Paul Belshaw

Q3 estimated tax payments are due September 15. Most business owners already know the date. Fewer stop to think about how they're landing on the number they send in. A lot of the time, it's last quarter's payment, rounded up a little "just in case." That's not an estimate. That's a guess — and guessing wrong costs money in both directions. We see this a lot with small business owners here in Pasco and Pinellas Counties, especially contractors and service businesses whose income swings from...

A good bank balance and a bad tax surprise can happen in the same year, to the same business. That's not bad luck — it's a sign that one or more pieces of a basic bookkeeping checklist are missing. Here's the short version: a Small Business Bookkeeping Checklist should include four essential things, no matter the size of your business, the industry, or who's doing the books. Monthly reconciliation. Quarterly tax projections. A year-end review in November or December. And a real set of...

Difference Between Bookkeeping and Recordkeeping Most business owners think they are doing their bookkeeping. What they are actually doing is recordkeeping. The difference between bookkeeping and recordkeeping is the difference between saving paper and knowing what the paper means. One keeps you out of trouble. The other tells you how your business is doing. Here is what separates them. What is recordkeeping? Recordkeeping is saving and storing the documents that prove money moved. That...