Posts by placidlynx92

Robert Sanchez6 said:I have finally resolved it; I accessed the application via Internet Explorer. Everything is working perfectly now.

I managed to get in too, but there's a catch—it's only showing me one employer's Tax ID, even though I should be able to see all three listed on the same certificate.🤔>
Does anyone have any idea what’s going on here?

Robin Cook4 said:Which ones do I actually need for a restaurant, and what's the deal with the difference?

You don't need to carry around a physical complaint book anymore—it's just been replaced by a "Consumer complaint notice." It's mandated under the Consumer Protection Act, though I can't recall the specific section off the top of my head.

ruggedmaker2 said:You only track unaccounted time if the employee isn't actually on the premises during their scheduled rest period. So, if they use that 30-minute break to run down to the Department of Justice to pick up an ID or something similar...
If the worker stays on-site during their break because they're just hanging out in the breakroom eating a sandwich, you don't write anything down. 😉

I got lucky—my tracking is all automated through software. Employees clock in on a device, and the program handles the heavy lifting.
I only manually enter things like paid leave, field work, unexcused absences, or partial sick leave.

The absolute bottom line is that your time logs (the number and type of hours worked) MUST match exactly what shows up on the pay stubs.
If your records show an employee worked the night shift for a week, then that exact same detail has to be right there on the paycheck. That’s the first thing the inspectors look for (I was sitting right next to them when they were auditing, so believe me, I know firsthand).

What’s really tripping me up—among other things—is 😁 handling the different hour classifications. I don't have a massive amount of experience in payroll, and seasonal work is its own special kind of headache. I'll have a shift where someone works 9 hours, but the math gets messy: maybe it's 7 regular hours plus 2 hours involving night differentials and holiday pay, or perhaps it's 5 regular hours mixed with holiday pay and 2 overtime hours combined with night and holiday rates. Then you throw in schedule redistributions on top of all that... how am I supposed to organize this in the logs and still make sure it shows up correctly on the pay stubs? 🐔

Paul Carter40 said:I've got a few questions about running my own small business—stone masonry, specifically;

Am I allowed to pay bills out of my business checking account if they're actually under my personal name rather than the business itself? (Think utilities, phone, electricity, etc.)
And, would I even be able to write those off as business expenses? —I mean, I'm guessing probably not, right?
It just seems way easier and cheaper than withdrawing cash just to pay them manually...

Also, can I just do everything through online banking from now on? I’d love to stop going down to the local branch to pick up paper statements or handle payments in person. If I just work things out with my bank to get one monthly statement emailed to me, would that be fine? Basically, I want to cut ties with the local branch services so I can dodge all those extra fees—processing, paper, statements—that just keep piling up. Is it okay to operate like that and skip their services entirely? And if I start doing this, will they just stop charging me for the stuff they used to do, or will they keep sending printed statements anyway?

Thanks

At Bank of America, you can easily arrange to have your statements sent straight to your email, and that's also when you'd cancel your service with Fidelity if you had it set up that way previously. Honestly, the most practical move is to request statements on an as-needed basis rather than strictly once a month.
Regarding those personal expenses, silversailor pointed it out: you can pay them, but you shouldn't record them as business expenses since they aren't legitimate business costs.

graniterider10 said:I'm running a small business here in the States, registered for sales tax. Most of my work involves providing services, and I usually just issue retail receipts. But right now, I’m in a bit of a spot—I performed some services on-site for a company, away from my main office, and they want to pay me via direct deposit to my business account. What kind of invoice should I actually send them? My current software is only set up for standard retail receipts. If I just type up a manual invoice on a piece of paper—kind of like the ones I get from my own suppliers—how am I supposed to handle the tax reporting or filing? Or is it true that payments made through bank transfers don't need to be reported through the usual sales tax systems?
If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it. I've mostly dealt with individual retail customers, so I've never had to bill a corporation before.

As you noted yourself, you don't need to go through the standard retail fiscalization process for this type of transaction. However, that invoice still needs to include all the essential elements found on a standard receipt—just without the specific tax authority tracking codes. You would simply list the payment method as a bank transfer.

David Green642 said:Can someone please double-check my process for closing down a small business?

- We close out all open accounts receivable and accounts payable using the official business dissolution date—recording them as in-kind transfers.
- We run the final depreciation calculations.
- Regarding remaining inventory—we clear it through accounts payable by taking the quantity left on hand multiplied by the current market value—recorded as an in-kind transfer.
- For any physical assets listed on the balance sheet, we research their current market value and clear them through accounts payable—in-kind.
- We reconcile the cash account and all outstanding liabilities (taxes, local permits, etc.). These go through expenses since they were incurred even if they aren't paid until after the shutdown—in-kind. This means I only book the bank statements up to the actual closing date, right? Not after?

