Baton Rouge CPA | Boosting Your Profitability

Have you ever wondered how you can maximize your business’s return on services and recoup some of your capital? Our CPA provides strategies to help boost your business’s profitability.

Optimize Your Business

By reviewing your production reports and ensuring procedures are in place can help save time and money. If a service is charged incorrectly, it can increase costs over the course of a year.

If possible, adding high-dollar services to your business can greatly boost your profit. Training team members  in various services provided can also maximize your business’s profitability.

Build a Great Team

In order to recruit and hire the best possible candidates, it is worth paying above average wages to experienced people in the field. This avoids employee turnover, which can become costly. A friendly and knowledgeable team will also help with client retention rates.  

Facilities and Equipment

If possible, purchase all your office equipment, rather than leasing it. This avoids a number of issues, including higher retail costs, interest payments, hidden fees, and lease-breaking penalties. Strive to maximize your office space. If your current client volume doesn’t allow you to use all your offices, consider subletting either your primary or secondary office space.

There are a variety of ways to boost profits and cut costs while owning a business. To start, think about your services, team, and office space. Opening a business can be costly and leave many owners in debt, especially after finishing school. Contact Apple Guerin Company of accountants today for help on managing your budget and ways to maximize your return on investment.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

CPA Baton Rouge | How to Choose the Right CPA

Hiring a CPA (certified public accountant) for your business not only provides greater financial transparency, but an excellent resource in making informed business decisions. If you’re considering hiring a CPA, it’s important to know what you’re looking for in a candidate. The following are important steps in helping determine the ideal CPA for you.

Determine Your Needs

Before you start looking for an accountant, determine why you need a CPA. Are you looking for help with your financial business strategy? Do you need help with bookkeeping or filing yearly and quarterly taxes? Once you determine your specific needs, you can assess which skills you should look for in a CPA.

Ask Around

Colleagues experienced in running their own businesses can be a helpful resource in providing advice on this process. Ask what traits they look for in a CPA. With their knowledge in mind, begin conducting your own research guided by your particular needs.

Here are some general questions to ask yourself when looking for a CPA:

  • Do they meet my specific needs?
  • Is their knowledge up-to-date? Do they use modern software?
  • Are they established and reputable?
  • What businesses do they currently represent?

Look for Specific Industry Experience

Many accountants spend a majority of their time working with clients in a vast number of industries and don’t necessarily have experience in your sector. If you are looking for an accountant with specific industry knowledge, contact Apple Guerin Company today. We offer a variety of accountancy services to fit everyone’s needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

CPA Baton Rouge | Avoid Becoming a Victim of Employee Embezzlement

Let’s face it: as a business owner, you have the ultimate level of responsibility. Juggling the demands of clients, overseeing your team, and monitoring financial transactions can be overwhelming. That’s why putting safeguards and internal controls in place is vital in helping you avoid employee embezzlement. While it may be hard to imagine, employee embezzlement is more common than most realize. It is, however, preventable. Here are some tips to get you started.

Know Who You’re Hiring
It’s not enough to select a new employee based on their resume or personality. Your new hire will likely be handling confidential information, so anyone whom you consider bringing on board should undergo a professional background check. You should also request references, including contact information from previous employers. 

Learn as Much as (and More Than) Your Employees
Over time, employees may see which clients pay with cash, who writes checks, the average daily and weekly deposit amounts, and how much money comes in from outside sources. This is information you should be familiar with as well. Require that each employee log these details in your accounting software and ask your accountant to help you create a program that includes a check and balance system with daily opening and closing reports. That way, either you or your accountant can run and analyze these reports.

Delegate Shared Responsibilities
No individual in your office should control any financial process from start to finish. Make sure you establish and implement a team approach to these tasks. This will let you know who recorded which transactions and create a higher degree of accountability among your team members.

Look for Common Red Flags

You should always keep an eye out for common indicators that an employee might be stealing from the business. Pay attention if someone on your team is suddenly spending beyond their means or is overly protective or secretive of their work. Employees who keep handwritten logs or use personal notebooks, should be transparent about their record keeping.

