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Which Is Better For A Small Business: Financial Advisor vs. Accountant

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financial advisor vs accountant

When you run a small business, having a strong financial team by your side is a difference maker. However, you may need to choose between different types of financial professionals. Financial advisor vs. accountant is a common debate among small business owners. If you’re wondering which option is best for you. Here’s what you need to know.

Financial Advisor vs. Accountant: What’s the Difference?

While financial advisors and accounts may have similar knowledge in some cases. They represent two different specialties, each with unique areas of expertise.

In many cases, an accountant focuses on the basics of your financial picture. Thus, ensuring that your ledger remains balanced. Additionally, they typically help with finding tax-saving strategies that align with your situation. That could involve how assets are managed from a tax perspective, recommending specific types of retirement accounts, ensuring you capture every deduction, or similar steps.

Financial advisors are a bit different. While they may also recommend strategies that are beneficial to your taxes, their main goal is to assist you with seizing financial growth opportunities. Along with financial planning, investment advice is commonly a part of what a financial advisor offers.

The unique perspective each of these professionals provides means they can work together to ensure your entire financial picture is well managed. However, not all small businesses can afford to hire both.

Pros and Cons of a Financial Advisor

Financial advisors are adept at planning and recommending paths that can lead to financial growth. Often, they focus heavily on the investment side of the equation, though many will also examine other areas to seek out opportunities. For a small business, financial growth can be a priority, particularly if they’re in a startup phase and are dealing with financial uncertainty or there are plans for various kinds of expansion.

Another area financial advisors focus on is insurance. They can assist with choosing the correct coverage for your business, ensuring any assets are adequately covered and that all critical scenarios are addressed in that coverage.

However, financial advisors don’t typically handle the more transactional side of the equation. Handling ledgers, tracking payments and expenses on a daily basis, and similar services aren’t commonly what a financial advisor offers. This leaves those tasks to someone else, which may not be ideal if you don’t have time to handle them personally and don’t have other financial professionals on board.

Pros and Cons of an Accountant

In many ways, accountants are more transactional. They track and log the flow of money in and out of a business, and make recommendations that often feel more logistical. For small businesses with complex financial activities, this can be a boon. It ensures someone is solely focused on the company’s earnings, expenses, taxes, and reporting, reducing the odds of errors and increasing your chances of securing tax savings.

Accountants can also assess the financial impact of various moves. For example, if you’re considering an acquisition, an accountant can help analyze the situation and produce estimates that give you a clearer picture regarding how proceeding may impact you financially.

When it comes to drawbacks, accountants aren’t as growth-oriented. While they may recommend investment accounts, they usually limit that to options that result in a tax benefit, as that results in a savings for the company. In some cases, this can make the level of financial guidance feel incomplete, suggesting you were looking for advice in the growth arena.

Financial Advisor vs. Accountant: Which Is Better for a Small Business?

Neither financial advisors nor accountants are inherently better for small businesses. Instead, you need to factor in your financial needs, allowing you to select the best option for your unique situation.

If you’re concerned about balance sheets, financial reports, transaction tracking, and tax preparation, an accountant is typically the way to go. Accountants specialize in that type of financial tracking, and they’re particularly adept at identifying tax-saving strategies that allow you to reduce what you owe legally.

For guidance about investments, insurance, and long-term financial plans, a financial advisor could be a better fit, as much of their focus is on financial growth and preservation strategies. They’re also skilled at asset management, which can be beneficial in some scenarios.

Consider what you need from a financial professional, and use that to guide your decision. That ensures you bring the right one on board. However, you can also consider hiring both. Financial advisors and accountants can work together to manage the entire financial picture. That ensures that every base is covered, which could be the better choice in the long run.

When it comes to financial advisor vs. accountant for small businesses, do you agree with the points above? Did you choose one over the other and would like to discuss your reasoning? Did you choose one only to discover that it either wasn’t the right fit or was the perfect match? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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The Best Way to Do Your Taxes When Running Your Own Business

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taxes when running your own business

Filing your taxes each year can be a daunting experience. Even if you’re only handling an individual income tax return. When you operate a business. The situation is often significantly more complex. Whether you run a sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), or any other kind of corporation. You will need to file forms with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – and possibly your state, as well – covering that organization’s financial activities. If you are wondering what’s the best way to do your taxes when running your own business. Here’s what you need to know.

