TK Accounting & Consulting

Should I Hire a Business Consultant?

Companies hire business consultants for a variety of reasons. A business consultant provides advice, guidance, and training in their area of expertise. According to an annual consultant report by The Predictive Index, most people hire consultants for their expertise on one of five areas:

Strategy
Human Resources
Operations
Risk and Compliance
Financial Advice

Since most consultants specialize in specific areas of expertise, you should first determine your needs prior to researching consultants. Once you have defined your needs, you will want to conduct research in order to distinguish between professional and amateur consultants. In order to do this you will want to check the following areas:

Verified Online Reviews
Review the Firm’s Case Studies
Pay Attention to Background and Experience

Companies should thoroughly research the consultant’s specialization, success rates, and pricing structure before deciding to hire. It is also important to note that bigger firms do not typically share their fee structure as fees are considered a trade secret. Additionally, fees will vary per region, client, service(s), etc. There are many firms though and even individual business consultants if you do not wish to use one of the bigger firms which have been reported to start around $3,500 to over $6,500 per hour.

How do you know when to hire a business consultant?

Understanding when it’s a good time to hire a business consultant is essential. Hiring a business consultant means committing to a large investment of time and money. However, if you hire a consultant at the right time, your company can receive significant benefits in revenue, reputation, and long-term growth. Having a specialist who understands certain decisions more in-depthly can save you from improperly focusing your money and time- which assists you in avoiding failure.

More than likely, if you own your own company, there will come a time when you will face the need for outside consulting and assistance. It could be that you simply need advice, marketing information, skills, or strategies and techniques that do not exist within your organization. Different types of consultants bring various ideas to companies, but you need to know when and why to use them as consultants provide solutions for a large range of issues businesses face.

In general, you should consider hiring a business consultant when your company is lacking in-house expertise, is in need of a second professional opinion, or if you need to audit or restructure your business and operations infrastructure.

So why would you hire a business consultant?

Expertise: As mentioned, you may not have the appropriate skill-set within your organization to accomplish the project or goal set before you. While there is no shame in this, using an expert could produce big rewards.
Process Improvement: An expert will have years of experience whereas you and your company may be attempting to accomplish something for the very first time. Rather than inventing a best practice with little to no knowledge of the issue, utilizing a consultant that has probably implemented it multiple times can save you time. Plus, you can be at ease knowing it has been handled correctly and appropriately.
Idea Generator: A consultant sees the bigger picture of the market and is able to bring in a fresh perspective. Their insights and expertise will allow you and your team new ways of thinking. You may even learn a different way to approach any problems you may later be faced with.
Training: Business consultants share their knowledge, insights and experience which makes them natural trainers. They can lead a training course for your whole company, team, or even one-on-one training sessions.
Seasoned change agent: Consultants are change agent experts. Whether they are navigating office politics or taking responsibility for cost-cutting measures, consultants make things happen while also breaking through any obstacles in the way.

Drawbacks to hiring a business consultant

While there are many benefits to hiring a business consultant, there are also drawbacks. As a business owner you should weigh your risk versus reward when deciding whether or not to hire a consultant.

Price- While I did mention this early on in this blog, I feel it important to mention again. While employees are a continuous expense, they are cheaper than business consultants. Businesses pay for what they use from consultants, but they are typically more expensive in the present than an employee. If you have a low budget, a consultant should only be hired if you are sure it will help improve the productivity, profits, or if you have no other option available.

Uncertainty- While consultants have a range of analytics to show hiring them is a smart choice, nothing is a guaranteed investment. The possibility of your company not achieving the results you wanted is present. However, you can minimize risks like this by conducting your research into the consultant’s previous work and checking their references.

Lack of Knowledge Transfer- Consultants will bring vast amounts of knowledge and expertise to your business, but there is also a risk they take that with them when they depart from an organization. In order for you to gain the full benefits, it is vital for you to ensure their knowledge is transferred to you and your team prior to the consultant’s departure.

Time- Consulting can also take a long time depending on the project or issue(s) you acquire them for. This isn’t necessarily the consultant’s fault, just like many things, some instances take more time than others. Larger companies can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and still not have much to show for it after a year’s time.

While external advice and experience is sometimes a crucial need, hiring a business consultant is not right for everyone; even though most organizations do find themselves needing a consultant. It is therefore important to understand all the pros and cons of hiring a consultant prior to starting the process. As always, research and understanding is a key element!

Can Re-branding a Company be Easy?

Brand identity is extremely important when starting a new business. Branding should never be left to chance as any experienced business owner or entrepreneur can tell you; a business can build a strong brand identity only if it makes deliberate choices. Less experienced business owners and entrepreneurs can sometimes mistakenly believe that the brand identity is nothing more than the business’s name and logo and will under-invest in branding.

