can Help With Credit Card Debt For Small Businesses

credit card debt settlement for small businessCredit cards can be a wonderful business tool. They allow you the flexibility of easily using credit to make purchases under the promise that you will pay back the money that you borrowed on credit. Credit cards are a great tool for consumers and for regular small businesses. They give you easy access to credit and allow you to focus on what is most important for you in your business and in your personal life.

Because of the ease of use it is also very easy for your credit card debt to get out of control. In fact, credit card debt is becoming an epidemic in our country.…

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What Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Small Business Credit Cards

Any business owner can tell you that while getting a business started is difficult enough, it’s only the beginning of the battle. When it comes to keeping a business running, you’ll need to continue buying supplies and covering many other expenses that are associated with business operations.

credit cards for small businesses

Many business owners choose to cover these expenses through the use of small business credit cards. Still, other business owners are hesitant to get a credit card for their companies for a number of reasons. Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of small business credit cards and you can easily determine whether or not one is right for your business.…

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Five Surprising Health Insurance Tax Tips For Small Business Owners and The Self Employed

health insurance tax tips

Whether you’re self employed or a small business owner, preparing your taxes can be a daunting task – scrambling to find every little deduction within “hidden” tax codes to make the most of your return. And with Health Reform underway, there are new laws in effect that may translate into a bigger refund check.

Here are five health insurance-related tax tips to consider before you file your taxes this year:

1.   New this year! Take a one-time opportunity to reduce your self-employment taxes – In addition to the standard “˜above the line’ deduction described below, self-employed persons can also deduct the cost of their health insurance premiums from their self-employment taxes on Schedule SE.…

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Take Your Banker Out to Lunch

Starting a small business means having as many allies as possible and few allies are as important to new business owners as the banker.

build a relationship with your banker

It always pays to be on the good side of the person who has a say over whether or not your emerging business will be extended the loan it needs to get through the initial stages. Well as you might already know, it’s important to be on the good side to anybody that influences your business in any type of way.

Here’s a tip: Take your banker out to lunch and build a relationship with them.

For years, entrepreneurs and company associates have taken clients to lunch as a way to either establish a potential relationship or strengthen a rapport that had already existed.…

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