Is It Time For Spring Cleaning Your Business?

March 20, 2014 by

business (4)Spring cleaning for business requires something more than mopping the floors or airing the office. It is a time when the paperwork from the previous year can be organized, receipts for expenses tallied and summarize for your taxes, the health plan for you and your employees should be reviewed and renewed if you haven’t done so by this time of year. Organizing your business for the incoming one is a good habit that can pay off in the long run. To read more about how to organize your business or spring clean your business this year, follow the links below for more information.

Spring cleaning for small business owners

With January and February behind us, most small business owners are likely off to a good start in terms of their first quarter operations, budgeting, and outlook for the rest of the year. However, with spring upon us, there is no better time for business owners to dust off their finances, organize quarterly plans, and prepare for the future. Using the idea of spring cleaning and applying it to a business can fix “messes” in a timely fashion and have a meaningful impact throughout the rest of the year.

Reviewing business plans over the coming weeks is beneficial since it is early enough in the year that budgets can be reworked, yet implementation is still well under way. From a human psychology standpoint, businesses often experience a slow down during summer months, and winter months/end of year are typically reserved for wrapping up, squeezing in last minute profits, and planning for the next year.

Below, we outline several areas that owners may want to consider “cleaning” this season:

3 Spring Cleaning Tips for Small Business

Spring cleaning is not only for households. For small business owners, springtime is a reminder to get things in order. From an aesthetic standpoint, cleaning up a messy office not only injects a sense of order that might desperately be needed, it also provides a sense of accomplishment. From an operational standpoint, small business owners can clean up their books from 2013, store receipts, tax returns and other important documents electronically, and close out old inventory to greet the arrival of warm weather.
Clean Up 2013 Receipts
Unfortunately, April 15th, Tax Day, is a rite of spring. As many entrepreneurs are meeting with their accountants during the upcoming weeks, it is important to close out the books on 2013. Make sure you have all the receipts you need for write-offs.  Some of them may be stuck in your pocket or buried under catalogs in your inbox. Now is the time to look for them. You don’t want to be frantically searching for receipts from major purchases on April 14th. It is easier to find things when the pressure is off. You may have forgotten the receipt from the computer you bought last February. Neglecting to do so could cost you thousands of dollars in business expenses that you could have deducted and saved yourself substantial dollars on your tax bill.

10 Spring-Cleaning Tips for Small Business

Organize your office and your processes with these tips.

Spring cleaning your small business requires more than just scrubbing and dusting.

Tackling your to-do list is easier when you have a clean office, uncluttered desk and clear mind. Beyond vacuuming and dusting, here are 10 tasks to add to your spring-cleaning checklist.

1. Evaluate your systems, processes and vendors, and eliminate or streamline things that aren’t working.

2. Create a filing system according to how you think, and get rid of old, unnecessary files.

3. Go digital—scan, save and purge hard copies of files.

4. Clear your desktop of anything you don’t use regularly.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Whirlpool To Add 400 Jobs In Ohio

March 14, 2014 by

business (3)Although the government shutdown last year delayed some issues in Washington, we cannot postpone the filing of taxes for 2013.  The deadline is still April 15 whether you are filing your taxes or want to file an extension.  The good news for Ohio small business owners is the changes in legislature last year that will give them a tax break for 2014 and for Ohio residents, an increase in jobs announced by Whirlpool Corp. for the next year onward.

Ohio small businesses want online stores to charge sales tax, too

CLEVELAND, Ohio — John Shulan is tired of hearing arguments that requiring buyers to pay sales tax on online purchases is unfair or too complicated. Shulan, president of Shulan’s Fairlawn Jewelers, is one of more than 1,000 small-business owners who have signed a petition urging Congress to require out-of-state sellers to collect the same state and local sales taxes they charge their customers.

“It’s not a new tax; it’s not a tax increase. It’s closing a blatant and growing tax loophole,” Shulan said. “We’re subsidizing Internet businesses by not requiring them to pay sales tax.”

