Insights
Plain answers to the questions owners ask
Practical guidance across finance, tax, and insurance, written for owners rather than accountants — and sourced to the IRS, the Department of Labor, and other primary references so you can check the work.
Finance
About this service- The 13-week cash flow forecast The single most useful management report for an owner-led business — what goes in it, why thirteen weeks, and how to keep it honest.
- What is your business actually worth? How buyers arrive at a number, why SDE and EBITDA are not interchangeable, and the value drivers that move the multiple.
- Reading your financial statements without an accounting degree The three statements, how they connect, and the handful of numbers worth checking every month.
- Cash vs. accrual: which method your business should use What separates the two methods, who is permitted to choose, and why profitable businesses on the cash method run out of money.
- How long to keep business records The retention periods that actually apply — driven by the IRS period of limitations, employment tax rules, and the assets you still own.
- Payroll taxes: what you owe, and when The 2026 rates and wage bases, deposit schedules, and the filing deadlines that carry the steepest penalties.
- The monthly close, in plain terms What a real monthly close involves, why “the books are done” usually means something weaker, and the sequence that keeps numbers trustworthy.
- Employee or contractor? The test that decides The common-law factors the IRS actually applies, why a signed agreement does not settle it, and what misclassification costs.
- Estimated taxes and the safe harbor that protects you How the underpayment penalty works, why the prior-year safe harbor is usually the right target, and the annualized method for uneven income.
- S-corp reasonable compensation: how low can the salary go? Why the salary-versus-distribution split is examined so often, the factors courts weigh, and how to document a defensible number.
Insurance
About this service- Workers' compensation, and what drives your premium How class codes, payroll, and the experience modifier combine — and why the same coverage costs two contractors very different amounts.
- The coverage gaps owners find too late General liability does not cover most of what owners assume it does. The exclusions worth understanding before you need to file.
Beyond the article
Let’s apply this to your business.
One for the business, one for each owner and spouse — about two hours each, usually in the same week. A week later you get your plan and a flat monthly fee.
You will know what the work costs before you commit to any of it.