Preparing to Do Your Federal Taxes When Running a Business

Start with Record Collection

Generally speaking, your first step any time you need to file your taxes is to gather the various financial documents that you’ll need to complete the forms. In most cases, this is any receipts, statements, financial records, or other kinds of paperwork that demonstrate your business earnings, losses, and expenses.

Without the records, you won’t be able to fill in all of the details that need to be present on your tax forms. As a result, it’s best to handle this in advance. Thus, ensuring that, once you sit down to take care of your filing. You will have everything you need available.

Select the Right Forms

The forms you need to file with the IRS vary depending on the type of business you operate. If you’re a sole proprietorship, then you’ll usually need to attach a Schedule C to your personal income tax return. The same goes if you are operating an LLC, are the sole owner of the business, and want to treat the company like a sole proprietorship, which is an option.

However, if you prefer to treat the LLC as a separate entity, you’ll need to use Form 1120. The same is true for C-Corps.

For S-Corps, a different form is necessary. When you file, you’d need Form 1120S. Partnerships also require a different form, as those use a Form 1065 when they need to file.

If you use software or a tax professional to file, you’ll usually get some assistance when it comes to choosing forms. If you’re doing your taxes by hand on actual paper, then you’ll need to make sure you get printed copies of the correct forms.

Learn the Deadlines

Different filing deadlines may apply depending on the kind of business you run. For sole proprietorships, the deadline is the same as it is for personal income taxes. As a result, you typically need to complete your filing by April 15 to be on time.

C-Corps have to file by the 15th day of the fourth month following the closing of the tax year being filed. Typically, that means filing by April 15, as well.

S-Corps have to file Form 1120S by the 15th day of the third month following the closing of the tax year. As a result, that means having to file by March 15, in most cases.

By knowing the deadlines that impact you, you can make sure that you file in a timely manner. Since filing late can have consequences, this allows you to avoid fees, penalties, or other issues.

However, if you need more time beyond the deadline, it lets you know the cutoff for requesting an extension. If you file for an extension by the initial due date – usually by submitting a Form 4868: Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return or Form 7004: Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns, depending on your type of business – you can typically get yourself more time to handle your business tax filing.

Research Tax Breaks

Before you move forward with completing your forms, it’s wise to do a little research into business tax breaks. By spending some time looking into what may be available, you increase your odds of securing every deduction or credit that may be available to you, ensuring you can reduce your tax burden while using the correct options.

The number of available IRS business tax credits is extensive, covering anything from hiring workers from specific demographic groups to using alternative energy vehicles as part of your company’s operations. These give you credits and deductions beyond your business expenses, and they can potentially add up quickly.

Depending on the tax break involved, this can also mean needing another tax form. Many require the use of a Form 3800: General Business Credit, so you want to make sure you have this available if you plan on filing a paper return.

Decide How You Want to File

When it comes time to file, you can usually either file electronically or mail your return to the appropriate office. Either approach is allowed, even if paper returns are largely falling out of favor.

Electronic submission is usually the preferred method. With an electronic filing, you can easily track when the information is received. Plus, you don’t really have to worry about your return being lost or damaged along the way.

Even if there’s an issue with an electronic submission, you’ll typically get an alert, allowing you to correct the problem quickly. If a paper return gets lost in the mail or is damaged to the point it becomes unreadable, you likely won’t know that anything has gone wrong. As a result, you could face penalties for a late or missing filing simply because your tax forms weren’t officially received or couldn’t be processed when they arrived.

Preparing to Do Your State Taxes When Running a Business

In many cases, the process of preparing to complete your state taxes when you run a business is similar to the approach you need to handle your federal tax filing. You’ll need to gather documents, research forms, and filing requirements based on your business type, learn about any potential tax breaks, and go over the deadlines in advance.

However, the exact process may vary from one state to the next. As a result, you’ll need to do some additional research regarding your state’s specific requirements. That way, you can follow any required processes, ensuring you handle this obligation correctly as well.

Filing Your Taxes When You Run a Business

When the time arrives for you to actually file your taxes, you have two choices. First, you can tackle the work yourself, completing your own documents and handling the submission.

Usually, if you are going the do-it-yourself route, the best option for small business owners is to take advantage of tax software. This can include downloadable options or web-based services, as both of them typically offer a similar experience.

You can follow the prompts to fill in the needed sections. Typically, you won’t have to worry about doing any math by hand, as the software will complete the calculations for you.

Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to review the figures for accuracy. While tax software typically won’t make a math mistake, if you incorrectly enter information, choose the wrong options, or there happens to be an error in the software, it could result in incorrect numbers. You’re ultimately responsible for the accuracy of your returns, which is why you should always look at the details closely before you finalize the filing.

Then, once all of the details are in place, and you’ve reviewed them for accuracy, you can file electronically or print out the forms and mail them. With electronic filing, you can apply a digital signature, sign up for notifications that will let you know when your documents were received, and save a copy of the documents for your records.

You Could Hire A Tax Professional

Alternatively, you can hire a tax professional to handle the paperwork and manage the submission of taxes. This method may be better if your tax situation is particularly complex or you simply don’t have the time, energy, or desire to take care of the filing yourself.

Generally, filing through a tax professional will cost more than doing it yourself. However, it does give you direct access to a tax expert who may be able to help you find credits, deductions, or approaches that may benefit you.

Additionally, just because you use a tax professional, that doesn’t mean filing electronically won’t be an option. Many tax preparers have the ability to submit your taxes electronically. However, some may rely on the paper approach, which means putting your return in the mail.

If you want the benefits of an electronic submission but also wish to use a tax professional, speak with them before you begin the process. That way, you can confirm the preparer can meet that need before you hire them to handle your tax filing.

Do you run your own business? What approach do you use when tax time rolls around? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Signs That Your E-commerce Business Is Successful

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Successful eCommerce guy getting ready to make money.

Milestones are a great way for us to track our progress in life, as well as in business. You’ll always remember the day you started your business, launched your website, as well as the first customer you ever sold to. These milestones keep us grounded and help us appreciate the journey.

Unfortunately, some milestones are harder to measure than others. For example, there are no milestones that point out the exact moment that your business becomes successful, apart from a few personal metrics, like making a certain amount of money or generating traffic. To help you keep in touch with how successful your business has become, here are three signs that can tell you that you have a successful business.

Your e-commerce website earns money even when you’re not paying attention.

When you first launch your business, you need to be hands-on if you want it to run. You’re constantly making sure you have products in stock and that the pages are as responsive as they should be, all the while also making sure you’re investing enough in marketing so you can generate the kind of traffic your business needs.

The process can be exhausting. But then, when you can take your hands off the wheel and still watch the business run, then you know you’ve got a winner on your hands. If you do realize this, it doesn’t mean you need to take your foot off the throttle. It only means you’ve hit a milestone and can move on to bigger things.

You show up on Google’s first page.

Being on the first page of Google and other search engines is the dream of every website, e-commerce and otherwise. It means that finally, your domain has enough authority to search engines’ attention. It also means you’re going to get a lot of traffic from this point forward. Hitting this particular milestone is something you should celebrate.

The first page of a search engine is a difficult position to gain, and it’s even harder to keep. Now that you’re there, you need to invest enough resources into making sure you retain your position and keep getting all the passive traffic that’s currently available to you.

You’re receiving and responding to customer reports.

This may seem like a bad milestone at first. But then, think about it. When was the last time you complained about a service you didn’t have any expectations of? If you get a terrible experience from a website you’ve never heard of before, you’re not likely to care. However, if it’s a website like Amazon (the one you’ve come to trust), you’ll feel the need to let them have it.

If your customers are complaining about your site’s responsiveness or your Powercash21 payment processing, it could be a good thing for your business. It means people actually expect an excellent experience from your website. It obviously also means you need to look into their complaints and make the necessary adjustments.

Here are more of our great articles:

Three Keys To Small Business Success

Four Things Business Owners Need To Know About Taxes

Five Factors To Consider When Turning Your Hobby Into A Business

The 4 Main Issues That Are Driving Your Online Customers Crazy

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One of the key reasons to start an online business is the ability to cast a wider net. The Internet allows you to reach more people and offer them a convenient shopping experience. While online businesses have their perks, the simplest technology glitch can throw a monkey wrench into the works. For instance, a poor payment processing experience can spell disaster for your entire operation.

Time-consuming

Most people are discouraged by the prospect of having to create an account to buy goods from a website. Accounts are a good option if customers are frequent visitors to the site, there are incentive programs, or they want to keep their credit card and shipping information on file for future purchases. However, when customers don’t shop on a site regularly, then there should be a guest option that allows them to input their credit card number and address on an as-needed basis. This pet peeve doesn’t imply that you should completely reject the possibility of customer accounts because it certainly does offer a degree of convenience for repeat customers. Just don’t mandate it on your site for everyone.

