Can't I pay them on a 1099? Most owners ask it, because payroll is a hassle and contractors seem simpler. But get it wrong and the IRS comes looking for the FICA and income tax you should have withheld. The IRS weighs three things: behavior (do you control how the work gets done?), finances (who provides the tools, and does this person sell the same service to other companies?), and relationship (reimbursements, uniforms, how permanent it is). A lawyer you hire runs their own show and serves lots of clients — a contractor. A barista you train to do it your way — employee, on payroll. The clearest test is the one owners miss: is the work core to your business — the work that actually generates your revenue? If it is, that person belongs on the payroll. A coffee shop's baristas are core; the bookkeeper who supports the shop isn't. Get that line wrong, and an audit is where you'll find out.

Do you need bookkeeping help? Book time with us to discuss for free! https://calendly.com/coeurbridge

Learn about Coeurbridge: www.coeurbridge.com

IRS Guidance: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee

IRS Behavioral: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/behavioral-control

IRS Financial: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/financial-control

IRS Relationship: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/type-of-relationship

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

Most small businesses that fail will fail due to cash flow. Here's one of the most common ways it happens — and it's avoidable. When you invoice a client, you collect sales tax. In Washington, business and occupancy tax, too. That money lands in your checking account, but it was never yours to spend — it belongs to the state. Leave it sitting in your operating account, and you'll spend it without meaning to, then come up short when the bill comes due. Six projects, $5,000 of sales tax each, and suddenly you owe $30,000 you don't have. The fix is simple: move the tax you collect into its own account the moment it lands, and pay the state from there. This episode walks through how to set that up. The example uses Washington's tax agencies, but the strategy works wherever you run your business.

If you need bookkeeping support, contact Coeurbridge at this link: https://calendly.com/coeurbridge

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

Hi everyone, in this episode, we discuss the final step in best practices regarding 1099s and how to file them. Depending on your software, you may have to fill these out manually or use a service like Tax1099.com, or you can file them electronically through your accounting software. If you want to take a Best Practices 1099 course with our training partner, Springboard, go to courses.springboard-learning.com and sign up for the 1099 Best Practices course. Use code 1099HALF at checkout to enjoy a 50% discount on the course. Also, if you are a small business owner in need of help establishing this 1099 best practice process, or you need someone to enact this process, contact us at [email protected]. Enjoy the episode! Knowing the best practice for handling this process efficiently and effectively can put your mind at ease!

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

In this episode, we discuss the second best practices step in handling 1099's as a small business. Here, we discuss updating vendor records and how they map appropriately to 1099 reporting. Also, our partners at Springboard have a 1099 best practices class that you can take for 50% off if you go to courses.springboard-learning.com and use the code 1099HALF on checkout. Also, if you are a small business and want help with 1099's, Coeurbridge can help - contact them at [email protected]. ENjoy the episode!

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

The whole 1099 process gets easier if you fix one thing at the front: get a W-9 from every vendor before you pay them. Make it a condition of working with you — a condition of getting paid — and people hand it over without a fight. A 1099 covers anyone you pay who isn't on payroll. Most big vendors — Zoom, Adobe, your payroll company — are C-corps you won't file a 1099 for, but get the W-9 on file anyway; it's usually right there on their website. And watch the in-between cases: if an employee does odd jobs outside their regular role — paints the office, cleans it now and then — that's income that belongs on a 1099, even though a supply run you reimburse isn't. The point is to make it a habit, not a scramble. You set the policy with your bookkeeper — no W-9, payment held — they do the legwork, and you check a vendor report every quarter so nothing slips. Do that, and the day the IRS ever asks for your records, you don't think twice.


Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

Bookkeeper, accountant, CPA, CFO, wealth manager — starting out, it's not obvious which one you actually need, or when. This episode sorts it out by where you are in your business's life cycle. At startup, you need a solid bookkeeper to set up your books, get you enrolled with the tax agencies, and keep you compliant — and probably a CPA for tax strategy. As you grow, a part-time CFO earns its keep on the bigger questions: new products, financing, even buying or selling a business. (And if budget's tight, the SBA's SCORE program connects you with retired executives for free.) A wealth manager comes in for retirement, executive comp, and eventually planning your exit. Because here's the part most owners skip: your business and its financials are an asset you will someday sell, hand off, or close. The earlier you treat them that way, the more they're worth when that day comes. Knowing who to bring in, and when, is how you build toward that instead of just keeping up.

Video: https://youtu.be/OJMpY7_bEUA

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

You had a profitable year — the P&L says so — and there's nothing in the bank. How? Because profit and cash are not the same thing, and almost nobody gets taught the difference. Profit is a timing story. You can book revenue before the cash shows up — invoice a customer on net-30, and the sale lands this month while the money lands next. It runs the other way too: sell a $100 gift card, and you've got the cash, but it's a liability, not revenue, until someone redeems it. Inventory ties up cash months before the cost ever hits your P&L. And depreciation lowers your profit on paper while no cash leaves at all — meaning that money is most likely still sitting in your account. This episode walks through each of those timing gaps, with Starbucks and a coffee shop as examples. Get them straight, and two things happen: you stop being blindsided by your own P&L, and if you ever look at someone else's books to buy their business, you know exactly what to ask about.

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

If you're thinking about starting a business, one of the best free research tools is sitting on the SEC's website: the 10-K of a public company that already does what you want to do. Say you want to open a coffee shop. Pull Starbucks' 10-K and read it like a detective — search the document one word at a time and see what each turns up. Search "product," and you learn exactly what they sell, and what you'd have to source to sell it. Search "risk," and you get a whole section on what keeps their leadership up at night — downturns, food safety, cyber threats — every one a contingency you'll want in your own plan, and the kind of thing a lender will ask about. Search "store," and you find how they choose locations, and that licensing is a way to expand later. "Loyalty" shows how they keep customers coming back. "Supply" shows how they source and how they treat the farmers they depend on. It won't tell you everything, and you're not trying to be Starbucks. But a company like the one you want to build has already written down its playbook and its risks, for free. Download one, start searching, and let your own questions grow from there — you'll come back to it again and again as you build your business plan.

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

Whether you're researching an industry before you start, sizing up a company you might invest in, or just want to understand the numbers where you work — financial analysis starts in the same place: knowing where to look. Say you're interested in the coffee business. You can learn a lot from a company that already does it well. Work for one. Be a customer and pay attention. And read the financials of the public players — every company that sells stock files a 10-K with the SEC, free to pull from sec.gov. It won't tell you everything; it's consolidated and high-level. But it shows you the industry's risks, its cost structures, and where the money comes from. This episode walks through where to find it all, using Starbucks as the example. And the bigger reason to learn any of this: you want to read the numbers yourself instead of taking anyone's word for it. If it's your own business, that's how you make sure the people you hire can't rob you blind.

Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com