A strong brand identity communicates what your company does and how it does it. It also establishes trust and credibility. Your view on your visual marketing assets tells the world whether you appreciate the importance of strong visual designs and branding or not. And unless you make good choices on branding when you start your business, you may find your brand identity is undermining your efforts to grow your business.

Why/When Should I Re-brand?

There are various reasons to re-brand a company. Maybe the company is evolving and it needs to happen in order to stay competitive. Maybe you no longer love the logo or your brand aesthetic no longer adheres to your company’s values and products. You could possibly be expanding and entering a new market and your current brand is too limiting. Or maybe you realized your brand isn’t doing a good enough job. Whatever the reason may be, even the most successful companies re-brand.

Re-branding can work wonders for any business struggling to modernize, wanting to differentiate themselves from competition or even escape a less-than-ideal reputation. You will want to assess carefully whether or not a re-brand is right for you and if it is the right time. The right strategy can put new energy into your business, but it needs to complement your marketing strategy and overall business strategy. Although re-branding can be complicated and introduces more risks and costs, it doesn’t have to involve a complete overhaul. For example, you will want to make meaningful changes but you don’t have to change your company name in order to re-brand your business.

Understand your mission, vision, and values

Prior to re-branding it is crucial to clearly understand your business’s mission, vision, and values. You will want to form a solid foundation to build your new brand in order to create a successful re-brand. Consider what makes your company special, what sets it apart from your competition? Why does it exist? What values are essential? The tone and voice you use for your brand must match the message you wish to convey.

Have a re-branding strategy that works with your current brand

If you aren’t starting from a clean slate and doing a partial re-brand, you will need to be sure to take the existing brand assets into consideration as you build your new brand strategy. Any new updates you make should be consistent with the present brand elements you are keeping. The overall value of your company can be increased by implementing a consistent brand. Basically, a small update to your existing brand can help it flow better with your new branding ideas; which allows for consistency.

Consider your audience, the market, and competition

Before re-branding, do your research to be sure it coincides with your target audience, current trends, and how it will help you stand apart from your competition. Consider testing your re-branding with your customer base. Examine current trends and make sure you embrace a trend that makes sense for your company and audience. Research what your competition does to determine how you stand apart from them or how you can choose brand assets to further the gap.

Collaborate with your trusted team

Some of the best ideas and feedback can be found within the people that help grow your business every day. Your team of employees are just as valuable and important as your company’s brand, they are the faces and voices that represent your brand to your customer base. Including the voices from within your company will also assist you in rallying your employees behind a re-brand that was a team effort.

How to Grow Your Business Through Marketing

In March we discussed opening your own business and the benefits of owning your own company. Once you make the decision to become your own boss, a huge concern is- How do I grow my business and make it successful?

The answer is marketing. Utilizing marketing strategies can grow your consumer/client base, get your company name out to the public, and ultimately generate more revenue. You will want to begin by creating clear marketing goals and develop a schedule to help track when you want those goals met and what steps you need to take in order to achieve those goals.

There are many free options available to businesses now with the amount of social media platforms there are; and while areas of social media can get a little ugly, it can also provide excellent free marketing! Here is just a small list of social media platform ideas that can greatly boost your business:

Creating a blog
Creating a Facebook page
Develop a monthly email newsletter
Creating a LinkedIn account
Creating a Pintrest board with your company’s pins
Creating a Twitter account
And yes, even Tik Tok

Now, simply creating these pages and accounts will not magically create your business growth. You must be active on the platforms you choose (if not all of them plus some) and engage your audience. This means regular posts, responding to any comments and messages in a timely manner, and keeping your target audience invested in your platform. You want them to “like/share/comment”! The more your audience interacts with your content the more people are going to see your business name.

For example- the more your post is shared the more it is seen by people not on your platform. The more comments you receive the better the algorithms will be for others to see the content. If you comment back and engage in a conversation, again, better algorithms.

There are other marketing strategies that can also boost your leads and help to grow your small business. These can come at a price, but if you do your research you can find reasonable prices to help keep your cost lower. When starting out you don’t want to overwhelm your bank account with expensive marketing tactics when you can utilize the free social media platforms and find other products at cheaper price points while still having the quality you are looking for.

Other marketing strategies that can help grow your new business includes, but are not limited to:

Business Cards
Host a giveaway or promotion to obtain more followers on social media or to gather more emails for your newsletter
Design and handout flyers
Run ads on Google or YouTube
Set up booths at expos
Give away free samples (where applicable)
Create a website
Purchase small promotional items with your company logo

Keeping up with Social Media Platforms- The Easier Way

There are many ways to help small businesses keep up with social media postings, you just have to find what works for you. Some people spend hours attempting to post to all platforms in a timely manner as well as making sure to respond to comments and messages.

