Lawyer & CPA fees are Regular Business Expenses (in US at least)

bySondraM

3K followers

6 years ago

Good morning all,

Most of us here joined Wealthy Affiliate because we want to build an online business. Wealthy Affiliate teaches us how to create and operate a marketing business. The focus is on building an affiliate marketing business. Although Kyle gets us to think about things that are commonly found in a formal business plan, this is not a business planning course. If someone in the United States wants to take a business planning course, I recommend they check the courses that are offer by their area Small Business Development Center (SBDC). One of the steps involved in writing a formal business plan is identifying who will be on your team. The team needs to include someone that can provide financial accounting advice and legal advice.

Visiting an attorney (lawyer) and a CPA (qualified business accountant) can be similar to visiting a physician or dentist for a routine checkup. They both will provide services that will help keep your business running as healthy as possible.

The following is not meant to be legal or financial advice. It is simply to get you to think.

When you are little bitty and broke, you probably don't have much, if any legal or tax liability. When you first start, the simplest way to stay out of legal trouble is to NOT break the law and to be honest with people. The challenge is whether you know the rules and laws that pertain to your business. Ignorance of the laws and rules is generally not a defense. It is your responsibility to learn as much about your new business as you can. In some cases, that means getting additional education. In others, it may involve hiring someone who is an expert in the field to assist you.

Membership in Wealthy Affiliate helps you navigate some legal issues of the affiliate marketing business world. A perfect example is when Kyle teaches us to include a privacy policy page and an affiliate disclaimer page on our websites. He (Wealthy Affiliate ) is helping us navigate some rules of the online marketing business industry. Other ways that Wealthy Affiliate tries to help us navigate the minefield of rules and etiquette in the online affiliate marketing industry is with things they tell us not to do.

However, Wealthy Affiliate members live and operate businesses all over the world. We are truly a diverse set of people. We all need to remember that it is our responsibility to figure out the rules that apply to where we live. In the United States, some rules vary from town to town. Others don't.

Don't forget, different niches will have different legal and accounting concerns.

So, please be very careful to make certain that you get the legal and financial advice that applies to the area where you live and the type of niche you are working in. You may not need a lawyer or an accountant right now. However, as your business grows, you will.

Things an attorney will help you with:

1. What is the best business structure for your needs? (In US: Sole Proprietor, Limited Liablity Company, Partnership etc)

2. What kind of disclaimers you should have?

3. What kind of insurance should you be carrying?

Things a CPA will help you with:

1. From a financial perspective, what is the best type of business structure for your needs?

2. Are there things that you can do to legally minimize the amount of taxes you are paying?

3. What type of financial records should you be keeping and for how long?

4. What types of tax liabilities will you be incurring? When are the reports due?

5. If you are employing people, what additional payroll tax liabilities are you incurring?

Conclusion:

You might not need the services of a CPA or an attorney for your business right now. However, it is important that as your business grows, you remember to include their services in your budget.