Preface: Do you want to understand budgeting for your business, cost analysis or product pricing, accounting cycles, or simply how debit and credits work in your business. Here is a resource….free. No hourly fee or classes to attend. All you’ve got to do is invest the time. Download free accounting books, or watch free lectures, to enhance your knowledge of topics such as managerial and financial accounting, the accounting cycle or budgeting, from experienced university professors.  Click here: Small business accounting knowledgebase.    

Tax strategies for business people stepping up to a new car The decision of whether to trade in an old business car or try to sell it for cash generally should be based on factors such as the amount you can get on a sale versus a trade-in, and the time and bother a sale will entail. However, important tax factors also may affect your decision-making process. Here’s an overview of the complex rules that apply to what appears to be a simple transaction, and some pointers on how to achieve the best tax results. In general, the sale of a business asset yields a gain or loss depending on the net amount you receive from the sale and your basis for it. “Basis” is your cost for tax purposes and, if you bought the asset, usually equals your cost less the depreciation deductions you claimed for the asset over the years. Under the tax-free swap rules, trading in an old business asset for a new, like-kind asset doesn’t result in a current gain or loss, and the new asset’s basis will equal the old asset’s remaining basis plus any cash you paid to trade up. The rules generally are the same for business cars, with a couple of extra twists. Here are some pointers. As a general rule, you should trade in your old business car if you used it exclusively for business driving, and its basis has been depreciated down to zero, or is very low. The trade-in often avoids a current tax. For example, if you sell your business car for $9,000, and your basis in it is only $7,000, you will have a $2,000 taxable gain, but if you trade it in, a current tax is avoided. True, your basis in the new car will be…

Preface: Knut Haanaes is a Senior Partner and Managing Director in the Geneva office of The Boston Consulting Group. Formerly Office Administrator of BCG Oslo and Global Leader of BCG’s Strategy Practice. Before joining BCG, Knut was Executive Director of The Research Council of Norway and Associate Professor of business strategy at the Norwegian Business School. He has also held research positions at IMD in Switzerland and Stanford University. Knut holds a MSc in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a PhD from Copenhagen Business School      

Preface: Internal Revenue Codes provide certain fringe benefit opportunities for employees for transportation expenses. These fringes nontaxable perks includes costs for bicycles and van pools. This blog is to provide employers with an awareness of employee perks for costs incurred on travel from personal residence to work location.   Qualified Employee Transportation Fringes Typically commuting costs for work are personal nondeductible costs for most employees; yet in certain circumstances, fringe benefits are available to employees for these incurred expenses. Qualified transportation fringes encompass i) transportation in a commuter highway vehicle, ii) transit passes iii) qualified parking. In this blog we will look at pricing on bicycles and van pooling and those tax pertinent features available to qualifying employees. For qualifying employees who own bicycles and ride them for personal commuting mileage from home residence to a place of employment, the IRS permits a fringe benefit excluded from wages of $20 per qualified commuting month. A qualified commuting month is one that i) the employee uses a bicycle for a substantial number of days to travel between a personal residence and place of employment and ii) doesn’t receive transportation in a commuter highway vehicle, or transit passes and qualified parking benefits. Qualified bicycle payments can’t be excluded from wages if they are provided in place of pay. Therefore if your business elects to provide fringe transportation benefits, employees can be compensated for costs to purchase and maintain a bicycle and accoutrements of $20 per month. Employer and employee-operated van pools, as well as private or public transit van pools may qualify as qualified transportation fringes too for employees. The value of van pool benefits that are qualified can be excluded from wages up to certain thresholds. Employer operated van pools that provide transportation to employees in a qualified commuter vehicle, i.e. vehicle seats at…