Remember! The more you are engaging your audience and the more you interact with them, the more your information and content is seen! Social media platforms want consistency and engagement to keep people on the platform. You will want to have conversations with your audience and post more than simply what your company offers. Your audience wants to feel that you care about them and what they want. (These posts can be quotes, funny memes, or just something that happened in your life today).

So what can help us save the precious time we have? Is there anything out there that can help me post to all of my platforms without spending countless hours? SURE!

You can take the free route on this or spend some money and really elevate your company while saving time! For example, two free apps available include Hootsuite and Business Suite. Both of these apps give you the opportunity to post to social media throughout the day by scheduling your posts (Hootsuite does offer multiple platforms whereas Business Suite is Facebook only). So the night before your week begins you can go ahead and schedule content to be posted on certain days at certain times for the entire week if you choose. On Sunday night you can sit down and create your content for the entire week and schedule each day to automatically post your content at various times. Normally and ideally, you choose the times that people are on social media say early mornings before the workday, around lunch time, and then in the afternoon or evening.

However, if you aren’t sure what to post or begin running out of ideas we have a solution for this too!

A paid-for software is available to help entrepreneurs and business owners make the most out of their social media marketing. What could take hours is now easily done in minutes! This program is called TASSI. TASSI is a marketing coach, provides pre-written statuses, includes graphics, and is an all-in-one social media management software. This software has a monthly charge of $47.00 or a yearly charge of $397.00. TASSI can help you maximize your time, build your audience, and avoid hiring extra help for social media managers and/or graphic designers.

While I have not personally used this software, they claim to allow you to schedule a month’s worth of posting in an hour rather than SEVERAL hours. This program allows you to post to multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkdIn, etc. More information can be found on their website at gettassi.com.

Also, the co-founder of TASSI owns Marketing Solutions where you can sign-up for a free newsletter and join in on their blog to learn more vital social media marketing strategies, tips, and tricks.

Is Summertime the Best Time of Year to Make and Finance a Big Purchase?

Not everything should be purchased around the holiday shopping chaos that ensues each year between November and December. Many people feel the need to “shop ‘til they drop” during this time because they feel like they will risk missing out on the best deals retailers have to offer. However, the real key to scoring the best deal(s): Always do your research first!

So if you’re looking to purchase big items such as appliances, a vehicle (which we discussed in TK’s December newsletter) new household furnishings, or even a home; researching and planning ahead will help you decide the right time to shop.

Everything mentioned above has its perks for purchasing during the November and December months. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have brought forth amazing discounts for new appliances, and vehicles see drastic markdowns come December as dealerships prepare for the new models to arrive. Even the housing market, at times, offers more luck with negotiating during the winter’s market.

Nonetheless, the summer months can help you save on these items as well while offering deep discounts. During Labor Day, 4th of July, and the beginning of August, consumers can find deals that are available. For example, furniture manufacturers restock inventory towards the end of summer months. Therefore, various discounts and financing options become available as they have to focus on clearing out last season’s inventory. Also, items such as laptops and tablets are good to research during the end of July as back-to-school sales begin in August. Consumer Reports advises buying these items in August as it begins the peak of school shopping season.

Furthermore, we mentioned financing offers that can also assist you when not paying cash. If a 0% APR is not offered (this sometimes happens for a limited time during retailer’s sales, but you have to have their loan paid off during a certain time-frame) you need to determine the % risk you can handle. Even if you have cash, your cash can be earning interest while you pay towards a debt that has a 0% APR. This can also be said if your APR is higher, but it depends on the item to rate ratio.

FOR EXAMPLE- Auto loan rates in February 2021 with a credit score of 600 or higher were 2.49% for a new car loan. If you located and qualified for 2% APR, as a stock market investor, you would expect to earn long-term returns equal to about a 6 or 7% annual return. So paying 2% while possibly earning 7% gives you 5% you’re netting on your own money before inflation.

So, you want to not only research the big purchase but also determine how/if you want to finance the purchase, what finance options are available, and what your risk tolerance is. Risks do have the potential to generate reward, but it is important that you evaluate your own situation to understand what amount of risk is appropriate.

Opening a Business and What Bank to Choose

This is actually our newsletter topic for this month that will be sent out March 11th, but we wanted to dive into this topic a little further and decided the TK Accounting & Consulting Blog would be the best place to do that. Not getting our monthly newsletter? Contact us today at info@tkact.com to join!

Benefits to Opening a Business

Starting your own business can come with many stressors and questions, so many in fact, it can cause your head to spin! You will have hard decisions to make. Such as, is self-employment right for you? Can you meet the start-up costs on your own or would you need to look toward loans or financial assistance? Have you evaluated the competition and how you will succeed? What will you consider successful within your company?

