It’s Small Business Week

Happy National Small Business Week!  This happens to be the illustrious week designated for increased awareness of issues surrounding the small business community.  In honor of this week, I wanted to highlight three very big issues facing small employers.

1. Health Care Costs – The Obama administration is looking to find a way to cover everyone with health insurance.  While arguments could be made either way of the necessity of this proposal, it could take shape as mandatory coverage provided by employers.  It could also look like a removal of pre-tax health insurance benefits with everyone receiving a credit on their tax return for all or part of premiums paid throughout the year.  Because health insurance is one of the biggest expenses in business, owners and managers need to keep close tabs on this one.

2. Taxes – Self-employed business owners need to make sure they are reporting all income and expenses incurred in the operation of the business.  By under-reporting income or exagerating expenses, individuals are cheating the system and not paying their fair share.  A reputable accountant or tax preparer can help with keep things above board by asking the right questions.

3. Human Resources – Issues relating to employee retention, discipline, training and compensation all are equally important.  Being in the payroll industry, it is my opinion that most employers simply don’t take the payroll function seriously enough.  Employers are the first line of “defense” in ensuring that taxes are paid.  By withholding and remitting the proper amounts, employees can make the best tax planning decisions possible.  Employers should be keeping up with tax changes in the appropriate jurisdictions.  They should also be referring their employees to online tools for employees to be educated about their checks.  One good place is PaycheckCity.com which has free paycheck calculators.  I use these frequently in planning my check as well.