Schedule an Outside Audit

Serious financial damage can add up quickly if you’re the victim of embezzlement.  It’s important to have a professional review your financials.  He or she will be able to monitor your employees’ work to catch errors, mistakes and indications of theft.

If you notice that the numbers in your business aren’t adding up, talk to a trusted CPA first so they can put a fool-proof process in place to work through any irregularities and get your money back in your business where it belongs. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment to learn more, contact us at Apple Guerin Company today.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Baton Rouge Accountant | Goal Setting Strategies

No matter how impressive your vision for your company may be, dreams require hard work and strategic planning. Highly successful business owners learn to set goals realistically and effectively. Master the skills of effective goal setting, strategic planning, and assessment to find greater success in your business.

Set Incremental Goals

Start small when setting goals by establishing daily and weekly goals. It can be easy to let ambition take over while you dream of long-term goals. However, you cannot reach your long-term goals without smaller victories along the way. Setting smaller, incremental goals provides the opportunity for you to be in consistent control of your business. You will know if you miss a weekly goal, and you can then adjust your strategy to make sure your team can stay on track moving forward. If you are only setting quarterly or yearly goals it can come as a surprise when you miss them, or your team might be left struggling to meet them in the eleventh hour.

Make Goals Visible

You and your team need a visual reminder of what your goals are and when you plan to achieve them. Put them up on a bulletin board in the office or include them on your calendar. Write your goals in a place you look daily as a consistent reminder. We all have those back-of-the-mind thoughts or ideas that might be good if implemented, but they are frequently forgotten. Make your goals visible to you and your entire team.

Measure Your Goals

How will you know if you achieved your goal if you cannot measure it? Goals should have a measurable standard. Perhaps your goal is to see a 20% increase in your monthly new client numbers in a 6-month timeframe. By defining specific numbers and timeframes, your goals will lead to action. Abstract goals are often set and missed. When a goal is clear and measurable, you can more easily create a plan that accomplishes the goal at hand. Once you’ve set measurable goals, make sure you have a cadence for evaluating them. Will you be reviewing your progress weekly, monthly, or quarterly? This timeframe will vary based on the size of the goal and effort needed to evaluate change.

Evaluate your goal setting protocol to identify areas of opportunity. Master these skills and you will be on your way to the success you desire.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Baton Rouge Consultant | The Five Characteristics of Strong Leaders

Excellent leadership is a result of the utilization of many important characteristics that one can identify and strengthen. This article will address 5 traits of effective leaders within a service based business. 

Appreciative

By ensuring your employees or coworkers are acknowledged regularly and sincerely for their input, you will foster a working environment that rewards and motivates the contributions made. Appreciation can be shown in many ways, including verbal recognition (public praise), bonuses and pay increases, extra time off, gifts, meals and more. By showing appreciation, you’ll also foster respect from those around you. 

Instills Accountability

While some mistake accountability for micromanagement, the truth is that a great team will appreciate and thrive with appropriate accountability. To establish this, a leader should first set clear expectations related to workload, deadlines and communication standards. Once those expectations have been set, accountability measures should be put in place. This can be as simple as checking to ensure deadlines are met and reviewing work quality. By providing honest, critical feedback, you can help your team know exactly how to become a more valuable asset to your organization. This allows them to achieve the professional growth they likely desire. When balanced with appreciation and facilitated with respectful, kind communication, accountability can lead a team to new levels. 

Compassionate

Lead with compassion. By allowing compassion into your daily interactions with your team, you’ll understand and naturally accommodate their needs. Compassionate leaders understand the importance of work-life balance, consider benefits that matter to a team, and can allow for trusting relationships to take hold. 

Fair

In creating a fair work environment, you will establish a stronger level of trust from your team. Hold each team member accountable, no matter your relationship. In some instances, familial relationships within an organization can cause frustration among other team members, when favoritism is suspected. When setting expectations, ensure you hold all team members to the same standards in attitude and effort. 

