Archive for August 2011
Business Insurance – Four Basic Principles For Those Starting a New Business
Business insurance is vital for a new business. If you are in the planning stages for starting a new business, you’ll need to plan for your insurance coverage. You likely already have insurance for your home and automobile. But the insurance needs for a business are somewhat different and you must address all of your new business exposures.
Here is a list of the four basic components of a business insurance policy:
1. Property
a. The building you own. If you’re leasing a building, your lease may require you to insure the building.
b. Your business personal property, including your furniture, machinery, computers, office equipment, inventory and raw materials.
c. Your vehicles.
2. Liability. If your business will be dealing with the public, there is a chance that you will cause a loss to others due to negligence. This covers errors you may make and personal injury or property damage to others.
3. People: If you will have employees, Workers Compensation insurance will be necessary. You might also consider Health Insurance and/or Life Insurance for your employees. “Keyman” life insurance protects the business from loss of a key owner or employee. Worker’s Compensation is mandatory, other coverages are optional.
4. Income: The lifeblood of any business is its income. If that income is interrupted or stopped, the business will likely not survive. Business Interruption coverage provides replacement of the lost income due to a covered peril.
When you are preparing your business plan for your new business, you should be able to generate the information necessary, such as property values, number of employees and anticipated revenue. Share this information with your insurance agent so that together you can design a business insurance policy for you that meets all your needs.
If you have experience a Business Insurance loss, whether property, liability, people or income, you need to know winning insurance claim strategies. The insurance company will not tell you the claims process, but I will. I will show you how to take control of your insurance claim, and add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlement. For more information, go to the website listed below.
Business Banking Account Checklist: Choosing And Operating A Banking Account
A business bank account needs facilities and features that are different than those of a personal bank account. Therefore, stop and think before you open a business bank account with the bank where you have a personal account. You need to research the business banking facilities of more than one bank before you select the one where you can open an account.
The Advantage of Opening Business Account with a Familiar Bank:
There are advantages of banking with a bank with which you already have a personal account. The bank authorities may be more helpful if they have known you for long and know that you have a good financial and debt repayment record.
Advantages of Shopping Around before Opening a Bank Account:
However, there are many advantages of shopping for a bank account. You will have more options regarding the kind of banking services that suit your business needs the best. Since many banks offer deals to attract businesspersons, you can take the advantage of the deals to get an enhanced package.
How to Choose a Business Banking Account:
You must keep in mind that you need not operate a single business account; depending on the size and needs of your business, you could have two or more business accounts. Here is a checklist to consider when you select a banking account.
1) Do you make frequent transactions at the bank? In that case, you may want to consider monthly transaction fee, rather than a fee for each transaction completed.
2) A merchant account is a good idea if a large chunk of your bank transactions is carried out through debit and credit cards.
3) If you need to conduct many overseas transactions, then a foreign currency account is a good option.
4) If you need more than one business banking account, you need to consider the following:
o Holding accounts with many banks will give you facilities you need for different aspects of your business.
o Holding more than one account with a single bank makes you eligible for many deals offered by the bank.
Opening a Business Banking Account:
Keep the following in mind when opening a business banking account.
1) Have a meeting with your business consultant before you open a business bank account.
2) Bring your documents, including proof of residence, age, and income, since these will be needed by the bank to verify your statement.
3) The bank will give you an account-opening mandate so you can open an account with them.
4) If your business is incorporated, you will need to submit a certificate of incorporation.
It is always a good idea to separate your business account from your personal account, even if you run a small business or work from home. It makes it easier for you to avail business loans, and other facilities related to business. Consider the checklist given above when you shop for or open a business banking account. If you need to, you can even hire a business consultant to help you select a good bank to open an account with.
Maximize Small Business Tax Deductions and Tax Credits For 2009, 2010
Owning a small business can give you an edge at income tax time, if you are armed with as much information about business tax credits and deductions as you can.
Since small business owners are three times more likely to be audited by the IRS than a non-owner, it is very important to have accurate information, and to make sure you qualify for the credits and deductions you are claiming.
This article will touch on a few tax deductions available to business owners.
What deductions can you safely claim? You can claim business tax deductions on things that are reasonable and necessary to run your business. This could include your home office, office supplies, furniture and equipment, mileage necessary to operate your business, travel, dinner and entertainment expenses.
It can also include real estate tax, mortgage interest, depreciation costs, insurance, rent, security systems and utilities and services like phone, internet and garbage collection. Health insurance cost and liability insurance costs may be taken as deductions.
With this many items or more to think about, it is important that you have the most recent and accurate information about small tax credit and deductions.
It is also important to know about self-employment tax as your obligation for contributions to social security and any real or potential retirement contributions to a SEP/IRA. There is help for you.
Since I know that as a small business owner you are independent minded and like to do things on your own, you may find an on-line small business tax preparation program helpful. Such a program can walk you through all the deductions and credits, so that you will know when you file that you have taken advantage of all the credit breaks you deserve, and have met all the qualifications required by the IRS.
You want to feel that if you are one of the “three times more likely”, that you are in the best possible standings you can be for that audit.
Owning a small business can be rewarding and give you a break at tax time. Make sure you have as much accurate information about small business tax credits and deductions that you can. An on-line tax preparation program may be just what you are looking for to keep that edge.