The CPA Next Door

One of the most overlooked tax and wealth-building strategies for business owners is employing their children in the family business. When structured correctly, this strategy can create legitimate tax deductions, help children begin investing early through a Roth IRA, and potentially reduce payroll taxes depending on the business structure. However, the rules differ significantly between an LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship or partnership and an S corporation. Understanding

Most small business owners didn’t start their company because they wanted to manage payroll filings, reconcile bank accounts, or stress about tax deadlines. They started because they had a skill, an idea, or a service they believed in. But as a business grows, financial management becomes harder and more important at the same time. What starts as a simple bookkeeping task eventually turns into payroll compliance, cash flow forecasting, tax planning, entity structuring, sales

For many business owners, the tax return is viewed as the end of the process. File the return. Pay the balance. Move on. But the most valuable part of a tax return is often what it reveals before the filing deadline ever arrives. A good tax return should not just report history. It should help guide decisions. The Tax Return Is a Financial X-Ray Most founders focus heavily on revenue, growth, and operations. Those things matter, but the tax return often reveals patterns that

If you are a partner in a business, you may assume that you only pay tax on money you actually receive. Unfortunately, that is not always how it works. One of the most misunderstood concepts in partnership taxation is something called “phantom income.” This occurs when a partner is allocated taxable income but does not receive a corresponding cash distribution. In other words, you owe tax on income that never hit your bank account. How does this happen? Partnerships are taxed