Category Archives: Education

Education, Illinois

City of Chicago January 2019 Business Education Workshops

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Each month the City of Chicago offers twice-weekly (Wed & Fri) FREE business education workshops presented by experts in private practice as well as representatives from various city departments. There are quite a few good ones this month — see the list below — and this month they’re all offered in Room 805 of City Hall (right downtown and near public transit). To register for any of them, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

City Inspections – Ask Questions, Get Answers
Wed, January 9, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the City of Chicago
To operate a successful business in Chicago you need to know what it takes to maintain compliance. Officials from several City departments will provide insight on how to operate safely, stay compliant, help prepare for inspections and highlight the do’s and don’ts of operating a business.

Roadmap to Business Financing
Fri, January 11, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Fifth Third Bank
In order for businesses to start or grow, financing is often needed. Attend this workshop and you will obtain the pathway to financial success including traditional and non traditional credit sources and how to best prepare for when your company needs capital most.

Business Growth Strategies 101
Wed, January 16, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC)
Are you trying to determine how to grow your business and what area to target for growth? Do you need connections, capital, or additional capacity for your business? Come to the Women’s Business Development Center’s Business Growth Strategies 101 class to begin to identify what part of your business you need to grow, and gain tools that will help fuel your success. Topics that will be covered include finding your target customer, how to prepare for the first time you meet with a banker, and where to begin if you’re thinking about contracting with the government. This workshop will be most meaningful to businesses that have been in business for at least one year.

Rock Your Profile
Fri, January 18, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Hayden Humphrey, Success Coach and Creative Entrepreneur
Attend this workshop and discuss the ins, outs, tips, and tricks of creating a stellar LinkedIn profile. During this workshop, we will discuss the major profile components, best practices for creating a stellar page, and some behind the scenes advice on navigating the platform. Please come prepared with your profile already created and any questions you have on the platform!

How to Obtain the new Pop-Up User or Pop-Up Host Business License
Wed, January 23, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) and Department of Public Health (CDPH) – Food Protection
The City’s new Pop-Up User and Pop-Up Host business licenses are now available for short-term general retail, or food, sales entrepreneurs and owners of commercial spaces respectively. Learn about the unique features which allow the User to “pop-up” around the City during the license term, the license application and food protection requirements and process, as well as the benefit provided to existing Shared Kitchen Users and Retail Food license holders. Be ready to become one of the first to obtain these innovative licenses.

How to Write a Business Plan – What you need to know!
Fri, January 25, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Donna R. Rockin, Managing Partner at Rockin Enterprises, Inc.
Learn how to create a comprehensive business plan. It’s easier than you think when you understand all the components that get included. You’ll receive a complete list of what to include to demystify the process. Writing a solid business plan is your roadmap to business success.

Nuts and Bolts of Creating a Charitable Organization
Wed, January 30, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the Community Law Project
Attend this workshop to learn about the legal steps to becoming a charitable organization, the differences between a for profit and a nonprofit and provide an overview of the legal process of creating a not for profit corporation, developing a board of directors, explain bylaws, and obtaining recognition of 501c3 income tax exemption for the organization.

To register, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

Education, IRS, Tips

Hobby Loss Rules – You Can’t Deduct Your Expenses If You Aren’t In It To Make A Profit

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My favorite tax writer has done it again — Tony Nitti does an amazing job in this article of explaining the nine factors the IRS takes into consideration when deciding whether an activity is a business or a hobby.

Where I see this come up most frequently is when someone loves a product (or service) — some examples I’ve seen are essential oils, diet supplements, a brand of clothing, or even a coaching method — and they realize that if they become a reseller of that product or service, they get deep discounts on the products. Bam! All of a sudden they have a business, right? Wrong. If the reason they enter into the activity is to get a personal discount on personal products, that’s not a business. There are specific guidelines and definitions about what constitutes a business, and that’s not one of them.

However, if they engage in that same activity in a businesslike manner and with an intent to make a profit, then it is possible that it might be treated as a business and therefore the expenses can be deducted against the income.

I’ll quote the master to explain further, since he does such a good job with it; but ultimately what I want you to do if you’re in this area (or have a friend claiming they can deduct everything related to their part-time hobby) is to just read the article. I promise, it’s both entertaining and educational.

Some excerpts:

Many activities are not entered into “with the intent of making a profit.” And when that happens, the activity is a hobby rather than a business.

