CPA's role, Bookkeeper's role, Business and Tax Avoidance strategies, Etc

Porkbrick

Porkbrick

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i think it can be declared for 2016 seeing as i haven't taken it yet. im going to have to form a corp and keep the money there so as not to mix in personal income. gofundme apparently doesnt 1099 unless you get over $20000 AND over 200 individuals donating, so, depending on how your campaign is worded you might get away with claiming the money as gifts. i will claim it as income since it essentially boils down to a pre-sale. corp will also help with liability and stuff.
 
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Income? Income you would rightfully pay taxes on and you can buy dinner with some of what is left over.

Seed money, deposits, etc is what I would have thought it was.
 
Porkbrick said:
i think it can be declared for 2016 seeing as i haven't taken it yet. im going to have to form a corp and keep the money there so as not to mix in personal income. gofundme apparently doesnt 1099 unless you get over $20000 AND over 200 individuals donating, so, depending on how your campaign is worded you might get away with claiming the money as gifts. i will claim it as income since it essentially boils down to a pre-sale. corp will also help with liability and stuff.
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Interesting, glad you got a cpa.
 
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we already had a cpa due to my wifes acupuncture business. there is no way im taking that amount of money without consulting someone. i can just imagine royally screwing something like that and ending up with nothing but a bunch of angry contributors.
 
Jaime, my first Cpas told me it was a bad CPA that couldn't earn his pay by the savings he brought the client.

I imagine in the US tax laws are real simple ( :lol:) but here, they are a frigging jungle. So I wouldn't even consider running a busines withour a CPA.
I called mine about how to enter the Akimbo prepayment/ support money into the books, rather than letting my bokkeper deal with it.
She was the one who told me, that since it is not funding, but a pre payment, it was 100% deductible.
When it is only that amount of money, it doesn't matter much, but it all adds up.

She was also the one, who told me how to set our first Sequoia/Redwood climb up, so we could deduct the whole thing. I mean: plane tickets, car rental, hotel rooms, even food........the works.
That needed a bit of help from Jerry B. but it worked perfectly.

Never under estimate the powers of a good CPA:D
 
Porkbrick said:
we already had a cpa due to my wifes acupuncture business. there is no way im taking that amount of money without consulting someone. i can just imagine royally screwing something like that and ending up with nothing but a bunch of angry contributors.
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Me too!
 
In what ways do CPAs save you money. I like Stig's Redwood example. Some hard to read fine print, there.
 
Mostly my bookkeeper/ accountant whatever you call her, non CPA but worked for one for a long while, pays taxes, payroll, Profit and Loss, does my corporation stuff.

Can you be more specific please, Willie?

I wonder if I should have both, or if she is handling my needs adequately.
 
Mine will tell us that we have to go buy some piece of equipment before the end of the year, to keep from paying too much in tax.
Told us excactly how to circumnavigate the weird danish rules about deducting work clothes.
Either put a logo on it and call it advertizing or decide that everybody wears a "Company uniform", which is why we all are outfitted in Arborwear and hickory shirts.
Basically makes sure that EVERYTHING that in any way can be made deductable, is.

We have a bookkeper, because that keeps the CPA cost down, when she simply gets all the books already made in order at the end of the year.
 
Bookkeeper does the data entry, cpa consults with me regarding the data.
Buy something, don't buy something. Why are you spending more on repairs this year than last. He checks percentages of everything and tells you what is good and what is not, "successful business tend to be in this percentage. "How much do you want to pay in tax this year, worst case is this and I can make it so you pay nothing this year". I'll ask if I can do something and he'll tell me how if I can do it.
Not all are created equal, I'm on my third and he's head and shoulders above the others
 
No, they can be very different.
My first one said that if your personalities didn't match somewhat, it wouldn't work.
When he retired, I got another and couldn't stand him, next one was a lazy bastard, and unfortunately the woman I have now, who is really good is nearing retirement age.
 
Mine told me two valuable bits of info that illustrate why I use him and will search out another CPA of his quality when he retires.

The first is that no one is legally bound to pay any more tax to the IRS than they absolutely must. Hence the value in Stigs work clothing example. Viewed as your favorite work shirt maybe you can't write it off but as advertising or company uniform you can. You are not bound by law to list it one way over the other.

The second was that, "It's a game." "When I worked for the IRS I played the game hard for them. Now that I work for the public, I play the game hard for the public." (He was a Field Agent, and then trained same for 18 years.)

Before I found him I used a bookeeper whos main motto was that he never wanted be a part of an audit by the IRS etc. I think I paid at least twice as much as I needed to year after year.
 
Don't know if Butch can transfer over from the Akimbo thread.

What roles/ services do your CPA and bookkeeper play in your business?

How have they helped you with successful business and tax strategies?

Whatever else can fit under this broad concept...

Discuss?
 
Our CPA has been invaluable. She makes us way more money than she charges. Of course, we also incorporated, but that was a survival strategy. A good CPA will be able to guide a person through the process of LLCs LLPs and Corps.

I do think it is important to have a CPA that knows about business. A CPA that did only wage earners taxes and not business taxes, would be of little benefit. I would suggest shopping around and asking some successful businesses in your area to find who does their taxes. Businesses that are at least remotely related to mine.

My wife is the bookkeeper for the outfit, as well a basically full time on the ranch. That is a huge help too.

My dad said that when my mother quit her job in town to stay home and run the books, they made more money than when she had a job.
 
Merle Nelson said:
Mine told me two valuable bits of info that illustrate why I use him and will search out another CPA of his quality when he retires.

The first is that no one is legally bound to pay any more tax to the IRS than they absolutely must. Hence the value in Stigs work clothing example. Viewed as your favorite work shirt maybe you can't write it off but as advertising or company uniform you can. You are not bound by law to list it one way over the other.

The second was that, "It's a game." "When I worked for the IRS I played the game hard for them. Now that I work for the public, I play the game hard for the public." (He was a Field Agent, and then trained same for 18 years.)

Before I found him I used a bookeeper whos main motto was that he never wanted be a part of an audit by the IRS etc. I think I paid at least twice as much as I needed to year after year.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Sandy Botkins, maybe he was trained by Sandy!
 
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