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider online sales tax proposals, — including the Marketplace Fairness Act the Senate passed last year — at a hearing Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C. Both Ohio senators voted for the MFA.

Shulan and other Ohio businesses say they hope this is the year that Congress updates outdated tax laws that now favor online-only retailers such as Amazon.com and eBay. Current laws do not require retailers who don’t have a store, warehouse or other physical presence in Ohio to collect and remit sales taxes, giving consumers the impression that such purchases are “tax-free.” Although state law requires consumers to keep track of and pay taxes on what they buy online, few people actually do.

Whirlpool To Invest $40M, Add 400 Jobs In Ohio

Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. is planning on making a major announcement later today for its plant in Greenville, Ohio, according to Dave Elliott, general manager of Whirlpool’s KitchenAid small appliances business, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Employment at the plant is expected to rise from 1,000 to 1,400 by 2018.

The plant currently makes KitchenAid mixers and other small kitchen appliances, and Elliott said the investment is in response to more demand for those types of high-end cooking gadgets. The company’s chief executive, Jeff Fettig, said that growth of small appliances has grown 10 to 15 percent annual in recent years, and that the Greenville plant has simply run out of capacity.

Whirlpool is expected to hold a press conference later today to announce the news, with Greenville Mayor Mike Bowers and Ken Hossler, plant leader, on hand to celebrate the investment. Gov. John Kasich was expected to attend as well.

The company has a complicated history with U.S. manufacturing. In 2009, the company shuttered its Evansville, Ind. plant and cut 1,100 employees to move production of refrigerators with freezers on top to a location in Mexico, where they were cheaper to produce. The move shocked and disappointed many, who felt as if buying a Whirlpool appliance was a safe bet in ensuring they were buying a “Made in America” product. And in 2011, the company announced the cut of 1,200 salaried positions, and the closure, of its Fort Smith, Ark., plant.

Kasich cabinet touts tax cut, other business-friendly changes

While Gov. John Kasich signed the small-business tax cut into law in June, it is affecting people now, Ohio Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said Monday.

With tax season in full swing, small-business owners are seeing results in their pocketbooks of a 50 percent tax cut on the first $250,000 of Ohio net business income. That means if a small business owner earns $100,000 in net income, he is taxed only on $50,000

Testa and other representatives of state agencies spoke at a “Cutting Taxes and Growing Ohio Small Business” event Monday at Veterans Memorial Civic Center. The session was held jointly with Lima Rotary Club and Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce. Cabinet level directors are traveling the state talking about the small-business tax cut and other policies and programs to help small businesses.

The tax cut is helpful, Testa said, because most small-business owners report their business income through their personal income tax. In addition to the small business cut, the state is also cutting individual income tax 10 percent for all income tax payers.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Available Contracts And Health Care Issues Concerning Small Business Owners

March 5, 2014 by

business (8)As the New Year approached many small business owners were eagerly awaiting the Obama Care Act and the choices it would provide for them, as well as the savings they would obtain by shopping for health care for their employees thru the government marketplace. As the technical difficulties ensue, many small business owners were left with health insurance portals that were barely functioning, rendering them unable to even compare or shop for plans for their employees.

To read more about issues concerning small businesses, follow the links below.

Ohio small businesses stumble through the Affordable Care Act

Delays and complicated rules make the process difficult.

Small businesses around Ohio are struggling to sort out the details of the Affordable Care Act. It is unclear whether recent delays in the law help or add to the confusion.

The big Obamacare question for small employers is this: Am I required to provide health insurance to my employees or not?

“And that question is sort of like that underwear commercial: boxers, briefs, depends,” says Paul Tambe with BW Employee Benefits as he speaks to Dayton-area small business owners.

Rules of the game
And yes, it does depend. Here is the basic rule: Companies with less than 50 full-time employees are exempt. Companies with 50 or more need to provide health coverage for their full-timers or pay fines.

