Business Approved: Finance Apps
In this segment of Business Approved, e4e partner Will Hanke discusses some of his favorite financial phone applications including Quick Books, Square's Cash App and Facebook Messenger.
Better to Have Money in Your Pocket than Uncle Sam’s
"Better to Have Money in Your Pocket than Uncle Sam's" is the e4e December 2016 LIVE Showcase Presentation by John Brandvein. John explains different ways to hold on to more of your income by avoiding taxes, fees, and penalties.
Following his presentation, John takes questions from the audience.
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How to Launch Your Business
Putting together a new business doesn't require reinventing the wheel. Don't fly alone. Together you will soar higher, faster.
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Unlock the Remarkable Opportunity of Tax Planning
Adopt a Strategy for Reducing Your Tax Liability
What’s the best business strategy for tax planning? It’s simple. Know what you’re doing and what’s available to reduce your tax liability. What you don’t know can really hurt your business! Lack of knowledge and fear of being audited often make clients overly cautious when claiming expenses and deductions. As a result, many business owners end up paying a lot more than they should. In fact, not claiming allowable deductions can cost a business 56 percent in taxes to satisfy Uncle Sam. Why should Uncle Sam get your money when there are legitimate ways to keep more?
Tax planning is a year-round opportunity. And failing to plan means planning to overpay. Very few small business owners know the system well enough to take advantage of all the money-saving opportunities allowed in our tax code. Everybody wonders, “How far can I push the envelope?” Some go too far and push it past the edge, while others choose that cautious route and don’t put anything down. Neither strategy is good. You need to be working with a tax professional who really knows what can and can’t be done to get the most benefit for your business.
What You Need to Know
It’s all about recordkeeping and keeping track of everything. Anything you use or buy that relates to your business in some way, shape or form can (and should!) be deducted. Clients will often say, “But I don’t have a receipt for that” or “It wasn’t enough to be worth writing it down.” Trust me, everything is worth writing down! It all adds up. You’d be surprised how much all those smaller expenses add up to over the course of a year. And any expense less than 25 dollars doesn’t even require a receipt.
Do you work out of your home? While a bit complicated, there’s a formula for determining the deduction for that. And if you’re not claiming it, you should. How much do you use your car for business? Mileage, gas, wear-and-tear, and repairs can all be factored in and add up quickly to reduce your tax liability. Having lunch with a client, colleague or potential client? Deduct! Travel expenses? Need pens, paper, a new calendar, iPhone or laptop? Deduct, deduct, deduct.
Large or small, if you use it for business, count it all!
Make it Easier on Yourself
If the thought of trying to keep track of every possible deduction overwhelms you, there are strategies for that. Many business owners don’t realize there are some phenomenal apps out there to keep track of expenses. There are apps to keep track of where you’re going, who you’re meeting with, the mileage, and all expenses associated with those meetings. It can be so easy to forget to make notes or enter all that information like you should, so the apps can really help. Even if you have to invest some money in one that will do all the things you need it to do, it will really streamline your recordkeeping and make your life easier.
Also, get and use a designated credit card for all your business expenses. Put all those purchases that relate to your business in any way, shape or form on that card only. That way, you have a complete and accurate accounting of expenses and purchases at the end of the year just by going online and clicking the “print” button. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
Always remember, the IRS is there to do a job. No one from the IRS is ever going to come to you and say, “Gee, you’re a nice person. I see you should’ve taken deductions for more expenses here.” While that would be nice, that’s not their job. That’s my job.
My advice… be aggressive, but smart. And always keep tax planning at the forefront of your mind throughout the year. Don’t let what you don’t know hurt your business. In the tax game, there’s no such thing as “I paid for that out of my pocket.” Hire a professional tax planner. Then give Uncle Sam what is due, but start planning today to keep every bit you can!
John Brandvein has been in public accounting since 1958 and founded Brandvein & Co. in 1994. Not only does John have copious knowledge regarding all things accounting and taxes, he provides his clients the best possible support and stability, while being gracious and humorous in the process of delivering excellent service. You can reach John at 314.725.5514 or email him at john@brandvein.com
Video: Profit First
Ready to be wildly successful and make meaningful profit? Pay yourself first and rekindle the joy you had when first starting your business.
Productivity expert Cathy Sexton turns conventional accounting practices on their head and helps people get real about the need to make profit first as a business owner. She addresses the necessary process for creating profit and collecting it no matter what your income, in order to experience sustainable and increasing success.
In this presentation, Cathy provides key insights from the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, whose information provided her a major money mind-shift and increased improvement in her business. She read the book over a weekend and touched upon the following:
- How to make profit and owner’s pay immediately on day one
- How and why to look at expenses as investments designed to create an ROI for you
- Why we will get the same results if we don’t change our thinking and behaving around conventional accounting practices because they are based on a broken formula
- Awareness of Parkinson’s law; the ways in which our demand upon a resource tends to expand the amount of that resource;
- How we approach our resources such as time, energy and money; what we have, we spend without consideration of all needs.
- How to set up your banking accounts so your financial processes allow you to make a habit out of taking profit first when you receive income.
- Tips on how to slowly implement a bi-monthly, quarterly and yearly process including use of multiple banks and accounts so money is not easy to manage and preserve.
