Operating a restaurant is a dream for many, but there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. There are far more restaurants and food-related businesses that fail than succeed, and that’s frequently because entrepreneurs spend more time focusing on front of house operations and food preparation than on the business and accounting side. Though it is not the flashy side of the business, accounting and bookkeeping is just as important as your menu, décor, and presentation, especially with the typical narrow profit margins seen in the restaurant business.
To make your success more likely, take the information provided below to heart. Even better, get professional assistance from our office.
Establishing a Smart Restaurant Bookkeeping Process
The most important thing to do is hire a bookkeeper if you don’t know what you’re doing when it comes to restaurant bookkeeping – and preferably one who has specific experience in food and beverage...
Owning your own small business is a dream that few are fortunate enough to realize, but even those new to the joys of entrepreneurial self-determination need to spend time thinking about how you’re going to eventually leave the business. No matter how far off it may seem, the best way to ensure that your time in your business ends up meeting your personal goals and expectations is to prepare an exit strategy now.
Crafting an exit strategy long before you plan to leave may feel a bit like starting a meal with dessert, but there are plenty of benefits to doing so. It helps you understand all your options and what the potential outcomes of each may be. Let’s take a closer look.
Why an Exit Strategy is Necessary for a Small Business
Though you may think of an exit strategy as only suitable for big corporations or partnerships, every business should have one so that ownership can be transferred without being hampered by negotiations or stress. As with so many things in life,...
Stripe, a company valued at $36 billion, is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and was founded in 2010 by young Irish entrepreneurial brothers John and Patrick Collison.
While Stripe has been the biggest success over the course of their careers, it was not their first.
In 2005, at the age of 16, Patrick won the 41st Young Scientist of the Year for his work with Lisp, prior to leaving high school early in order to attend MIT.
During his freshman year, he founded his first company, Auctomatic, and joined Y Combinator in 2007, before selling the company after ten months to Live Current Media for $5 million. He joined the company as the Director of Product Engineering in 2008.
His brother, John, is also talented, having received the highest score ever recorded by a student for the Irish Certificate. He went on to attend Harvard in the fall of 2009, before joining his brother to found Stripe.
The brothers were working on other projects...
Do you know how to choose a business structure? Do you know which entity type is best for your business?
This video goes into significant detail on the various tax saving strategies and asset protection strategies associated with each entity type.
Q: How often should I conduct company meetings?
A: In general, you’ll be following the guidelines your state sets forth – the IRS will always look there first to ensure you’re in compliance. Consult with your attorney to check on this. Take note that tax audits are increasingly including meeting minutes, so it’s just good practice to record them regularly. Virtual meetings are also a valid form of a company meeting.
Are you overpaying on your taxes? Most people are!
In this video, we'll go over tax planning strategies as well as business tax deductions. Some specific topics we'll be discussing:
-- after tax cash flow
-- tax savings strategies
-- qualified business deduction
-- how to reduce self employment tax
Do you know how to choose a business structure? Do you know which entity type is best for your business?
If not, keep watching!
In this video, we'll start off by reviewing personal marginal tax rates to set the table, then we'll look at how to choose a business structure and examine the decision from both a tax and legal liability protection standpoint. We'll discuss:
-- limited liability company
-- limited partnership
-- C Corporation
-- S Corps benefits
-- how to increase cash flow by choosing the right business structure
If you’re a small business owner or an aspiring entrepreneur, mergers and acquisitions probably sound like something that happens at an entirely different operational level from the one where you live and work. But if you’ve put the time into creating a business plan and invested hours in the health and welfare of your business, then it’s more than worth your while to learn the basics – it may even be the difference between your business’ success and its failure.
The reason for this is simple. No matter what size your business, there are situations surrounding you that can impact profitability. Competition may arise, trends and consumer preferences shift, technology changes – all can lead to the need to merge, buy, or sell a business. Getting familiar with the terms and what types of scenarios may give rise to them is a smart step.
The Terminology
The first thing you need to understand is that mergers and acquisitions are terms that can cover many...
No matter what type of business you operate, you rely on having a predictable flow of income to keep your bills paid. If you only have a single source of income and it suddenly falters, you’re going to be in trouble. Having more than one income stream is an insurance policy against economic disaster. It provides a cushion to keep you afloat if your business suddenly falls off. Though some types of businesses have a clearer path to expanding their income streams then others, with a little creativity you can identify new sources of revenue that can add stability, save you from a downturn, and even add to your bottom line.
The Difference Between Active and Passive Income Streams
There are several different types of income streams, all of which fall into the category of either active or passive. If you are making something, selling something, or providing a service of some kind in exchange for direct payment, that is active income. While passive income also generates revenue, the...
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