Preface: Form 4797 is a commonly misunderstood tax form for business owners. This blog is to help you understand sales of business property listed on the Form 4797.   Form 4797 – Sale of Business Property   When your business sells a forklift, or a customer list, how does your tax accountant report the gain? Answer: On Form 4797 “Sale of Business Property.” The IRS tax code requires the reporting of a sale of business property in a different section of the tax code than ordinary revenues, from say a sale of inventory (Section 471.) The most common gain and loss code sections for business property are Section 1231, Section 1245 and Section 1250.   Section 1231 gains and losses can be taxed as either ordinary income or loss, or capital gain, depending on the characteristics of the transaction. Section 1231 assets are the exchanges of 1) real property, e.g. leasehold improvements; or 2) depreciable property used in a business and held for more than a year, [typically property that is held for rental or royalties income] or 3) Section 197 intangibles such as goodwill, customer lists or copyrights. Note: the origin of the Section 197 intangible is a key factor in the tax attributes of the transaction, e.g. self-created intangibles are always ordinary income. Other section 1231 property include sales or exchanges of livestock, unharvest crops, or timber. To determine if your asset sale is ordinary or capital you must net all section 1231 gains and losses for the year. If you have a net section 1231 loss, it is an ordinary loss. If you have a net section 1231 gain, it is ordinary to the extent of non-recaptured section 1231 losses from prior years. Non-recaptured section 1231 losses are the net section 1231 losses from the previous five…

Preface: If you want capital investments in your business, you must not only have a history of demonstrative successes; but be patient. It typically takes 3-9 months to obtain venture financing – if you are the one in four thousand businesses that obtain it. It is not easy, and it takes time…and it is important to properly prepare.   Equity Financing Your Business   Equity financing is the form of financing that subscribes an investor(s) a profits interest in your business. Most often equity financing occurs in business development phases.   If you are thinking of obtaining equity financing for your business, the first step is to have a clearly written plan detailing how you plan to make the investment rewarding, e.g. how will your business earn money? Many entrepreneurs begin financing with capital networks of close friends and family. While this may raise equity to launch or develop a business, it may not be prudent. Here’s why: unless you have experience from prior ventures, or your network is business savvy, you may yoke yourself into a stressful situation. If angel investors (which have extensive experience in business financing) won’t risk capital on your business or business plan, think twice before you risk your own valuable capital; or capital from family or close friends on something an angel investor wouldn’t fund. Networks   The smartest investment you can make in financing your business is to properly prepare. Prepare for the opportunity to sell equity in your business. Most often these opportunities are not easy to locate, and even more difficult to connect with. Then they will want to perform due diligence and negotiate a controlling position. You must be committed. To make this investment, you need an expertly crafted business financing plan, reviewed by qualified trusted advisors. The professional fees to refine and polish a business…

Preface: Six generations strong, Bo Knapheide leads the business today. From humble beginnings — see the business history of Knapheide     Click here to visit the Knapheide website.  

Preface: 100 years ago, life was simpler. Is it better today with innovation like this? How is, or how do you envision, your business improving your town, or say the globe?            

Welcome to The Power in Story Telling::::::: Maybe you don’t, or maybe you do, think of yourself as a great storyteller; but what would could the right stories do for your business toolkit? Preface: In the webinar, Professor Jennifer Aaker and David Hornik of August Capital discuss the importance of stories in fueling growth and innovation in your company as well as the role of stories in shaping how others view your brand.  

The Power of Small Wins  Harvard Business Review May 2011 Preface: Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer write how managers can make the work day better….both for others….and for yourself. Read: The Power of Small Wins “Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work”……. “The key to motivating performance is supporting progress in meaningful work. Making headway boosts your inner work life, but only if the work matters to you.” “Think of the most boring job you’ve ever had. Many people nominate their first job as a teenager—washing pots and pans in a restaurant kitchen, for example, or checking coats at a museum. In jobs like those, the power of progress seems elusive. No matter how hard you work, there are always more pots to wash and coats to check; only punching the time clock at the end of the day or getting the paycheck at the end of the week yields a sense of accomplishment”……….. ……”In jobs with much more challenge and room for creativity, like the ones our research participants had, simply “making progress”—getting tasks done—doesn’t guarantee a good inner work life, either”…..”What can managers do to ensure that people are motivated, committed, and happy? How can they support workers’ daily progress? They can use catalysts…….. [Employees] “if you facilitate their steady progress in meaningful work, make that progress salient to them, and treat them well, they will experience the emotions, motivations, and perceptions necessary for great performance. Their superior work will contribute to organizational success. And here’s the beauty of it: They will love their jobs”.