Nonetheless, there can also be several benefits to starting your own business. Of course, there are MANY benefits so we can’t share them all but we will share the top benefits to help you make the right decision for YOU!

-Being your own boss: When you start your own business, you are now the boss! Which ultimately means you control your own destiny. Sure, being the boss does have its challenges, but being an employee does as well. You will have to make hard decisions at times, so you will want to make sure you can face those decisions and keep in mind what you are deciding will need to be in the best interest of your company and those you will employ. Not everyone wants to be the boss just as not everyone is cut out to take on the “boss role”, but you have to make that choice for yourself!

-Flexible hours: Owning a business requires a lot of work which includes long and odd hours. However, it can also lead to more flexible hours too. This is why so many stay-at-home-parents are becoming entrepreneurs more and more. Starting out can take-up much of your time and you will need to be sure self-care is part of your schedule so you do not become “burn-out” as this can happen quickly when you are venturing out. This can even happen years after you start your own business too! Regardless of how many hours you put forth when opening your business though, ultimately it can lead you to choosing your own hours to make time for family, vacations, or trips to a golf-course or nail salon!

-Rewards: Not all people define rewards the same way. It could be defined as seeing a new venture grow and succeed or it could mean conquering the unknown and striking out on their own. For some people it could also mean earning the respect of others for having the courage to venture out on their own. Rewards come in various shapes and forms for everyone and can be huge or small! Regardless of how you define rewards, starting a new company might hold those rewards for you which brings me to our next benefit- personal fulfillment.

-Personal fulfillment: Owning your own business can be more satisfying and fulfilling than working for someone else. You can gain a better sense of respect for yourself and become more proud of your accomplishments. This is not to say you cannot find personal fulfillment and a rewarding experience as an employee rather than a boss, you 100% can! Yet, many individuals find being their own boss gives them a better sense of accomplishment and respect among their peers.

-Liability and tax benefits: As your small business begins to grow it can take advantage of legal protections by incorporating or forming a limited liability company or limited liability partnership. This shields the owner’s personal finances and assets from the small businesses’ liability and debts. Moreover, a small business can take advantage of tax deductions by writing off qualified expenses such as equipment purchases and meals. Other tax deductions can include, but are not limited to: travel, automotive, certain advertising, and even interest. If you use credit to finance business purchases, the interest and carrying charges are fully tax deductible. The same is true if you take out a personal loan and use the proceeds for your business. However, if your business profit is more than $25 million, you’ll only be able to deduct 30% of your interest expenses. Be sure to keep good records demonstrating that the money was used for your business.

These are all great benefits to starting a business and becoming your own boss. Not to mention you are also able to set your own deadlines, create your own environment, meet new people and network all while pursuing your passion and investing in yourself and the goals you have. Starting a business can be scary, especially with all of the unknowns. But great rewards await entrepreneurs lucky enough to create successful small businesses. Although only you can decide if you’re ready to quit your job and plunge into running your own business. Just be sure to think about the type of business you wish to start; you will want to likely be sure it is something that you enjoy doing and know about intimately while also researching if you can turn a profit while placing your customer base first.

Best Banks for Businesses

So if you do decide to open your own business, what bank(s) are best for your business? You want to first know what it is you want from a bank; many banks cater to their small business owners differently. Does this bank charge monthly fees? Are there transaction limits? What about interest or balance requirements? How is the customer service and ease of use? Will they be available to assist me 24/7 or are there set times?

We will use Bank of America as a reference as it is the second largest bank in the U.S.

Fees- You want to be sure you have every penny accounted for and where those pennies are going…pennies, as small as they may be, definitely add up in the long-scheme of things. Many banks will waive their monthly fee if a certain amount is spent per month and a minimum daily amount stays in the account. For example, Bank of America waives their $14 monthly fee if you spend $250 a month from the account and maintain a minimum daily balance of $3,000.

Transaction limits- Many banks place limits on how much cash you can deposit each month and how much you can remove from the account monthly. If you go over these limitations you could face substantial fees that will eat into your revenue quickly. Again, an example would be the business accounts B.O.A. offers. Fundamentals customers are limited to 200 free transactions per month, which is lower than what some other business checking accounts offer, but you’re allowed up to $7,500 in cash deposits per month, which is higher than what many comparable business bank accounts allow.

Interest- Another important factor when deciding on a bank for your small business is interest. Some banks will offer an interest rate on the money you have in your account. Even if this rate is low, it is still allowing you more money which can add up over time. For example, if you have a $100,000 balance in your business checking account, earning interest at even a modest 0.1% APY adds up to an extra $100 per year. So, be sure to check whether a bank offers interest payments to business account holders and how the interest rates compare to competitors. It will also be important to take into consideration the other items on this list, you wouldn’t want to pick the bank with the best interest rate while also having the highest fees too.

