“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” - Lou Holtz

One year into this pandemic season and many pixels have been spilled by all of the think piece articles over it. There really are a few small business tips that you MUST come away with.

So, let's dive right into these lessons for any business from this wild season...

Small Business Tips #1 Establish and maintain a reserve of operating capital.

Just like every family needs an emergency fund of at least 3 months of living expenses, so too should every business have a working capital reserve. In my years of working with small businesses,  it's rare to see such reserves. When you operate on tight margins, it can be difficult to establish such a reserve, but as we saw at the start of the pandemic, it can make the difference between staying in business in try
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To our Utah REIA PEEPS, The “American Rescue Plan” Is A Done Deal. Act FAST and SLOW.

While I normally write weekly, there is information in this blog that you need to know about now that might even impact how you proceed in the following days.

As of this writing, Congress has agreed -- but this is so fresh off the presses that many of my industry colleagues are scrambling, and the research services are still compiling all the data. But I felt it important to get ahead of all of that on your behalf.

There is a lot to discuss, and I will have more to say early next week, but this is important for you to know about NOW. So, let's dive in...

Stimulus Payments 
(and how they might impact your tax paperwork)

These are different from previous stimulus programs: $1,400 dollars per taxpayer and dependent (with signific
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"A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts." - Richard Branson

Unfortunately, many small businesses brainlessly ape big corporations with their marketing, by (wrongly) believing that "if these huge companies built their businesses by that kind of marketing, then it surely should work for us." Build the brand,” they say.

The thinking behind that kind of marketing is that you "get your name out there," and the clients and customers will pour in. "It's all about word of mouth," they say.

Well, if you choose to go down this road, far better is real word-of-mouth advertising.

And that is something that can actually be stimulated and stewarded. And one of the best companies to learn from about this is Disney, specifically about their parks.

(And this is still true in 2021, btw, with all
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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.” - H. Jackson Brown Jr

As we have seen this year, life can turn on a dime ... and we can't plan for every one of the specific ways it may do so. But we CAN plan broadly.

For me and my family, we've put some simple plans in place for a VARIETY of circumstances, not just financial or legal. And it truly helps us sleep better at night, just knowing we have it all covered.

And the unfortunate reality is that the most recent numbers indicate that almost 60% of Americans don't have a basic will -- and that's a big problem.

One of the big reasons that most families don't yet have this in place is because of some incorrect thinking about whether it's right for them or if it's even necessary. And sure, some just haven't gotten around to creating a will or trust. Others think they don't need an estate plan because they're not "rich".

I've even heard from people that they don't want to put it in place because when they do, it's sending some sort of death
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"You have been blessed with a mind that can direct your actions in any way that you choose." -Ramon Luis

It's easy to get lazy when a business can pick the low hanging fruit available in an easy marketplace.

But, that's not always the case, is it?

Markets shrink, funding dries up, prospects aren't as easily found, or profitability margins decrease. So what do you do? Many business owners don't know how to tweak their marketing and sales systems, so they can track the numbers at each step in the sales process and grow in new directions.

I have seen (in several industries) that the businesses who create a culture of accountability, have weekly sales meetings, track their numbers, and hold team members accountable, are successful ... while those that guess and "assume" are usually out of business. It's just a matter of time.

The key is knowing the numbers -- what is the average expected result, and how you are measuring up against that result for each step in the process. This is where accountability starts.

But
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"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." - Napoleon Hill

As I mentioned last week, depending on how your business entity is structured, you could be paying anywhere from 15-25% (or more!) of your business revenue into the coffers of the IRS and various state departments of revenue.

This is the outcome of these blog posts: Guiding you in better business decisions.

Below is a list of what you will need during the tax preparation process on the personal side. Not all of them will apply to you -- probably MOST will not. Nonetheless, it's a useful tax checklist.

Before you get overwhelmed: yes, this is a long list -- but it's the unfortunate reality of our tax code that it's not even comprehensive! These items will cover 95% of small businesses. Really, this is for ensuring that you're able to keep every dollar you can keep under our tax code.

Also note: There are certain CARES Act (stimulus) and CAA (second stimulus) items that you will need to know as well. I've notated them in italics.
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"15 years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world. Now, the real world is an escape from the internet." -Noah Smith

Depending on how your business entity is structured, you could be paying anywhere from 15-25% (or more!) of your business revenue into the coffers of the IRS and various state departments of revenue.

Which, of course, is what we're here to help you minimize.

That's why the "second stimulus bill" signed into law in late December 2020 was a welcomed one for us here at Utah Real Estate Accountants -- simply because it means small business owners are getting more choices during a very tumultuous time. Review this blog to see what is appropriate for your unique situation.

So, because we've been getting so many questions about these, I'd like to run them down as simply as possible so you can make the right choice of action. Because action will be necessary in some cases.

1) Revamped and expanded Employee Retention Tax Credit
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“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” -Confucius

Regardless of national events, or where things are at with PPP and EIDL -- as a small business owner, it's important that you take a REGULAR, clear-eyed look at the underlying legal and financial foundations of your business.

As we all pull our tax documentation together, I can't think of a better time.

I started with these last week, and I'm wrapping them up today.

My Small Business Health Quiz (Part 2)

From last week...

#1: Is the value of your business firmly established?
(Buy/Sell Agreements)
#2: Is there an emergency plan?
(Will & Asset Protection Strategy)
#3: What happens next?
(Business Succession Plan, and more)

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#1: Is the value of your business firmly established?
Questions to consider:

• Have I ever had my business value appraised by an outside party?
• Do I have a formal buy/sell agreement in place?
• Is my buy/sell agreement funded?
• Does my buy/sell agreement adequately protect my heirs, my business, and my partners?
• Has this agreement been reviewed in the last 3 years?

If you have any plans to someday extricate yourself from your business (and you should ALWAYS consider your exit strategy), these are critical questions.

#2: Is there an emergency plan?
Questions to consider:

• Do I have a will, and is it up to date with my business wishes?
• Do I have a plan to retain key employees if something were to happen to me?
• Are my assets protected from potential litigation?
• Have I identified and written down my trusted advisors?

Unless you plan to forever cheat death, a business owner would be foolish to not prepare for that event.

#3: What happens next?
Questions to consider:

• Do I have a formal succession plan prepared and on file?
• Does my succession plan have a provision for disability?

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"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” -Robert Schuller

The passage of this relief bill brought some changes that we had been hoping to see for months (notably the deductibility of PPP-related expenses), but there is much more to this relief bill than merely that, and the $600 stimulus payments that get all of the press.

So I thought I'd delve a little deeper than I did last week on the high points of this CAA bill.

Eviction Relief
This new measure extends the moratorium on evictions under the CARES Act, designed to protect renters from eviction, until January 31, 2021. That means, if you are a renter, you have one more month to get right. For landlords, you need to know that you will have to wait one more month.

PPP-Related Provisions
As I mentioned, businesses are now allowed to deduct expenses associated with their forgiven PPP loans -- this is amazing news.

Further, the new law provides $284.45 bill
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