Honest

Dishonest communication can often be found in the midst of a difficult confrontation. Imagine an employee is underperforming regularly due to their own incompetence. It may be uncomfortable for an employer to confront this difficult situation. Instead of directly and honestly discussing the needs of the business, the leader may instead try to sugar coat the feedback and soften the communication. Unfortunately, this won’t allow the employee to correct the communication or to begin looking for more appropriate employment. Long term dishonesty can lead to a dysfunctional team, ridden with incompetence. 

There are many characteristics of great leaders. These five can serve as a starting point for self-evaluation, allowing you to consider your strengths as well as your areas of opportunity

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Consultant in Baton Rouge | Tax Tips For Businesses

Considering tax implications, laws and spending early can help you to properly plan for tax season. 

Annual financial reports show that many Americans overpay on their taxes by a collective one billion dollars every year. This happens when people fail to hire experts who are well-versed in available tax credits and deductions.

There are a number of deductions to consider, including:

  • Charitable Expenses – Depending on the nature of your giving and documentation, you may be eligible for a deduction related to charitable contributions. 
  • Job-Hunting Costs – Whether seeking employment or to recruiting employees, you may have expenses in this category worthy of consideration. 
  • Lifetime Learning Credit – With proper documentation, certain programs may allow for a tax credit. 

Bigger Picture Changes

In addition to claiming credits during the actual filing process, there are a number of big-picture changes you may want to consider in the coming year.

  • Choose the Right Business Structure – An experienced accountant can help analyze your business structure and advise you when deciding the structure of your company. 
  • Maximize Your Medical Benefits – Any smart tax strategy includes proper management of medical benefits. For example, businesses with employees can take advantage of Medical Expense Reimbursement Plans. These allow you to write off medical bills as business expenses.
  • Choosing the Right Retirement Plan – Retirement plans help ensure financial stability and living standards when you eventually retire. An experienced accountant can help you choose between a 401k, defined benefit, SEP, and more to meet your goals.

Tax season only comes once a year, but it’s something any business professional should be considering long before April. Our experienced accountants can help turn a hefty tax payment into a large return. Contact us today to see what our team can do for you.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Baton Rouge Financial Consultant | New Hire Onboarding: The 30-60-90 Day Benchmarks

One way to introduce a new team member to the operations of your business is through 30-60-90 planning. This method uses identifiable goals and metrics to show new employees where they should be as they join your team. With 30-60-90 planning, you can successfully integrate new team members into your business and set them on the path towards personal success.

30 Days

An employee’s first thirty days on the job are essential to establishing relationships. They are also vital to making sure the new employees know what is expected of their position. Be sure to communicate with new hires to create three or more goals they can work on during their first month. Emphasize that they should focus on absorbing as much information as possible.

60 Days

After the first thirty days, your new hire should be familiar with the business’ routine. They should be able to effectively execute the things they learned during the first thirty days. New team members should adjust their focus from learning about the operations of your business to focusing on contributing to the company’s mission.

90 Days

By ninety days your new team members should be fully integrated into your business’s workflow and executing responsibilities independently. More importantly, they should be able to take the lead on projects and responsibilities themselves without any supervision. When problems arise, your new team members will be able to react and solve them while also being proactive in preventing them from happening again.

How Can You Make An Effective 30-60-90 Plan?

The best 30-60-90 plans include an extra step to look beyond numbers. You want your new employee to think critically as they settle into their new role. With that in mind, there are a number of things you can keep in mind as you create a 30-60-90 plan that will lead employees to great success.

  • Emphasize the big picture – Think about why you hired this specific person for this role, whether it be to fill a need in your business or expand your team. Make sure they plan goals and metrics that reflect your overall priorities.
  • Ask and answer questions – Your new hire needs a baseline understanding of the status quo in order to be effective in their new role. Encourage them to ask whatever questions they need to understand their priorities and direction.
  • Be flexible – Don’t worry about if your new hire doesn’t grasp things immediately. 90 days is a significant length of time, and there is often an adjustment period. Provide constructive feedback and course correct as necessary.

