Questions specific to small businesses.
18
votes
4answers
774 views
When should I start an LLC for my side work?
I am doing quite a bit of sidework this year and wondering at what point would it be a good idea to "start a business" and bill through that.
11
votes
5answers
2k views
A merchant requests that checks be made out to “Cash”. Should I be suspicious?
My barber accepts only cash or checks made out to "Cash".
Is there a likely legitimate reason she might want the checks made out to "Cash"? Or am I helping her hide her revenue from the IRS?
9
votes
3answers
255 views
Does that mean I'm fooling the US gov?
I'm a foreign student studying in the US. Soon, I'm a launching a website where an American ad agency will handle posting the ads on it from American advertisers and the revenues are supposed to go to ...
9
votes
4answers
148 views
Do I need a business credit card?
Do I need to have a business credit card for my own company or can I use my personal credit card and just make sure I keep the records. I don't have a lot of expenses so keeping the records is not a ...
9
votes
5answers
356 views
Should I start my own company so I can claim against tax?
I live in the UK and I'm an employed web and mobile phone developer and very occasionally do some work on the side. I've been recently advised by a family member that I should look at starting my own ...
9
votes
4answers
254 views
What's a Letter of Credit? Are funds held in my bank for the amount in question?
Can someone easily cash one? Is it used for business only, or is there an advantage to consumers using them as well?
9
votes
3answers
298 views
Can I withdraw from my Roth IRA retirement account to fund a startup?
I'm 24 years old and have $10k in my retirement accounts (Roth IRA) after about a year with a real job. I'm considering withdrawing the entire balance to support myself for a few months while I ...
9
votes
1answer
428 views
Can I use my Roth IRA to start a business?
I've recently been reading up on Roth IRA to Self-Directed IRA plans. And I've seen a few places that mention their use as a seed-fund to start your own business.. Where can I find the parts of the ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
Full-time work + running small side business: Best business structure for taxes?
Currently I have a full time job (IT industry) but from time to time I do a side project.
Most of the times my clients agree to pay me cash as the amounts are not large.
However, last year there ...
8
votes
3answers
233 views
Help: Being charged interest on a loan for which I received no statements telling me of this debt for the past 15 years. Surprise!
Is this legal? This was a private loan within a small business. I was under the assumption that the bill was paid in full 15 years ago. My only drawback is that I never got them to sign to verify the ...
7
votes
3answers
280 views
Is it worth working at home to earn money? Can I earn more money working at home?
I am just started using basicallymoney.com... My question would be
Is it worth working at home to earn money?
Can I earn more money working at home?
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Indian citizen working from India as freelancer for U.S.-based company. How to report the income & pay tax in India?
I am an Indian citizen and I work from India as a freelancer for an U.S.-based IT company. I am getting monthly payments directly into my Indian bank account. My colleagues' monthly payment come to my ...
7
votes
1answer
545 views
Borrowed money from a friend for my business, & can't pay it back. Got a lawyer's letter. What can happen?
I borrowed some money from a friend of mine for use in my business and I am not able to pay back to him now due to the bad business. Actually, he put the money into my business first and later decided ...
7
votes
1answer
359 views
When it comes to doing business taxes, do bank statements and bills work in place of receipts?
Just at the beginning of this year, I started a business (not fully, but I've started doing jobs for it). Up until March, when I did my personal taxes, I had no idea what kinds of things I could write ...
7
votes
1answer
118 views
How does one's personal credit history affect one's own company's credit rating?
Quick background: I have no intention whatsoever on actually getting any loan. However, to accept online credit card payments (eg. via Paypal Payments Pro), merchant account providers determine ...
6
votes
3answers
187 views
What are the ins/outs of writing equipment purchases off as business expenses in a home based business?
I'm currently self-employed doing computer programming work. As part of self-employment I'm learning about filing taxes quarterly (not fun) and also writing things off as business expenses ...
6
votes
1answer
395 views
What are the benefits and downsides to an LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship vs. Individiual?
