CASE STUDIES
How Mike Saved His Business $11,000 Last Year
After losing everything in the bust of 2008, Mike decided to try again – this time with a virtual business.
He identified a marketing service that certain professional offices needed and began to build his new
business. After a few years, Mike had several subcontractors who worked remotely to help him. The
problem was the fees for paying them. Sending these payments was costing him $160 to $190 per week.
When Mike and I first talked about his bookkeeping problems, it was clear that he needed a better way
to pay his subcontract workers. By setting up a special payment portal for his subcontractors and
moving other parts of the process to the cloud, we saved Mike over $8,000 his first full year.
The new system allowed him to delegate the task of paying subcontractors securely without exposing
his bank account or giving anyone signature authority over his checking account.
Paying subcontractors went from a costly hassle to an 8 minute approval process that was a snap. Not
only was he saving money, but he was also saving time.
Plus, he had confidence that everything was secure.
If you pay contractors or vendors, then it’s possible streamlining the payment process can save your
business money too.
Not everyone will be able to save as much as Mike. When we do a strategy session with prospective
clients, we look at the steps of their payment process and the kinds of vendors they pay to see whether
there is potential for optimization.
To apply for a complimentary strategy session
Solopreneur saves $4-8K in taxes and takes away the pain of bookkeeping
About 6 years ago, Larry (a solopreneur) decided to go on his own. Larry and I have known each other
for years - same clubs, church, etc. At the time, he said, “I need to talk with you sometime about the
financial side of my business, but I don’t think I can afford you right now.”
What I do for solopreneurs is help them set up the systems to manage their accounting and offer a
second opinion to make sure that their taxes are at a bare minimum. In many cases, I can save them
$4,000 to $8,000 a year in taxes - sometimes much more.
Finally, two years ago, he and I sat down and talked.
Do you know what we found out? His CPA (a long-time family friend) had never told Larry about a
significant tax break that can save most solopreneurs from $3,000 to as much as $15,000 a year in
permanent tax savings. The CPA had just never advised Larry of it.
Even worse - you can’t go back if you miss this break – only fix it going forward.
Talk about a blow! Larry had missed out on somewhere between $14-18K in total tax savings during those 4 ½ years - a very costly mistake.
Naturally, the first thing Larry wanted was to address the taxes. Then after we fixed Larry’s tax strategy,
at his request, I connected Larry with a new tax professional.
Since I don’t prepare taxes, I referred him to someone that I knew would take good care of him.
Finally, we set up his accounting in a way that made it drop dead simple. No more scrambling in January
to pull bank statements, receipts, etc. This meant he could focus more time on taking care of clients.
Not all solopreneurs meet the requirements for this tax break. In a strategy session, we look at each
prospective client’s tax profile to see if this approach is a fit for them.
To apply for a complimentary strategy session