Most small business people figure they will worry about taxes in April. However, if you can take a step back and manage your records better, it could make for a whole lot less hassle, as well as a smaller bill from CPA. 
 
Here are some quick and easy ways to improve your recordkeeping, allowing you to breeze through tax season focusing on growing your small business.
 
Receipts, Receipts, Receipts
 
 Despite the bad reputation, receipts can actually be a lifesaver for the small business owner. Yes, all those receipts are annoying, but they are the documentation that your business had a legal expense. Lucky for you, there are many machines and programs that will help you digitized those receipts with ease. A desktop scanner like NeatDesk can de-clutter your life. Yet, it will retain all the expenses for your business, allowing immediate access to a whole year of records.
 
Categorize everything with Mint
 
Mint is a renowned budgeting and general finance software tool.  However, many of its features are underutilized by its users. 
 
One of the best, which is especially helpful for small business owners, is categories.  This feature allows you to categorize every single expense, charge, income, or any other transactions as a specific type. You can even assign multiple categories to one item or make your own categories. For example, you can categorize “gas” as your personal gas and make a new category for “business gas” for a company vehicle.  This can be further slapped with a “tax deductible expense” category.
 
The idea behind this is come tax time, a quick push of a button and Mint will show you every single expense in any category for your desired timeframe—say for the past year. There has never been a faster way to find all your deductible expenses in a flash.

The only downside is that throughout the year the recordkeeping is time consuming. However, it will save you time and money when figuring up taxes.
 
Avoid Cash
 
Not only is cash less secured then a digitized form of payment such as Android Pay or a credit card, it is incredibly hard to track.  More specifically, it is incredibly hard to REMEMBER to track cash expenses. Consider that most days you will be juggling multiple meetings or other items. Will you be able to remember every expense that goes with each meeting? A credit card print out, while not as full-proof as a receipt, can serve as a safety net for when you forget to ask for a receipt.  With cash, there is no safety net. 
 
Store your digital records on the cloud
 
Nothing could be worse than a computer failure causing the loss of all your records. If you forgot or neglected to back up the files, you will be hard pressed to recover records. Digitizing records is convenient and efficient, but only if you can access them in a timely manner. The cloud now makes this a reality.  Consider storing a copy of your records on a cloud-based platform like Dropbox. Remember to regularly update the cloud records, we suggest at least once a month.
That way if you do lose everything, you won't have to piece together but a few weeks or a month at most. 

Do you remember envelopes, gift baskets, and yellow letters?
 
Alas, these terms are long forgotten in the age of social media.  Research shows over 78% of companies now have a dedicated social media team.  How many still have a direct marketing team?
 
In an episode of the hit TV show the Office, Michael Scott tries to win back former clients by bringing them lavish gift baskets.  It failed miserably, and the clients explain to him that they went with another supplier because they have a website that makes it super easy to order.
 
Is Direct Marketing dead?  Believe it or not, direct marketing is not dead.  Here are some clever strategies you can actually use as a unique approach in the digital age.
 
What was commonplace is now surprising
 
When is the last time you got a handwritten letter?  For many it has been over 10 years. Twenty years ago, businesses and their leaders would receive hundreds of letters a day, now they receive few, if any.  It seems like the only people still using snail mail is the IRS. 
 
This can work to your advantage.  Social media channels are becoming more crowded by the day with noise and marketing material.  This tsunami chases users to other platforms in a constant race to escape the marketing. However, the person cannot change their physical address. Not every business can be on our smart phones, so maybe your business can benefit by going old school.    A hand written note to check us out on Facebook can now be more convincing than an invitation on the platform itself!
 
Email, was, is, and always will be king
 
An email list can be a very effective means of advertising your business to others, even in the age od social media advertising.
 
An email list has always been a great way to directly market to your customers for one very simple reason.  Unless you are doing something shady, then your list subscribers gave you permission to market to them. You might be surprised at how powerful that is. Instead of shouting at the same level as famous celebrities and cat videos, you are now nestled in their email between the Amazon receipt and dentist appointment reminders. This is your opportunity to develop a new customer or retain a loyal customer, simply through the use of an email.
 
 

 
A wise man once said that small businesses are the lifeblood of America.  Yet, small businesses are one of the hardest enterprises to finance. Here are some creative ways you can go about financing your small business.
 