As a followup to my previous question, what benefits are there for an LLC vs. a Sole Proprietorship? What are advantages and disadvantages to both and also vs. just being paid as a person?
6
votes
2answers
224 views
I may earn a lot of cash soon through self-employment on a lucrative project. How to handle the tax?
I'm in Canada, and am young and don't know anything about finance.
I've been working part-time as a software consultant for a friend who's starting a marketing company. He recently landed a job with ...
6
votes
2answers
136 views
Should I take contributions out of my Roth IRA to live off of?
My current contract is ending, with no future job immediately lined up. I have a few thousand dollars in my checking/savings accounts, and a significant amount of cash in my Roth IRA. I have no debt.
...
6
votes
2answers
117 views
What are the ongoing administrative requirements associated with running a small business that is incorporated?
Throughout my career, I've done some development and consulting projects in addition to my full time job. I've always just reported the income on my personal income tax forms. Now that I am getting ...
6
votes
1answer
65 views
Accounting for payment into wrong currency account
I deal with clients in several countries and have two bank accounts in two currencies. Recently, I sent out an invoice with the wrong bank account number, so a client invoiced in SGD made a payment ...
5
votes
7answers
229 views
What's the best application, software or tool that can be used to track time?
For instance, a contractor, lawyer, accountant etc. would want the ability to easily track time spent on tasks or client activities, without having to manually log/track via spreadsheet. Are there ...
5
votes
4answers
3k views
Any practical difference between “personal checks” and “business checks”?
I need to order checks for my LLC. I wrote maybe 5 paper checks last year (by hand, not printed). So it doesn't make sense for me to spend $30-40+ on "business checks" if I can spend $5-10 on ...
5
votes
4answers
605 views
What financial management software (personal, business, tax) is for Mac OS X?
What financial software written for the Mac is good? I need personal (like Quicken), business (simple bookkeeping) and tax software.
5
votes
2answers
138 views
Outstanding cosigned loan and Bankrupt ex-partner
Background:
I started a business (LLC) with a partner about 3 years ago. We took out a business Line of Credit. Because the business didn't have credit of its own, we both cosigned. 1.5 years ago ...
5
votes
2answers
103 views
Why Are Credit Card Rates Increasing / Credit Limits Falling?
I thought that there was recent legislation passed that forbid banks for jacking up rates as they had been doing from late 2008 into the first half of 2009. All of my credit cards have seen increases ...
5
votes
3answers
309 views
I am the sole owner of an LLC. Does it make a difference if I file as an S-Corp or a sole-member LLC?
As an LLC with one owner, I had the option of filing using Schedule C on my household taxes, effectively treating business income (in this case, losses) as I would a sole proprietorship. My plan had ...
5
votes
1answer
322 views
Sole proprietorship or LLC?
At what point in the life of a small business would you choose to do a LLC over a sole proprietorship? What's the advantage, and what's the cost of doing an LLC?
5
votes
1answer
132 views
How much should I charge for shipping as a function of unit weight?
I am setting up an e-commerce site that sells workbooks.
I would like to calculate an estimated shipping fee based on the total weight of the items purchased.
The per-unit weights are as follows:
...
5
votes
1answer
284 views
Funds in closed bank account have gone to the government
My son was advised by his accountant to close his limited company and start a partnership instead. He did this but he was not told that he needed to clear the company bank account - he left this open ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views
How to Transition From Employee to Employer?
I know Making the transition from employee to employer requires financial stability, a good business plan, self-confidence and a lot of discipline.
But i am looking for some instructions/tips from ...
5
votes
1answer
81 views
How much money/time should be re-invested in your own business, as a contractor?
As a contractor, you realize how valuable your time is - but undoubtedly, an investment back into skills update training or in marketing your business is worth the time you would otherwise spend ...
5
votes
1answer
198 views
I have a 401k loan used for a house down payment and now I am changing jobs: What should I do?
I guess this could be a cautionary tale, but I am hoping it can be remedied.
I had a job that I am leaving, but I had took a 401k loan to put down on a house. I don't have the money to pay it back ...
