Any advice on a service based LLC?

[mjones9630]

I'm in the process of starting a business.. one of the most stressful things I've done so far! who would have thought there was so much paperwork involved! Lol..
So, anyone with experience running their own service based LLC (preferably remodeling/construction)? I'm getting hung up on what all I need to track, and to an extent, how to efficiently do so.. Is there anything you use to simplify this? (Referring to milage, tools, materials, etc.. any/all write-offs)
I've already got everything set up, and at this point, we're just trying to find a way to streamline a few things.. ANY input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

BTW, this is my first, fully legit (paperwork wise) business.. so really, any input is appreciated.. all the way down to what quicken you use or suggest.. I'm trying like hell to get everything as close to right the first time as possible.. Don't want to start off on the wrong foot, and dig a grave with the IRS! Lol!

 

[mjones9630]

Or, any suggestions on a good resource to pull info from?.. my CPA friend is about tapped out, info wise.. lol

 

[Boudie]

I ran a sub S for 30+ years may be able to help but need more specific questions and not familiar with a LLC.

 

[Boudie]

You said your CPA is tapped out. Does that mean he has no more answers or is hes just tired of you asking them? Good CPAs are a great source of advice, especially when it comes to getting set up. Once the books are established you can normally start doing your own filing and just go to the CPA for specific advice and when big changes occur. You have to decide if you make more money working and paying for the advice or missing work and not paying for the advice. I have a MBA so I already paid for a lot of advice before I got started and then my uncle was a CPA.

 

[Genuine]

Best of luck try a different CPA get there opinion

 

[mjones9630]

You said your CPA is tapped out. Does that mean he has no more answers or is hes just tired of you asking them? Good CPAs are a great source of advice, especially when it comes to getting set up. Once the books are established you can normally start doing your own filing and just go to the CPA for specific advice and when big changes occur. You have to decide if you make more money working and paying for the advice or missing work and not paying for the advice. I have a MBA so I already paid for a lot of advice before I got started and then my uncle was a CPA.

I plan to do all my own filling, or at least managing it all until the end of the year. The person helping me set this all this up is getting tired of questions she doesn't know easy answers to.. considering I'm not an actual client, I don't blame her.. lol
I've got a decent understanding of what I need to withhold, from what, and why.. I'm going as an LLC S Corp, and will be paying myself payroll. Doing the W-4, I-9, all that fun stuff. I'm having some trouble getting a better understanding on the business deductions. What all to track, and suggestions on how to do so efficiently. At the moment, I'm flooding myself with hand written notes, waiting on the Mrs to decide which QuickBooks is going to work best, and incorporate our current spreadsheets into..
So, other than the obvious fuel/milage, tools, & materials.. any suggestions on deductions, or things I should track? Or suggestions on tracking software? Even if we go with a full accountant and tax professional, we plan to do as much as possible ourselves..

 

[BigSkySmoke]

Well this is how I set mine up to keep it simple and pay the least amount of taxes...Its classified for commercial and industrial maintenance and 95% of what the LLC does is sub contracted.

The LLC is set up as a S-Corp for the pass thru. Mainly to keep taxes to a minimum. I take a small salary that pays for all personal household bills. And the company pays for 100% of everything else...gas, food, clothing, cell phones, auto maintenance, truck payment ...everything.

Use QuickBooks for accounting. Super easy to maintain and transfer to an accountant at the end of the year. This year our accountant bill was around $600 and if we would have had everything in QuickBooks it would have been half of that.

Ill post of websites that I like for small business ideas when I get home tonight.

 

[mjones9630]

Well this is how I set mine up to keep it simple and pay the least amount of taxes...Its classified for commercial and industrial maintenance and 95% of what the LLC does is sub contracted.

The LLC is set up as a S-Corp for the pass thru. Mainly to keep taxes to a minimum. I take a small salary that pays for all personal household bills. And the company pays for 100% of everything else...gas, food, clothing, cell phones, auto maintenance, truck payment ...everything.

Use QuickBooks for accounting. Super easy to maintain and transfer to an accountant at the end of the year. This year our accountant bill was around $600 and if we would have had everything in QuickBooks it would have been half of that.

Ill post of websites that I like for small business ideas when I get home tonight.

That's exactly what I'm shooting for.. basically the same kinda business and set up- res/com maint, repair, & remodeling.. lower wages, covered expenses.. less taxes..lol.. how do you track your milage and daily expenses? All through QuickBooks? I'm currently making tons of notes, awaiting input to spreadsheets to import to QuickBooks.. but it seems like there's got to be an easier way.. Large material buys are easy, but milage and little things are becoming a pain to track.. and, I'm still trying to figure out what all the business can cover, and how.. home, insurance, phone, etc..
A good site for info would be great!.. the wife and I have been combing through all sorts of crap trying to find out what pertains to us. With this business running a little differently than most.. it's been a bit overwhelming. Always tending to bringing up more questions than answers! Lol.. like, taxing labor and "finished" materials.. I would have never thought!