Go mobile.

More than ever, people are always on the go and rely on their smartphones to perform a variety of tasks. That includes online shopping. Consider developing a mobile app so customers can easily navigate your site. Otherwise, a website that doesn’t lend itself to easy viewing through a smartphone screen will result in lost business over the long term.

Outages

Creating the perfect website is a challenge, and you are apt to identify improvements along the way continually. Inevitably, there will be outages that affect your service. Be sure to monitor and address system issues as quickly as possible. Frequent errors during the checkout process are problematic in more ways than one. Customers are likely to give up and search for products from your competitors. Also, repeatedly inputting sensitive account information could look suspicious, and your customers might worry about fraud or duplicate charges.

Inconsistent company names

Be as transparent as possible throughout the purchasing process. Alert the customers upfront if the charges will appear on their statement under another vendor name, so there’s no confusion or unfounded fears about a potential scam. If your site directs them to another page, give advanced warning and explanation.

Whatever online business you’re looking to establish, handling and protecting customer data should always be a priority. Work with reputable payment processing companies that safeguard data and keep transactions secure. Sometimes, you may run into a roadblock with mainstream banks if your business is less traditional like selling vaping products, but you can still set up an e-cigarette merchant account with specialized companies that offer the same protection.

Essentially, if you just put yourself in your customers’ shoes, you’ll understand not only how to build the ideal checkout process, but the total customer experience. The Internet doesn’t have to completely take away the personal touches we take for granted when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Try to create a welcoming and inclusive website that not only addresses the customers’ issues, but also anticipates their needs.

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How to Grow Your Business Credit Score To New Heights

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Much like individuals, businesses also have their own credit score. This score is entirely separate from the personal credit score of whoever owns the business, and is used whenever the business would like to obtain a loan, line of credit, or other types of agreement in which a service is provided before payment is rendered. A business with a high credit score is seen as financially stable and trustworthy, while a business with a low score is often seen as unscrupulous and more likely to engage in shady practices.

To make sure you’re on the good side of the banking system, here’s how to grow a business credit score from non-existent to stellar:

Pay all your bills on time.

This is the most obvious and should be one of the easiest things to accomplish when it comes to raising your credit score. The credit history of your business is part of calculating your overall score. If you always pay your dues in full before they’re overdue and continue to do so for long periods of time, that’s a track record guaranteed to boost your score.

Decrease your credit utilization ratio.

For businesses that have a line of credit they can draw from at any time, the actual utilization of that credit must be low. If your business is always using 80% of its available credit, that isn’t a positive signal for your business. Banks much prefer credit utilization rates between 10%-20%, with minor upticks in usage acceptable as long as they aren’t held for long periods of time. If you have high credit utilization, but a lot of spare funds are lying around, consider using it to bring down your overall credit usage.

Take out a loan.

As counterintuitive as it might seem, taking out a loan that isn’t wholly necessary, but is entirely manageable can be a very effective and speedy boost to your credit score. If you never borrow money, how can a creditor assess how fit you are to pay the money back? If you look for a source for small business loans, you’ll notice these loans tend to be fairly agreeable in terms and conditions and aren’t too much of a financial burden to bear. Of course, this strategy only works if you make your payments on time and eventually repay the entirety of the loan. Consider it practice for when you start asking the bank for more serious sums of money.

Conclusion

At certain stages of the life cycle of a business, massive injections of cash from creditors are sometimes necessary. Whether it be to acquire a smaller competitor or upgrade your business to the next level, it’s good to build your credit score sky-high. Also, higher credit means a quicker approval time and lower interest rates, saving you both time and money. That’s something every good entrepreneur knows they could always use more of. This is why you must ensure your business operates in a way that creditors think they have a minimal risk by lending you money. Then, you’ll reap the fantastic rewards of good credit.

6 Best Marketing Strategies To Help Increase Sales

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six best marketing strategies

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A good online store will definitely want to improve their conversions and traffic. Before considering improving, it is important to put different strategies in place. There are various tactics needed to Increase sales. The problem lies in the best admissible one to choose.

