Monthly summary of the tax, financial, and business news that may impact your business.

Business consultants and coaches commonly advise small business owners to use a “trailing 12-month” statement of profit and loss (P&L) to get more value from their financial data which requires some extra effort, usually on the part of a bookkeeper or accountant, to design and populate. The question these business owners commonly ask: is the extra effort worth it?

In business and in life, we can all benefit from paying more attention to where we spend our money. However, tracking business expenses is about more than just saving receipts. There is one basic concept many business owners can be slow to accept when it comes to managing their finances.

The effort spent entering billing can produce valuable insight into the amount and type of revenue one earns. However, to generate practical, useful data, business owners need to consider the critical final step to this process.

The pandemic has forced us to rethink the way we do business and budgeting is no different. A more flexible, out-of-the-box approach can still provide you with a practical roadmap to guide your business.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has officially released a copy of the Loan Forgiveness Application for recipients of loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We recently provided an overview of the PPP loan program, which forgives all or a portion of this loan depending on how the funds are spent. In part two of this series, we will cover the process of applying for forgiveness.

In this first installment of a two-part series, we will address what you can do during your eight-week period to maximize loan forgiveness. The application, along with updated rule clarifications, are providing business owners with a clearer understanding of how to spend PPP loans, and potential financial and legal pitfalls.

The idea of creating a budget may feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve already been in business for several years. However, most firms will find that the initial time and effort required to create a proper budget is well worth the decision-making guidance it provides throughout the year.

Not too many business owners give a lot of thought to the construction of their Chart of Accounts. It can be a missed opportunity for those who want to quickly access critical information about their business.