PLEASE, if anyone actually knows this stuff, let me know if I'm on the right track or completely off base. THANKS 🎉

Everything you’ve listed is spot on—that’s exactly how I handled things when I shuttered my own small business, though I spent months obsessively studying the tax code beforehand just to ensure I didn't screw anything up 😁. As for the statements, you don't book anything dated after the official closing day.

Frank Martin2 said:Mmm... fair enough.

However, I’ll bring up two recent situations that made me second-guess things.

The first involved a member—an adult, mind you—whose receipt was originally issued to him. At his request, we voided it and reissued it to the person who ACTUALLY paid. In this case, his father paid, and he insisted the receipt reflect his name rather than his son's.

The second instance was when a friend covered a monthly installment for a member (apparently after losing a bet...).
The receipt started out in the member's name, but at their joint request, we had to void it and issue a new one to the "friend." They both insisted on this because HE was the one who actually footed the bill—which makes sense, I suppose.

To handle those kinds of situations you mentioned, I find it best to include two distinct pieces of information on the invoice, receipt, or confirmation:
MEMBER: AA
PAYER: XY (only if they differ from the member) 😉

amberbadger17 said:Hey there...

I’m looking into buying a tiny cabin/trailer and flipping it so I can run a little hospitality business out of it. My plan is to handle the purchase, roll it into my LLC, and start writing off the depreciation.

The catch is that this place is a total trek from where I live, so I’ll definitely need a hauling service. Following that whole "everything is connected" logic—blah, blah, blah—can I write off that transport bill as a business expense? And is it even possible to claim a tax credit on it? Honestly, I don't care much about the sales tax side of things, but I'd love to at least sink it into my expenses.

Please let me know, because I am seriously stressing over this. Thanks!

The acquisition costs—specifically the transport fees for moving the asset, like the cabin—can be capitalized along with the initial purchase price. This includes any renovation costs, upgrades, and similar expenses.
You should also be able to deduct the sales tax paid on all those mentioned costs.

David Green642 said:He could still pay, because the bank account stayed open. Nobody at the IRS is checking if a seal is technically valid for a transaction like that. He had some late interest penalties on his taxes, but then a refund eventually came through from the government.

Thanks so much for the reply.

When I was winding down my small business, I still owed the IRS a bit. I just recorded it as an owner's draw (just the principal) on my final day of operation, and I've been paying it off personally ever since. Any transactions that hit that business account after the official closing date? I didn't log them using the actual bank statement dates; I backdated everything to that final business day.
I kept using the account for a little while longer, but I stopped recording any of those incoming or outgoing transactions in the books.

Frank Wells5 said:Hi everyone,
I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction regarding withdrawing from a general partnership business, as I’ve been scouring the web for guidance and haven't had much luck—my apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere. Here is the situation: we have a family-run small business that has been operating since 1992. It is currently a partnership between a father and his son, who joined as a co-owner back in 2010. Now, come May 26th, the father—who acts as the primary proprietor—is terminating the partnership agreement to step away entirely. This leaves the son as the sole owner, which necessitates a new Tax ID number...
So, here is my dilemma: does anyone know if I am handling this correctly? To be honest, the logic seems a bit skewed to me. The folks over at NOAA were insisting that to process the departure of the current partner, we need to deregister all the employees and then issue entirely new registrations and contracts for the remaining owner. On top of that, they suggested we deregister the business itself, which feels completely nonsensical to me. I mean, isn't it still the exact same entity? If we follow their lead, it essentially looks as though the son is opening a brand-new business from scratch, despite the fact that he’s been an official co-owner since 2010. Why on earth would the entire business registration need to be terminated? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

It looks like each individual originally set up their own business entity first and then joined the joint venture. Each one carries their own registration number with the FDA and is registered separately with Social Security as well. If the employees were specifically tied to the father’s registration number, and he is now shuttering his side of the operation, then naturally, those employees have to be re-registered under the son's credentials.

amberdrifter14 said:That shouldn't be an issue. You simply draft a lease agreement, and since the landlord is running a business, they should issue a monthly invoice reflecting the rent amount.
If the landlord is registered for sales tax, you deal with them directly; if not, they’ll need to report the lease to the IRS so the tax liability can be properly assessed...