 

[BigSkySmoke]

That's exactly what I'm shooting for.. basically the same kinda business and set up- res/com maint, repair, & remodeling.. lower wages, covered expenses.. less taxes..lol.. how do you track your milage and daily expenses? All through QuickBooks? I'm currently making tons of notes, awaiting input to spreadsheets to import to QuickBooks.. but it seems like there's got to be an easier way.. Large material buys are easy, but milage and little things are becoming a pain to track.. and, I'm still trying to figure out what all the business can cover, and how.. home, insurance, phone, etc..
A good site for info would be great!.. the wife and I have been combing through all sorts of crap trying to find out what pertains to us. With this business running a little differently than most.. it's been a bit overwhelming. Always tending to bringing up more questions than answers! Lol.. like, taxing labor and "finished" materials.. I would have never thought!

I currently don't track mileage and just keep receipts for everything to do with the truck. I'm probably gonna switch to mileage and then just use that deduction. We are currently trying to switch over to QuickBooks and use it completely. Do it as quickly as possible and ditch the spreadsheets. Life will get easier for you once you have it up and running. It's an evolving process with the tax rates, but the faster you can use it, the easier you can track you entire business.
I don't deduct anything as far as a home office. 100sf of office space isn't worth the red flags. Away from the house I save receipts for everything and the accountant takes it from there...

 

[Boudie]

All great advice.

You are entitled to deduct space in your home you use for your business. Use the percentage of sqft used by the business to deduct the company's share of electric, water, garbage, taxes, interest on your mortage etc. Repairs or renovations to your home related to the business are also deductible as is the amount of depreciation in your home. This is described in the appropriate tax forms.

Mileage vs company car. If you have access to a car that is not used for company business you can deduct 100% of all expenses related to the "company" car and depreciate the value of this car over time. If you do not have access to a 2nd car you must physically record the mileage of every business trip you make if you do not want to have problems in an audit. Unless of course you can prove you ride your bicycle to the grocery and church on Sundays. These records should be written into a log book.

What to record? Depending on the size of your business a simple green ledger may be sufficient. You can always go to Quickbooks with opening balances taken from the green ledger. There is a learning curve with Quickbooks but there are classes available at the Votech or often at the Chamber of Commerce. Record every legitimate business expense, if you pay a bridge toll going to a job site, buy coffee for a client, pay a business license fee, office supplies, sales tax on equipment you resell, the nails you use to hang your sign on the door,....anything related to the cost of doing business, write it down in the green ledger. A decent CPA will set you up with some simple T Charts to get you started.

Ge the basics from a high school accounting book, this will be enough to help you get settled in. Another idea would be to scan everything and keep your records digitally. Simple Excell spreadsheets go a long way to being organized.

Once you learn an accounting software package your first entries will probably be "balance entries" so you don't need to go back and enter everything you wrote in you ledger, just the balances at the time you set up the company in the software.

Good luck, hope this helps.

 

[tattootommy]

As a banker, the one bit of advice I can give you is establish a strong relationship with your bank. A good banker is a fantastic resource. They have good relationships with CPAs, Attorneys and understand the cashflow cycles involved in your industry.

DONT wait to establish business credit until you need it. Theres tons of programs that help startups (generally less that 2 years of filed returns) get credit at sensible terms. I cant tell you how many times I see a good business fail or run poorly because the owner didnt manage cash flow and credit properly. Resist the urge to use your personal credit cards.

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[DRed409]

QuickBooks is easy to use although it can sometimes open the door to problems down the road.

I have been MIA lately ironically because I have been in the process of going through a conversion from QuickBooks enterprise to an ERP system.

Farm out your tax work it is to complex and really not worth the time or cost associated with attempting to do it yourself. Also avoid using your friendly neighborhood CPA and find someone that frequently works with companies of your size/industry.

With that being said, any thing you may have a question about with quickbooks I should be able to help you out pretty quickly, also be weary of their payroll service and other "business services" as the pricing is pretty high, at least in my region.

Why an LLC filing as an S, and not just an S Corp however?

I served as Controller of an S that became an LLC, and now serve as CFO of a C Corp. Shoot me a PM and i will give you any help that I can.

ALSO: BUY AN INTERMEDIATE 1 ACCOUNTING BOOK. MAYBE AN INTRO TO COST ACCOUNTING BOOK AS WELL IF YOU FEEL LIKE AN ADVENTURE.

And remember to always sign on behalf of the LLC and never yourself!