The Launch Blog
The CorpNet blog offers expert advice for launching and operating your business. From start up information to ongoing compliance, the CorpNet team keeps you up to date!
How to Find Out if Your Preferred Business Name Is Already Taken
Choosing a business name is exciting and it’s one of the most important startup tasks. Your business name will be the cornerstone of your brand identity, and you’ll want to ensure the name you select isn’t already taken by someone else. That involves a name search and trademark search to check if any other companies have registered their business entity under the name you want to use or have applied for a trademark. Using a name that another company has claimed could result in: The state’s denial of your request to register your business entity or rejection of your DBA (fictitious name)...
The Small Business Mid-Year Checklist
Now that we’re at the mid-way point of 2025, it’s an ideal time to revisit the compliance deadlines you need to keep an eye on and assess your business to determine if you should make some changes to fuel its success. Here’s a checklist to help you stay on track with your business’s responsibilities and spark decision-making that could foster growth and expansion. 1. If You’re Behind on Your Taxes, Catch Up If you have missed any reporting or payment deadlines, time is of the essence to avoid interest and penalties. Have you… Filed your 2024 annual return (or filed for an extension)? Note...
Can You Have LLC Members in Multiple States?
Can you have LLC members living in multiple states? Yes you can, but there are some considerations you’ll need to keep in mind. The practice of running an LLC with members in multiple states has become more common as remote work is increasingly utilized. But to do so successfully, you’ll need to conduct some research and comply with the rules and regulations of each member’s state. Before we take a deeper dive into the logistics of a multi-state LLC, let me give you a refresher on the role of members within this type of business entity. What Are LLC Members? Members of an LLC are the...
Delaware Imposes Mandatory Re-Registration of Trade Names
The State of Delaware will require all Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and Corporations to re-register their trade names, also known as DBAs. The move is aimed at making the registration process easier and eliminating a backlog of trade names that were not removed from the record when companies went out of business. The start date for the mandatory re-registration is currently scheduled for February 2, 2026. If your LLC or Corporation uses a DBA in Delaware, here’s what you need to know about the re-registration: Shift to Statewide Registration - Under the new system, businesses will...
Increase Professional Services Revenue with the CorpNet Partner Program
If you’re a professional services provider, you may be facing the daunting challenge of trying to grow revenue. With much of your income potential directly tied to billable time, it can be tough to find enough hours in the day to increase income and expand profitability. It’s a problem many professionals such as business coaches, consultants, accountants, lawyers, and bookkeepers experience. How can you increase professional services revenue without getting burned out? Sure, hiring employees or using subcontractors can allow you to take on more work, but that can add substantial costs to...
Who Are the Officers of a Corporation?
A corporation has three main categories of stakeholders involved in the financial and management aspects of the company. While all play a crucial role, officers work more closely with a corporation’s managers and supervisors, arguably having a more direct impact on the company’s success. Officers - Officers are individuals appointed by the board of directors to manage the corporation. They act as agents of the board to ensure the organization carries out the directors’ decisions. Corporate officers’ roles and the number of officers can vary based on state law and the company’s governance...
5 Avoidable Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make With Their LLCs
With any investment property, liabilities come with the territory. Faulty electrical wiring, broken stairway railings, black mold, and other possible flaws are all inherent threats. It’s no wonder savvy real estate investors decide to form LLCs (Limited Liability Companies) to protect themselves. The LLC legal business structure shields investors’ personal assets from liability associated with their investment properties. So with an LLC, your personal assets won’t be vulnerable if a tenant or visitor to your property sues you. While forming an LLC can be done rather quickly and without...
Can a Partnership Elect to Be an S Corporation?
If you’re operating your business as a Partnership, you may be wondering if it’s possible to change to an S Corporation. While converting directly from a Partnership to an S Corporation for tax purposes isn’t allowed, there is a way to get there—if the owners of a Partnership change their company’s legal structure to a Multi-Member Limited Liability Company. A Multi-Member LLC, which is normally taxed as a Partnership, may elect to be considered an S Corporation for tax purposes if it meets the IRS’s eligibility criteria. S Corporation qualification requirements: The entity must be an...
What Is Payroll Processing and What Do You Need to Know About It?
Payroll processing is a critical element of any business that wants to grow and thrive. To put it in simple terms: payroll is the process by which employers pay their employees for their work. It’s a vital activity that can get quite complicated. Managing payroll involves more than just writing a check to employees for their hours worked. Much, much more goes into it. Calculating net pay can get quite complicated depending on applicable laws, payroll tax requirements, insurance, and more. Issuing checks (or direct deposits) to employees is only part of the equation. Employers must also...