Balance Requirements- As mentioned when discussing fees, Bank of America requires a minimum daily balance of $3,000 in order for their monthly fees to be waived. Many banks have a balance requirement, but if you fall below this you can again face substantial fees. On the other hand, some banks reward you rather than punish you for keeping a higher balance with them. For example, if you have more than a threshold amount of cash in your business checking account, you may qualify for higher transaction limits or higher interest rates.

Physical Bank vs. Digital- Another thing to consider when choosing a bank for your business checking account is whether it has a physical footprint or whether it’s an online-only institution. Digital banks can often offer better account terms and higher interest rates since they have less overhead than traditional banks. However, if you feel you will need access to an ATM you will need to take this into consideration as a physical bank will offer this. Plus, many physical banks now offer applications so you can deposit, transfer, and monitor your funds right from your phone. This allows for busy business owners to avoid going to the physical bank, but still allows for the option if need be.

Basically, do your research! There are MANY options to choose from when considering your business’ bank and you will want to take the time to research your options and find the right fit for you and your company. We suggest a pros versus cons list, you may not come across a bank that meets every item on your list but based on the multitude of options available we are sure you will find the right bank to meet your needs and assist you in the long-run! Good luck and best wishes in your new journey!

Organization Tips to Simplify Personal Document Filing Include folder label ideas, tips on how long to hang on to various categories of documents, how and when to purge old files, etc.

Organizing your personal belongings is one of the most tedious, put off and difficult tasks for people to do. From not knowing what items to hang on to and how to organize them, important information and documents tend to get lost in the mix. This can become particularly difficult during important times such as; buying a house, filing taxes, applying for a loan, keeping track of expenses and many more. The benefits of beginning to organize your files can far out weigh the initial headache. Here are some ways you can begin to organize important documents:

File Cabinet – File Types

Medical file for each family member
Home maintenance file, with receipts of major expenditures
Real estate documents
Insurance policies (create a file for each one, and label each year’s policy separately, to know what years you were covered with what policies)
Automobile documents (separate file for each car)
Credit card documents (this is different than the file for credit card bills, and should contain the agreement, privacy policies, etc. that you get in the mail) (one file for each card)
Banking records (one file for each account at each bank)
Loan documents (one file for each loan)
Investment records (one file for each investment, 401(k), IRA, etc.)
Vital records (such as birth and marriage certificates, will, etc.)*
Personal home inventory (another copy should be kept outside the house too)
Tax documents (instructions for organizing these found in the article about how to organize old tax files)
Monthly bills and receipts (instructions for organizing paid bills can be found here and organizing receipts here)
Warranties and manuals (more information on how to organize warranties and manuals can be found here)

* Vital records can be stored in several ways, including a safe deposit box at a bank if you wish, instead of with the rest of your files. Seriously consider this if you don’t, at least, have a fire resistant file cabinet or storage system for these papers. You can read my article on how to make a vital records file, and how to protect and store its contents here.

How long to keep important records

Store permanently: Major financial records & tax returns

Your tax returns are important documents to keep as part of your financial history. You’ll want to keep a permanent electronic or hard copy of each year’s tax return and any payments you make to the government. Additionally, it’s a good idea to hold on to records of major financial events, such as legal filings or inheritances. You can easily access your paperless statements and documents online and keep them safely stored there.

Store 3–7 years: supporting tax documentation

Depending on your filing circumstances, the IRS may be able to ask you for supporting documentation for three to seven years after you file a return. Knowing that, a good rule of thumb is to save any document that verifies information on your tax return—including Forms W–2 and 1099, bank and brokerage statements, tuition payments and charitable donation receipts—for three to seven years.

Store 1 year: regular statements, pay stubs

Keep either a digital or hard copy of the past year’s worth of your monthly bank and credit card statements. It’s a good idea to keep your digital copies stored online if you choose to go paperless. You should also hold on to pay stubs so that you can use them to verify the accuracy of your Form W-2 when tax season arrives.

Keep for 1 month: utility bills, deposits and withdrawal records

If you’re self-employed, you may need your utility, cable and cell phone bills for tax purposes. Otherwise, you can dispose of them as soon as you verify your payment was processed. You can also dispose of bank withdrawal and deposit slips after verifying them with your monthly statement.

Safeguard your information

For physical documents, designate a safe, out-of-the-way place in your home to store all paper records that protects them from damage or theft. For digital records, be sure to archive and back up all electronic records. It’s a good idea for these records to be password protected.

