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The Launch Blog: Expert Advice from the CorpNet Team
How Will 2018 Tax Reform Affect Your Small Business?
It seems like you just got your business taxes handled for 2017, and now you have to start worrying about 2018 taxes. That’s because the tax reforms signed into law last December under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will most definitely affect your business taxes—and possibly your company’s legal structure as well. Sole proprietorships are the most common form of business organization in the United States because they are easy to form and offer the owner complete control of the business. Profits are passed through to the owner, and business income and expenses [...]
Why All Home Businesses Need Professional Indemnity Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance, is a policy that covers the legal costs and expenses during your defense against a client. If a Client has accused you of inadequate services, designs or advice they may want to take you to court if they felt they have lost money in the situation. Working from home can be a great experience in life but if you aren't fully protected and a problem escalates, you can be left vulnerable with no one to turn to. People can put off getting professional indemnity [...]
7 Steps to A Healthier Workplace
It’s no secret that working a desk job comes with its share of health risks. Working at a desk can result in elevated risk of heart disease, over-productive pancreas, colon cancer, a strained neck, poor circulation, degenerating abdominal, hip, and glute muscles, and softer bones (among others). So what can you do to combat the negative health impact of sitting all day in an office setting? Good news: there’s plenty you can do to make your workplace healthier. Whether you’re a concerned employee, or a small business owner looking to do right by your [...]
The Best CPA Marketing Channels for Growing Your Firm
Whether your accounting business is just starting out, or whether you’re a seasoned veteran, marketing your business is a must. It’s crucial in good economic times and in bad. In fact, during an economic downturn, choosing the right CPA marketing channels for your business matters more than ever. Smart marketing can give you the edge you need to succeed—if you know where to spend your time and money! Listed below are five CPA marketing channels sure to help grow your accounting business. 1. Direct Mail Along with huge accounting staff, huge accounting firms have [...]
3 Things to Consider When Choosing a Tax Preparer
Since Donald Trump took office just over a year ago, there have been few major legislation that have passed. One that did squeak through was the GOP tax reform, and with mixed reporting on who the tax cuts will benefit, when, and how long for, individuals and businesses may feel swamped by the conflicting information they have been reading and hearing about in the last few months. With dire consequences for incorrect filings, the biggest shake-up to taxes in thirty years has left many feeling anxious about what these changes mean for them. The [...]
5 Compelling Reasons Why Business Cards Are Still Needed
Although, businesses today have largely migrated and adapted to the digital terrain; so you might be tempted to think business cards don’t matter anymore. However, you must put your belief to the contrary, for business cards are still highly important. Consider this: you met with an influencing personality, got along well with him, and established a good camaraderie. Meanwhile, you both exchanged your business cards and after some time, that same person helped you get more clients and business opportunities. In a nutshell, a business card is no less than a roadmap to opportunity. [...]
Tax Season Survival Kit for Accountants
No matter what your industry, you know when your busy season is about to start. For retailers, it’s the holidays; for florists, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day; for water parks or surf schools, summer. For accountants, of course, it’s tax season, where you can generate half your annual revenue or more for your accounting during these busy months. But how do you handle the extra workload during tax season without losing your sanity? Our tax season survival kit for accountants can help. 10 Steps to Help Accountants Survive Tax Season Step 1. Create a Game [...]
Small Business Tax Advice and Survival Guide
Tax season comes to all businesses big and small, and can be a headache no matter how well you think you’ve prepared. For a small business owner wearing many (or all) hats in the business, it’s an unwelcome extra task sure to cause late hours and frayed nerves. To handle the additional workload during tax season, CorpNet offers some small business tax advice and presents our Tax Season Survival Kit for business owners. Step 1. Gather All Necessary Documentation The first step in preparing for taxes is gathering any necessary documentation. Ask your tax [...]
Direct Mail vs. Email Marketing – Which Should You Use?
Everyone has an opinion on whether you should use direct mail vs. email marketing to promote your business. Opinions on this topic are like noses - everyone has one and they’re all different. You know you need to promote your business, but you want to use your marketing dollars effectively. As a small business owner, you may have a small marketing budget and need to get a big bang for your buck. With that in mind, let me walk you through some examples, which can help you determine what the right strategies could be [...]
5 Proven Strategies to Retain Top Talent
According to a recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 3.3 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in December 2017. That number accounts for 63% of total separations between employees and their employer. According to this 2016 Human Capital Benchmarking Report, the average cost per hire to replace an employee is $4,129 and the average time it takes to fill a position is 42 days. Both could rise in 2018. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and a drain on company resources to hire and train an employee to replace a great team member [...]
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? Expert Advice for Finding Accounting Clients Here are 10 ways to [...]
How to Budget as a Freelancer
Creating a budget as a freelancer shouldn’t be any harder than it is for any other small business. And yet, the rollercoaster ride of finding and keeping clients, collecting invoices, marketing your business and juggling all of this yourself can create major budgeting headaches. Income predictability is a challenge unique to freelancers, according to a recent survey by Upwork and Freelancers Union. Fortunately, there are many simple steps you can take better learn how to budget as a freelancer. Step 1: Keep Business and Personal Finances Separate Even if you used personal assets to [...]
How to Use Google Analytics to Improve and Measure Your SEO
One of the most effective tools that you can use to boost SEO is Google Analytics. This vital resource can give you copious amounts of data that are linked to your website and how well it is doing as a whole, in addition to how well your SEO strategy is doing. One of the main reasons that website owners and SEO consultants swear by Google Analytics is because it can be so useful for discovering areas of your website that need improvement. With that in mind, the question is how can you use Google [...]
Increasing Client Satisfaction in Accounting Firms
What if you could increase customer satisfaction, while also increasing your revenue and profits? What if you could accomplish both objectives without changing your existing workload or staff? In a recent webinar, we walked through the benefits moving towards a more proactive mode with clients by helping them manage the burden of incorporation, LLC filings, registered agent services, and annual compliance management. We also explored CorpNet’s partner program and showed how CPAs, accountants, and bookkeepers can easily add these services to their existing advisory offering. At the end of the webinar, I held a live [...]
Online Brand Guidelines for Small Businesses
Establishing an online brand is essential. A brand, according to the American Marketing Association, is a “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” Ranchers put a hot iron on their cattle to affix a unique symbol—their brand. From a marketing perspective, the idea of a brand is much broader. Your brand is your identity and is the underpinning of your business. Creating Your Online Brand Recognize That a Brand Means Money A brand is a type of intellectual property [...]