The ramifications of being categorized as a hobby are severe: while a business can generate a loss, when you’re conducting a hobby, you may only deduct your expenses to the extent of your income. But here’s the rub: these hobby expenses have historically been deducted as other miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A. That makes a hobby classification particularly painful in 2018, because as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, there are no more “other miscellaneous itemized deductions.” So you get the idea: from 2017 on, if you’re conducting a hobby, and not a business, you have to include all of the income, but can’t deduct any of the expenses.

The case history surrounding the hobby loss rules extends FAR beyond 2018. There are countless decisions covering everything from horse breeding to rental activities to cattle ranching to motocross racing… a common theme would quickly emerge: if you don’t take your business seriously, then the IRS and the courts won’t either. Thus, it is absolutely imperative that you conduct your activity in a businesslike manner, and a good start would be to do the following:

  • have a mission statement,
  • maintain a separate bank account,
  • keep separate, accurate, books and records,
  • use those books and records to manage the business; i.e., if a business line isn’t profitable, perhaps you should consider abandoning it,
  • consult with people in the industry to see what has worked for them,
  • make efforts to cut costs if losses are continuing to mount.

In sum, it’s not enough to keep a QuickBooks account. You have to show that you’re really trying to generate a profit, and that means you have to actually, you know… use the information contained within those books and records to try and turn a loss into a profit.

Source: The Top Tax Court Cases of 2018: Reunited With The Hobby Loss Rules And It Feels So Good

Education, Illinois

Dec 12-21 Chicago Business Education Workshops

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Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) offers small business workshops every Wednesday and Friday. Workshops vary each month and are conducted by City Officials, experts, and partner business organizations. There are only four left in 2018:

Press Release Basics: Wed, December 12, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
Drawing Web Traffic – Increase Your Audience, Grow Your Business: Fri, December 14, 9:30am – 11:00am
The Basics of Employment Policies, Handbooks & Contracts: Wed, December 19, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
Everything You Need To Know About Business Insurance: Fri, December 21, 9:30am – 11:00am

All workshops are free and open to the public. Workshops are held at BACP’s offices located in Room 805 and Room 1103 at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., in downtown Chicago. The full calendar is here.

To register for a workshop, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Also, in case you weren’t aware, BACP offers a Business Start-Up Certificate Program, designed to give business owners the essential elements in starting and growing a business. Attend nine workshops at BACP and learn the essentials of business planning, financing, marketing, legal issues, technology and more. Complete the program workshops within six months and earn your certificate, as well as get free advice on your business plan. You can register for the Business Start-Up Certificate Program at any BACP workshop. Learn about the full set of BACP offerings here.

And visit their Business Video Library here.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

Education

NSAC Cooperative Accounting Webinar Dec 11

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If you’re a client, friend or regular reader of this blog (or all three), you’ll know that I am passionate about education, especially when it comes to accounting for cooperatives. I believe that the cooperative structure is the most viable entity when it comes to achieving balance between social and economic goals. It is conducive to conducting both small- and large-scale businesses while not ignoring the needs of the community, its members, and our broader culture and society.

As such, I’ve encouraged my clients to consider adopting co-op structures and policies, and have encouraged my accounting colleagues to consider broadening the scope of their offerings to include co-op accounting and taxation. In my work with the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC), the National Cooperative Business Association‘s Co-op Professionals Conference (NCBA CPC), and the Cooperative Economy Summit, I’ve tried to build bridges and help mentor and develop the next generation of co-op accountants.

This upcoming course offered by NSAC is a three-hour introduction to accounting for cooperatives (plus a one-hour break for lunch). It covers the basics of what a co-op is, co-op taxation, and co-op GAAP.

Basic A&A Session 1
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Time: 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 09:00 AM MT / 08:00 AM PT
Approximate Duration: 240 minutes
Presenter(s): Phil Miller, Asst. NSAC Education Director & Meegan Moriary, USDA
Objective: This will be a 3 part CLN covering, What is a Cooperative, Basic Co-op Tax and Basic Co-op Accounting. There will be a 1 hour lunch break from 1-2 PM ET.
Field of Study: .5 tax .5 accounting
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 3 Credit Hours
Delivery Method: Group-Live
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Course Description
Introduction to Co-ops
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
What is a Cooperative?
Cooperative History
Cooperatives in the Community
Benefits of Cooperatives

Basic Co-op Taxation I
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
Tenets of Co-op Taxation
Co-op Taxation History
Applicable Internal Revenue Codes
Patronage Refunds
Section 521
Examples

Co-op GAAP
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught a basic level. The course discussion includes:
GAAP Applicability
AICPA AcSEC SOP 85-3
AICPA Audit & Accounting Guide
FAS 71 Accounting for Regulation
Co-op GAAP Within FASB Codification

Source: NSAC Cooperative Learning Network – Basic A&A Session 1

Education

End-Of-Year Payroll Considerations Webinar, Nov 28

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Today I came across a free one-hour webinar that I’d love to share with those in my line of work — or with clients who want to better understand how different types of income are reported (for themselves or their partners, employees and contractors).