Guard your financial accounts

Use complex passwords to keep your account information safe. Make sure your username and password combination is different from the ones you use for personal email, online merchants and social media accounts. Protecting your computer with antivirus software is also a good idea.

Properly dispose of paper documents

You’ll put yourself at risk of fraud or identity theft if you simply throw away a large pile of private documents, such as financial statements. Invest in a cross-cut shredder that will eliminate all traces of your personal information, or search for free shredding events in your community. Having paperless statements and documents can help reduce the risk of identity theft posed by lost or stolen mail.

Organization Tips to Simplify Personal Document Filing Include folder label ideas, tips on how long to hang on to various categories of documents, how and when to purge old files, etc.

File Cabinet – File Types

Medical file for each family member
Home maintenance file, with receipts of major expenditures
Real estate documents
Insurance policies (create a file for each one, and label each year’s policy separately, to know what years you were covered with what policies)
Automobile documents (separate file for each car)
Credit card documents (this is different than the file for credit card bills, and should contain the agreement, privacy policies, etc. that you get in the mail) (one file for each card)
Banking records (one file for each account at each bank)
Loan documents (one file for each loan)
Investment records (one file for each investment, 401(k), IRA, etc.)
Vital records (such as birth and marriage certificates, will, etc.)*
Personal home inventory (another copy should be kept outside the house too)
Tax documents (instructions for organizing these found in the article about how to organize old tax files)
Monthly bills and receipts (instructions for organizing paid bills can be found here and organizing receipts here)
Warranties and manuals (more information on how to organize warranties and manuals can be found here)

How long to keep important records

Store permanently: Major financial records & tax returns

Store 3–7 years: supporting tax documentation

Store 1 year: regular statements, pay stubs

Keep for 1 month: utility bills, deposits and withdrawal records

Safeguard your information

Guard your financial accounts

Properly dispose of paper documents

Social Media Marketing for Beginners

1. Create a plan for each platform

Before you create your social media account on a particular platform, the first thing you should do is develop a social media plan of action and a calendar. This plan should define your goals, prospective clients and voice, posting calendar, types of posts, and success bearing metrics.

2. If you’re not going to follow a calendar you can use a social media management system for scheduling, analytics, and posting consistency.

If you have one social media account or more, It’s best to follow a calendar or use a social media management system to help you post your content consistently, time management, and better tracking of post interactions, which posts are working and which aren’t. There are so many options out there from buffer to hootsuite. But most platforms often offer their own analytics such as facebook and linkedin.

3. Watch the copy

Since social media has become such a useful marketing tool, your content is the key to success. Make sure to not just update the information, but change the image, and if it’s a link post, the caption/description as well as headline. Your copy should catch their eye and draw them in in a short and straightforward way. When you review it, take the time to think “What’s in it for me?” If your copy doesn’t give people a reason to click, doesn’t provide value or help your audience in any way, you’re missing the boat.

4. Store your creations in a content library

It can be overwhelming to consistently generate unique posts. Creating a social media content library that you can have and regularly update, then use when you can’t think of anything to post. If you’re using your social media management system, you can schedule your postings for a few days or even weeks and this is where your content library will come in handy.

5. Don’t use copyrighted material

It can be hard to know which images are copyright protected. Know the laws behind using copyrighted material. Many sites such as unsplash offer high quality and free images. If you’re not willing to use your own pictures or material, use free material or make sure that your content is protected.

6. Post the same content numerous times

When you create a great blog post or any other type of content, don’t just post it just once and forget it. Instead, generate different updates that link to that post or content and schedule the updates out over the course of the next week or months. If your blog post is on Best cupcakes in Fort Lauderdale, for instance, you might have one update that reads “Check out our top 5 Cupcakes in Ft Lauderdale,” another that reads “Visit these bakeries for the best cupcakes in the southern Florida area,” another that reads “Don’t miss out on these cupcakes when your visit Sunrise Florida” and so on. You get the idea.

7. Test your ad posts

Posting ads can help increase the reach of your posts greatly. On Facebook, only about 5% of your followers will see an update. So if you want to increase the chances of success on social media, It can be beneficial to test ads, analyzing their performance. If they helped you reach your objectives, was the ROI there? If it was positive, potentially allocating some budget every year into social media advertisements.

8. Keep a close understanding of your industry

Subscribe to social media blogs to keep yourself informed of any relevant news, changes and updates. Make an effort to keep yourself educated in this area, you’ll find that your social media will become less effective and your audience will start to vere to your competitors rather than you. If a new feature becomes available and you don’t get ahead and learn of it because you don’t know it exists, you could miss out on numerous opportunities to better reach your objectives like potential leads or sales.

