NASE Staff Blog

Brighten Up Your Office [Energy Star]

NASE Staff — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:47:23 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - While you may have noticed that appliances like your refrigerator or dishwasher are designated as Energy Star-rated, did you know that many appliances that you use in your small business are also Energy Star-rated?

OPEN Forum offers a helpful checklist to determine which Energy Star appliance is best for you, and also notes best practices for getting the best results from your appliances.

[Energy Star Office Equipment for Your Small Business]

Avoiding Legal Trouble

NASE Staff — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:29:38 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - I think it's fair to say that most small business owners want to avoid legal trouble if possible. While using social media to promote your business and bringing on an intern or two can seem fairly innocuous, check out these posts from Entrepreneur and Small Biz Survival to make sure you're not doing things that can turn into a liability for your business.

If you still have questions after reading these posts, the attorneys at Legal Club may be able to help.

[Protect Yourself: Social Media and Legal Liability, Are unpaid internships legal]

First Impressions

NASE Staff — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:43:21 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson -First impressions are important. Somehow Trimalchio in West Egg doesn't quite grab you like The Great Gatsby does. Perhaps Jane Austen knew this better than F. Scott Fitzgerald, as she scrapped the title of First Impressions for her novel in favor of the less direct, but certainly more memorable, Pride and Prejudice.

I'm not sure if the folks at Freelance Folder are Austen fans, but they have a great post on how to avoid making bad first impressions on potential clients.

[Bad First Impressions That Can Drive Potential Clients Away]

Co-Working Spaces

NASE Staff — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:49:19 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Dr. Jeff Cornwall of The Entrepreneurial Mind has a neat post today about the rise of co-working spaces. According to Dr. Cornwall, co-working spaces are where, "self-employed people and freelancers can come together in a common space. Unlike traditional executive suites, co-working spaces offer more than just space and office support. Co-working space usually has a very open environment that fosters interaction, collaboration and even shared work projects."

Are you working from a co-working space? Would you consider it if there were a space like San Francisco's Citizen Space in your area? Let us know in the comments!

[Co-working Space Helps Cut Overhead]

The TaxTalk Seminars Are Coming!

NASE Staff — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:55:30 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - I've been meaning to start working on my taxes for about a month now, but somehow things keep getting in the way, like that Bikram yoga class I've been meaning to take, and this great book I'm reading and all of those dishes in my kitchen that really need washing.

If you're a bit of procrastinator like me, you might as well admit it...and then tell all of your friends by joining our new Facebook fan page!

If you want to be a bit more proactive about things, you can also join some of our intrepid NASE Staff members in the next month as they travel the country bringing small business tax advice to NASE Members and other small business owners with the TaxTalk Seminar program. We'll be tweeting from the road, so be sure to follow @NASETweets on Twitter and look out for tweets with #taxtalk for tips from the seminars. Or even better, join us at a seminar by registering! For those that can't make the seminars, the NASE's Tax Resource Center is always available.

Credit Card Rules

NASE Staff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:57:41 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - The Federal Reserve's new rules for credit card companies go into effect this week.

Here is the Federal Reserve's outline of the changes that you should expect from your credit card company. Visit their Web site for more details.

Your credit card company has to tell you:

When they plan to increase your rate or other fees.
How long it will take to pay off your balance

New rules regarding rates, fees, and limits:

No interest rate increases for the first year.
Increased rates apply only to new charges.
You must tell your credit card company that you want it to allow transactions that will take you over your credit limit.
If your credit card company requires you to pay fees (such as an annual fee or application fee), those fees cannot total more than 25% of the initial credit limit.
If you are under 21, you will need to show that you are able to make payments, or you will need a cosigner, in order to open a credit card account.

Changes to billing and payments:

Your credit card company must mail or deliver your credit card bill at least 21 days before your payment is due.
Payments directed to highest interest balances first.
No two-cycle (double-cycle) billing.

[What You Need To Know: New Credit Card Rules]

Not Your Average Mailbox

NASE Staff — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:06:08 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Not rain nor sleet nor potential package pilferers have a chance against this mailbox! The New York Times writes about the couple behind the company Architectural Mailboxes, and how they were inspired to create something new from the trusty mailbox.

The author notes that, "By correctly anticipating how the high-tech future would change the way we shop, they updated one of the most low-tech items around: the repository of snail mail, the trusty mailbox. Along the way, they responded to a growing concern — identity theft — that established mailbox suppliers had failed to address."

