Just watch an hour of TV and you’ll find a half dozen 401k companies vying for your attention.

This one wants you to follow a green line. That one wants you to listen to that guy from “Law & Order.” The other one has a talking baby. And they all make your eyes glaze over when they start talking about markets and investing and retirement.

Given how confusing and daunting retirement savings can be (especially in the wake of a struggling economy) it’s no wonder there are so many gimmicks — not to mention so many mistakes made — in regard to 401(k) plans.

But neither companies nor individuals should let talk of tax codes and portfolios bully them into denying their employees a valuable benefit or opting for a retirement-savings-sized piggy bank instead of investing. To administer or participate in a plan successfully, all you have to do is avoid these common pitfalls:

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When you first start your business, you may be the sole employee, and your “payroll” is simple to do. Once you hire another employee or two, you may find payroll more challenging, even if one of the employees you hire does part-time bookkeeping. By the time you have four or more employees, payroll can be very complex indeed, and can overwhelm the person responsible for it.

Your employees naturally want to be paid on time. Plus, they need withholding and other deductions calculated properly, in addition to accurate wage calculations for each pay period. That’s no easy task.
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For any small business that works in the medical arena and deals with patients on a regular basis or runs any kind of company that is very detailed oriented for that matter, having the right record system in place is crucial to providing quality service and avoiding untimely errors.

Not only is having the right records system in place important for your customer’s well-being, but it is also a necessity given medical ethics if you’re in the medical industry. It is a physician’s duty to keep strict confidentiality regarding any medical information revealed by a patient or discovered by a physician tied to the treatment given a patient.

According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics, the information given to a doctor over time in a patient-doctor relationship is confidential. By doing this, the patient is more inclined to provide a physician with full disclosure regarding their health concerns and needs. Read the full entry

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As many small businesses look to account for every single dollar that leaves the office, monitoring your employees’ travel is especially important in these tough economic times.

Not only is this important from a monthly revenue stand point so that your small business does not lose significant amounts of money, but it also proves important when doing your company taxes in the spring.

For those small businesses that reimburse all or a portion of their employees’ travel and entertainment expenses, keep in mind that reimbursements through an account plan are not subject to payroll or income-tax withholding, while reimbursements paid via non-accountable plans are recorded as pay. Read the full entry

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With companies tracking every dollar these days to save money where they can, having the right expense report software in place is critical.

Whether you are tracking daily office expenses like supplies and electric, or keeping detailed reports on employee mileage, it pays in more ways than one to be able to properly record the information.

While tracking outgoing expenses may not be that difficult since you’re signing off on each and every bill, the incoming costs (employee expenses as noted earlier) can be trickier if not properly presented and in a timely manner. Read the full entry

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For your small business to effectively run its financial ship, having the right banking system in place is critical. Whether you’re a new business or one looking into transitioning, there are different banking options available to make things run smoothly. Below are the 10 tips for setting up a successful banking system for your business.

1. When shopping online for either business checkbooks or check binders, be sure that the vendor you select is equal to or surpasses federal standards for the entire banking security process.

2. For those small businesses looking to include a logo design or custom graphics for their company, choose a company that specializes in those features in order to get the best quality available.

3. The success of any organization is keeping each and every dollar accounted for. In order to achieve that goal, business check registers help the financial heads in monitoring company expenses.With manual check registers, employees in charge of finance can enter all the information by hand, allowing business owners who opt for manual input to maintain all their financial records in one easy-to-find place. Read the full entry

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Whether a small business or larger, having the right payroll accounting software in place makes things run more smoothly for your HR department, saving you costs and frustrations over time.

As you’re hopefully seeing signs of business growth, a good payroll accounting software system can monitor an array of items, including costs, payroll, sales and other important numbers coming and going from your office. Read the full entry

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In a day and age where running a business is even more challenging as a result of a sluggish economy, organizing the right business plan as a start-up or experienced business owner is critical.

It should come as no surprise that having enough funding to open and keep a business running smoothly or maintaining an older business should be at the top of the importance list. Without sufficient funds and sound financial management, a business able to open in the first place or only around for a few years is likely to have a limited life span. Read the full entry

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The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA), signed into law in September, adds or renews several attractive tax incentives for small business, and makes other important tax changes (including beefed up penalties) you need to know about. This is the last in our three-part series explaining key provisions of the SBJA with tax experts from CBIZ.

100% Exclusion of Gain on Sale of Qualified Small Business Stock: Historically, 50 percent of the gain from the sale of qualified small business stock held at least five years could be excluded from income, but remained subject to the alternative minimum tax. The remaining 50 percent of such gain was taxed at 28 percent. The exclusion percentage increased from 50 percent to 75 percent for qualified small business stock acquired after February 17, 2009 and before 2011. Read the full entry

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The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA), signed into law in September, adds or renews several attractive tax incentives for small business. This is Part II of our series explaining key provisions of the SBJA with tax experts from CBIZ.

Expensing Election Extended and Expanded:  Under prior law, the Section 179 expensing election allowed businesses with active trade or business income to immediately expense (write off)up to $250,000 of tangible personal property placed into service in the 2010 tax year. The maximum amount of the deduction would begin to phase out when total eligible purchases exceeds $800,000. SBJA enhances this deduction in several ways for assets placed in service in tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011: Read the full entry

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