9. Keep an eye on the competition

Unfortunately, you should keep an eye on what they’re doing but also what they’re not doing on social media. What are they’re posts like? What are their headlines? How often are they posting it? How are they engaging with their followers? If you see that something they’re doing is working, that’s something to consider and you may want to do something like that, or it may inspire you.

What’s the Benefit of Maintaining an Inventory System?

Inventory systems hold detailed records of your products, quantities, stock locations and more of the business’s assets. The main purpose for having a quality inventory system is to maintain up-to-date records of supplies. The additional reasons to maintain correct inventory records are for financial accounting, customer order fulfillment, stock replenishment and having the ability to locate a specific item.

Inventory Validity for Stock Replenishment

By maintaining a valid record of your stock on hand, your inventory replenishment system will keep desired inventory levels. As necklaces are purchased and pulled out of stock, the inventory replenishment system can place re-stocking orders from your distributors. When your count for inventory is not up-to-date, the inventory system may guess that stock is available when it isn’t. This type of inventory inaccuracy may cause the inventory system to not re-order required merchandise and may result in out-of-stock in turn a loss of sales, as customers will seek else where for the desired merchandise.

Locating Inventory

Having accurate inventory locations in your inventory system lets employees and management quickly go to a specific storage area to locate the product wanted. For example, in the backroom of the jewelry store there are 1,000 necklaces. If your inventory is not organized, sorted correctly and accounted for accurately, how could an employee find a specific style or chain length for any customer? Organizing and maintaining precise records of products, as well as quantity you have on hand and it’s location allows employees to quickly access inventory.

Inventory to Support Sales

Businesses invest in inventory to allow product to be readily available to meet potential customer demand. Imagine shopping at a furniture store, you found a table and chairs that’s perfect for you’re dining room but they only had 3/4 chairs in stock. Those customers would leave and go to a store that had 4/4 chairs available, sales would immediately fall and the store would more than likely close. Through correct maintenance of the inventory system, the store has accurate inventory records, which in turn keep the shelves and backrooms stocked with the latest styles, quantities and sizes customers need. To ensure the inventory system is correct, staff must properly transact all inventory receipts, returns and sales in the business’s inventory system.

Inventory to track loss

Whether you are retail clothing store or a general contractor. It’s important to know your inventory. If you order 50 purple shirts at the beginning of the month and reviewing sales show that you have only sold 15 shirts, after reviewing inventory you find that you only have 30 shirts left. That is an indicator that you need to investigate where the shirts have gone, if they were compromised, lost, stolen.

Inventory on the Balance Sheet

Lastly, the most important reason to maintain an inventory system is to keep accurate records of your business’s assets. For any company, inventory represents the investment. The balance of this investment is shown on the balance sheet. To stick to government requirements for accuracy of financial reporting, businesses are required to make sure that all inventory balances reported on the balance sheet reflect the correct value of all products they have in stock.

How to pay taxes as a freelance worker or sole proprietor.

Becoming a freelancer or sole proprietor can be extremely rewarding, it gives you the freedom to structure your work to fit your schedule. You are able to work when and how you want and take on the clients you choose to work with.

It can also be extremely scary that there is not set structure in place, especially for the more challenging aspects like taxes. When you aren’t with a company where a human resources department handles things for you, it becomes your responsible to navigate.

We can help get you started to be able to handle your taxes like a professional.

WHAT’S YOUR ENTITY?

Your entity needs to be defined, it’s step one to establishing the tax requirements and establishing your specific tax code for your type of business.

Freelance vs Employee

You’ll need to determine your class. Whether you work as a writer, data entry, tutors or a hair dresser. It may be unclear what the status of your employment is:

If you received a W2 Form You work either full or part-time so you don’t have to worry about your taxes for this position. Your employer has it and you covered.
If you received a 1099-MISC. Then you’re an independent contraction or self employed and you’ll have to take care or your tax situation.

It’s always safe to ask your employer as well what your designation within the company is classified as so you don’t assume and classify incorrectly.

Sole Proprietor

Becoming a sole proprietor is typically the first step in stepping out on your own . Sole proprietors report their expenses on a Schedule C report, and business profit and loss transfers to their 1040.

A huge benefit of becoming a sole proprietor, this class doesn’t require you to file with the state to form. With that said, you’ll be personally liable for what happens in the business. As a sole proprietor, you may need to fill out these forms.

Partnership

If you have a partner in the business, but you aren’t ready to incorporate yet, you can operate under a Partnership. This entity doesn’t require state filing to set up and is taxed and managed similarly to a Sole Proprietorship.

As partners, you each become personally liable for the business success, and there isn’t a separation between business assets and personal. Owners are also responsible for reporting their share of profit and loss through their personal income tax filings.

