When it comes to building wealth through your business, your most valuable partner is your CPA. As an expert in financial and tax matters, your CPA can offer advice, help and recommendations to help your business thrive. Here are three financial planning tips for your business.
1. Ask for Help When You Need It
Your CPA may have resources available and information that you don’t know about. If your business is ever in financial trouble, or you fear some upcoming event, speak up about it. Chances are, your CPA has already recognized the impending dangers and has broached the subject with you. Don’t worry about appearing weak or inexperienced in front of your CPA. Part of smart financial planning is taking care of situations well before they become dire. Your CPA might be able to help you secure a line of credit or have other suggestions for increasing cash flow and getting you out of a situation.
2. Don’t Mix Business With Pleasure
You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: Never mix business and personal financial transactions. There are many reasons why. First, it’s a lot easier for your CPA to help you if they don’t have to guess with each transaction if it’s business or personal. Second, the tax man can never accuse you of wrongdoing if you take care to keeps things separated. Third, mixing business with pleasure is a slippery slope. If you do it once, you’ll be more inclined to repeat it, and that’s a mistake you don’t want to keep making. Finally, you might miss out on valuable tax deductions if you make a habit of mixing business transactions with personal ones. Your CPA can’t be expected to pick needles out of haystacks, after all!
3. Plan Early for Retirement
Many people take special care to plan for personal retirement. But they often overlook making plans for the succession of their business. Work together with your CPA to figure out exactly how you want to run, sell or pass on your business enterprise when you’re ready to retire. Planning now will help to control tax costs associated with inheritance and selling your business. Done correctly, you could minimize capital gains tax and other costs so that your business is worth more at retirement.
Not Sure Where To Start?
Larry Turner, CPA has been serving Gilbert for 25 years and would be happy to provides expert tax and financial advice for your business. Contact us today to learn more about maximizing the potential of your business by taking these important financial planning steps.