$16 billion. Hours to get into the application portal. Thousands of incomplete applications.  Hi. I'm Bette Hochberger at CPA, CGMA, and this is a quick minor update on the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant. It's a little different than PPP. This was very specific as to who can apply. You had to be a live venue operator. If you produce theatrical performances, live performances, concerts, movie theaters, museums, talent representatives, all these folks got super, super hit by COVID because even if they wanted to open, they really couldn't.  So, because there was so much devastation in those industries, the SBA has an entirely separate grant, and it's not like the PPP loans being forgiven and things like that. It's a bit different.  The exciting thing with the billions and billions of dollars available for the shuttered venue is that they've got about 10,300 groups successfully submitted. And a lot of those people had to sit in those waiting rooms online for hours to have the luxury of even putting in the application.  While it sounds like a lot with that 10,000, there were over 12,000 that started the application and didn't even finish it. So you can imagine it wasn't easy if you went through PPP or EID or any of those things, and you saw how much information they wanted; this was like a hundred times worse. I did work on a shuttered venue grant for a nonprofit I'm on the board of, and it was not for the faint of heart, that is for sure.  They don't know quite how quickly the funding will run out, but it's set up in a tiered priority distribution system that is complicated. I'm not going to get into all of that, but they do have somewhat of a timeline ish, more or less. So they think that end of May, priority round one should be getting funded. And if you manage to get into importance round two or three, that should happen in June if there's any money left over. They don't know how much they will be giving out yet, and we still have over 12,000 incomplete applications. Wow. It's so many, and who knows how many of them will ever actually finish.  So that is your update on the shuttered venue. If you put in for that, hopefully, you're going to get it. Hopefully, you're going to see it kind of before summer starts, but who knows? We'll see you next time.

Hey, guys. I hope everybody's having a good day. It's Friday. I'm thrilled it's Friday. It's been a very long short week. Hopefully, it'll be relaxing. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and get started.  Hi, I'm Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA, and about a year or two ago, I started a #BusinessBookClub. The thing that's cool about this is it's completely free. It's like a free school. We used to compare it to free root canal, free school. But this is a free school. If you're the type of person who likes to read, or if you're the type of person who doesn't want to read, this can be such a valuable group for you. There are a few reasons. Number one, I read a lot. I also listen to a lot of books. So between those two things, I cover a lot of books in a year. I have found that I've gained so much knowledge in a relatively easy, fast, and cheap way, especially with business books. And I discovered that I would read these books and I wouldn't have very many people to discuss them with. So I created the book club.  Number one, there, is that you can join us for free. Number two, you can discuss the topics and the books and the matters they cover with other people—number three, networking. You have the opportunity to meet people you've never met before, which is always pretty cool. Number five, hmm. Well, you get to spend time with me. So check it out. That's Business Book Club. It's free. It's not like a crazy book club where you're committed, and if you don't show up, something happens. Come and go as you please. We do it on Zoom. Hopefully, soon we'll be back in person. I hope you join. Our next one is next Thursday, I believe. Was that the 27th? Yeah. So I hope to see you there.

SHOW LESS#RetirementPlanning can seem boring, but when you have our #FinanceFriday guest Seth Bassoff CEPA®, APMA®, CRPS®, CRPC®, RFC® on your side, you can do some very cool things. Find Seth is a financial advisor and senior vice president of the Adelson Group, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services. Seth's impressive biography is just one reason I brought him on today's #FinanceFriday; he is also an old friend of mine. Watch our video where we discuss retirement planning and tax savings below.   https://www.ameripriseadvisors.com/se... The first topic we go over is retirement planning and the most beneficial retirement plans that a small business owner can have. Most small business owners have SEP or Simple IRAs; however, Seth introduces us to ERISA, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. 401ks are an example of an ERISA-qualified plan. SEPS and SIMPLES are designed for certain types of people and contribution levels, while in contrast, ERISA qualified plans offer a big opportunity for savings and tax savings. Consulting with Seth can help you plan for your retirement.  Any #smallbusiness can take advantage of ERISA plans, including a sole proprietor or LLC who only has one employee, yourself. The amount you can contribute and divert away from tax is huge in comparison to other retirement plans. Seth shares a story of a client who was offered this retirement plan, and after understanding the tax-saving implications, asked Seth, "Is this legal?" The plan saves you so much money it feels illegal, but Seth assures that it is all very legal. It's not a tax technique; it's written n the code. However, you should make sure to partner with some like Seth, who does this consulting daily. Seth and I urge you to get informed and educated not these matters before you jump in, and Seth can help you do that.   Watch the video above to hear more about Seth's expertise regarding tax savings and retirement planning, as well as some personal interests of his. Check out last #FinanceFriday, and have a great weekend.   As always, if you’re looking for a fantastic CPA to help grow your business and wealth, set up a zoom call with me.

