You own a small business in the Twin Cities area, and you’ve been swamped trying to handle your accounting in-house - or you’ve gone through the same experience that so many others have with online accounting services. 

What’s the logical next step? Find a reputable, local accounting service to help you get back on your feet.

While CSI Accounting & Payroll works with small businesses across the continental United States, we haven’t forgotten the good folks at home in the Twin Cities area. We also understand that you will want to consider all of your options. We actually encourage it! We know that we’re not the right fit for everyone. The following firms offer a range of prices and service levels, and it’s important to do your research to find the best fit for you.

Prospective clients will often ask us who our competitors are so they can do their research, and that’s why we’ve compiled this list of the top six small business accounting firms in the Twin Cities area. To remain neutral, CSI Accounting & Payroll is excluded from this list. Keep reading to learn more about the following firms:

• John A. Knutson & Co., PLLP
• Myslajek Kemp & Spencer, Ltd.
• OWL Bookkeeping & CFO Services
• Siddiqui & Basnet LLC
• Sundberg Tax & Consulting
• Vetscher & Associates, LLC

Oops! You made an error in your small business’s payroll. What now?

There are a variety of possible mistakes that have a variety of fixes. The solutions range in severity and urgency, but the good news is that the faster you catch a payroll error, the easier it is to correct.

Since we’ve worked with thousands of small business owners over the past 50 years, CSI Accounting & Payroll has come to understand the complexities that go into payroll - and we know the common concerns that owners have when it comes to payroll mistakes. Let’s take a deep dive into:

• The path of payroll error documentation
• Examples of payroll errors and their fixes
• How to get a Form 941 amended

For about half of people, having a deadline means getting the task done right away so you can get back to your usual activities. For the other half of people, it means you can continue to focus on your usual activities right now - especially if they're piling up on you - until it's almost time for the task to be due.

Let's be honest though - we all procrastinate sometimes. That even includes some accountants falling behind on filing taxes. If you're only meeting with an annual tax accountant, you probably aren't being treated as a priority. This can result in missing important due dates and being penalized for it - and it's much more common than you'd think. When was the last time you felt like you had good communication with your accountant?     

After talking with thousands of small business owners, we've noticed that many feel that their annual tax accountant doesn't have time for them. They often ask us:

• What happens if my taxes get filed late?
• What happens if I get an extension?
• What do I need to know about government payment plans?

If you manage a small retail store, you know that it’s critical to keep good records. However, between cash flow, inventory, payroll, and many other things you may find important to monitor for your store, it can be challenging to keep track of your operations. This is especially true if you are managing them on your own.

CSI Accounting & Payroll has worked with many retail stores over the past few decades, so we know what good retail store accounting should look like. These five retail accounting tips will help you:

• Get insight into the cost of your operations
• Make the most of your next tax season
• Clarify if you’re making or losing money
• Highlight future opportunities to enhance your business

You own a small business in the Twin Cities area, and you’ve been swamped handling your accounting and payroll yourself - or you’ve gone through the same experience that so many others have with big-name national payroll services and online accounting services. 

What’s the logical next step? Find a reputable, local accounting and payroll provider to help you get back on your feet.

While CSI Accounting & Payroll works with small businesses across the continental United States, we haven’t forgotten the good folks at home in the Twin Cities area. 

We also understand that local business owners will want to consider all of their options. We actually encourage it! We know that we’re not the right fit for everyone. The following firms offer a range of prices and service levels, and it’s important to do your research to find the best fit for you.

Prospective clients will often ask us who our competitors are so they can do their research, and that’s why we’ve compiled this list of the top five small business accounting and payroll firms in the Twin Cities area. To remain neutral, CSI Accounting & Payroll is excluded from this list.

Keep reading to learn more about the following firms:

• BerganKDV
• Corneliuson & Associates
• Haworth & Company
• Padgett Business Services
• Prudent Accountants

How can you tell if your business is eligible for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC)? The requirements for it have gotten more difficult to meet over time, so it can be hard to tell if you can apply.

The good news is that since you know that the ERC exists, you’re already a step in the right direction. The bad news is that when so many others are uninformed about the ERC, you’re not able to use your small business community as a resource to get your questions answered.

Luckily, CSI Accounting & Payroll has helped many of our eligible clients claim the ERC, so we’re able to walk you through the following:

• Which industries are most likely to be eligible?
• Are you eligible for the ERC?
• How do you claim the ERC?

Who likes to take on government jobs? Tons of people! Good funding and reliable payments are appealing to employers, without question.

Who likes to do certified payroll reporting? Almost nobody. Filling out loads of details and double-checking them on a weekly basis is a ton of extra work.

Certified payroll reporting, which needs to be done by government contractors, can be time-consuming. Not to mention, trying to find a payroll professional to do it for you is no easy task. Many payroll services refuse to help because they don’t have the time or resources to accommodate it.

CSI Accounting & Payroll is here to help! Our payroll staff has experience working directly with certified payroll reporting for government contractors and subcontractors, and we’ve compiled the common questions that we’ve been asked about it here:

• What is certified payroll reporting?
• Do I need to use certified payroll reporting?
• How can I get help?

As an auto repair shop owner, do you ever run into issues with not receiving full payment for some jobs?

Short pays, when applied to the auto repair industry, are typically referring to when a client’s insurance pays a certain amount for warranty work that you charge more for. Because of this, the invoice is only partially covered. What do you do then?

Some people suggest balance billing, meaning that you bill your client for the difference between your charge and their insurance’s covered amount. However, after more than 50 years of working with auto repair shops, the experts at CSI Accounting & Payroll don’t advise balance billing, and we don’t know of anyone who does this.

In this article, we cover the route that we suggest to tackling short pays - without balance billing.

The last couple of years hit a lot of small businesses hard. Are you still hoping to get COVID-19 relief funds? 

If you’re still searching for information about PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans, you’ll find that they’ve come to an end. However, the ERC (Employee Retention Credit) is an alternative!

Not many eligible small businesses have claimed the ERC because they haven’t heard about it or worry that they’ll be on the hook for claims made incorrectly. If a business contacts you and claims they can collect the ERC for you without knowing details of your business’s performance, you should be skeptical.

CSI Accounting & Payroll has helped many of our eligible clients claim the ERC, so we’re able to walk you through the following:

• Are you eligible for the ERC?
• Is there different eligibility for PPP loans?
• Can you claim the ERC if you already got PPP loans?
• How do you claim the ERC?

Inflation is no joke! Your bills go up every year, so your fees have to as well.

When your employees work hard and have a high-demand skill set, your business should be turning a profit. However, if you’re failing to price your parts accordingly, you may be losing out on thousands of dollars in potential profit year after year. 

How do you prevent this? Use matrix pricing, a system that uses multipliers to determine the selling price of a part used in a repair order. Many auto shop management systems have the capabilities to program a parts pricing matrix, but they are not always used to the fullest extent or not programmed properly based on strategic calculations.

At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we've served many automotive shops over the past 50+ years. While we work with most industries, we have an undeniable specialty in auto repair shops - in fact, that's where we started when we first opened our doors.

In this article, you'll find a link to our matrix pricing template that we use to help our auto repair shop clients.