Are you a small business planning to offer benefits to your current staff or new employees?  Since small businesses often don’t have big budgets to compete with bigger companies on salary, offering employee perks is one way to help bridge the gap, boost morale and improve employee retention rates.
 
Many experts and entrepreneurs have identified some of the best perks that small businesses can offer employees.

1. Educate Them:  There are many perks employers can offer, but one that may fall into the favorite category is tuition reimbursement.  Not only can tuition reimbursement lead to happier employees, but it can also attract higher-quality employees. 
2. Free Food:  While you don’t need an in-house chef, a well-stocked snack pantry and quality     coffee maker can go a lot further than you think.  And, try to veer on the healthier side – you don’t want your team crashing on sugar. 
3. Listening to Employee Needs:  Whether your company is big or small, you need to listen to employee needs and understand the personal challenges they face to do their job well.  Voluntary benefits such as Legal Shield and Legal Estate are benefits that not only can protect their family under stress and future savings.
4. Show Appreciation:  Since most talented employees leave because they don’t feel appreciated, take steps to ensure your best people know how much the company values them.  This is a value can be added by dedicating space in newsletter for employee of the month and planning for team building events. 
5. Health Care: As a small business owner, you have options to offering healthcare for employees or at least providing a resource to delivering the information and tools for registering.  Employers have reimbursement programs and it also creates a tax-deductible expense for the employer.
6. Rewarding Employees with Money:  Small business owners can provide employees with a reimbursement program option.  This allows the employees to use the funds for family day to day expenses or medical. 

Motivating employees with perks doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  What small businesses may lack in corporate advantages; they gain in more closely-knit team.  Fontenot Solutions offers attractive perk solutions 

The world of filming offers a dream career for many people.  Film production is one of the few nationally subsidized media businesses in the United States.  As a business owner, how are you planning for company success?  And as an entrepreneur how will your business services be unique to the industry? 
 
Planning for success in any industry starts with a business plan that includes short-term and long-term goals. To start a film in production company you will need to incorporate or become an LLC.  Once you have incorporated you will need to come up with a script, either by writing it or finding one you want to produce. 
 
Some states offer grants for filming in their areas, but grants will not keep your business moving so you must consider other options for funding.  Topics such as funding should be outlined in detail within your business plan.

When developing a business plan be prepared to incorporate the expected challenges the industry may bring such as taxation, hiring staff and making the proper connections.  Will you bring a partner onboard and if so at what phase of the business?  How will you and the business partner mingle funds into the business. These are questions I encourage you as an entrepreneur to consider before the days turn into months and the months turn into years.

​The Houston Chronicle published a great article about getting started, check it out.   Below are additional links to use in learning more about the industry:

• Breaking into Film and TV business
• How to make a short film with practically no budge​t 

​Fontenot & Associates Solutions LLC can support your start-up budget plan or business plan.

When the time comes to invest back into your business, one the biggest steps you will take as a small business is hiring your first employee.  Where many small business owners’ lose sight of this important consideration is the true value and long-term value this course of action can have on their business. 

Yes, hiring your first employee will increase your weekly or monthly cost because now you have more responsibilities and commitments to your employee.  You are now on the hook to pay another person a salary weekly, bi-weekly or monthly despite the success of the business.  Hiring support opens doors and many new opportunities for growth.

The day to day responsibilities of entrepreneurship can leave you guessing when it comes to what you need for tax season.  Tax time is never that much fun so, this year, make sure you don’t leave out any crucial information.
 
You can start now with a simple checklist:
 
1.  File the correct tax form
Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs report business income and expenses on Schedule C that is attached to your Form 1040 Individual Tax Return.
 
If your business is a partnership or multi-member LLC, you’ll be required to report business income and expenses on Form 1065.  S corporations report business activity on Form 1120-S.  Then the partnership, LLC or S corporation issues a Schedule K-1 to its shareholders, reporting their share of the entity’s income, deductions, and credits.
 
2.  Provide business information 
When preparing to file your annual tax return, you will need to provide some basic information, including your business legal name, social security number, and address.  If you have filed for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) with the IRS for your business, you will need it as well.
 
If addition, make sure the name on your tax return matches the name on file with the Social Security Administration – otherwise, it can cause a delay with your refund.
 
3.  Get your receipts out of the box
Keeping your accounting records in order throughout the year can make it a lot easier to prepare your annual tax return. 
 
If you have a professional tax preparer or accountant, one of the first things they will ask you for is your bookkeeping records, such as your journal entries, list of revenue and expenses, bank and or credit card statement, profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
 
4.  Understand the Home Office deduction
One very common business deduction for small business owners involves the home office deduction.  You may be eligible if you use your home regularly and exclusively for business.  You can find the full instructions for Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, for more details on whether you qualify. 
 
 
5.  Be clear on deductions for your business vehicle 
Another common deduction associated with small business owners is car expenses.  It is important that if you drive your own car, you need to keep an accurate log of your mileage for business use. The IRS will not allow a deduction for business use of a vehicle without a record of miles driven for business.  Your log may be kept manually or electronically.
 

​The IRS Form W-9 is important for small business owners.  You will need this whenever you hire an independent contractor for your business.  It’s a good idea to have all independent contractors complete this form before you pay them.
 
As a company you will use the information provided by the independent contractor to prepare the Form 1099-MISC, reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the amount of income that was paid to the independent contractor by your company. 
 
The W-9 form also contains boxes to check showing how the contractor’s business is legally organized.  This includes sole proprietor, C Corporation, S Corporation, Partnership, or Limited Liability Company.  When contractors sign the W-9, they certify under penalty of perjury that they have completed the form correctly.  They also certify they are not subject to backup withholding and are a U.S. citizen. The IRS states that anyone that receives payment of $600 or more over the course of a tax year needs to fill out the Form W-9.  The best rule in practice is to collect the form anytime you pay someone for anything, even if it’s below the $600 threshold.
 
The Form W-9 does not have to be filed with the IRS.  It will be important to maintain the signed form in your files.
 
Completing Form W-9 is pretty straightforward.  The contractor should just indicate the business name and their employer identification number (EIN), also known as the tax ID number.  When the form is completed, the contractor is certifying to the IRS that the tax ID number being provided is correct and accurate.

When running your own business you may have to hire independent contractors and this process requires you to track and maintain files in order to run an effective and compliant business.  Make no mistake, your business staff and management team should have a clear understanding of what the W-9 form is and when to use it.