One also needs to consider their own business operations. Based on your question, it seems the business is currently registered at that specific address, but if they are moving elsewhere, a change of address must be filed.
Unless, of course, they are only renting out a portion of the property, in which case both parties would continue operating their businesses out of the same space, leaving everything as it stands.

edit: There is no longer a distinction between business assets and personal assets during a sale or rental; you handle the property under the same rules regardless of whether it belongs to the business or the individual...

If the landlord isn't registered for sales tax and the commercial space isn't tied to a business entity, they can just pay the flat tax on income from the property—calculated as 70% of the rent times a 12% tax rate—right? Or has the tax code shifted on me recently?

Nancy Jones said:I was wondering if anyone could lend me a hand regarding fuel expenses for a small business owner.
The vehicle was purchased through the LLC, and all gas is paid for using a company card, but since the owner uses it daily for the commute and, naturally, for personal errands too,
I'm a bit stuck on the accounting side. Since the fuel is being charged directly to an ExxonMobil fleet card, can we just write off the entire amount as a business expense, or would it be necessary to keep a detailed log to separate what's strictly for work from what's for personal use?

Since the vehicle is officially registered to the business, you absolutely have to maintain a mileage log—you need to track where you went, why, and how many miles were covered for each trip. When a company car is used for personal stuff, that needs to be accounted for as a fringe benefit or a draw. Personally, I've always found that commuting from home to your primary office isn't typically considered a deductible business expense (there was actually a discussion about this on the forum a couple of years back, though I'm not sure if tax laws have shifted since then 🤷)

mellowwolf45 said:Hey, so I’m looking into setting up a seasonal sole proprietorship. When I was checking things out on the IRS website, they basically told me I had to commit to a specific season right away—like, pick if it’s gonna be 4, 5, or 6 months long. But honestly, is there any way to just play it by ear month-to-month? I really want to see how much work actually comes in before I lock anything down to figure out if this whole thing is even worth my time. I think I saw some mention of an 8-day deadline somewhere, but I’m totally lost. It feels like those government sites don't actually care about helping you; they just want you to open the business and leave you to figure it out yourself. I ended up just grinding through the online application solo.

Like placidlynx92 mentioned, you do have to specify your start and end dates upfront—but you can always amend them later if your workload shifts unexpectedly.

Jason Carter said:I’m in the process of opening up my own little bistro, and I have a few questions—if anyone wouldn't mind lending me a hand! 1. Regarding the "complaint book"—is that still a legal requirement? I heard a rumor somewhere that they aren't really used anymore. 2. Where exactly does one go to get the menu pricing officially certified, and what kind of fees am I looking at there? 3. Someone mentioned that for tax purposes, I can choose not to register for the Value-added tax system—if that's true, who do I report this to and where? 4. As the owner of a small business (my bistro), am I required to register myself as an employee, or can I just work under the radar alongside one hired staff member? THANKS SO MUCH!

1. You're still required to provide notice per that specific section of the Privacy Act—basically, you have to let people know how they can file a grievance (via mail, email, or whatever works).
2. I'm not entirely certain—memory is a fickle thing—but I believe the menus don't need official certification; you just need to have them on hand if an inspector comes knocking.
3. For tax matters, you just register with the IRS taxpayer registry—that covers your bases.
4. You don't have to register yourself; just the employee. You can run the show, but you'll still need to clear your health permits and pass the basic hygiene requirements.

Sophia Sanders3 said:okay thanks, but I'm lost on number 1). so, if I pay for gas with the business card, what happens to that receipt if it isn't a business deduction? like, if I pay for gas $167 with the business card but that receipt doesn't count as an expense (since the car isn't owned by the LLC), how do I explain why the business card was used if it's not a deduction? (since I'm already paying myself via $0.67/mile). please, could you clarify that a bit better? thanks a lot.😕😕

What exactly is a payroll tax filing? Is it something you have to submit somewhere, and if so, when is the deadline?🤷

Look, that gas receipt just isn't a deductible expense—you can toss it or tuck it away with a mileage log if you really want to 😉, but the point is that using a personal vehicle for work is handled differently. As an LLC owner, you have total control over the funds in your business checking account; you can withdraw cash, pay personal bills, whatever—it doesn't need to be "justified" to anyone because it's your money for your own needs. However, if you want to actually pay yourself that $0.67 per mile, you need actual documentation to back up that deduction in your books (like a mileage log or a travel voucher).

As for Form 941, you can check out the details here http://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-941 and there's also a dedicated thread about 941s right here on this forum.

