Chelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
Looking for an accounting definition? We cover all of the basics in our quick guide to accounting terms, so you can quickly understand important accounting terms and get back to running your business.
Credit bureaus arose to help lenders quickly gauge the reliability of a potential borrower. In the past, you could go to the good ol' general store and the owner would know you, your character, and whether or not putting your items on "charge" (or on credit) was a good idea. That method may have worked in the past, when communities were small and isolated, but there had to be a better way moving forward. Thus credit bureaus were born.
Learn what invoice financing is, whether it’s right for your business, and how to find a great financing company to work with in our complete guide.
Lenders like to know exactly how you plan on using the money they may potentially lend to you. If you've made successful investments in the past, like purchasing additional equipment that increased your sales revenue by 25%, and are planning on purchasing more equipment with the loan your applying for, be sure to tell your lender! It will demonstrate that you're experienced in business and that you're likely to increase your cash flow (which a lender hears as "we're getting our money back").
The main thing Live Oak Bank has going for it is high APY and no monthly fee. You won’t find fintech features like invoicing or accounting like you would with LendingClub and Lili Bank. You also won’t find business checking yet, so if you want additional features, a checking account, or no foreign transaction fees, a Live Oak bank alternative might be a better fit for your business.
Depreciation is a method of writing off an expense over a period of years rather than all at once with a typical tax deduction. Depreciation is used for purchases and expenses that are considered long-term assets, meaning their usefulness lasts longer than one year.
By knowing the basics of what tax deductions are and how tax deductions operate, you’ll be able to understand how to lower your overall taxable income and take the deductions you’re eligible for with confidence this tax season.
A tax credit is an amount of money taxpayers can claim to decrease the amount owed on taxes. Tax credits affect the total a taxpayer or business owes at the end of their tax calculations by allowing you to reduce the amount of money owed, or even in some cases, increase the amount received in a tax refund.
Tax credits are a great way to lower the amount of taxes you owe the IRS and can even increase your tax refund if you’re lucky. With over 30 tax credits available to small business owners, it can be overwhelming to learn which tax breaks you should (or are allowed to) take.
A tax deduction is a business expense you can use to reduce your total taxable income. According to the IRS, expenses that qualify for deduction must be “both ordinary and necessary.” Expenses that meet these requirements can be written off on your tax return, saving you hundreds or potentially thousands of dollars each tax season.
There are four types of payroll software systems to choose from: traditional payroll software, industry-specific payroll software, payroll software for accountants, and professional employer organizations (PEOs). Each option will make it easier to process payroll for your business, but may be designed for specific users or provide advanced services.
If it’s too late for you to withdraw your ERC request, but you know that the request is invalid and that you weren’t actually eligible for the employee retention credit, you may be faced with filing error penalties and/or held responsible for repaying the employee retention credit.
An ERC refund refers to the employee retention credit that eligible taxpayers can receive from the IRS, while an ERC loan is a type of advance that some companies offer to give employers faster access to their ERC credit.
The goal of a ghost preparer is to take advantage of taxpayers by taking a large fee or directing the taxpayers return to their own bank account or mailing address without the taxpayer’s knowledge — and then disappear without a trace to secure their fraudulent money can be tracked.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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