When it comes time for financial documents to be corroborated, the three options available are a compilation, a review, and an audit. Each of these represents a very different degree of effort and investigation, and therefore each provides differing levels of confidence for investors and lenders. Let’s take a closer look at all three.
Starting a small business can be one of the most exciting and rewarding events in someone’s life. But it can also be extremely stressful. If you’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, you might have more questions swirling around in your mind right now than you can count. Don’t despair. This is completely normal. After all, it shows you’re serious about your business venture and care enough to want to do things the right way. Before moving forward with a new business idea, ensuring you know the answers to the following vital questions is crucial.
Entrepreneurs often shrug off the idea of obtaining an employer identification number, or EIN, believing that their small business really doesn’t need one. Though there are some cases where a solo business can get away with merely utilizing the business owner’s Social Security Number, doing so is not necessarily the best idea, even if you don’t have plans to hire employees in the future. In almost all instances, having an EIN is a good idea. It provides many benefits that go beyond facilitating the payment of employees.
In the U.S., the economy is thriving and expected to grow over the next few months. Businesses are expanding. The Federal Reserve has inched up interest rates, creating investment opportunities, and lenders are offering small business loans. All of this points to a promising outlook for the coming months. As a small business owner, this is the time to take a closer look at your profit and loss sheets to determine how you can make the most out of this current economy.
Very few people think that starting a new business is easy. But at the same time, there are few first-time entrepreneurs who realize just how involved things are from the moment you start trying to bring that idea that previously only existed in your head into the real world.
There’s a massive amount of commitment required, even before your business technically exists at all. This is okay, because as the old saying goes, “anything worth doing is worth doing right.”
In fact, there are a number of key steps that you need to take BEFORE you’ve even started the business of your dreams that you’ll absolutely want to pay close attention to moving forward.
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Many people dream of starting a small business. This is a dream that can become a reality, or—as happens to about 33% of prospective business owners, according to the Small Business Administration – it can result in dismal failure within two years. There’s no magic-bullet solution to ensure a successful business, but if you don’t want to be in that 33%, you should be aware of the common reasons that small businesses fail.