4
votes
8answers
99 views
Finding a good small business CPA?
Maybe I've just had bad luck, but the four CPAs I've met so far with have been morons.
The first one I found on superpages and he couldn't help me set a structure for my LLC. Didn't know what ...
4
votes
3answers
737 views
What's the difference between TaxAct and TurboTax?
I've always used TurboTax, but found an edition of TaxAct that will do state, federal plus schedule c for about 33 percent of the price of the Turbotax edition? Does TaxAct not do some important ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
I'm self-employed with my own LLC. How should I pay myself, given my situation?
I do a ton of freelance web design and decided to setup a simple LLC so I could have a credit card to make business purchases with. From my limited understanding, I can choose to be taxed as an S-corp ...
4
votes
1answer
783 views
Contractors: Guideline on what percentage to keep when hiring a SUB-contractor?
My business may be growing past the point beyond which I can no longer handle the jobs alone (yay me!)... If mine is an hourly job, with little to no overhead, and I bring someone on to work the jobs ...
4
votes
2answers
139 views
Are there any viable alternatives to Paypal for a small site?
I don't want to have the hassle of dealing with credit card or direct payments directly on my website, the volume and amount of transactions don't justify the effort.
I've set up Paypal on the site ...
4
votes
1answer
71 views
Rules for SEP contributions in an LLC?
I am located in NY. I have a PC (my business) and an LLC which holds the office space for my PC. The owners of the LLC is my self and my son. I am the sole owner of the PC. What are the rules of ...
4
votes
1answer
117 views
Determining the minimum dividend that should be paid from my S corporation
I am the sole shareholder and only employee of an S corporation. I understand that all profits of the corporation are passed through and taxed as income to me. I also understand that all dividends ...
4
votes
1answer
97 views
How does LLC ownership work in relation to U.S. tax law?
If an established LLC business offers ownership to a new member, will that member owe federal tax even though that member has still not realized any gain?
Let's say for example the LLC is worth $10M ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
Foreign company incorporated in US and W9
I own a translation company and my clients are reluctant to contract a provider based abroad, although I have a US Bank account, US tel, US PO Box (I lived in US for a while). I need to be able to ...
4
votes
2answers
487 views
What are the tax implications of lending to my own LLC?
Well, as I mentioned before, I'm buying rental property under the name of my LLC (California). I used cash for the purchases, but the initial investment I made in the company was not enough to cover ...
4
votes
1answer
236 views
How to deduct operational loss from my personal income tax?
This questions starts with "How to" but I will accept any answer as "if I should or not".
My question is related to a business that I have been running this year. I have not been very successful at ...
4
votes
1answer
5k views
If you run a sole proprietorship, how do you declare the income of the business on your taxes?
Let's say I have a small sole proprietorship with only a bit of income and expenses. I can do up a balance sheet and an income statement at year end. Is that all I need to submit with my taxes, and ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
What are the some banks for businesses looking to handle *everything* online?
My business works with contractors and customers around the world and I have plans for long-term travel for myself. The small local bank I'm currently with doesn't seem like a good fit for my company. ...
3
votes
1answer
127 views
How to start a business when you owe the IRS and Everyone else?
My history:
In 2006 I was doing pretty well, my online ventures were doing around $30k profit a month however I am a programmer and did not run the business side of it well at all. (taxes, forming a ...
3
votes
2answers
604 views
Taxes owed on funds raised through Kickstarter for a film I plan to shoot?
I'm looking to run a Kickstarter campaign and I was curious about a few things. Obviously you'll need to pay taxes on the amount raised, if you don't spend it all producing something (expenses). ...
3
votes
2answers
125 views
In which country can I set up a small company so that I pay a lower rate of corporate tax?
I read in some news articles that some large corporations manage to avoid large corporation tax in this way. Is it possible to set this up for a small company?
3
votes
2answers
1k views
What's the maximum income one can have and not have to file a tax return? [Canada]
I'm starting a home-based business and make very little. Do I have to worry about income tax?