I found both the creativity (and persistence) of these entrepreneurs inspiring, and I hope their story is an enjoyable read for all of you out there on this grey Monday.

[Building a Better Mailbox]

Home Office Advice

NASE Staff — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:03:32 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Inc.'s Leigh Buchanan has compiled her list of 8 rules for working from home. I think rule #7 is pretty smart - Buchanan's home has three phone numbers, with particular rings for family, kids and work calls.

If you had to make a list of your rules for working from home, what would be on it? Leave us your top rule (or whole list!) in the comments!

Regulatory Changes Saved Small Biz $7 billion In 2009

NASE Staff — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:50:33 GMT

Posted by Kristin Oberlander - Small businesses realized $7 billion in first-year cost savings and $745 million in annually recurring savings as a result of fiscal year (FY) 2009 efforts to help agencies comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The law requires agencies to review the economic impacts of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives. The figures are reported in the FY 2009 edition of the Office of Advocacy’s annual Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

In FY 2009, Advocacy reviewed hundreds of regulations to assess RFA compliance, convened numerous roundtables to solicit the priorities and comments of small entity stakeholders, and submitted more than 30 public comment letters to federal agencies on regulatory proposals.

The NASE partnered with the Office of Advocacy to place the Home Office Deduction on the Top 10 list of business regulations in need of reform for the self-employed. Currently, there are two bills pending before Congress to offer an optional standard home office deduction with the hope that such a deduction would encourage more eligible micro-businesses to take it.

Find out more about the study by visiting the Office of Advocacy. For information on the NASE's work for tax simplification, click here.

Promoting Entrepreneurship by Fixing a Broken Schedule C Tax Filing System [GUEST POST]

NASE Staff — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:07:27 GMT

Posted by Kristie Arlsan - With policymakers pinning their hopes on small business to create jobs and improve our sluggish economy, our guest blogger Gene Severens responds to an opinion piece in the New York Times calling for a greater focus on entrepreneurship. Gene highlights the challenges new entrepreneurs face when dealing with their first encounter with our federal government -- the dreaded IRS -- and discusses what could be done to faciliate the tax filing process for those newly entering self-employment. Gene is a private consultant, currently serving as Senior Advisor to the Self-Employment Tax Initiative, a project of the DC-based Corporation for Enterprise Development.

“Win-Win-Win” – Fixing a Broken Schedule C Tax Filing System

A recent New York Times op ed (January 24, 2010) by Thomas Friedman has called on President Obama to make his version of a presidential “moon shot” a “Start-up America” movement that focuses on supporting entrepreneurs who can jumpstart the economy with new jobs. A great idea, but what Mr. Friedman apparently did not know was that the Administration could kick this off right now by using the new “Making Work Pay” credit as a start-up tax credit for entrepreneurs. Every year roughly 1.5 million new self-employed sole proprietor business owners file business taxes for the first time using Form 1040 Schedule C. During the “jobless” recovery, we can only expect these numbers to increase as dislocated workers and hard-pressed households turn increasingly to starting their own jobs. There is considerable anecdotal evidence that this is happening. One article quantifies this by reporting that in 2009, 8.6% “laid-off managers and executives” grew tired waiting to be hired and started their own businesses. The rate for 2008 was 5.1%

Unfortunately, for most of these new start-ups, their first encounter with the tax code as a business is a rude awakening. Filing for the first time as business owners, new entrepreneurs are blindsided by the unexpected lump sum liability of a year-long double share of self-employed Social Security and Medicare contributions—often with a tax penalty to boot plus, of course, state income tax variations. Unfortunately, this startling tax liability comes at a time when, as new businesses, their cash flow is likely to be at its most vulnerable. The net effect is to drive many otherwise vital new businesses into a Catch 22 limbo of keeping their business alive only by avoiding taxes. This is a lose-lose-lose scenario. First, the business flirts with non-compliance which has a long list of unintended consequences, including reducing the business owner’s access to Social Security and Medicare. Second, our local communities lose promising businesses that get forced into the underground, non-compliant economy. Third, as taxpayers, the rest of us, including fully complying self-employed businesses, have to make up the lost tax revenue.

The goods news is that, now, with the Making Work Pay tax credit, there is, for the first time, a meaningful tax credit that helps these start-ups cover their unexpected liabilities. The Making Work Pay tax credit provides an $800 refundable tax credit (joint filers; $400 others) that reduces their tax liability including Social Security taxes, dollar for dollar. But the bad news is hardly any one knows this credit applies to the net profits of unincorporated business start-ups. At a time when a “jobless” recovery has yielded chants of “jobs, jobs, jobs” from the Administration and Congress alike, why aren’t federal agencies like SBA’s SCORE and Small Business Development Centers joining up with IRS to market these tax credits to the self-employed.

