The Abundant Beans Blog

What Happens if a Life Insurance Policy Lapses?

November 6, 2017

November 6, 2017 The dollar amount of death benefit payouts that seniors 65 and older forfeit annually through lapsed or surrendered life insurance policies is more than the net worth of either Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) or Jeff Bezos (Amazon) – $112 billion! That’s $112 billion worth of death benefits, inheritance, donations to charities, and cash…

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Who Do We Serve?

October 23, 2017

October 23, 2017 When people see our package of services they sometimes comment that they don’t need the “royal treatment” or will call us when they are a “big wig.” I understand what we offer seems like a lot when comparing our services to other accountants who just do tax returns. There are plenty of…

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Top 5 Local Coffee Shops

September 15, 2017

September 15, 2017 I love coffee as much as I love tax planning and the counting of beans. I spend a great deal of my time out and about networking with referral partners, meeting new people and catching up with clients. Most of the time we are conversing over a cup. Here are my top…

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Worker Misclassification & Employer Risk

August 10, 2017

August 10, 2017 The shift in the U.S. Department of Labor’s role The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has been taking a hard look at independent contractor relationships. After many workers complained that they should be treated as “employees” instead of independent contractors (and then entitled to employee benefits), DOL has shifted from the role…

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Five People Every Business Owner Needs

August 3, 2017

August 3, 2017 If I could give every business owner a handy little checklist for people they need in their life this is what it would look like! One:Someone who knows the ins and outs of business law and will be in your corner. It is extremely beneficial to have a relationship with a business…

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Let’s Trade!

July 6, 2017

July 6, 2017 Often, I find barter transactions in a client’s books by accident. This prompts a conversation about what the tax implications of the services being provided and received looks like. Small Business Owner #1 (SBO#1): “Hey, I would love your [insert service] but I can’t pay for it. How about we trade [insert…

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Traditional Tax Preparers vs. Collaborative Tax Advisors

May 31, 2017

May 31, 2017 As with any field there is a range of expertise and business models when it comes to tax professionals. I want to talk about the difference between the traditional model tax preparers versus the more collaborative (value-added) tax advisors. I have experience working in both business models and they are very different.…

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To S Elect or Not to S Elect? That is the Question…

May 5, 2017

Once a week I field a telephone call from a small business client, acquaintance or a high school friend about electing S Corporation status on their single member LLC (Schedule C). Someone, usually their Uncle Joe, Sister Jane or some other business owner, told the caller that they will save so much money in taxes with an S election.

“Is that TRUE?!” they always ask me. In true CPA fashion my answer is…

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