Archive for the 'Finance - Accounting - Taxes' Category

The facts on small business and banks

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 24, 2011
in Banking - Investors - Capital, Cashflow - Credit - Collections and Finance - Accounting - Taxes
. 0 Comments

Listening to pundits and politicians, you’d think banks were intentionally hurting small businesses and the economy. When a Senator or “Talking Head” says, “This economy needs banks to start lending to small businesses again,” you might think they know what they’re talking about. They don’t.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index is the gold standard of small business surveys. If you track the monthly results of Dr. Bill Dunkelberg’s work on his Index, as I have on my radio program for more than a decade, you will see that throughout the entire period since the Great Recession began in 2008, more than 90% of small business owners have consistently reported that their “credit needs are being met.”

It’s true that the big banks curtailed lending while getting their own balance sheets under control. But out here on Main Street USA, if your small business qualifies for credit and wants it, you can get it from either an independent community bank or credit union, if not from one of the national banks. The problem is not credit availability; it’s demand. Like everybody else on Planet Earth, small businesses are deleveraging.

We wanted to know a bit more about the banking relationships of small business owners, so recently, on our website and weekly e-newsletter, we asked this question: “What type of bank do you do business with?” Here’s what we learned:

Our respondents who do business with a “large regional or national bank,” were barely more than those who said they trade with a “local community bank,” coming in at 38% and 36%, respectively. The third option of our poll, “a local credit union” – which are increasingly proving their relevance to small businesses – was chosen by 15% of our sample. And finally, a little more than one-in-ten said they needed a bank.

A week later, in a companion poll, we asked our small business audience: “Are you happy with your current banking relationship?” Seven out of ten said yes and 17% said no. And the group who said they “would change banks if they could,” came in at 13%.

The results of our unscientific online polls are backed up by the findings of several highly regarded surveys, like Dunkelberg’s NFIB Index: Main Street small businesses are dealing with many challenges in this not-so-great recovery, but access to credit is not one of them.

Uncertainty is suppressing small business loan demand, not banks.

I talked more about banking relationships recently on The Small Business Advocate Show. Click here to listen or download my conversation on how happy small businesses are with their banks.

For more great SBA content, click HERE!

What do you think of tax increases to support Social Security and Medicare?

Published
by
ethan
on August 5, 2011
in Economy: National and Global and Finance - Accounting - Taxes
. 0 Comments

The Question:

In order to make Social Security and Medicare solvent, tax increases, means testing, and reduced benefits are being considered. What do you think?

62% - If it will make the social programs solvent, make the changes

38% - Find another way to fix these programs

The Commentary:

We asked this question: In order to make Social Security and Medicare solvent, tax increases, means testing, and reduced benefits are being considered. What do you think?

A little more than six of ten or our respondents said, “If it will make the social programs solvent, make the changes.” The rest, 38%, went the other way, with this answer, “Find another way to fix these programs.”

As I’ve been saying in response how America is going to get its financial house in order, there will be pain. The question is do we want to experience that pain while we have some control over the solution, or wait and experience it when another entity – a holder of our debt, global competitor, or both – make the decision for us.

Be sure to take this week’s poll! Click HERE!

So, what steps have to be taken to save Social Security and Medicare? Recently on my show, I talked with Bob Jennings, President of Lean Management Group and co-author of The Adversity Paradox, about  reforming retirement entitlements, raising the eligibility age, means testing, and increased payments from participants.

To listen to our conversation, click HERE.

A college student beat the street with rules-based investing

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on August 4, 2011
in Banking - Investors - Capital and Finance - Accounting - Taxes
. 0 Comments

Can a college co-ed beat the Street? Bob Fischer and Jenny Young join Jim Blasingame to discuss how this Sweet Briar College co-ed beat the top Wall Street investment advisors using rules-based investment strategies.

Click here to listen to or download the audio
Click here for the Small Business Advocate homepage

Tax reform: the hot topic in 2012?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 15, 2011
in Finance - Accounting - Taxes and Politics
. 0 Comments

As April 15th approaches, every small business owner is all too keenly aware of the symbolism of this day. Regardless of when you actually file and pay your taxes - many small businesses file extensions or are incorporated, in which case the due date is actually the Ides of March - April 15 has become a metaphor for the government’s hand being in your pocket.

Most agree that the current system is way too complicated. Unfortunately, our Rube Goldberg-like tax code, with it’s thousands of moving parts, is too handy for politicians to monkey around with to suit their political agenda. Consequently, generations of business owners have had to deal annually with any number of new provisions, changes, updates, repeals, sunsets, delayed renewals and court rulings ad nauseum, as they attempt to develop an operating budget, pricing, etc., for each new year.