The webinar is titled, “End of Year Payroll Considerations for Your Clients: W-2, 1099 & K-1 Distributions” and is being offered for free by CPA Academy on November 28, at 11 am Central Time.

Their description:

In this webinar, a TriNet payroll expert will provide information to help attendees guide their clients through the end of the year payroll process, including how to explain the difference between a W2, 1099 and K1 distribution, when each is required, as well as why this information is important to HR compliance and business success. Attendees will leave with more information on how to prepare their clients with the information they need for accurate, compliant payroll reporting and filing.

The difference between these types of income has even more effect on the bottom line where taxes are concerned than ever before, thanks to the new tax laws, and confusion still exists as to what goes where and why. Get a leg up on this before it’s time to issue these documents for clients or to employees.

Source: CPA Academy

Education, Illinois

City of Chicago Pop-Up Business License Workshop Nov 28

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Wed, November 28, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
 

Starting December 1st, the City’s new Pop-Up User and Pop-Up Host business licenses will be available for short-term general retail or food sales, providing new options to entrepreneurs and owners of commercial spaces. Learn about the unique features which allow the User to “pop-up” around the City during the license term, the license application requirements and process, as well as the benefit provided to existing Shared Kitchen Users and Retail Food license holders. Be ready to become one of the first to obtain these innovative licenses.

To register, please email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

Education, Tips

Help Clients Save Money On Prescription Drugs & Medicare Part D

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When studying to become an accountant, it never occurred to me to take psychology classes; but in fact, much of the work we do involves areas of clients’ lives that are deeply personal. Yet no one ever trains us in divorce consulting, human resources, vehicle purchasing, credit counseling, health insurance brokerage, or, in the case of this recent interesting article I’d like to share: prescription drug coverage.

The author, James Sullivan, is a financial planner who specializes in working with clients suffering from chronic illnesses (and their families). He recently published a piece on how to assist clients when choosing a Medicare Part D prescription coverage plan, and related tips on saving money at the pharmacy. He offers a simple follow-along example that illustrates the main points:

Clients need to consider more than cost when choosing a Part D plan. Before selecting one, they should think about several questions:

Is your prescription drug(s) on the plan’s formulary?

Is your favorite local pharmacy in-network, a preferred pharmacy, or out-of-network?

What is your out-of-pocket cost if you use the local pharmacy versus using mail order?

Are you comfortable using mail order?

Once these questions are answered, the client should consider the plan’s annual deductible, the co-payments and co-insurance, its drug tiers, and any drug restrictions.

I encourage you to read the full article in Journal of Accountancy here, especially for the real-life illustration that offers some great tips.

Source: Help clients save money on prescription drugs

Education, IRS, Tips

IRS Side-By-Side Comparison For Businesses Of Tax Cuts & Jobs Act

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I found the recent IRS release on the new tax law — a side-by-side comparison for businesses showing “before-and-after” rules — to be well-written and clear, and it does a good job of highlighting the key changes in order of relative importance to most companies. As such, I’m reprinting the recent IRS newsletter to small businesses in its entirety below.

From the IRS e-News for Small Business, Issue #36:

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits and other tax items affecting businesses. This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes and plan accordingly.

Some provisions of the TCJA affecting individual taxpayers can also affect business taxes. Businesses and self-employed individuals should review tax reform changes for individuals and determine if and how these provisions may concern their business situation.

Visit IRS.gov/taxreform regularly for tax reform updates. Businesses can find details and the latest resources at Tax Reform Provisions that Affect Businesses.

Education, Tips

Vacation Time Is Key to a Better Business

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I’ve had the privilege to work with many wonderful clients through the years, among them, Honey Butter Fried Chicken and Sunday Dinner Club, both brainchildren of talented chefs Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp.

Recently, Christine’s writing was featured in the James Beard Foundation’s op-ed series, where luminaries from the culinary world get a chance to share their unique perspectives. Here, she:

explores the structures and cultural assumptions of the industry that disincentivize taking time off, and why she and her co-owner Josh Kulp decided to make the benefit of paid leave a top priority.