Five Ways to Optimize Your Accounting Firm Operations
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you frequently get the urge to change the way you do things and replace them with new systems and fresh ideas. After all, spring is the time for new beginnings, and your accounting firm operations could probably use a bit of a refresh. As you well know, your operations are the crucial activities of your business, from sales and accounting to marketing and customer service. It’s important for all parts of your operations to balance and support each other. Keep reading to learn how to optimize your accounting firm operations and boost your bottom line. 1....
Are Your Accounting Clients Worried About a Recession? Why They Need You Now More Than Ever
As far back as October 2019, half of Americans were already concerned a major recession was on the horizon and now that concern has become a reality, according to top economists. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. economy actually stopped growing in February this year, following an economic expansion that lasted more than 10 years. And, it all happened fairly quickly as the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shut down the economy and compounded unemployment. So, it’s not at all surprising your accounting clients are worried about the recession. It’s up to you then...
How to Find Your First 10 Accounting Clients
Searching for the first clients for your startup accounting business might seem like finding a needle in a haystack (or, for you Harry Potter fans, like finding a Horcrux in the Room of Requirement). In reality, however, it can actually be pretty simple, thanks to powerful apps and social media marketing. Or, you might have better luck finding your first ten accounting clients the old-fashioned way, via face-to-face interaction. Better still, why not combine both types of marketing to find those first customers? If you're looking to start or grow your accounting firm, I'd like to share...
How to Hire a Ghostwriter for Your Accounting Blog
Does your accounting business need a blog? The answer is yes! Website content like service pages and blog posts help your business rise in the search engine rankings and this means more people will find your website and inquiry about your service offering. So, if your business website doesn’t have a blog, it’s time to create one. If you already have a blog, are you keeping it current? When potential clients see a website with an outdated blog, it immediately gives them cause for concern. But, you may be thinking, you’re so busy running your accounting business, you don’t have the time to...
What to Look for in an Accounting Partner Program
Whew! You made it through the crazy-busy tax season, and I hope you and your fellow accounting professionals are enjoying some much-deserved time to relax. With the lion’s share of your firm’s revenue secured in the first four months of the year, you may now be considering ways to augment your services and keep cash flowing. Enrolling in a partner program may be an ideal answer! A partner program provides an opportunity to create additional revenue streams for accounting and CPA professionals. So, after high tax season has passed, accountants can continue to earn income steadily all year...
How to Break the Ice at a Networking Event
It’s a classic scenario: you arrive at a networking event armed with business cards and ready to make connections. But once you get there, you can’t seem to pull yourself away from the wall and mingle with everyone who acts more confident than you feel. Get to Know People Before the Event - It’s much easier to network if you have one or two points of contact at the event. Connect with the event planner, who will do her best to make you feel at ease, and consider linking to a few participants through social media and starting a conversation before the event. This way, you can make a point...
Do You Need a Startup Advisor?
A startup advisor is a person who provides industry or subject matter advice, mentoring, and/or networking connections to a startup entrepreneur or startup business. A startup advisor can be invaluable to help you navigate through startup pitfalls, structure your company, find funding or scale up your business for profitable growth. A good startup advisor also acts as a sounding board. He or she is someone the founder of a business can bounce ideas off of -- and talk through problems with. You probably won’t find everything you are looking for in one person. For that reason, some...
Choosing the Best State to Start a Business
Choosing the best state to start a business is an important detail in your overall business plan. When it comes to launching a small business, “Location, location, location” is part of the formula for success. If you’re wondering if a specific location would give your startup an extra advantage over the competition, you should check out WalletHub’s latest report on 2022’s Best & Worst States to Start a Business. With a bad location ranked as one of the top reasons for business failure, choosing where to launch your business can be almost as important as choosing what business to...
Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Partnership
If you’re thinking about starting a Partnership, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. As with every business venture, there are advantages and challenges involved with operating a Partnership, and it’s best to understand what you’re getting into before you invest your time and money in a new venture. In this article, we’ll explore some pros and cons of this type of business structure, steps to keep in mind when setting up a Partnership, different types of Partnerships, and tax information that applies to this type of business entity. Let’s start by defining exactly...
Are Accounting Franchises Worth the Money?
Traditionally, when you think about starting an accounting business, you envision building the business from scratch. You'll be responsible for doing market research, financing your startup, differentiating your business in the marketplace, etc. That's a lot of work! But there’s another option you may not have considered: buying a proven concept of accounting franchises. The decision to start an accounting business on your own or with the support of a franchise system depends on what kind of operation and lifestyle you want to have. As a franchisee for one of the accounting franchises,...
Tax Registration: What Your Business Needs to Know
Whether you’re a business accountant serving entrepreneurs or you’re a business owner, it’s critical to understand sales and employment tax registration and ongoing requirements. Federal payroll taxes are the same no matter where a business is located, but state employment taxes and sales taxes differ according to tax rates in the various states. I presented a webinar for CPA Academy on this topic, and this blog article will cover what I discussed. So, get ready for a lot of helpful info about various types of employment taxes, payroll tax registration and processing, sales and use tax,...