With proper planning using the 30-60-90 method, you can introduce new team members to your business and provide them with a baseline knowledge that they can use to help you achieve long-term goals. Constant contributions from every member of your team are vital to making your business a success. Contact us at Apple Guerin Company today to learn more about what 30-60-90 planning can do for you.

Apple Guerin Company LLC
Phone: (255) 767-1020
Url: https://appleguerin.com/
6421 Perkins Road, Bldg. A, Ste. 1B
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Transitioning from Tax Planning to Treading Water

Jude Guerin, CPA         
Partner, AG Dental CPAs & Advisors (LDA Premier Events

This is typically the time of the year when we are finalizing prior year tax returns and beginning to look at clients’ current year-to-date numbers to begin advising on tax planning strategies.  We start to put a plan in place for the remainder of the year to give clients plenty of time to be able to successfully accomplish their financial goals.  This year is anything but typical. With many of our dental clients being closed for a significant period of time, our discussions haven’t been about how much they plan to fund in their retirement plan or how much equipment they will buy. Instead, they are focused on keeping their practice afloat during this unprecedented time.  Below is a chart that provides examples of the 2020 planning we are advising many clients to do and ways to help you stay above water.

Traditional Planning:COVID Planning:
Pay quarterly estimates to reduce the overall taxes due with your tax return and avoid underpayment penaltiesConserve cash in all areas.Tax plan with your CPA to determine if quarterly estimates are necessary. The net income of practices will be significantly lower for at least the 2nd quarter of 2020.  This likely would reduce the need to pay quarterly estimates. Also, many of the deadlines for 2020 quarterly payments have been extended.
Efficiently utilize financing programs offered by lenders when making large purchasesContact lenders about loan deferrals for up to 3-6 months.  Most lenders are offering relief in the form of interest only payments.  Deferrals of any type will help in the overall theme of preserving cash as the #1 priority.
Consider new equipment purchases to save on taxesUtilize SBA loan programs to obtain working capital.  The two most popular SBA loan products are the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).  Both programs have forgiveness potential for portions of the loans assuming you meet the qualifications.  There are strict time frames for each loan and a limited amount of funds to be distributed.  The terms are attractive as well. Overall, there are pros and cons to consider before applying.  Contact your tax professional for advice and analysis.
Fund retirement plans as much as possible to both save tax dollars and plan for the future.Consider retirement plan withdrawals as an additional source of capital.  As part of the CARES Act, retirement plan participants can withdraw up to $100,000 from eligible retirement accounts.  The standard 10% penalty for early withdrawals will not apply.  These distributions are available until 12/31/2020.  Note: ordinary income tax on these withdrawals still applies and this should be a last resort for liquidity. 

Jude Guerin, CPA, is a partner with AG Dental CPAs & Advisors, an LDA events partner and member of the Academy of Dental CPAs. AG Dental CPAs & Advisors provides traditional accounting services, as well as dental consulting, for over 130 dentists in the Southeast United States. If you would like more information, visit www.agdentalcpas.com or call (225) 767-1020

Mastering the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Process

Jude Guerin, CPA,
Partner, AG Dental CPAs & Advisors (an LDA premier events partner)

We are five, long months into the COVID-19 crisis, and I’m sure everyone is just as ready for the three letters ‘P-P-P’ to be erased from their memory as we are at AG Dental CPAs.  The constant changes, confusion, misinformation, and lack of timely guidance has stressed nearly all our dentists to their limits.  On the bright side, for those that received a PPP loan, the money came at a critical time for their practices and served as a key piece in keeping everything afloat for the weeks and months of closure.  Fast forward to the middle of June, many dentists are open and working hard to rebuild their schedules and collection numbers, while having the benefit of a healthy bank balance due to the PPP infusion.  There are steps to be taken at this time to ensure you maximize the benefit of the PPP loan and receive forgiveness.  We will cover the most essential areas below.

Tracking Your Funds

Many loan recipients set up separate bank account for their PPP funds.  This has proven beneficial for multiple reasons and is a great idea.  The primary benefit has been the ability to keep track of how much money from the PPP amount has been spent on eligible expenses.  Another valid reason for a separate account relates to the forgiveness process.  The use of a separate account will allow loan recipients to limit the information submitted to their bank and the SBA, which is the government.  Not having to send bank statements from your primary operating accounts restricts the visibility of your practice’s intimate details.  As we tell our clients, less is best when dealing with the government.  

