Erica Sporer Retirement Plans – SIMPLE Plans The name says it all (or at least the acronym does): The Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees, a.k.a. SIMPLE, is usually easier to manage and easier on the bank account than are many other types of retirement plans. Their drawback is that contributions are limited, and you may not … Read more
Retirement Plans – Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) For decades, IRAs have been among the most popular ways to put away money for retirement while getting a current tax deduction. You also don’t have to pay any current income taxes on any money the account earns— until you start taking distributions, that is, and then you … Read more
Retirement Plans – The Best Tax Shelter If you want to minimize your income taxes while maximizing your wealth, consider starting a company retirement plan. Not only will you be able to attract and keep better employees; you’ll also be able to use the plan for your own tax-sheltered retirement savings. Even better, there are … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Building-Construction Transactions As anyone who’s ever been a contractor or hired one knows, construction jobs take some time to complete. Since these jobs can run so long (months, even years), they sometimes call for some special accounting procedures. When a project won’t be completed during the accounting year in … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Small High-Tech Companies The technology industry lives by constant innovation. To the people on the outside, these advances seem instantaneous. The entrepreneurs and developers working within the highly competitive high-tech industry know the real story: what seems instant to the rest of us can take years and years of … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Accounting for Your Home-Based Business Virtually every new business and small-business owner out there conducts at least some business from home. Among these are true home-based businesses, meaning there is no other office or shop to work out of. When you work solely from home, it’s easy to forget … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Manufacturers Produce Special Transactions As you learned in Chapter 7, manufacturers have a lot more going on in the accounting department than do any other kinds of businesses. There are three different stages of inventory to deal with, and all sorts of extra things that go into figuring out … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Retail Is More Than Buying and Selling Retail businesses have a specific focus: they buy products from suppliers and resell them to customers. In addition to the standard journal entries used by service companies, retailers also deal with inventory and cost of goods sold. Like most product-based businesses, retailers … Read more
Unique Issues for Specific Businesses – Common and Not-So-Common Transactions Most of the time, for most companies, the everyday transactions look pretty much the same as everyone else’s. Revenues are earned, bills are paid, assets depreciate. The journal entries to record those basic transactions are the same for a one-man law firm as for a … Read more
More Ways Accounting Helps Your Business – Using Internal Audits to Your Advantage As soon as the word “audit” comes up, most people think IRS and start to sweat. Internal audits, though, are good things that can help you manage your company more efficiently and profitably. These are really just systematic ways you can verify … Read more