Social Media Marketing is a fantastic way for small business owners and big ones to engage with current clients and future clients. On this #FinanceFriday, Karen Dennis teaches us how to choose which social media platform is best for your business to market on. Karen Dennis is a health care publicist, blogger, reputation manager, web content writer, and media pitcher with a proven track record of success. Karen focuses on creating media opportunities for physicians and other practitioners in print and online. Karen’s creativity in promoting these physicians has earned her the hashtag #PR4THEDR.

Watch the full video and read the full article here: https://bettehochberger.com/finance-friday/financefriday-ft-karen-dennis-social-media-marketing-4559/

Hey guys, it's Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA, and to kick off Pride Month, we're bringing you a special tax tip Tuesday. On this one, we are going to go over the adoption tax credit. Now, obviously, the adoption credit applies to anyone who adopts a child. It is not strictly for the LGBTQ plus community. It applies to everyone, but the LGBTQIA+ community does tend to make good use of the adoption tax credit, so I wanted to do a high-level overview of the credit. #TaxTipTuesday

Read the full article and watch the video here: https://bettehochberger.com/tax-tip-tuesday/adoption-tax-credit-4554/

Hey guys. It's Bette Hochberger CPA, CGMA. On today's #FinanceFriday, we're going to talk about the Florida tax holidays. Florida tax holidays? But you don't pay any income taxes in Florida. Right? That's why everyone wants to live here. Well, this isn't actually an income tax holiday. It's actually a sales tax holiday, which isn't really new in Florida. We've been doing this for several years, but it is a little different this year. Anyone familiar with Florida knows that the rainy season is hurricane season. Actually, it's starting May 28th, and if you're watching this live, that's today; we've got the Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday right now. So what does that mean?

Karrie Klimas, is an expert on communications, networking, and people skills. She joins us to explain how she helps people become better communicators.  Of course, of course. Well, I'll give myself this. I am a cold lead trainer for our communications workshop called Great People Skills: Skills for Being Great People. I'll give myself that little plug plus reasons why I can also share this since we got to call ourselves experts so why not give myself that permission? As well as a self-discovery life mastery coach. But I'll say when it comes to networking, the goal for us, even in self-discovery, is trying to get you to pay more attention.  If you can get your attention acting like being curious and acting as an explorer, being open to see what people are doing, and having conversations. Most people might ... too much in their head, judging themselves and putting themselves in fear rather than being open to taking the chance to see who else is out there and connect to people.

Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/qgjZFMuPaSo

Hi, I'm Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA. And on today's #TaxTipTuesday, I will dive into a trendy subject right now, #cryptocurrency. I know my newsfeeds have been lit up like crazy; people are making a ton of money. It's insane. And there are so many different cryptocurrencies out there. But what does it mean for your taxes? Right? What is cryptocurrency in the eyes of the law? And in the law here, we're mainly talking about tax law and the IRS. So Bitcoin, Ethereum, all these crazy cryptocurrencies that are out there. In the IRS's eyes, they're all treated the same, and that is like property, right? So what does that mean? Well, think about stocks, bonds, things like that where you usually have to report your sales price when you sell it. And you get to say the cost or the basis of when you bought it.

The second round of PPP funds has been exhausted before the May 31, 2021 deadline.

"The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. This month's book club was inspiring because we were unexpectedly blessed with the presence of one of The Go-Giver's authors, John David Mann, and his wife, Ana. John David Mann reached out to us on Twitter after seeing one of our posts about book club and offered to come on. Now, if you've read The Go-Giver, you'd know that I shouldn't have been surprised by this generous act; but I still was. John was gracious enough to come on to our zoom chat and tell us about writing the book and answer any of our questions. Check out our video reviewing The Go-Giver below.  I've read this book multiple times, and I genuinely believe in its philosophies. To give you a summary, Bob Burg and John David Mann write about what they call "The Five Laws Of Stratospheric Success." The first law is the law of value; this essentially means that when selling a product that you want to be successful, you must give away more in value than you take in payment. It sounds a bit counterintuitive, but it's truly a remarkable "law" when you play with the idea a bit more. The second law is the law of compensation; this law gets into the nitty-gritty of how much money you will get. The Go-Giver makes it simple; the more lives you touch, the more money you make. The third law is the law of influence; this law points out that if your character is genuine and you put others first, you will, without a doubt, influence others.  The fourth law is the law of authenticity; we all know this one because our parents have said it to us many times, "Just be yourself." Remembering that at the core of what you sell is you and that the most valuable thing you can offer another person is your honest self. The fifth law is the law of receptivity which points out that you have to remain teachable and open to new experiences, meaning get used to saying "yes."  If you're interested in The Go-Giver, you can purchase it on amazon. If you want to join the discussion for our next book club, you may do so by joining our Facebook group. Next month we will be reviewing "To Sell Is Human."  Check out last month's book club, where we discussed Failing Forward. #BookClub​ #TheGoGiver​ #BettesBusinessBookClub​