Using a PPP fund tracker spreadsheet will also prove helpful by the end of this process.  These are easy to find at this point.  Request one from either your bank or CPA.  Banks will be the first set of eyes on your forgiveness application.  They will be overwhelmed with these applications.  Therefore, providing an easy to read summary of your fund use should help to streamline your forgiveness application.  Again, a good thing.

Using Your Funds

I’m sure everyone who received a PPP loan took the same deep breath as us when the news was released extending the original 8-week time frame to use your funds to 24 weeks.  It was rumored for weeks before it actually happened, but it still provided a nice relief.  The additional 16 weeks allows the majority of recipients to easily use their funds without having to prepay a full summer of rent, bonus employees unnecessarily or put their mother-in-law on payroll.  We are advising practice owners the simplest method is to use 100% of their funds on payroll.  This will streamline the forgiveness process by requiring only payroll reports.

Timing Your Forgiveness Application

You do not want to be an early adopter in the forgiveness application stage.  In May, banks began prematurely releasing forgiveness applications.  This created unnecessary stress on loan recipients who began analyzing the requirements.  There will be multiple iterations of this application between now and the end of 2020, so in an effort to save your valuable time from being wasted, we suggest waiting until closer to the end of 2020 before considering filling out the form.  Let other eager recipients spin their wheels on the intricacies of the form.  Giving the process time to unfold, adapt and change has been a good strategy throughout this crisis and will be true with the forgiveness application as well.

Remaining Questions to Consider

As of the writing of this article in the middle of June, there are lingering questions.  For example, varying information on retirement and its eligibility for forgiveness exists.  We know employee retirement match contributions on payroll inside the 24-week time period is forgivable.  The same cannot be stated for employee owners and their retirement contributions.  Avoiding relying on any retirement contributions as part of your forgiveness money would be prudent at this point.

The full-time-equivalent (FTE) rules and measuring dates are not set in stone and will likely continue to change.  The safest option is to have your FTE count at the end of your 8 or 24 weeks back to at least the count as of February 15, 2020.  There are safe harbor rules and exceptions that will provide a safety net for loan recipients in terms of FTE count, but the specific details and required documentation is not known.

The biggest and potentially most impactful remaining question revolves around the deductibility of forgiven PPP expenses.  The Internal Revenue Service has indicated forgiven expenses will NOT be deductible as business expenses.  This could create a significant tax bill depending on the size of a practice’s PPP loan.  For example, consider a dental practice that received $100,000 in PPP funds.  They used $100,000 of the funds on payroll and received 100% forgiveness.  At the end of the year, the practice net income shows $20,000, but on their tax return, the taxable net income will be $120,000.  The addition of $100,000 of “income” will cost the practice owner anywhere from $22,000 to $37,000 in taxes.  There are ongoing discussions related to allowing these expenses to be deducted, but as of the middle of June, the expenses are not deductible.  This is absolutely a topic that practice owners need to discuss with their CPAs as they do tax planning for 2020 to avoid a surprise tax bill in a year where it is desperately not needed.

In closing, like the common saying, the only known aspect of the PPP process is that change is certain.  We suggest taking prudent steps to ensure your loan will be forgiven, including communicating with your financial professionals regarding your plans and the status of your practice, staying tuned into news releases from the LDA and ADA regarding changes or updates to the PPP program, and being proactive in tracking the money.  These loan opportunities are not common, but when utilized correctly, they provide a great source of financial liquidity for recipients.

Jude Guerin, CPA, is a partner with AG Dental CPAs & Advisors, an LDA premier events partner and member of the Academy of Dental CPAs.  AG Dental CPAs & Advisors provides traditional accounting services, as well as dental consulting, for over 130 dentists in the Southeast United States.  If you would like more information, visit www.agdentalcpas.com or call (225) 767-1020.