But the devil is in the details, and there are a lot of details. For example, full-time means an 30 hours or more per week, averaged over the month.

Kevin Finley with Space Management, a Dayton cleaning service, says his first challenge is just counting his employees.

“When you’re operating a business and someone’s off sick and you want someone else to cover, all of a sudden that person who normally works 20, 25 hours is working 40 hours,” Finley says. “So, you know, it’s a little dicey.

Kasich cabinet touts tax cut, other business-friendly changes

LIMA — While Gov. John Kasich signed the small-business tax cut into law in June, it is affecting people now, Ohio Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said Monday.

With tax season in full swing, small-business owners are seeing results in their pocketbooks of a 50 percent tax cut on the first $250,000 of Ohio net business income. That means if a small business owner earns $100,000 in net income, he is taxed only on $50,000

Testa and other representatives of state agencies spoke at a “Cutting Taxes and Growing Ohio Small Business” event Monday at Veterans Memorial Civic Center. The session was held jointly with Lima Rotary Club and Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce. Cabinet level directors are traveling the state talking about the small-business tax cut and other policies and programs to help small businesses.

Millions of Dollars in Contracts Available for Ohio Small Businesses 

9th Annual Business Matchmaker provides Ohio small businesses networking opportunities

It’s where government and businesses come together, and it’s time for Ohio businesses to register. The Ohio Business Matchmaker runs from 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at the Hope Hotel, just outside the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton.

“This is a great opportunity for Ohio businesses to support and grow other Ohio businesses,” said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency. “Not only do we provide small businesses access to numerous buyers at once, we’re finding out what goods and services they provide in advance to connect them with the proper buyers.”

The purpose of the conference is to help Ohio small businesses get contracts. The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Ohio Development Services Agency partner on this event to get small businesses in front of government buyers who need their products and services. The participating buyers represent city, county, state and federal agencies, as well as prime contractors and other organizations with combined purchasing budgets representing millions of dollars in opportunities

 

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Financial News For The Small Business Owner

February 6, 2014 by

business (5)According to the ADP National Employment Reports small business created 78,000 jobs in January. The highest employment contribution among small businesses was from businesses with less than 20 employees and that accounted for 56% of the employment contribution growth. Analysts as well as small business entrepreneurs are eager to begin the New Year with great news about the economy.  Follow the links to read more about financial news and Obamacare.

What small business owners should know about the new Obamacare report

Despite some media reports, the health care law isn’t killing 2.5 million jobs.

Congressional budget analysts on Tuesday released revised estimates concerning the economic footprint of the health care law, spawning another round of headlines declaring that Obamacare will take a massive bite out of workers’ hours and eliminate millions of jobs.

Thing is, that’s not what the report said at all. In fact, the nonpartisan group’s predictions actually refute some of the warnings from small business leaders — namely, that the law will force employers to trim hours for their current workers and think twice about hiring new ones.

Still, there are some other areas of the law that the group says may indeed have unwanted side effects for companies.

Bank of America boosts small business lending as it hires even more bankers

Bank of America said Tuesday that it made almost $11 billion in new loans to U.S. small businesses in 2013. The bank also plans to hire 200 small business bankers this year, many on the West Coast.

The bank’s pace of small business lending last year was up 26 percent over 2012. California’s largest bank has seen small business loan originations rise every month on a year-over-year basis for the past three years. That may reflect the bank’s initiative to hire 1,000 small business bankers that began in late 2010.

Emily Shanks, BofA’s small business banking region executive for the West, based in Concord, told the San Francisco Business Times in May 2012 that the hiring, which included 31 small business bankers in the Bay Area up to that point, allowed for more face-to-face meetings between bankers and small business owners at their place of business.

When counting both new and renewing financing, BofA’s small business lending exceeds $22 billion.

GroupMe Founder Gets $3.4M to Make Small Business Loans More Accessible With Fundera

In the past five years, the number of bank loans under $1 million has dropped by more than 20 percent. This puts small business owners, arguably the driving force of our economy, at a severe disadvantage when it comes to starting a business.