Due to this constant issue, we have come together to select good marketing strategies as well as tools for e-commerce combined with profitable ideas on how to implement it. All are centred on getting the customers attention and encouraging them to make more purchases.

If possible make use of these ideas at least once every day and use it for weeks to come. When making use of these ideas, it is advised that you pick one that best suits you.

The first question to consider centers on the meaning of e-commerce marketing. This simply means making use of useful and promotional tactics to get more traffic. To increase the success of your strategies use a heat mapping tool to visually see consumer trends in your location data.  You should be able to convert the traffic you get into leads.  For example, using items like promotional stainless steel bottles are a fun method to build awareness in communities or events, and they can result in increased sales and leads for you.

Here are some tips to help you increase your online sales:

Use Instagram Efficiently

use instagram efficiently

Image source: Pixabay.com

On a grander scale, Instagram has more than 500 million users. Most of these users are active on the platform. Presently, it is regarded as one of the most visited social network applications in the world. It helps connect users, brands, and influencers. Taking good photos and dropping hashtags is the best way to develop your product through this social media platform. Most of the times if you are to gain the attention of your target audience, you may have to organize contests and competitions.

Minimize Abandoned Cart

The basic truth surrounds the fact that when you have a lower cart you will be at a financial loss. Visitors that surf a site, will add some purchase to it but what happens when they abandon their cart? It is nice to always have an email recovery campaign as it will help you retain your visitors. By creating this email, you can remind your visitors why they selected a particular product in the cart.

Start-up a Facebook store

This is another viable platform for e-commerce marketing and social media. It is advisable to start making sales from your Facebook store. Just so you know, your Facebook store can be joined with your Shopify store so as to avoid having to keep an inventory.

Increase your Email campaign

Getting enough email address is not enough, It is important to share and receive images through your Email. This will ensure that your channel is effective. There are a number of things your customers can enjoy from an email reminder when they make purchases on your online store. They include but are definitely not limited to these;

  • Send out a welcome email after your client has made a purchase.
  • Give out promo codes and gifts.
  • Send newsletters to show subscribers of a new product as well as company news.
  • Appreciate your best customers by sending them good notes and thanking them for their patronage.

Forward wish list e-mails as reminders

This is another type of email which is important to add to your marketing ideas. It can help you remind customers of products on their cart and also encourage them to add more products or items to their cart.

Customers should get what they want with ease

Image source: Pixabay.com
A poorly designed store will definitely not attract new customers. It may even chase your current customers. The question now would be; what makes a online store poorly designed?

First, they will be less trustworthy and at the same being difficult to navigate and also having difficult fonts.

To enable you to improve your sales, you have to find out how to sell on etsy with Printify.
You shouldn’t be surprised as their customer reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

This is just a few tactics that should be applied when planning on generating good online sales and traffic. Profitindustry.com shows you some of the best ecommerce platforms for a large catalog. Various online platforms have techniques which they use to Increase sales but yours can be different.

2 Guys & Your Money Episode #15: Top 5 Ways to Increase Your Investment Returns

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Have shows come automatically to your iPod! Use the 2 Guys iTunes page here.

Listen to shows on your smartphone! Try the Stitcher app here.

 

My favorite number: 15…that is, until we reach episode #16. Someone asked me which podcast episode I like best so far….it will ALWAYS be the one that I did last. They’re all my babies…but this one is the best yet.

On this exciting installment of our podcast, OG is back from the House of Mouse and helps us show you some thrilling ways to tweak those investment returns.

I know, I can’t believe it either. Why are you still reading this? Start listening!

 

Show Notes

<> Open – Side Hustle. Great idea or waste of energy?

<> PK: Consistency in your investment portfolio.

<> Let’s Give Something Away: This month we’re GIVING AWAY a copy of classic business book The E-Myth (maybe the best business book of all time). Interested in getting better results at work? Read this book!

What do you have to do to win? Tweet about the giveaway, like us on Facebook or guess the voice on the show. Three easy ways to enter. Already liked us on Facebook?

 

CLICK HERE FOR OUR OCTOBER GIVEAWAY PAGE

 

<> Shortwave: Len is back and joins Carrie and Dom in a great discussion on fees in every area of your financial life.

Interested in our contributors? Visit our Podcast Team page

<> Top 5: Our best five ways to increase your investment results

<> End Show:

OG – What he liked at Disney

Joe – Frankenweenie film (Thumb up!)

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