20 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs
There's a never-ending debate on whether entrepreneurs are born or made. I don't claim to be able to make the call one way or another, but I have noticed several characteristics of successful entrepreneurs that business owners seem to share. While we're all unique as business owners, you've got to admit that we share certain characteristics that help us have the drive we need to succeed. Which of these do you have? Drive to Succeed - I guess without this, there'd be no reason to start a business. But every entrepreneur I've met (including myself) has something in them that won't settle...
How to Start a Daycare Business
Daycare businesses provide a critical service to working families. Parents and guardians need reliable, responsible childcare services to ensure that their children are well taken care of while adults in the household work hard to earn a living. Before starting a daycare, I recommend that you seek resources—such as an attorney, tax advisor, accountant, and business consultant—who can help with your legal, accounting, and industry-specific questions and decisions. In the meantime, I've created this step-by-step guide that provides key considerations and action steps for starting your own...
A Mid-Year Business Checklist to Get You Back on Track
Tax season is over (for most of us). So, what’s next for business owners and professional advisors with business clients? With so much disruption and distraction this year, you may have fallen behind keeping up with compliance for business licenses, permits, and identification numbers. Here’s a mid-year business checklist to get you back on track. Federal Tax ID Getting a Federal Tax ID number (or an Employer Identification Number—EIN) is optional if you’re a Sole Proprietorship, but if your business acts as a C Corporation, Limited Liability Company, or a Partnership, you and your...
CPA Burnout is Real: Take These 5 Steps to Push Through
Are you distancing yourself from relationships, feeling a loss of personal accomplishment or just overall suffering from emotional exhaustion? You could be on the dangerous road to CPA burnout. Whether your accounting firm is just starting out or growing by leaps and bounds, running your own business can be extremely stressful. You may never have imagined that your entrepreneurial dream could turn into an entrepreneurial nightmare, but CPA burnout is real. Running your own CPA business means being all things to all aspects of your business. Not only are you the boss (the buck does stop...
How Pennsylvania Has Changed Annual Reporting in 2025
This year, Pennsylvania retired its decennial report requirement and now requires many business entities to file annual reports. Going from reporting every ten years to every year is a result of the 2022 Act 122, which Governor Tom Wolf signed into law on November 3, 2022. Annual reports will help ensure the state has the most up-to-date information about Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and other entities created in or registered to conduct business in Pennsylvania. Annual report filings are a critical business compliance requirement that business owners should not ignore!...
Business Closures, Dissolutions, and Withdrawals
It has been a rough few years for businesses across the country, but especially so for small businesses. From inflation to tariffs, companies of all sizes have had to close some or many of their locations. Whether you’ve had to close down entirely or shutter locations in other states, it’s crucial you legally close your business so there are no repercussions down the road. I want to help keep you and your business in compliance. If you've had to close part of all of your operations, here are five critical steps you need to tackle so that your business is compliant with closures,...
What Is a Corporate Veil and Why Do You Need One?
What Is Piercing the Corporate Veil? A corporate veil, the legal shield of separation between a business and its owners, helps to protect individuals from being held personally liable for their company’s debts and legal disputes. Businesses formed as a Limited Liability Company, Corporation, or other form of registered business entity have a corporate veil and therefore safeguard their owners’, corporate officers’, and directors’ personal assets. However, personal liability protection is not guaranteed if entrepreneurs do something (or fail to do something) that a court considers reason...
Creating Your Own Business and Loving What You Do!
The entrepreneurs you read about or see on TV may seem like overnight successes—but in reality, creating your own business doesn’t happen overnight. Behind every successful business idea, months (or even years) of thought and planning have gone into launching it. After all, who wants to risk the money, time and effort required to start a new business on a mere whim? One of the keys to success is creating a business you’re excited about. Your passion will help you persist through all the obstacles. Here are three ideas for creating your own business and loving what you do. 1. Convert Your...
Best Practices For Interviewing Job Candidates
Hiring the right people requires a sure-fire interviewing process. To effectively interview job candidates, you need more than a little dedicated time and a list of questions; you need an understanding of how you can draw out the information you need about an individual’s knowledge and capabilities. You also need to tune into character nuances that might indicate how well a candidate will work with your team. And, of course, you need to do all of that without breaking any anti-discrimination laws. Interviewing can be intimidating, for not only prospective employees, but also for...
8 Payroll Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Small Business
All businesses, of any size, that hire employees must manage payroll. It’s a responsibility not to be taken lightly! Careful attention to accuracy and compliance with federal, state, and local laws for withholdings and deductions is imperative to avoid mistakes and steer clear of costly consequences. So, what are some common payroll mistakes businesses make? My list below will help you know what to watch out for as you process payroll for your employees. 1. Miscalculating Employees’ Pay This can happen for various reasons, such as tracking time inaccurately, not applying overtime rates...
