POST CATEGORY : Finance

6 Money-Drainers of Small Businesses (and How to Overcome Them)

Is your business seeping cash for no reason? Some expenses are like a dripping faucet: you know it’s there, but it seems insignificant, so you let it go on too long. Others are more like a broken pipe underground, well-hidden but causing massive damage. Here are some places to check for financial leaks so you can stop your biggest money-drainers.

Leakage in your small business finances

Watch Your Staffing Costs

Staffing is a massive cost for most small businesses and a huge area of waste. Underperformers must be replaced quickly, because they prevent you from hiring excellent staff who could be moving your company forward. As your company grows and changes, your staffing needs will rapidly change.…

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Reward your Small Business with the Capital One Spark® Cash Card

Brought to you by Spark Business from Capital One

Obsessed about your business? No, you’re driven. Driven to go above and beyond. So why settle for a business credit card that limits how much cash back you earn? Or charges you for an employee card? In your business, you accept every obstacle, deadline, and challenge but that shouldn’t extend to your business card.

With Spark BusinessSM Credit Cards from Capital One®, you could earn 2% cash back on every purchase, and receive free employee cards. Now those are rewards you can accept.

Learn how you don’t have to settle for less and get all the details at www.capitalone.com/smallbusiness…

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How to Avoid Late Payments as a Small Business

For small and big businesses alike, late payments can be the bane of a company. It’s a hassle to chase clients around, hounding after them to please pay up.

Sometimes it’s simply because it slipped their mind. Sometimes it isn’t, but either way there are strategies you can put in place to help avoid them.

Invoice

From invoicing techniques to contingency plans these techniques will help you to get paid on time.

The devil in the details of your invoice

Whether your invoice is digital or paper it needs to be as clear as possible. You want it to be easy to pay, and thus the amount owed and ways to pay should be marked clearly.…

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Top 5 Online Invoice Generators for Small Business Management

You don’t need to pay for native invoicing apps and software programs for your mobile devices or office PC. There are tons of great online invoice generators out there, that do just as good a job as more complicated paid solutions like Intuit, Freshbooks, Oracle, etc.

Shopify online invoice generator

Most small business owners don’t need complicated accounting solutions and will have an outside private business accountant that takes care of crunching the numbers anyhow. This makes the need for a clean and simple tool for creating and downloading your receivable’s invoices a must for many SMB owners out there.

Here’s a list of the top 5 web-based generators that you can access any time, to make a quick invoice on the fly, from any device and as many times as you like – for free!…

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Get Ready to Show Proof of Health Coverage in 2015

By now, you should know the law: As of last year, all Americans – both individuals and businesses – are required to carry health insurance coverage under the terms of the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010. If you don’t have at least the minimum amount of health coverage, you could face penalties on your 2014 tax bill.

Proof of insurance coverage

Because this is the first year that taxpayers have to provide proof of health coverage, many people are confused about what they actually have to do. The good news is that for most people, the process is actually quite simple, and only requires checking off a box on their tax return indicating that they have coverage.…

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Smart Ways to Build Credit and Grow Your Business

One huge issue for a startup entrepreneur is obtaining credit to finance business growth. All companies need capital to market the business, make a product or provide a service. Without proper financing, a new business may quickly fail. Here are some tips to build business credit and protect the credit rating.

Business credit rating

Business credit vs. personal credit

This article explains that both business and personal credit scores are based primarily on the same two issues. One issue is the number of credit inquiries and applications to obtain credit. The other is the number of loans and credit cards outstanding.

Avoid the mistake of using personal credit to finance business operations.…

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Common Payroll Tax Pitfalls

If you have employees, then payroll taxes are one of the costs of doing business. Unfortunately, they can also be a potential minefield. The IRS is cracking down on businesses that don’t properly file or report their payroll taxes – and they are paying especially close attention to small businesses, which are the largest source of uncollected taxes. Even if it’s an honest mistake, the IRS could leverage huge penalties, audit your company, and even initiate a criminal investigation if you do your payroll taxes wrong.

Sloppy tax preparation

Below are some of the common payroll tax pitfalls that small businesses face, as well as suggestions on how to avoid them.…

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5 Good Reasons for Selling your Structured Payment

Many people looking to sell their settlements do it for a variety of reasons. The decisions are often dependent on the situation of life at that point in time. However, as you make a decision to sell it is important to make sure that the money is spent on something that will add value to you and your family. Therefore, the 5 good reasons for selling your structured settlement are as follows:

Selling structured settlements

  1. Buying a home or trying to avoid a foreclosure
  2. Engaging in a major home repair like buying a new roof
  3. Opening a well-researched new business or adding more funds to an already flourishing business
  4. Going back to college or paying for your child’s education
  5. Paying an expensive medical bill.
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Picnic and Barbecue Planning Pointers for Businesses on a Budget

Company picnics boost morale and show appreciation for the work your employees do. They also show a commitment to your staff. At the same time, they can be expensive. Many employees don’t realize the cost involved in hosting an event, with the biggest costs being food and entertainment. Here’s how to have a BBQ event that won’t break the corporate bank account.

Company picnic

Get Organized

Start with an inventory of everything you need. This is also a great time to make a budget for your party. Set a dollar amount that you cannot exceed. Then, write down categories like “food,” and “party favors,” and “beverages,” and “invitations,” and “raffle items.”…

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How to Buy Shares (and Not Losing Money on Them)

CEOs/Founders – you have diligently accumulated funds for investing and it’s time to start doing something with the funds. Stock investing is one of the most popular ways to make your money to work for you. But how to buy stocks and shares? How to know which one to buy? This article can shed some lights for you.

Buying shares

Although we tend to think of shares as the reserve of City brokers in pinstriped suits, this isn’t the case at all. Shares are becoming far more accessible to the masses, thanks largely to the advent of the internet and smartphones, which give people the opportunity to invest anywhere and at any time.…

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