We wanted to know what you thought about the current system and two of the alternative systems that have been debated over the past 15 years. So we asked this question: “As you prepare for National Income Tax Day, do you think it’s time for tax reform?”

The first option was, “The current system is okay with me,” which was selected by a whopping three percent. The next choice was the flat tax, which was chosen by 69% of our respondents (Steve Forbes, call your office). And finally, those who said a value-added tax system would be best, but only if the current income tax system was repealed, came in at a little less than one-third of our sample.

Based on the results of our poll, it looks like tax reform could be a hot topic in the 2012 elections.

On The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with Barbara Weltman, tax attorney, columnist, author of J.K. Lasser’s Small Business Taxes, and publisher of Big Ideas for Small Business®, a free monthly online newsletter, about small business tax tips for 2010 and 2011. Take a few minutes to click on one of the links below and let us know what you think of the current tax code and how you think it should be changed.

Listen or Download: New tax planning tips for 2010 and 2011

Listen or Download: Small business tax and filing obligations

Navigating the uncertainty of small business taxes for 2011

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on August 13, 2010
in Business planning, Finance - Accounting - Taxes and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Several months ago, I wrote an article that was titled, “The enemy of jobs creation is uncertainty.” In the article I identified several issues that were causing small business owners to be reluctant to invest or hire.  One of those things was - and still is - not knowing what the income tax burden will be in the future.  Today, there are several tax issues unresolved that will impact virtually every small business.

1.  The personal tax rate, the corporate tax rate and the capital gains tax rate: We still don’t know what Congress will do with the tax cuts from 2001-03, often called the “Bush tax cuts,” which are set to expire at the end of 2010.  Not knowing the tax implications creates frustration when trying to project profit margins or do retirement planning.  And if we have any assets that we might want to sell in the short-term, we feel pressure to sell them this year, since the cap gains rate may go up next year.

2.  The health care bill:  No one really knows how this new program will impact small businesses, both organizationally, financially or from a compliance standpoint.  Speaking of compliance, one of the big concerns involves the proposed 1099 reporting requirements that is an element of the health care bill. Every small business advocacy organization I’ve talked with in the past few months has said this new compliance requirement will be a nightmare for small businesses.

Recently, we polled visitors to my website about what the government should do with the expiring tax cuts. Over 80% of our respondents said the tax cuts should be extended.  If the government wants to get the economy going quicker, they will do everything they can to help small businesses understand what their future tax compliance requirements are as soon as possible.

Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show., I talked with small business tax expert, Barbara Weltman, about why current tax policies are creating a great deal of uncertainty among small businesses, including the new 1099 reporting provision. Barbara Weltman, is a tax attorney and author of many books on small business tax planning, including the J.K. Lasser series. I hope you will take a few minutes to listen to what Barbara has to say, and be sure to leave your comments. Listen Live! Download, Too!

The evolution of small business dreams

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on March 6, 2009
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Entrepreneurship, Finance - Accounting - Taxes, Government, Home-based business, Innovation - Creativity, Inspirational and Motivational, Just-In-Time Inventory, Lawsuits, Management Fundamentals, Marketing - Branding - Advertising, Online technologies, Sales - Sales Management, Start-up, State and Local, Trade Secrets, Uncategorized, Universal health care and e-Business
. 0 Comments

The British playwright, William Archer (1856-1924), once remarked to a friend about how a “perfect plot” had played out to him and “evolved” in a dream one night. He saw “the whole thing, from beginning to end,” and when he awoke, put pen to paper.

Small business owners know about this kind of dream. It begins with what I call the founding dream, which is the first time an unconscious entrepreneurial inclination pops upon our consciousness radar screen.

At first a founding dream may be barely perceptible. And when one is remembered for the first time upon waking, the awareness is often more troubling than remarkable: What does this mean? What do I do with this?

But if the mind and the spirit are receptive, a founding dream “evolves” into more than a blip on the radar. Subsequent dreams become less impressionistic and more real. Animated dreams come next. Your nocturnal entrepreneurial visions play out with an actual cast of characters - sometimes in Technicolor.

Now you’re well aware of, and more comfortable with, your small business dreams and you start to do a little day dreaming. Day dreaming is the first step in the due diligence process - the research. You start asking lots of questions: What if….? How do I…? Where does this…? Who can…? When should…?

Ultimately, as the answers to these questions are revealed and accumulate, you begin to make your entrepreneurial dream become reality; you actually start living the dream of owning your own business. At this point the start-up dreams will stop. Since you’re now living your dream, why dream about it, right?!

Your founding dream now has a name, address, phone number and a tax ID number. It has “evolved” into the “perfect plot” for your small business.