EverythingYou Need To Know About Having An Accountant

A lot of people are confused about what they’re getting into when the create their company as an LLC. Most choose the LLC option because that’s what they hear is best. And while LLCs have their benefits, they aren’t the end all and be all – but we’ll just talk about LLCs here.

LLCs are an invention of the states. When you create a LLC with the state of Florida (or any other state) the IRS basically says, “ Good for you – now how do you want us to treat you for tax purposes?” The IRS doesn’t have an LLC category, so you can be treated as:

• Corporation (C corp)

• S corp

• Partnership

• Disregarded entity

Basically it’s your choice. Only caveat is you have to have more than one owner to be a partnership and can only have 1 owner to be a disregarded entity.

Now if you don’t tell the IRS how to treat your company they’ll pick for you. If company has only one owner, then you’ll be treated as a disregarded entity. More than one owner and you’re treated as a partnership.

No. You DO NOT have to pay employees, or even yourself every two weeks. Sometimes running a small business can be unpredictable, so it may be best to set up a monthly payroll schedule instead of bi-weekly or weekly. As the business owner, it is ok to restructure your payroll schedule to fit your business needs.

Payroll taxes vary based on the size of your payroll, and are not due until after payments have been disbursed. At the start of the year, the IRS will send you a letter providing a schedule of how long you have to pay your payroll taxes (i.e. 3 days after disbursement, monthly, etc.).

GET AWAY from cash! Particularly if you are a NEW company, set up a business account and use the card associated with that account for business expenses.

DO NOT use your personal funds for business expenses.

Using the card associated with your business account will help you keep an accurate account of your expenses, if you use cash keeping up with receipts becomes necessary and can be burdensome.

March 15th – Filing for S Corporations (1120S) and Partnerships (1065)

April 15th – Filing for Personal Tax Returns (1040) and C Corporations (1120)

April 30th – Annual report filing for all Florida entities

September 15th – Filing for S Corporations and Partnerships on extension

October 15th – Filing for Personal Tax Returns and C Corporations on extension

Filing for Not-For-Profit organizations (990. 990N & 990EZ) are due on the 15th day of the 5th month after organization’s year end (6-month extension upon request)