- Determine the type of business entity
in which you will conduct business.
The major choices include sole proprietor, partnership, limited
liability company LLC, corporation, nonprofit, and L3C (low-profit limited
liability company).
- Apply for your Federal Tax ID number if you
haven’t already. Here is an IRS URL
to give you some guidance on this: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html
- Establish a separate bank account for
your business. This will
significantly reduce the time and cost you spend on bookkeeping and allow
you, at a glance, to track how much cash is going in and out of the
business.
- Set up an accounting system that
matches the complexity of your business.
There are many flavors of QuickBooks to meet small business’s
needs.
- Set up the forms you need to track
transactions. For example, you’ll
need an invoice or receipt form and checks at the very least. You might also want to set up purchase
orders, estimates, and statements.
All of these forms are included in QuickBooks so that you don’t
have to reinvent the wheel.
- Check to make sure you have all of the
business licenses you need. This
usually includes a city license and sales tax license. You might also need food and beverage
licenses, environmental permits, health permits, building approvals, and
more. Go to www.business.gov to find out more.
- Secure business insurance to protect
your financial investment.
- Create a realistic budget, and work
within the budget as much as you can.
- Make estimated tax deposits throughout
the year, especially if your type of entity is a sole proprietor,
partnership, or S-corp.
- Value your time. Spend as much time as possible on your
core business and outsource accounting, administrative, and legal work to
experts and staff.
Compliments of VXL Services, a
Business Consulting Services Company that provides Accounting, Tax, Payroll,
Consulting and Company Incorporation Services to Start ups, Small and Medium
Sized companies across US. If you have any questions please contact us at (732)
983 – 4150 or visit us at www.vxlservices.com
for all the various Business Packages that we have to offer.
