For small businesses, business planning is key. Many studies have shown that small businesses with a business plan have a greater chance of seeing growth and success. However, much like many parts of running a business, professional business planning services can be expensive. Here’s how you can use a business plan to increase your chances of business success, without breaking the bank.  

Know Where You Are Headed

It is best to start your business plan with the goals you have for your company already in mind. This will save you time during the process, and save you money if you hire a business planning consultant. Your consultant can help you understand if your goals are feasible for your business as you go along in the process. Keep in mind that your business plan will grow with your business, so you can always make adjustments later. Ensuring that your business plan and your goals are scalable with your business is also something a business planning consultant will be able to help you with.  

Write the Key Components

If you are planning on applying for small business loans or grants, most lenders (including the Small Business Administration, or SBA) will require a business plan as part of your application. This means that the business plan you set out with needs to include nine key components. These nine components are: key partnerships, key activities, key resources, your value proposition, customer relationships, customer segments, channels, cost structure and revenue streams. You can find more information on each of those components here. Time is money, and you don’t want to waste yours redoing a business plan for a lender. To ensure that your business plan is the strongest it can be, we recommend hiring a business planning consultant with an affordable rate.  

Hire a Consultant from Another Small Business

No one understands the unique struggles of a small business like a fellow small business. Not only are they in the same boat as your business, they also understand that running a business of any size is expensive. This means that they’ll offer personal service and competitive rates that are more affordable than big-time business planning services.   At Better Accounting, we believe that the fact that we are also running a small business helps us understand our clients better. We offer personalized and affordable business planning and tax strategy services to get your business going on the right foot. Whether you have been in business for years or you are just starting out, an expert from Better Accounting will help you set your business in the right direction.

We get it. Tax season is stressful. Did you know it could be a little less stressful with year-round tax services? Your tax accountant can help you manage your business all year—which might take some of the pressure off when tax season comes around.

Tax Preparation

Filing your taxes can be a full-time job. Your tax accountant can not only help you complete your actual filing, they can also help you sort through your records. This way, they can easily hunt down deductions and credits you might be eligible for before you file.

Audit Preparation

It does not matter if you’re keeping your records meticulously organized and color-coded or if you’re keeping your records in a shoebox in the backroom—audits happen. When they do, your tax accountant can help you get ready for them. Using audit checklists and years of experience, they can help you compile the right records, clean up your ledgers and get everything ready for the big day.

Get Caught Up

Many business owners have several years of backdated tax filings they need to catch up on. Between tax seasons is the perfect time to have your tax accountant help you get caught up. They can help you sort through months’ or years’ worth of records, file the right forms, and even apply for late filing fee exceptions through the IRS. Make next year the year you have caught up with your filings.

Payroll

A tax accountant can also help you manage your recurring payroll. They will ensure your business is compliant with tax regulations and manage your income tax with holdings. Many accounting firms also offer discounts on accounting software that will help you with recurring tasks like reconciliation and payroll. Better Accounting also has expert bookkeepers available to complete the payroll process—think of us as your one-stop shop for taxes and bookkeeping. A tax accountant can make running your business easier all year-round, not just went tax season rolls in. Ask your accountant what else they can do for you.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit businesses hard. To help them stay afloat, the federal government and the IRS pushed the tax filing and payment deadline to July 15, 2020.

There’s Still Time!

For many businesses, tax season is a last-minute dash to the finish—even with the new, later deadline. By this stage, many CPAs do not have the bandwidth to take on new clients and help them file their taxes in time to hit the deadline. At Better Accounting, our expert CPAs and bookkeepers are still available to help you prepare your finances and file your taxes. Our expert tax accountants can get started on helping your business with this year’s tax filings right away.

No Job Too Big

Even if you have multiple years of taxes left to sort through and file, we can help with that! We will help you sort through the IRS’ process for backdated returns, apply for penalty abatement if it’s applicable, and even gather the records you need for each of the years you need to file. Our tax experts will even help you monitor return processing and other compliance processes long after the tax deadline has passed. With Better Accounting, you can make this year the year your business gets caught up on tax filings and starts looking to the future.

Business Owners, Fear Not

We specialize in all tax filings, whether federal or state, business or individual. As small business owners ourselves, we understand that tax season is stressful. It doesn’t matter if your business’ finances are inextricably tied to your personal finances or you just need a little extra help on the personal side. Our tax experts are ready to help you with every tax form you may need to file. Our professional tax accountants also stay up-to-date on tax credits and incentives. If you’re eligible for deductions, credits or breaks, we will make sure to include the proper documentation with your filing.

We Do Tax Prep, Too

If you are not quite ready to file your taxes or you just don’t know where to begin, don’t worry! Our expert accountants also do tax preparation. We will help you get your finances in order before we complete your filing. Our CPAs and bookkeepers will help you organize your records and documentation. We understand that every business is unique, and our tax preparation strategy is tailored specifically to your business. Our tax experts will help you with everything from sorting a shoebox full of receipts to itemizing tax deductions. We use detailed tax preparation checklists to make sure you have everything you need to get started on those filings. The new tax deadline is fast approaching. Get expert tax help from Better Accounting and make 2020 your best year yet. Give us a call today!