But Jared Hecht, co-founder of startup success story GroupMe, alongside cofounders Rohan Deshpande and Andres Moran, is today launching a totally new service called Fundera, built specifically to facilitate small business funding through alternative lending.

Fundera has received a total of $3.4 million in funding from Khosla, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, and various angel investors including Strauss Zelnick, Rob Wiesenthal, David Rosenblatt, and David Tisch.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Small Business News And Information

December 17, 2013 by

business (10)During the holiday season, businesses -big chains and small business- hope they can make the jump from the red to the black numbers, and if not making a big return at least make it even. scams during the year are always there, but during the holiday season, they seem to more prevalent, and find many small business owners unawares of what is going on making the profits a bit harder to come by.

Read more about what is happening in Northeast Ohio by following the links below.

Ohio jumps nine spots as entrepreneur-friendly state

When it comes to fostering entrepreneurs, Ohio is doing it right. The Buckeye State jumped nine spots on the annual Small Business Policy Index, which ranks states by entrepreneurship-friendly policies.

This year, Ohio ranks No. 9, compared to No. 18 in its 2012 ranking.

The annual report takes into account 47 policy measurements, including taxes, regulatory and government spending measures. The report is published by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

Policy reforms aimed at small-business startup and growth are mostly being implemented at the state level, said Karen Kerrigan, SBE Council president and CEO.

However, federal policy and uncertainty remains a negative for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

“The top states on the Small Business Policy Index 2013 are streamlining government and lifting burdens like excessive taxation and regulation,” Kerrigan said.

FBI issues alert to NE Ohio businesses: Criminals are now using aluminum foil in credit card scam

The Cleveland FBI reports criminals are scamming small businesses in several states, using stolen credit cards. Store clerks aren’t alerted to these bad credit cards until it’s too late, allowing the crooks to steal thousands of dollars in merchandise.

The scam works because some businesses rely on satellite equipment to relay credit card information once a card is swiped inside the store.

Criminals then have the opportunity to climb onto the roofs of these businesses and put aluminum foil over satellite antennas to block credit card communications.

Cleveland FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson told NewsChannel5 once the satellite equipment is blocked, the crooks will then make their way into the store and are using bad credit cards without necessarily being detected.

“They’ll interrupt the signal and then they’ll go in the store and purchase high-end items, and when that credit card is not authorized, a lot of times the businesses will allow it to go through thinking that they’ll validate it later,” explained Anderson. “When they do that, later they’ll find out it was a bad credit card.”

Small business gets big help

When she found herself without a job at age 54, Mary Magyar decided she wanted to take fate into her own hands.

So she went back to school, enrolling in the Culinary Arts program at EHOVE Career Center.

She knew she didn’t want to work for $10 in someone else’s kitchen. The idea of working for herself took root.

“They didn’t just teach cooking,” she said. “It was management, math and how do you do pricing. I realized, ‘I can do this’”

Magyar also went to Small Business Administration seminars at Terra Community College, where she met Bill Auxter, who would soon become her ally in the new venture.

Magyar came up with “Mary’s Catering to Go,” a business where she cooks the food and clients pick it up. She’s also preparing “The Railroad Depot,” an all-purpose venue where she can cater banquets, corporate functions and private events.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , ,

2013 Tax Advice For The Small Business Owner

November 26, 2013 by

business (4)While you may be thinking turkey, and your children or grandchildren may be thinking Santa Claus, many small business owners are thinking about calling their accountant to settle their business finances for the year and see where they stand.  There is possibly nothing more important for a small business owner than to have a knowledgeable accountant that can take care of these important matters for their business. Tax laws and tax breaks for businesses are changing or expiring yearly, talking to your accountant about the changes that will affect you and your business are extremely important, don’t wait till the last minute, and talk to them today.

Follow the links to read more about this topic.

Tax strategies for small-business owners

If you’re running your own business, then finding time to keep up on money-saving tax strategies can be a challenge — one that’s complicated by the fact that tax laws are constantly changing.

