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29 Tax Deductions for Businesses (the most common)

"There is nothing sinister in arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible . . . for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands." - Judge Learned Hand. The tax deductions that come with owning a business are one of the biggest motivations for owning a business. Taxes are calculated based on the business' income after expenses (recall the income statement). It's also a progressive tax, meaning the more you make, the more...

How to Do Bookkeeping for Small Business

A previous post on this blog suggested that business owners do the bookkeeping themselves instead of hiring a bookkeeper. Or if you decide to hire a bookkeeper, the post suggested to make their service supplemental to your own instead of replacing you as the bookkeeper. While a good piece of business advice is to work on your business and not in your business, bookkeeping is one of the few activities where business owners can save time and money by doing...

How to Find a Good Accountant for Small Business

Every business owner needs a super team. There are multiple professionals on this team which may include lawyers, accountants, consultants, marketing experts and others. When aggregating this team, it is important to find the right professional for your business to avoid as many mistakes as possible and maximize the effectiveness of your business. Since this is Accounting Month on the Mirex Marketing blog, it is only appropriate to have a post that explains how to find a good accountant for...

CPA vs Enrolled Agent: What is the difference?

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and Enrolled Agents are both qualified to perform accounting tasks for your business. When business owners are shopping or looking around for a good accountant for their business, they may come across both of these professionals. Since the next post will explain how to find a good accountant, it may be helpful to understand what the difference is between a CPA and an Enrolled Agent (EA): Certified Public Accountants (CPA): Certified Public Accountants generally have a 4-year undergraduate...

Business Financials and The Business Plan

The blog posts that were published last week were a good start for Accounting Month on this blog and they can be a fantastic resource for business owners, business staff, and start-up businesses who need to learn accounting. Here is a list of them for review: 40 Basic Accounting Principles that you need to know to understand Small Business Accounting Cost of Goods Sold - Additional Principles that Businesses with Inventory Must Know 65 Accounting Terms and Definitions Should I...

3 Business Financials: The Balance Sheet, The Income Statement and The Cash Flow Statement.

There are a few financial statements which help to portray the financial and economic condition of a business. Yet, there are three main ones which were introduced in the previous post 40 Basic Accounting Principles. The main 3 Business Financials are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement. These are the top financials that business owners, business managers, and lending institutions look at. The following explains what these financials are, what they might look like and...

Should I Hire a Bookkeeper? 3 Super Tips to Help Your Bookkeeping Decision.

As a business owner (or future business owner), you're probably faced with multiple decisions daily which can affect your business either positively or negatively. If you're one of those good business owners, then you're constantly learning how to improve your business, and a common piece of advice that you'll hear is not to wear multiple hats. Most business owners start by wearing every hat in the business - you're the CEO, CFO, CMO, CTO, the secretary, and every other position...

65 Accounting Terms and Definitions

The following 65 Accounting Terms and Definitions are meant to supplement the previous two posts on basic accounting principles: 40 Basic Accounting Principles and Costs of Goods Sold - Additional Principles. Current and future business owners will want to read those posts and understand them thoroughly in order to move on this month with future accounting posts that are related to bookkeeping and tax savings. This post is mostly for reference and it's a great one to bookmark for future...

Costs of Goods Sold – Additional Accounting Principles that Businesses With Inventory must know

If you own (or plan to own) a service business that does not sell any products or goods, then the previous blog post is sufficient for your business: 40 Basic Accounting Principles that you must know to understand Small Business Accounting. However, if your business sells products or goods and you're one of many businesses with inventory, then you need to know some additional information on costs of goods sold (COGS). Since the article on the three business financials has not...