My husband just officially opened his window & door/home improvement business. I want to find out all the benefits and expense deductions for a small business. I was looking at the IRS site and found alot of information. I know I need to do a lot more research into this, but any help in making the administrative side easier would be greatly welcomed.

We desperately need to get health insurance. I just put a google in and the results were quite varied as far as deductions and payments. If I want the business to provide health insurance for the family, how do I begin? Can I deduct the whole amount per month from the business?

I was talking to someone the other day and they suggested I get QuickBooks for my accounting system.

What has been your experience in all aspects of opening your own business.

I appreciate any help or advise you can give me.

Thanks so much,
Judi

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"Try to see the glass half-full."

I own my own business but it's an online business, not a brick & mortar. First off, talk to an accountant! I can't tell you how important it is. They can tell you the answers to your questions you have above. In regards to providing health insurance, you will need to talk to your insurance rep. Find a representative specializing in business health insurance. You want a broker who can shop different rates for you. Quickbooks is a good system. I don't use it but I know lots who do. I use spreadsheets but my business doesn't have the ins and outs of a *real* business so it's easier for me. TALK TO A TAX PROFESSIONAL!!!! If you are planning on doing your own taxes, you can probably get a consultation for a minimal cost (although paying my accountant is priceless!)
Good luck

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Congratulations on taking the plunge into the world of small business owners. I am not an owner, but am the Office Mgr for a small mfg facility and run this place like I do own it.

I would recommend an independent insurance agent to be your liaison for health insurance. If you don't know an agent already, start flipping thru the yellow pages and call more than one. He/she will be able to find you the best deal for your family, once you provide details on what kind of deductibles you want, how often you go to the doctor, level of affordability, etc. Don't expect it to be cheap; it isn't. If you are fairly healthy, check into a Health Savings Account (HSA). If you're good with money and healthy, these are great.

Quickbooks was an excellent recommendation. Until I took this job, I'd always used mainframes & had no experience w/ prepackaged software. Aafter checking around, I converted the company from the old system to QB Pro six years ago and it's been flawless the entire time. As with any software, daily and weekly backups of your files are so important. Also keep a weekly copy of your backups offsite; a safe deposit at the bank or a fireproof safe at your home.

Check with friends/relatives and find a good CPA, too. Yes, they can be expensive, but a good one is worth it so you get all your tax deductions and no worries about dealing w/ the IRS by yourself.

There is one other route to try and many small businesses are using it. There are now Professional Employer Organizations which basically lease your employees back to you. These firms process payroll, provide benefits and file taxes for you. If your company has consistently good cash flow, this might be an option. It can be a little pricey per employee, though. If you're interested, just google "professional employer organization" and you'll see several links.

Good luck!

Just deleting information.

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DH owns a small web hosting business and does consulting on the side.

I would say have a CPA at least set up your books for you. If you can at all afford to keep a good CPA it is very much worth the cost.

Welcome to the craziness LOL. Dh and I blindly entered the world of small business 7 years ago when we purchased the small ambulance company he had been working for. I was a SAHM, and I have sure learned alot.

Yes we do have an acct. that comes up quarterly to do our books. I manage AP/AR, and billing. We started with Quickbooks and love it. Last year we converted to Quickbooks Online and this is a great feature as I am able to access it at home, like now, when ill for weeks at a time. Recently our bank added Quickbooks to their site and any and all banking action is automatically downloaded each day to our acct, for our review and acceptance. Great feature.

Our acct is pricess, and is where we go for financial advise.

Last but not least we are a leased company like te previous poster wrote. Our Human Recource Company is called Gevity. We love them. They manage our health insurance and Payroll. I only have to input the hours each week. We save bundles on insurance through them, as because we are a small company it would be very expensive to do it ourselves. By joining Gevity they automatically put us in a pool when getting insurance and get far cheaper rates for all of their smaller companies.

Good Luck with your venture.

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Eileen

**Some people are like Slinky's, not really good for anything, but you can't help laugh when you see one tumble down the stairs**

Welcome to the world of no life it does pay off
1. good for quick books!
2. get an ACCOUNTANT! your quick books HELPS them and will reduce costs
3. my DH has ONE person on his health ins, BC&BS, we live in NJ, the insurance is in the companys name, the company pays the bill every month. It's an expense for the company.
we pay 80% of the insurance the employee pays the rest.
4. get an accountant

Thanks so much everyone for the great advice. I appreciate all your help.

Once again, like I knew, I could definitely count on my cyber friends from Mycoupons. You all are such wonderful people!!! It was fate that I found this board.

Thanx again!!!!!!!!

Judi

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"Try to see the glass half-full."