Jack Young said:Hey placidlynx92, how sure are you about this?
Because this small business owner actually works somewhere else first.

I’m pretty damn sure. He runs his own business—it’s his livelihood—and he has the exact same rights to claim business expenses as any other entrepreneur in the States.

Sophia Sanders3 said:Hey everyone, I could really use some advice from the seasoned pros here!
I’ve got a small business set up with no employees, and the owner actually holds a full-time job at another company. It’s just him running the show for this side gig.
Since I'm totally new to the world of small business ownership, I have a few questions:

1) How do you handle fuel expenses or reimburse yourself for gas if the car isn't registered under the business name??? Am I allowed to use the business debit card or credit card for gas? This is huge because there's a ton of driving involved.
The car isn't going to be moved over to the business right now. So, I need tips on how to maximize those fuel deductions legally without anything getting "off the books."

2) Also, regarding business travel—can the owner claim per diems and reimbursements for things like tolls, meals, or even taking a client out to lunch?

3) Can a monthly life insurance premium for the owner be listed as a business expense?

4) Could you give me a quick rundown of what typically counts as a deductible expense for a business specializing in lighting and event planning?

- We aren't registered for sales tax purposes.
Thanks in advance... I'll probably have more questions once I dig into this deeper.🙂

1) You should track mileage for using a personal vehicle for business purposes and calculate a reimbursement $0.67 per mile. (You can technically use the business card for gas, but it won't count as a direct business expense; you'd just note that it was for the owner's personal use)
2) Yes, you can. Use a standard travel expense report; all business trip costs and per diems are fine.
3) No.
4) Anything directly related to operating the business. 🤷
Don't forget to account for payroll taxes regarding the payments in 1) and 2). 😉

vividcanyon6 said:Hey there!
I’m not entirely sure if this is the right corner of the forum to drop these questions, but I figured I’d give it a shot—if anyone happens to have the answers, I would be incredibly grateful! I'm looking for some guidance regarding my small family farm business.

1. Is it possible to write off a washing machine as a business expense for the farm? And if I do, does it need to be officially recorded as a fixed asset on the books, or can I just expense it?

2. We recently went through a transfer of ownership for the farm, and I was wondering about the paperwork side of things—what is the deadline for the previous owner to file their final sales tax return once the business is no longer in their name?

1. Yes, you can, provided it’s used specifically for business purposes. You don't necessarily have to list it as a depreciable asset.
2. The final sales tax return needs to be filed within three months after the business closure.

David Green642 said:I’m getting conflicting advice on this one, so if anyone here has dealt with something similar, I could really use your insight.

Here’s the situation: Pero Perić owns a house. He’s been renting it out to tenants and has been reporting that rental income to the IRS, paying his taxes accordingly.

In the meantime, Pero started a small business—a sole proprietorship—and keeps full books. That business is registered for sales tax.

Now, Pero goes to the IRS, and an agent tells him he needs to be issuing formal invoices to his tenants and paying a 25% tax rate on that income.

The catch? The house isn't listed as a business asset. Pero hasn't moved the property onto his business balance sheet or anything. It isn't used for the business at all—his actual business is running a restaurant, which has zero connection to residential rentals.

Some people are telling him he *has* to issue those invoices because his business is in the sales tax system—basically treating Pero the individual and Pero the business owner as one and the same.

Others argue he shouldn't have to issue those invoices since the house isn't owned by the business, isn't on the business ledger, and the rental activity is totally separate from his restaurant work. From their perspective, Pero as a private citizen isn't part of the sales tax system; only his business is.

So, who actually has a leg to stand on here? 🙂 🙂

I dealt with a headache like this a few years back with a family farm setup. Once the owner registered for sales tax to cover their agricultural work, they were suddenly forced to charge sales tax on their vacation rentals too—even though the properties weren't part of the farm's assets and they had been renting them out as individuals long before the farm was even established. The IRS looks at everything through the lens of the SSN; the logic is that since Pero Perić is in the sales tax system, everything tied to his SSN gets caught in the dragnet, regardless of whether it's the business or the man himself.

fadedcrane92 said:How are you all handling material expenses for small business owners who actually manufacture their own goods? Up until now, my routine has been to record the purchase value of materials for resale as an expense every month—but I haven't been booking the actual invoice amounts for raw material purchases directly as an expense. Instead, I’ve been routing everything through inventory first—moving it from raw materials to work-in-progress, then finally to finished goods ready for sale.

Technically, you should record the expense the moment it occurs—basically when you pay that material invoice—so I'm honestly not sure if the way you've been doing it is quite right. 🤷