Partnership
While relinquishing ownership of a half or more of a small business may seem crazy, it can be a great way to infuse capital into your idea.  The amount does not have to be a huge sum in the millions- it can be much smaller.  There is a large community of individuals that will lend out money such as a loan or in exchange for equity as either an active or silent partner.  The key to securing this type of financing is professionalism and networking.
Finding individuals with large pockets can be difficult if you are fresh out of college or haven't done much networking.  Once you have secured a meeting with an individual who may be a potential financer, be professional, treating their time as valuable. Arrive early enough that you can be calm in the meeting. Also, bring as much materials with you as possible- business plan, investment pitch or ideas, and product samples if needed. Being prepared will indicate your seriousness and indicate that you are a serious prospect for their investment.
 
401k loan
For many individuals in American, their retirement account, either a 401K or IRA is one of their largest assets.  Many people have taken advantage of employer provided 401Ks or started their own IRAs and have built up a significant saving in these accounts. These accounts may be used as a lending source or a direct investment from an IRA into a small business. The advantage is that you have a personal ready source to fund your small business. 
The disadvantage of using a retirement account is that you are placing your retirement at risk. A 401k loan has an added disadvantage you must repay the loan in a set period of time with a specific amount of interest or you may be subject to a penalty. Additionally, you may miss the potential investment results that your retirement money could have been in, instead of your business.
However, if your small business is successful the gains you get in terms of financial security or a pay out when you sell could turn out to handily beat any gain of 5 or 6 percent you might have got in stocks or bonds. 
 
Get a roommate or rent out your basement
A great way to unlock capital in an apartment or house is to “hack it” so that someone is paying part or all of your mortgage and you therefore have more cash flow freed up to invest in your business. 
A roommate, while they may cramp your lifestyle, they will likely cut your utilities payments too.  If you own a house, there is likely a way to rent out an extra room or turn the basement into a studio apartment to generate extra cash flow.
This does not have to be a permanent situation as all it takes is a few months to a year of extra cash flow and your business can get off the ground and start to support itself or be viable enough for more traditional financing.
 
Crowdfunding
The elephant in the room of creative financing is crowdfunding.  Rather than discuss the sites you may have heard of, such as Kickstarter, you need to realize that crowdfunding is becoming more than just a couple of websites.  Crowdfunding is becoming a movement, a generational concept, rather than just an option. 
The best advantage of crowd funding is it is less risky than traditional debt.  Sure, if you don't fulfill a million dollar Kickstarter then the backers may sue you, possibly even the government. However, in most situations the risk of loss is shared between you and the crowdsource funders.  Thus, there are possible risks to you in crowdsourcing, but it may be a good way to get your business off the ground.

 
The employment rate has sunk to 5.0%, considered by many economists to be the full employment level. What does this all mean for the business owner? Employment is booming, which means a tight labor market, especially when searching for an excellent employee. 
 
What is a small business owner to do? Here are some tips about how to survive and attract great employees in a tight labor market
 
Be more forthcoming in the job description
 
A tight labor market means employees can be more selective about jobs.  Consider expanding a job description and increasing transparency about its role and responsibilities.  This transparency will help attract quality employees, rather than average candidates. 
 
It can also be advantageous to disclose the salary and benefits in the job description.  Job seekers often guess whether or not a job is a promotion or increase in compensation simply by the job title.  There is little evidence to show this is an accurate method of comparison.  For example, “Financial Adviser” could be a $40,000 job or a $150,000 job depending on several factors.  An accurate and forthcoming job description ensures employee don't discount your posting because of their inaccurate ideas.
 
Expand your search area
 
Standard career advice for new graduates or any job seeker is to network, network, and network.  Well did you know that you, the employer, could network as well?  This can be a great way to hire someone.  It could even take less time as you do not have to sort through hundreds of resumes. 
 
Reach out to other companies in your area or industry and see if they had anyone apply that was a great candidate, but were not hired.  Ask current employees if they know of anyone with the required skills for the position.  Always remember the labor market is a two way street and an active employer can increase the speed with which they fill a position by tapping other resources.   
 