Here are three simple tax strategies to keep in mind as Dec. 31 approaches.

1. Run the numbers

The best thing you can do before year-end is get your accounting up-to-date and figure out whether you have a profit or loss, said Eva Rosenberg, an enrolled agent who publishes TaxMama.com and is a contributing writer for MarketWatch.

It’s best to do that now, while you still have time to make adjustments. Otherwise, “there’s no way to plan,” Rosenberg said. “I’ve seen too many people come to me and say, ‘Look, I have a $100,000 loss for the year’” — only to discover that the business owner has failed to correctly account for some item, such as inventory.

Small business advice: Hurry, these four tax breaks expire at the end of the year

Fifty-five federal tax breaks are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Usually, many of these expiring tax provisions are extended at the last minute, but this year is shaping up to be different.

The pressure for additional revenue, combined with political gridlock, has greatly increased the likelihood that many of the most advantageous provisions will not be extended or will be reduced significantly. This challenges business owners to make difficult decisions before the year ends without knowing what rules will be in effect in 2014.

We’ve sifted through all the expiring tax provisions and narrowed the list down to the four most important expiring breaks that every small business should consider taking advantage of before the end of the year.

Use Sec. 179 expensing/bonus depreciation opportunities

Current law enables firms to deduct the cost of purchasing assets like equipment, furniture, and computer software now instead of over a set period of years. The 2013 expensing limit is $500,000, and it is scheduled to drop significantly to $25,000 in 2014. The deduction begins to phase out when total qualified purchases for the year exceeds $2 million. If you have equipment needs, consider purchasing them in 2013

5 Social Security tax truths

While you hear a lot about the federal income tax, you don’t hear much about the Social Security tax. That’s odd because it’s just as expensive as the federal income tax for many folks, especially the self-employed. Here are five apparently little-known truths about how the Social Security tax works and how much it can amount to.

1. Social Security tax can be a big number if you’re an employee

As an employee, your wages are hit with the 12.4% Social Security tax up to the annual wage ceiling. Half the Social Security tax bill (equal to 6.2%) is withheld from your paychecks. The other half (also 6.2%) is paid by your employer, so you never actually see that half. Unless you understand how the tax works and closely examine your pay stubs, you may be blissfully unaware of how much the Social Security tax actually costs.

The Social Security tax wage ceiling for 2013 is $113,700, and it rises to $117,000 next year. If your wages meet or exceed the ceiling for 2013, the Social Security tax hit for this year is a whopping $14,099 (12.4% x $113,700 = $14,099). Once again, half of that will come out of your paychecks, and your employer will pay the other half.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , ,

Executive Team Building Builds Successful Companies

July 27, 2010 by

Ralph Berge is an Ohio Business Coach who helps build effective corporate teams. Corporate team building training is used to create rapidly changing conditions that require strategic thinking and imaginative problem solving.  Corporate team building training can be used to effectively enhance both teams and management in many ways including:

  • Building team trust
  • Improving communication
  • Developing strategic business planning to manage change
  • Teaching team member to think smarter and improve worker productivity
  • Managing change and help the team to accept change in the workplace

The “right” team is a businesses most valuable asset. An investment in corporate team building training has a high ROI. Regular training team training is essential.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , ,

Build a Great Company…Invest in Your Team

March 30, 2009 by

Ralph Berge is an Ohio Business Coach who helps build effective corporate teams. Corporate team building training is used to create rapidly changing conditions that require strategic thinking and imaginative problem solving.  Corporate team building training can be used to effectively enhance both teams and management in many ways including:

·         Building team trust

·         Improving communication

·         Developing strategic business planning to manage change

·         Teaching team member to think smarter and improve worker productivity

·         Managing change and help the team to accept change in the workplace

The “right” team is a businesses most valuable asset. An investment in corporate team building training has a high ROI. Regular training team training is essential.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: ,
« Previous Page