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My DH proved to me yesterday that he is incapable of handling the actual business end of running his business partnership with his brother(who is even less capable). So, to prevent any more love letters from the IRS, I'm going to have to start dealing with it. Anyone know of a good online course or book on keeping books for a small business? Specifically a partnership.
Sorry you didn't get any responses here. I am not sure that this is a very active forum. I have never done any sort of bookkeeping course so am not able to help with specific suggestions but perhaps if you have a local community college they might be able to make some suggestions for courses or you can check the library for books on the subject. Nice thing about that is if you find one you really like you cna then buy it but you don't have to spend any money if it's a bust
I took an accounting course at our community college when a friend of mine started a business. I keep the books still today. I also took a class at the same community college for QuickBooks which is a pretty easy program.
I ran a small business for 16 years. Had a retail store, as many as 20 employees. I STRONGLY recommend you hire a good book keeper to work with you and teach you until you are ready to take it over. I advertised in the neighborhood newpaper for a book keeper and found a stay at home mom 2 blocks away (she worked for a big accounting firm and was a CPA ). She really wanted to work part time, a I also let her work at home. She was worth her weight in gold!
The accounting and bookkeeping for most business is about 90% the same. It's the nuances of the 10% that you really need to understand and refine.
Business people, if they are creative, are usually not good at the numbers part..it's that left brain, right brain thing!
I also recommend Quicken. Many of my friends who own businesses us it.
universal accounting has a nice program with dvds and workbooks. Very comprehensive. You could probably just google 'universal accounting' and it should come up - kind of pricey though
JuneyBug Dongducheon CpCasey South Korea (Zone 4b)
It might be best to make an appointment with the accountant and have them set you up with a system that covers all of your needs. We did this for most of our small business clients when I worked in accounting. It isn't free, but it is cheaper than the IRS's love letters...
Once you have a system, it is sooo easy to keep up with everything.
I would make an apt with someone that knows what they are doing just to make sure your current love letters are taken care of :)
and help you set up something.
Also as far as the partnership thing, you will have to do ALL of it yourself, not just your husband's 'half' The same person should be taking care of all of it.
The IRS will not care which parts whomever agreed to do and if part of it a mess, even if YOUR part is right, YOU will end up with more love letters.
Partnerships usually are a bad idea.
Believe me Frilly, I find the partnership to be beyond a bad idea. My BIL is not the most honest person when it comes to paying taxes, and I constantly fear the repercussions should he ever get audited. There is not even a formal partnership agreement for the larger of their 2 businesses. With regard to the love letter we got, my husband used a tax ID for his truck when contracting with state and fed govt. for the partnership. Anybody with half a brain would know that you can't do that. But to the feds, all of the tax liability was ours, yet we only showed paying our half. BIL's half was paid, and after sending in all the paperwork to prove it, I believe all is taken care of. Meanwhile, I fully expect to have to take care of the whole mess myself. DH keeps expecting me to do it, even though I have zero training in that dept. (just a bit of common sense and a healthy fear of the IRS) and I want to make sure that I do it right.
You should get something in writing concerning a partnership. At least a buy/sell agreement etc. DON'T WAIT until something happens, it';s far too late then, If you are seeing problems now, they will only get worse. The IRS doesn't care who's fault it is. Each one of you will be personnally resposible, and they will go where the money is, not who's at fault.
As a business owner who has had partners, problems arise even in the most freindly of partnerships. I strongly. strongly urge you to seek qualified help. Contact SCORE, they have a large staff od retired business people to help. We have a university here that provides help for small businesses (Minnesota). There are resources out there, but for your mental health and financial well being please don't delay.
The mental energy it takes to worry about this could be put to far more productive use!