The first job created by an entrepreneur is his/her own job. One by one, these jobs add up – at least 1.5 million every year rain or shine and probably many more that remain in non-filing status. The DC-based Corporation for Enterprise Development estimates that there may be as many as 4 million non-filing unincorporated businesses each tax year.

Filing taxes as a new business is the single largest institutional connection our government has with new start-ups. Unfortunately, the Schedule C tax interface is broken. Instead of welcoming and recognizing the job-creation contributions of first-time filers, it discourages businesses and nudges them into non-compliance. One way of implementing Mr. Friedman’s “Start-up America” initiative now is to re-market the Making Work Pay tax credit into a “Making New Business Pay” tax credit and creating a whole new tax prep experience – one that welcomes and acknowledges start-ups’ contributions.

For more information on the Making Work Pay tax credit, visit the IRS web site.

5 Bad Work At Home Habits From Freelance Folder

NASE Staff — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:35:00 GMT

Posted by Maureen Petron -- If you work from home (and a lot of NASE Members do), you could be developing bad habits that ruin your productivity.

I was snowed in last week in the D.C. area, and spent my time with my laptop in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, at the kitchen table and within arms reach of fresh-baked sugar cookies.

I think that puts me in violation of at least three of the five bad habits the Freelance Folder warns against.

How do your work-at-home conditions stack up?

Hat Tip: Freelance Folder

Your Next Home Office?

NASE Staff — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:55:00 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Maybe it's a result of yet another snowstorm here in Washington, but this post at Design Milk about a backyard office caught my eye today.

I'm not sure if this is meant to serve as a business owner's sole home office or as a "satellite" office to the main home office, but I think it is a really neat idea!

Do you currently have a backyard office? Would you consider using this type of office for your business? Let us know in the comments!

[Design Milk]

The Census Is Coming!

NASE Staff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:53:04 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival has written a great post about why the upcoming 2010 Census is important for you and your business. Did you know that information from this year's Census will impact things like federal grants and economic development efforts in your community for the next 10 years?

The Census form is comprised of only 10 questions, and it is unlawful for the Census Bureau to share any information you provide with any other government agency, including law enforcement.

For more information, read McCray's post and check out the 2010 Census Web site.

Small Biz Lending Looking Up?

NASE Staff — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:38:00 GMT

Posted by Molly Nelson - Robb Mandelbaum of The New York Times' You're The Boss blog was surprised to learn that the lender that has made the fifth-most ARC loans is the Peoples Bank of Mississippi. According to the FDIC, this community bank had $192 million in assets at the end of September, ranking 3,342nd-largest (out of 8,109 banks operating) in the United States.

Perhaps regulators have taken notice of the activity at Peoples Bank as well, as John Tozzi of The New Entrepreneur highlights a statement issued by regulators calling on banks to evaluate giving credit to a business based on the individual ability of that business to repay, instead of on trends in a particular industry or location

[You're the Boss, The New Entrepreneur]

NASE Tax Resources

NASE Staff — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:48:00 GMT

Posted by Maureen Petron -- If you're in the Mid-Atlantic region like me, you're snowed in. Hopefully you work from a home office anyway, and your business operations haven't been too affected by the storms.

But even if you are operational, some of your clients, suppliers or customers may not be. Which is why this is the perfect week to get cracking on your taxes. The NASE has a lot of resources to help, which are all online -- so long as your power is back on you can access all of our tools.

The certified public accountants at TaxTalk can answer questions specific to your business. Just submit your question via an online form, and get a response within a business day.

Read this quick primer on the tax code changes for 2009, and ask TaxTalk if you have questions about how the new rules apply to your business.

You can also visit the NASE Tax Resource Center. You’ll find:
■ A TaxTalk blog with answers to common tax questions
■ Tax news and calculators
■ IRS forms and publications
■ Tax deadline reminders
■ And much more

You can even purchase the book “Schedule C: From A to Z” at Amazon.com. It’s a sole proprietor’s guide to tax savings with line-by-line instructions for completing Schedule C and the home office deduction tax forms.

And if you live in one of the 16 cities NASE TaxTalk is traveling to next month, register for a two-hour workshop on micro-business taxes.