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Weekly Takeaway: Stay abreast of the tax laws, even when you are “knee deep” in tax season; be informed and keep your staff, clients, and other tax professionals informed of the latest developments.  They may roll their eyes, but they can as they are well informed of the law and developments surrounding filing requirements.  Rolling 🙄your eyes is a luxury as compared to panic and sleepless nights 😥when you are NOT informed.

 NEWEST NEWS on BOI:  The on-again, off-again beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are back on after a nationwide preliminary injunction was lifted. As a result, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, has extended the filing deadline for most reporting companies to March 21, 2025, though further modification may be issued.  Here’s the link to the FinCEN website landing page, their latest alert and the blog page from our website where you can search 🔍BIO and find information we have shared.

AND NOW Let’s focus on…

Financial Best Practices for Small Business

When you run a small business, you have a lot on your plate. That makes it tempting to let some tasks slide—especially financial tasks, which can be challenging and often fall outside your preferred skill set or experience. For small business owners in New York, consulting with an accountant in Queens can make managing these tasks significantly easier. Similarly, healthcare practitioners, other professionals and small business owners can benefit from working with a CPA firm who understands industry-specific challenges medical practitioners, other professionals and small business owners.

Here are some financial best practices for managing your business or professional or medical practice, so you can have the best chances of success:

• Pay Yourself:  As a small business owner, you may be tempted to reinvest every cent you earn back into your business, but it’s important to compensate yourself, too. You need to pay your bills, ensure personal financial health, and save for retirement. This is especially crucial for professionals like doctors and dentists, other small business owners and professionals whose income depends on steady practice management. A CPA for medical practitioners, other professionals and small business owners can help ensure your salary aligns with both personal and business goals.  Make sure you draw a regular income from your business to take care of personal expenses and secure your financial future.  In addition, “reasonable compensation” is not just an idea it’s a requirement.  We subscribe to special software which allows us to compare salaries via benchmarking:

• business type
• business location
• management position and responsibilities
• employee position and responsibilities
• other variables in order to support the salaries paid for the business employees.

• Maintain a Separate Business Bank Account(s):  Combining business and personal finances makes it harder to track performance and manage expenses. By maintaining separate bank accounts, you can more easily monitor spending and simplify tax preparation. This distinction is particularly helpful for those managing medical accounting, where regulatory compliance is critical.   Deposit your business income into a dedicated business account; direct deposit your salary (reasonable compensation) into your personal account.
• Maintain a Separate Business Credit Card(s) Again, combining business and personal finances makes it harder to track performance and manage expenses. By maintaining separate credit cards, you can more easily monitor spending and simplify tax preparation.
• Set Up and Follow a Good Billing AND Collection Strategy:  Dealing with slow-paying clients can strain your cash flow. Money tied up in unpaid invoices isn’t accessible until it’s in your bank account. To stay ahead, monitor your invoicing system and identify patterns in late payments. Adjust your payment policies, such as training your front desk and other administrative staff.   If you’re professional practice is in healthcare which depends on processing fees via insurance claims and patient co-payments, a CPA who specializes in working with medical practitioners can help you refine billing strategies to handle those insurance claims and patient payments. We have been discussing various strategies with our medical practitioners AND it’s working!
• Document, Document, Document; Maintain Accurate Contemporaneous Receipts/Records:  Digital platforms have made it easier to manage receipts and financial records without clutter. Going paperless not only saves space but also improves organization. This is especially important for businesses like medical practitioners, small businesses and other professional practices where keeping accurate records is essential for accounting and compliance audits.  Be aware of how long you must keep receipts, pay stubs, and other documents based on local regulations, and maintain an easy-to-access digital filing system.  We LOVE to manage the data and by using cloud-based accounting software we can do so effectively. This type of software enables bank and credit card activity feeds we monitor and thus are able to identify possible theft early on (once defalcations are identified our clients are able to alert their bankers, so important for fraud support and reimbursement).
• Create and Follow a Realistic Budget- then evaluate, update and repeat:  Your budget is your roadmap to financial success. It helps you anticipate income and expenses, identify peak revenue periods, and prepare for higher costs. A budget is also a critical tool when seeking financing from banks or investors.  For example, if you’re running a healthcare practice, small business or other professional practice, a budget developed with input from a CPA for your specialty can account for variable factors like insurance reimbursements and operational costs. Having a clear budget not only keeps you on track but also shows stakeholders you’re managing your business responsibly.

Final Thoughts

Other strategies to improve financial management include automating bill payments, maintaining a cash flow statement, and choosing the right business structure. But to start, focus on creating a business plan, a budget, keeping organized records, refining your billing strategy, and paying yourself a regular salary via direct deposit into your personal bank account.

Whether you’re a local entrepreneur needing guidance from an accountant in Queens or a healthcare provider looking for help with medical accounting, professional support can make a significant difference.

Want to learn more about how we can help you stay on top of your finances? Contact us today to schedule a discovery session; let’s talk concerns and solutions.

Feel free to search our website for some of our complementary resources or get in touch:  Contact us if you have tax concerns, tax minimization questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business success and financial goals.  Here is the link to read our blog posts; type BOI in the search box 🔍 for those posts specific to business best practices and/or BOI reporting requirements.