These chef-owners have always made fair wages, benefits and PTO a priority in their business, but in this article, she lays out why this commitment has resulted in a return on investment (ROI) — not just an ethical responsibility. Christine breaks it down into three main areas:

1) What started simply as a pledge to take care of our people has gifted our small business back with big benefits. Staff are happier and healthier when they have the resources to care for themselves. They come to work with higher energy, and give better service. They stay with us longer, which yields less turnover.

2) We view this as a benefit not just to staff, but to the restaurant itself. It’s smart business for our team to experience what it is like when their co-workers are out: how to cover positions and how to run lean… Our team has embraced a culture that supports time off. We all pitch in and work a little more when people are out, because at some point it will be our turn.

3) It’s good business for [owners] to take time off, too. It allows me to rest and reset… all of which have made me a much better business partner, leader, and human. It’s beneficial for all of us: not just in terms of my own health as an owner… but for my staff as well. It gives them the opportunity to run the business, to troubleshoot and fix things. It allows them to grow into their roles and shine on their own. If we owners and chefs never take a day (or even an hour) off, our teams won’t gain these experiences.

Her closing paragraph sums it up perfectly, in my opinion, and echoes some of the key teachings of thought-leaders throughout the business world:

It takes a village to run a restaurant—so we let them run it. I don’t believe we are, nor should be, crucial to the daily survival of our kitchens and businesses. Especially if we want to be in business for five, 10, or 20-plus years. And if we want our amazing staff to stick around and come on that journey with us, we need to make sure they’re taken care of. We must provide them the means to take time off when they need to—so that they can be strong and healthy along the way.

Read the full article here: Why Vacation Time Is the Key to a Better Restaurant | James Beard Foundation

Education, Software, Tips

Small Business Credit & Financing Webinars

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The question of funding for small businesses comes up quite often, and I found myself yet again recommending Nav.com to a client recently. It’s been a while since I mentioned the two helpful webinars offered by them on CPAacademy.org — both archived so you can access them anytime:

Help Your Clients Build Strong Credit And Get Lender-Ready

  • Learn how strong business credit scores can help businesses grow.
  • Understand the process for building business credit.
  • Identify and avoid common ways business activity puts business owner’s personal credit at risk.
  • Help your small business clients become “lender-ready.”

Where’s The Money? Financing Sources For Your Small Business Clients

  • Understand the pros and cons as well as lender requirements for the main types of financing.
  • Learn about financing options for start-ups, business owners with poor personal credit, and other challenging situations.
  • Help your clients prepare for financing and avoid expensive pitfalls.
  • Get free tools you can use to help your clients evaluate costs and make better borrowing decisions.​

I have no particular allegiance to Nav over any of the other companies, such as FundBox, except that I’ve been very impressed with their mission and their commitment to client education, especially from Gerri Detweiler, the Head of Market Education. A quote from their website:

We launched Nav in 2012 to solve a major challenge faced by small business owners: finding affordable financing. There are more ways than ever to get business funding—over 44 options at last count—but it is still a complex and miserable experience. Business owners need a partner, not just a loan. As small business owners themselves, our founders, Levi King and Caton Hanson, experienced this challenge first hand. They believed small business owners deserved an easier, transparent way to manage their financial health and find the right financing.

The two webinars above do a great job of outlining how you can help your accounting, bookkeeping and finance clients become more credit-worthy and prepare for future borrowing. And Nav itself does a great job of helping them find the least expensive loan for their risk-level.

Some tips they mention in the webinars, for businesses wanting to establish credit: maintain under 30% credit utilization; have 5 or fewer credit inquiries in the past 6 months; and have at least $5k in personal credit limits.

I want to specifically mention the app “Nav Business Loan Reality Check App” — a great tool for small businesses to see the lender’s view of their creditworthiness. Another is the “Match Factor” tool, which I remember as impressive, along with these helpful links:

– Business Financing Options
https://www.nav.com/business-financing-options/

– Link to the Interest Rate Traps calculations feature from my website to help clients calculate the APR of business financing.
https://www.nav.com/business-loan-calculators/

For accountants, you can set up your own account, check your credit score, and even see if your business has its own credit score. You can also join their accountant advisor program and get free business credit reports to send to clients who are considering looking at borrowing options. I recommend signing up to receive their “Accounting Professional’s Guide to Business Credit” if the webinars leave you hungry for more.

And as always, none of this is sponsored material. I’m just a fan of the company because they’ve been helpful to my clients, and their webinars have been helpful in making me a better consultant.