Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

[csanchez70]

I'm new to the forum and hopefully I came to the right place. I'm a self employed golf teaching professional and I recently started my own business. I filed my articles of Organization in August and everything was approved in September. I formed an LLC but have been told now that and S Corp may in fact be better for me. I'm the only member of the LLC and planned on just passing everything straight to my individual taxes. I should be making about $35-40K/year in case that affects some of your answers.

I'm basically a independent contractor and am usually paid in cash, what's the best way to claim this income on my taxes?

I leased a vehicle in July and am tracking all expenses, hopefully I can deduct some of this expense.

Do I need to pay quarterly taxes right now?

I've been working in my current capacity since May but not sure tax wise how it will workout since nothing was filed until August. Can I still claim the income from before August and deduct the expenses?

Should I set up a seperate business account at my current bank?

Do I need to set up Payroll or should I just write checks from the Business account to my personal account?

Any programs(Quickbooks, etc) I should use for bookkeeping?

Are there any other forms I should file with the IRS?

I realize this is a lot of questions and perhaps I should just go talk to a CPA, if you think this is the case just let me know. Any advice of finding a good CPA or consultant would be much appreciated.

I have a Finance degree and would love to learn the accounting side of things, if you can point me in the direction of some good books or resources I'd be happy to look them over.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Richard Noot]

csanchez70 wrote: I'm new to the forum and hopefully I came to the right place. I'm a self employed golf teaching professional and I recently started my own business. I filed my articles of Organization in August and everything was approved in September. I formed an LLC but have been told now that and S Corp may in fact be better for me. I'm the only member of the LLC and planned on just passing everything straight to my individual taxes. I should be making about $35-40K/year in case that affects some of your answers.

I'm basically a independent contractor and am usually paid in cash, what's the best way to claim this income on my taxes?

I leased a vehicle in July and am tracking all expenses, hopefully I can deduct some of this expense.

Do I need to pay quarterly taxes right now?

I've been working in my current capacity since May but not sure tax wise how it will workout since nothing was filed until August. Can I still claim the income from before August and deduct the expenses?

Should I set up a seperate business account at my current bank?

Do I need to set up Payroll or should I just write checks from the Business account to my personal account?

Any programs(Quickbooks, etc) I should use for bookkeeping?

Are there any other forms I should file with the IRS?

I realize this is a lot of questions and perhaps I should just go talk to a CPA, if you think this is the case just let me know. Any advice of finding a good CPA or consultant would be much appreciated.

I have a Finance degree and would love to learn the accounting side of things, if you can point me in the direction of some good books or resources I'd be happy to look them over.

Thanks in advance for any help. You are RIGHT You are asking alot of questions and yes you should contact a qualified tax professional but not necessarilly a CPA.

[marko1]

I disagree. Contact a CPA.

[Richard Noot]

marko1 wrote: I disagree. Contact a CPA.
for a complex tax question such as this, you want a tax expert. A CPA would not necessarily be qualified. I would recommend someone who specifically has been trained in corp taxes and has passed a test on this subject matter.

[Ken]

Quote: I formed an LLC but have been told now that and S Corp may in fact be better for me.
This would be based partly on the LLC laws of your state. This would be a better question for a tax specialist in your state.
Quote: I'm basically a independent contractor and am usually paid in cash, what's the best way to claim this income on my taxes? Deposit the cash daily to track your income and give your clients a receipts showing payments and tips. Keep a copy of all your receipts. Quote: I leased a vehicle in July and am tracking all expenses, hopefully I can deduct some of this expense. Track your milage for all business miles. You will by default be tracking personal milage as well. Your tax specialist will be able to help you determine the amount of deductions that you will be able to take for your lease and other auto expenses. Quote: Do I need to pay quarterly taxes right now? The first year the IRS is more forgiving if you do not make quarterly payments, but a good bookkeeper/tax person will help with that as well.
Quote: Should I set up a seperate business account at my current bank? You should have a separate bank account for your business. Whether it is at the current bank you with your personal account or somewhere else, it doesn't matter. It can make it easier to transfer money if it is at the same bank. Quote: Do I need to set up Payroll or should I just write checks from the Business account to my personal account? Single Member LLCs are usually OK with Drawing accounts in many states. This is another question best discussed with a tax expert in your state. Quote: Any programs(Quickbooks, etc) I should use for bookkeeping? QuickBooks is the most popular and the Pro version should do just fine. Quote: Are there any other forms I should file with the IRS? None that I can tell at this time. Quote: I have a Finance degree and would love to learn the accounting side of things, if you can point me in the direction of some good books or resources I'd be happy to look them over. Universal has a great course for learning about the bookkeeping side of your business. www.know-accounting.com They can also help you find a bookkeeper and tax specialist at www.accountweb.net