Year-End Tax Strategies
With only 2 ½ months left before we reach year end, now is the time for small business owners to start having conversations with their CPA or EA regarding tax strategies for 2024.
You are likely in need of a conversation about tax planning for 2024 if any of the following apply to you or your business:
- You are on the fence about purchasing new or replacing existing vehicles/equipment in the business.
- You or your business invested in stocks that are now underwater. It may be a good time to plan to offset revenue gains by realizing capital gains losses on any underperforming stocks.
- You are in a business where the Election Outcome on Nov 5th will have a known impact on your business. You may wish to try and push forward revenue opportunities now in 2024 where possible, or ensure you have access to inventory, supplies, and materials, etc.
- You saw the recent Intuit TV ads about “Breaking Up with your Tax Accountant” and moving over to TurboTax Live with claims to save significant money and outstanding service at a lower cost. Based on Intuit’s reputation with their QuickBooks Bookkeeping platform, don’t set your expectations too high with this service being provided under a similar model using Turbo Tax Live. It may be fine for individuals and companies with very basic tax situations, but certainly not for most business owners. If you want to save money on your tax accounting, having a clean set of books all throughout the year is the more reliable way to reduce your tax preparation cost.
Strategy Re-Evaluation
Currently, the broader economic outlook is declining for US small businesses and households, as evidenced by the recent downward revision of FY 2024 earnings projections at Home Depot, layoffs at PPG, and rising store closures/bankruptcies in the retail and restaurant sector. Consumers are basically tapped out and the impact of only reduced discretionary spending is starting to be felt. Regardless of the election outcome, it will take many months or potentially years for a policy shift to impact the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet of small businesses.
With these types of headwinds, it is critical that small businesses solidify their business strategy. Potential options may be to vertically integrate, identify additional sources of revenue and product/service offerings from existing clients, or to streamline the focus on your main products and services. Only by having a complete understanding of your cost basis, overhead, and cost of goods and services sold, can suitable pricing targets be identified and cash reserves built up to weather the projected economic headwinds. If you don’t feel like you have a handle on all these items, P&L Business Solutions would be happy to discuss ways we can be of help to you in your business. Give us a call today!
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