When a friend of mine needed to replace his computer last week, the sales person happened to mention that since he was buying the computer for his small business, and it cost more than $1,000, he could claim an extra tax deduction on the purchase.
This tax break forms part of the Australian government’s economic stimulus package, and although I’d read about it, I hadn’t taken much notice of it — or mentioned it to my friend.
This made me wonder if WWD readers in other countries were unaware of stimulus measures they could use. If so, note that if you’ve yet to submit your 2009 tax return, you may still be able to take advantage of the following benefits. Read the rest of this entry »
As we approach April 15th and tax time, it is normal for us to think about how we maintain our books and evaluate if our current process is working for us.
While there’s no shortage of accounting programs available, with varying levels of complexity and pricing, it can be difficult for a small shop to find the right solution. Focusing on ease of use and integration with other web apps, Outright is a great choice for web workers.
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Not understanding bookkeeping, taxes and other administrative tasks can be very off-putting for people thinking about starting their own business. But in reality, these tasks are not that hard to do if you’re organized and get a little professional help.
Now, I’m not a CPA, and the closest I’ve come to taking accounting is being a professor’s assistant in an online graduate program course. However, I must do something right as I’ve been on my own for over four years and my business tax payments remain on target. So here I’m going to share what I do, as it might work for you or give you ideas on how you can keep on top of your business finances.
I keep it simple by having just two tools in my accounting toolbox: QuickBooks and Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Substitute QuickBooks with your favorite accounting application to make this process work for you. I tend to pick up new software fast, but not so with QuickBooks. Regardless, it takes care of all of my invoicing, expensing and tax needs. But we won’t go into that. My way is just one way; check the comments on this post to see a bunch of great ways to handle your taxes.
There are two things you need to do:
Many web workers have a need to track expenses – either for client or employer reimbursement, or just to get their taxes right. And most of us have developed some solution for that – sticky notes, spreadsheets, notebooks, and so on.
Of course, like just about everything else, you can also track your expenses online. The latest service in this field is expens’d, a simple and free web application. The folks behind expens’d say they were trying to avoid simplicity, and they succeeded: you get instant signup and your own subdomain for free (additional users move you into paid plans), and a way to track name, note, date, and amount for expenses. You can also tag expenses (though I don’t see any tag search yet) and create reports, which can be sent by email to anyone – perhaps the best feature here.
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Running your business usually involves tasks that fall into two major categories – the stuff that you want to do and the stuff you have to do. Administrative tasks like invoicing and payroll are likely to fall in the latter category.
While there an abundance of time tracking and invoicing solutions available, choices for online payroll processing have seemingly been sparse. Most businesses use a manual process to trudge through the task or delegate a portion out to their accountant with mixed results. If you are looking to streamline your payroll process, you may want to check out PayCycle as an alternative.
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When a friend of mine needed to replace his computer last week, the sales person happened to mention that since he was buying the computer for his small business, and it cost more than $1,000, he could claim an extra tax deduction on the purchase.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
