If you own a business but haven't read Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow, we highly recommend it! Its concept is to run your business as if you are going to sell it tomorrow. You should maximize what your business is worth at all times, not just when you're getting ready to sell. CSI Accounting & Payroll's owner, Brian Paulson, took inspiration from this book while creating some of these tips.

Small businesses tend to miss the mark on this and consequently are not worth very much. Sales and profits can be high, but the purchase price can be low at the same time. The following blog post is a list of tips to maximize the value of your business to a potential buyer.

Why is it so important for underrepresented U.S. business owners to take advantage of benefits like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund? Everyone deserves the American Dream.

• A majority of U.S. business owners are white. They own over 2.5x more businesses than minorities do (African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans combined) and make almost 7.5x more in receipts.
• A majority of U.S. business owners are also men. They own almost 1.5x more businesses than women do and make over 6x more in receipts.

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund is currently open to women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses as a priority until May 21st. If you fall into any one of these categories, has your accountant proactively spoken to you about this? If not, keep reading for details.

If you're staying on top of things this year, you should be getting your tax return around this time. However, you might find difficulties in analyzing your return if your annual tax accountant doesn't walk you through it. CSI Accounting & Payroll assigns each of our clients their own go-to accountants who proactively make sure small business owners understand what their tax returns mean, as well as how to use them for future tax strategy.

Are you wondering if you can ask your employees to prove that they've had their COVID vaccinations? Many people receive CDC vaccine cards that show the date and type of COVID vaccine received. Wouldn't it be easy to ask to see these cards?

Maybe not. First, we need to know if your employees are even required to get the vaccine. Second, we will discuss whether you can require proof of vaccination or not, especially when some vaccine sites don't supply CDC cards.

You know the value of receiving monthly financial statements, and you're putting in the time and resources it takes. However, once they're in your hands, you're not sure what to do with them. Therefore, have the experts at CSI Accounting & Payroll help you analyze your statements to get the best plan of action for your business.

One of our main goals in our accounting department is to use the monthly financial statements we create to offer profitability advice. Have you ever wondered what kind of advice you could be receiving? Here are some of the topics that are most frequently brought up in our meetings.

How can you be a better worker, improve your image, and reduce stress at work? These all have the same answer; work each day like it's your last day on the job. This applies to all levels of employees - even owners.

I realize this concept might sound a bit odd at first. However, keep reading. The organization you work for will really appreciate this if something unexpected happens to you. Even if something unexpected does not happen to you, you will be a much better, more productive employee.

If you use bookkeeping software to prepare your financial statements in-house, then you're probably counting on it saving you money to make up for all of the time it takes you.

What happens when it doesn't? Record inaccuracies can result in fees down the line or make you miss out on reimbursable expenses. It can be easy to not even realize you're getting lost if you don't have a background in accounting.

How can you tell if your bookkeeping is getting mixed up? Start by taking a look at your financial statements.

The following blog post is based on a letter from CSI Accounting & Payroll's owner, Brian Paulson, to our clients.

As we all know, 2020 and 2021 have been very challenging years in many respects. Along with everything else, Congress has been doing more things than ever before that have implications on the taxation of both businesses and individuals. It has been very challenging to do so, but we pride ourselves on staying on top of what is coming out of Congress so we can quickly summarize it and convey it to our clients.

NOTE: This information was up-to-date at the time that this post was written, but COVID relief laws are constantly being updated and changed. Please contact us directly for updated information.

While there are people who use different providers for different services, CSI Accounting & Payroll offers the best of both worlds when it comes to financial services. Having accounting and payroll under one roof has lots of benefits under normal circumstances.

This post touches on those normal circumstances, as well as how bundling accounting and payroll can help a struggling small business owner with navigating COVID wages, loans and credits, and forgiveness.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be devastating to many small businesses. 163,735 U.S. small businesses closed their doors between March 1st, 2020 and August 31st, 2020. This resulted in the government setting aside some crucial relief efforts.

Whether you participated in the first round of PPP loans last year or not, there's still a good variety of relief packages available. The two most popular relief efforts are the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans and the ERC (Employee Retention Credit), which will be discussed in this post.

NOTE: This information was up-to-date at the time that this post was written, but COVID relief laws are constantly being updated and changed. Please conduct your own research with reliable sources or contact us directly for updated information.