Cathy’s personal stories and engaging examples help the viewer understand that even the most practical among us need to question the conventional way we have approached money and make significant changes so that profit is a reality and a stabilizing factor in your life and business. Cathy Sexton is founder and CEO of The Productivity Experts and a nationally recognized expert and speaker on productivity. To gain further support and information, contact Cathy at cathy@theproductivityexperts.com or 314 267-3969
The Top Ten Questions When Considering Accounts Receivable Factoring
A business owner is considering Accounts Receivables Factoring to grow his business. Here are his top ten questions. An experienced factor supplies the answers.
What are ten of the most common questions of a business owner considering Accounts Receivable Factoring? An actual business owner has supplied this list of questions.
1. What will my customers say when they find out I am factoring my receivables?
Receivables-based financing is used by many of the largest corporations in the world to improve cash flow, support growth and increase profits. Many of your clients’ customers may use this service themselves and others have become familiar with it through vendors. The fact your company qualifies for this “credit line” makes a strong, positive statement about your company.
2. Will I lose control of my company?
You actually have more control over receivables when factoring than you would have with other traditional financing such as angel or venture capital as most of these funding resources want you to sell your business in the near future or they might want to replace management if they are not comfortable with the way your business is operated. With Accounts Receivable Factoring, factors keep you abreast of the whole payment cycle. You have visual access to your factoring account and can see open or closed invoices. Combined with purchase order funding, accounts receivable factoring provides you with the cash flow you need without having to give up ownership in your business.
3. How is accounts receivable factoring different from accounts receivable factoring from a bank?
The factoring company focuses on the creditworthiness of your customers while banks focus on your company’s financial history and cash flow. Since accounts receivable factoring is not a loan, it does not appear on your company’s balance sheet. Factors can make a quick funding decision while banks may take weeks or months to approve a loan.
4. You are charging 3% discount on thirty days, isn’t that a 36% interest rate?
This is an advance on receivables, not a loan. Therefore, you cannot calculate your cost that way. If you sell $100,000 in receivables per month and pay 3% per month, your cost is 3% of the total invoice amount or $36,000. You have at your disposal $1,200,000 per year. If you give your customers a 2% discount for paying in 10 days are you paying 72% interest? (2% on 10 days is 6% per month over 12 months = 72%). Can you see the error in this logic?
5. What do I need to qualify for accounts receivable factoring?
You need to be invoicing customers and you need a credit worthy customer. We check the credit of your customer, as this will give us an insight as to how your customer will pay. Incidentally, a good thing happens when your customer finds out you are factoring. These customers tend to pay faster. Why? Because factoring companies report payment trends to the credit bureau. And companies know if they don’t pay on time, their credit drops and this impacts the availability of their future credit. Also most factors want their clients to be registered in the state where they are doing business. You can be a new company, an established company in a growth pattern, or a company that cannot get a loan at this time and still can factor.
6. Can I keep my existing bank line of credit or my SBA loan?
Yes. While factors want to be in first position regarding factored receivables, we complement and work in cooperation with your existing lender to enable you to access even larger amounts of cash to keep your company moving forward. Banks are happy if you factor. You keep your money in their bank and we put more money in your account. They keep you as a customer and then when you want or can qualify for a bank loan, they are right there to help you with that transaction.
7. My payroll is next week; will I have my funding in place to pay my employees on time?
Factoring is quick, easy, and efficient. It has little paperwork. As part of the setting up process, you give a notification letter to your customer to let them know you are now working with us. We supply the form letter. You put it on your letterhead and send it to your customer. Invoice verification is an essential and accepted part of factoring. As soon as your customer signs and returns the notification letter to us, you can start receiving your first advance upon verification of the invoice. Usually it takes about 3-5 days to set up the process. Then advances can be made within hours.
8. How often can I factor?
You can factor as often as you need. Many customers factor several invoices per week, some factor once a month. It depends on your business and the industry you are in. There is no contract regarding length of time to factor. Stop when you wish, or continue as needed.
9. What are some of the other advantages companies enjoy when they factor?
A. They can take advantage of future sales and can execute on a big emergency or unexpected order.
B. They can use vendor discounts to save money.
C. Their credit score increases because they are now paying their bills on time.
D. They can add the factoring fee to their bid. This fee is written off as a business expense. Therefore they are getting immediate cash with little or no debt.
E. They can now focus “on” their company instead of “in” their company and can plan growth more efficiently.
10. What happens if my customer does not pay you?
There are usually two reasons why the customer doesn’t pay. A customer goes bankrupt or insolvent or there is something wrong with the product or service. Factors tell you if their due diligence shows your customer is not financially stable. This is another advantage of factoring. Secondly, factors will not be responsible for anything with the product or service. In any case, we can either take back an exchange invoice to collateralize the advance or we can charge the non-paid invoice back to you through a payment from your reserves.
Conclusion:
Accounts receivable factoring is a great choice for companies, especially those who cannot get traditional funding. While it may cost a little more, many business owners are willing to pay more to have the funding immediately needed to complete present contracts on time and on budget and have funding to go after future business instead of losing business waiting for checks to come in. Factoring is a way of receiving immediate cash with little or no debt and allows the business owner to have the peace of mind and time to work on their business without worrying about late check payments.
To find out more about accounts receivable factoring and to see if it is a financial fit for your company, contact Lexx Funding, Inc. at 636 458 2612 and ask for Joy Ann or email her at joyann@lexxfunding.com.
Productivity Through Digital Contracts
Have you ever considered using an online e-signature service to manage contracts?
Every business requires documents to be signed. If your company is still waiting for physical signatures and faxes, then you might be able to introduce a new workflow to save you time. Imagine all the following scenarios in your business:
