Dana McGuffin CPA Blog

Retirement Plan Options for Small Business Owners

By Dana McGuffin | March 6, 2024 | Comments Off on Retirement Plan Options for Small Business Owners

Offering a retirement plan can be a powerful tool when you’re competing to attract the best employees. And if you’re a sole proprietor, a retirement account can help you save even more money for the future. Here are some of the most popular retirement options for small business owners, along with ways to help with…

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Watch Out For These Unexpected Tax Surprises!

By Dana McGuffin | December 27, 2023 | Comments Off on Watch Out For These Unexpected Tax Surprises!

No one likes surprises from the IRS, but they do occasionally happen. Here are some examples of tax situations you could find yourself in and what to do about them. Kids getting older tax surprise. Your children are a wonderful tax deduction if they meet certain qualifications. But as they get older, many child-related deductions fall…

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Tips to Turn Buying a Home into a Reality

By Kaitlin Aguilasr | December 14, 2023 | Comments Off on Tips to Turn Buying a Home into a Reality

Homeownership seems more out of reach than ever for many Americans, especially for those who have been waiting for real estate prices to drop. But there are still multiple ways to buy a home right now, or to position yourself for a future purchase. Build up your down payment. The higher real estate prices climb, the…

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Tips to Be Money Smart with Your Vehicle

By Dana McGuffin | November 29, 2023 | Comments Off on Tips to Be Money Smart with Your Vehicle

The average new car payment surged to $725 per month at the beginning of 2023, compared to an average of $650 per month throughout all of 2022, according to Experian’s State of the Automotive Finance Market Report for Quarter 2 of 2023.   While some of this spike is due to the increasing costs of…

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Will That Be Cash or Barter?

By Dana McGuffin | November 7, 2023 | Comments Off on Will That Be Cash or Barter?

How swapping products and services could benefit your business Bartering, the act of trading goods or services with other goods or services instead of money, is more popular than ever. And with many businesses dealing with constrained cash flow, bartering may be a good way to create value for your business. The new world of…

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Unique Employee Benefits to Differentiate Your Business

By Dana McGuffin | October 25, 2023 | Comments Off on Unique Employee Benefits to Differentiate Your Business

New customers aren’t the only group of people you may be trying to attract to your business. It can be as equally challenging – maybe even more so – to attract and retain quality employees. In fact, 40% of business owners say they have job openings they couldn’t fill, according to an August 2023 survey by the…

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Taxes: Knowing the Basics is Key

By Dana McGuffin | September 27, 2023 | Comments Off on Taxes: Knowing the Basics is Key

It’s the starting point to saving money Understanding how our tax system works can be tricky for anyone. Whether you’re an adult who never paid much attention to the taxes being withheld from your paycheck or a kid who just got his or her first job, the starting point to reducing your tax is knowing…

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Mitigating Business Risk with Cross-Training

By Dana McGuffin | September 13, 2023 | Comments Off on Mitigating Business Risk with Cross-Training

Cross-training to ensure more than one person knows key functional areas can be a win-win situation for you and your employees. Large companies often use it to prepare managers for future promotions. But in small companies, cross-training can be a great way to mitigate risk. How you implement cross-training will depend on the size and…

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Hiring Family Members – What You Need to Know!

By Dana McGuffin | August 30, 2023 | Comments Off on Hiring Family Members – What You Need to Know!

Many business owners hire their children, their spouse, or other family members to work in their business. Sometimes this works out well. Other times it causes problems. Here are some the key pros and cons of putting family members on your payroll. Hiring your children Hiring your kids for a part-time job usually has more…

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Multiple Jobs: Be Prepared for Tax Surprises

By Dana McGuffin | August 15, 2023 | Comments Off on Multiple Jobs: Be Prepared for Tax Surprises

Working more than one job can help maximize income, but also potentially create a tax surprise. Here are several be aware of: Social Security Surprise: As a full-time employee, the most you’ll have to pay in Social Security taxes in 2023 is $9,932. The problem is each employer you work for will withhold Social Security taxes…

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