Based on your state your may have to file different tax forms for state and federal levels.

Limited Liability Companies

If your company has grown to a larger level you’ve moved passed sole proprietorship. This typically happens by company growth or the stress of becoming personally liable for your business.

An LLC separates your business and personal assets and allow independent legal structures that are separated from the ownership. Basically an LLC separates your business and personal assets but is taxed similarly to a sole proprietorship or a partnership.

Typically LLCs have different state regulations for who can be a member and what types of companies are eligible for an LLC. Federal law doesn’t designate one type of tax process for LLC entities either, giving owners the opportunity to choose a form of taxation that best fits their business.

C Corporations

A larger and usually more complicated tax structure. If your company is set up as a C Corporation, you may have an accountant already, but just in case:

C Corporations are another safe way to separate your business assets from your personal. There may be multiple owners and are taxed on shareholder dividends and corporate profits.

C Corporations are usually employers filing on behalf of their employees, so it’s best to be prepared with your own W2 or even 1099-MICS forms as well as tax filing forms for state and federal filing.

S Corporations

Similar to C Corporations but with more significant limitations on their members. S Corporations separate your personal assets from the business, as well as liabilities and owners report their share of profit and loss on a personal tax return.

Meetings are regularly held for S Corporations and state regulations also limit who and how your company can incorporate. Check and make sure you fill out the tax forms based on your structure and liabilities.

PAYMENTS

Paying your self employment taxes can be very confusing. Do you file quarterly? Only at the end of the year? If you don’t have an accountant handling things for you, it’s easy just to stop paying.

If you are a full time employee but freelance on the side and don’t plan on making more than $600 then there is no need to file self employment taxes officially. You can file at the end of the year with your 1040. You can even lower the amount you claim (if any) to ensure your tax responsibilities are covered.

If you’re strictly self-employed, the IRS usually requires that you handle your tax responsibility through quarterly payments. These payments are due (though sometimes adjusted for the weekend):

April 15 | June 15 | September 15 | January 15

If you think that you’ll owe more than $1000 at the end of the tax year, you’ll want to begin making quarterly payments on time, or the IRS may assess penalties and late fees even if you pay up at the end of the year.

If this is your very first year in business, estimating your tax payments can seem impossible. This can help to create a quick estimate

Look at your fixed monthly expenses. That number is your baseline estimate.
Tack on fluctuating extras like food, gas, entertainment, and anything that may change. Add that number to your estimate.
Look more in depth on what you made when you were just starting out and it wasn’t full time. If you can expand those numbers you may have a good estimate on how much you’ll earn.
Then, set up to withdraw a percentage of each and every payment you receive, withdrawing the amount in full for each quarterly tax deadline.

Deductions

Deductions can actually help ease the pain of taxes… a little. Business deductions can reduce your overall tax burden by counting your deductions you can help your business remain successful. Common tax deductions include:

Startup costs for starting up (i.e. computer, printer, desk, office supplies)
Continuing costs (software that enables you to invoice)
Business memberships
Continuing education
Mileage
Home office or office rental (Home office is a percentage not the full rent amount)
Office supplies
Fees (like Paypal’s business fees)

It helps to research your particular field of work to find industry specific deductions. For example, photographers may deduct their flash equipment.

TAX FORMS

Here’s what you need to know about filing quarterly taxes and your annual return.

How to File My Quarterly Taxes

You’ll need to set up an account with the IRS to pay your quarterly taxes. You’ll need your social security number or your EIN (if you’ve set one up). Set up an account to get started.
Once you’ve got your account, use the IRS form 1040-ES to calculate your estimated tax responsibility. Divide by four to get your estimated quarterly tax payments.
Pay your quarterly taxes by the due date (see above). Don’t worry if you make more or less throughout the year than what you were planning. You can adjust payments to account for a bigger or smaller profit.
You can also use software like Quickbooks to track your income and deductions and estimate quarterly taxes based on your income.
When you file your annual return, you’ll catch up on any further money owed by following through with your annual return much the way you did when you were a full-time employee.

Filing Annually

You’ll need your 1099s from clients you’ve worked with for contract work. Note: Even if you do not receive a 1099, you are still liable for reporting any income you received for the tax year.
If you have receipts to claim deductions, be sure you have those accounted for.
Fill out the tax form or use tax software to calculate your tax responsibilities and any deductions you may use to reduce your tax burden.
File your federal (and state and city if applicable).
If you owe money, make arrangements as soon as possible to pay the taxes and any penalties. If the government owes you money, you can request it paid to you, apply it to previous tax burdens, or apply it to future payments.

The worst thing you can do is ignore your tax burden because you’re too intimidated to get started. However, if you dive in and do your research, you’ll be able to get your taxes covered in no time.