Consider increasing benefits or perks of the job
 
Supply and Demand is one of the basic tenets of a capitalistic economy. Most people understand that this tenet applies to goods and services; it can also apply to labor.  If there is more labor then jobs, more supply then demand, then wages fall and employers can be selective.  If the inverse is true, more demand than supply, employers might be forced to increase wages and offer higher benefits.  This can help employers attract more resumes to their job postings and more qualified candidates.  However, this is a difficult decision for small business owners, who can little afford to offer 5% more in 401k matches without hurting the bottom line.
 
Small Business owners who are strapped for cash but want to attract candidates by increasing their benefits package can consider adding or improving non-monetary benefits.  Relaxing the dress code, allowing partial or full telecommuting, and increased opportunity for internal training as well as advancement are just some of the benefits you could offer.  It is well documented that employees work for so many reasons other than just a paycheck so that could work in your favor. 
 
Consider a more open-ended job description
 
The smaller your business, the more hats every employee has to fill.  Do you need someone to do a bit of everything around the office?  How do you fit that into a 4 or 5 word job title?
 
If you need a well-rounded generalist who can handle a variety of roles, consider a flexible job description that does not emphasize a restrictive job title or qualifications. 
 
Be honest about what you need and try to show the potential employee that you have an open and honest culture.  Some people need structure to thrive and will not be enthused by your open-ended job; but it might attract the outgoing and ambitious person you crave. 
 
Get Local
 
Many employers understand that using the Craigslist page for their city or even a specific job board such as MilwaukeeJobs.com can help them more accurately target candidates in their area.  However, did you know there are even more ways than that to amazing local employees?
 
Many tech companies have had success using social media to recruit but it can work for any business.  Consider posting your job description to a Reddit page for your city or area. Consider posting on a Facebook group that is applicable to your industry and area
 
There are many other creative ways to find local employees.  You could advertise on the radio, use a billboard next to a freeway, even using your LinkedIn account to attract a qualified employee.

Apps continue to automate business and routine functions such as marketing, sales, data management, communication, and yes, even HR. It is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur or small business owner and there are multiple apps that can make your “back office” operations more successful.
 
These HR apps can help you get organized, save time and money, and smooth the hiring/ onboarding of new personnel as your business grows.  These are just a few of the apps designed to help with critical HR functions for your business. 
 
Paysavvy
 
Paysavvy is a fully integrated payroll company that self-proclaims to be the new ADP.  While they may talk a big game, Paysavvy is really a great new payroll and time management helper for small and medium sized companies. 
 
The advantage to Paysavvy is it is designed from the ground up to be more relevant and integrate with the latest in enterprise software. The app assists in employee behavior like retirement savings and charitable contribution on demand or automatically.
 
The downside to Paysavvy is that, so far, the company is only available for Canadian companies or companies that have employees in Canada and need to operate payroll for those employees.  If you are not a Canadian company, then for now you will just have to keep an eye on this upstart to see how quickly they expand to a country near you!
 
BambooHR
 
BambooHR is one of the leading and most well know HR apps for small businesses.  Some of things this app offers are the ability to seamlessly transfer employee information over from your current software, generating detailed reports across a variety of topics, as well as many more items
 
BambooHR can also help remind you of important deadlines for taxes, payroll, licensing, accounts receivable, and other HR functions.  It even helps you organize and filter through potential new hire candidates, smoothing out the hiring process so you can avoid wasting time and still find the right person to help grow your business.
 
The prices for this app are not listed on their site but you can contact them for a custom pricing solution and introduction to how BambooHR can help your business and HR team!
 
Zenefits
 
Another app in the disruptive and fast moving space of HR technology for small businesses is Zenefits.  Zenefits offers a HR software and companion app that covers virtually every HR function imaginable.  It will help you on-board new employees, collect and manage important tax documents like I-9 and W-2s, track employee time and PTO, and even help with the open enrollment of benefits for every eligible employee. 
 
Most of the services of the Zenefits app are free to the user.   Zenefits is paid by the plan providers and insurance companies that your company chooses to use.  Even if you don't use Zenefits for your health benefits and only use some of the HR features, it remains free, with add-on options offered for fees.  Since Zenefits focus is on benefits like health and dental plans, this would be a great choice if that is an area your company struggles with implementing.
 
There are many great HR apps and software out there to help the small business owner, with new apps entering the marketplace daily. You can find out more from these three companies or simply run an online search and several helpful HR apps will be at your fingertips.