February 13, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
For businesses, and people for that matter, the beginning of the calendar year can be a bit of a grind. The holidays have passed, summer vacations are relatively far off and everyone is trying to build momentum for a strong, healthy year. Amongst all the nose-to-the-grindstone stick-to-itiveness, however, you and your leadership team shouldn’t lose sight […]
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Explore SEP and SIMPLE retirement plans for your small business
April 22, 2025 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
Suppose you’re thinking about setting up a retirement plan for yourself and your employees. However, you’re concerned about the financial commitment and administrative burdens involved. There are a couple of options to consider. Let’s take a look at a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) and a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE). SEPs offer easy […]
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How companies can spot dangers by examining concentration
April 18, 2025 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
At first glance, the word “concentration” might seem to describe a positive quality for any business owner. You need to concentrate, right? Only through laser focus on the right strategic goals can your company reach that next level of success. In a business context, however, concentration can refer to various aspects of your company’s operations. […]
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Business owners should get comfortable with their financial statements
March 28, 2025 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
Financial statements can fascinate accountants, investors and lenders. However, for business owners, they may not be real page-turners. The truth is each of the three parts of your financial statements is a valuable tool that can guide you toward reasonable, beneficial business decisions. For this reason, it’s important to get comfortable with their respective purposes. […]
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Weighing the pluses and minuses of HDHPs + HSAs for businesses
March 24, 2025 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
Will your company be ready to add a health insurance plan for next year, or change its current one? If so, now might be a good time to consider your options. These things take time. A popular benefits model for many small to midsize businesses is sponsoring a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) accompanied by employee […]
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3 types of retirement plans for growing businesses
December 2, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
When start-ups launch, their focus is often on tightly controlling expenses. Most need to establish a brand and some semblance of stability before funding anything other than essential operating activities. For companies that make it past that tenuous initial stage, there comes a time when they must loosen up the purse strings and start investing […]
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Businesses must stay on guard against invoice fraud
September 19, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
Fraud is a pernicious problem for companies of all shapes and sizes. One broad type of crime that seems to be thriving as of late is invoice fraud. In the second quarter of 2024, accounts payable software provider Medius released the results of a survey of 1,533 senior finance executives in the United States and […]
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B2B businesses: Assess customer credit carefully
March 29, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
Does your company operate in the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace? If so, you’re no doubt aware of the double-edged sword that is customer credit. On the one hand, it’s common practice. Most customers likely expect to be offered a credit option when engaging in B2B transactions. On the other, credit arrangements inevitably come with risk of late […]
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How businesses can reinvigorate strategic planning
February 13, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
For businesses, and people for that matter, the beginning of the calendar year can be a bit of a grind. The holidays have passed, summer vacations are relatively far off and everyone is trying to build momentum for a strong, healthy year. Amongst all the nose-to-the-grindstone stick-to-itiveness, however, you and your leadership team shouldn’t lose sight […]
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Should your business offer the new emergency savings accounts to employees?
January 23, 2024 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
As part of the SECURE 2.0 law, there’s a new benefit option for employees facing emergencies. It’s called a pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA) and the provision authorizing it became effective for plan years beginning January 1, 2024. The IRS recently released guidance about the accounts (in Notice 2024-22) and the U.S. Department of Labor […]
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Key 2024 inflation-adjusted tax parameters for small businesses and their owners
December 13, 2023 / by Brett Hess / Small Business
The IRS recently announced various inflation-adjusted federal income tax amounts. Here’s a rundown of the amounts that are most likely to affect small businesses and their owners. Rates and brackets If you run your business as a sole proprietorship or pass-through business entity (LLC, partnership or S corporation), the business’s net ordinary income from operations […]
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