June 25, 2023 • 36 mins
Are you dreaming of starting your own business but feeling lost when it comes to managing finances and legalities? Fear not, because in this week's episode of Chopping with Fire, we have Chase, a skilled CPA from Austin, Texas, joining us to share his invaluable insights for small business owners. With his guidance on cash flow management, budgeting, and smart investment decisions, you'll be ready to tackle the entrepreneurial world with confidence.
We kick off the conversation with a discussion around the importance of hiring a CPA when launching your business. Chase shares his expertise on avoiding pitfalls and managing partnerships, emphasizing the need for clear documentation and legal agreements. Alongside that, we also explore why it's crucial to consult with a CPA before diving in, as they can help you choose the right structure, save money, and avoid costly fines.
Lastly, Chase uncovers common mistakes that many small business owners make, such as not tracking financial information or having separate accounts for transactions. He highlights the benefits of forming an LLC and the significance of filing an annual state report. So tune in and absorb all of the practical advice and expert guidance Chase has to offer— you won't want to miss this episode packed with wisdom for navigating the world of business ownership!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dustin Steffey (00:00):
Welcome to another week of chopping with
fire.
We are so glad that you joinedus this week.
We're excited to have Chase onin just a moment.
here He is a CPA in Austin,texas.
I'm not going to ruin his story, as he will tell it, but I
thought that this would be animportant episode, especially
(00:22):
for you entrepreneurs out therethat don't have a CPA.
We go into some good details asto why you would want to have a
CPA, and also into otherdetails on picking the right
elections for when you startyour business.
So in just a moment, we'regoing to have Chase on, so let's
chop it up.
(01:08):
Welcome to your top rated globalpodcast that is your one stop
shop specializing inentrepreneurship, self
development, smart investmentdecisions and other relevant
topics that add value.
This podcast is hosted by owner, doctor and content creator,
dustin Steppy.
We are blessed to haveaccolades that include a 2022
(01:31):
nomination by the people'spodcast awards in the category
of business, which is voted onby the people all of you.
Money donated to two amazingcauses Cystic Fibrosis and the
Boys and Girls Club.
Lastly, global recognition ofbeing a top 50 podcast in four
(01:51):
countries.
Without further ado, let's chopit up.
Welcome to another episode ofChopping with Fire.
(02:17):
You are joined with your hosttoday.
Dustin Steppy, and I have Chaseon as well.
I am going to hand over the micto him and let him kind of talk
about who he is and what hedoes.
Chase, how are you?
Yeah, great.
Chase Insogna (02:36):
Thanks for having me on today.
Thank you for coming on.
Yeah, so, chase and Sonia, cpalicensed in Texas.
I've had my company since 2011,.
So we're almost 12 years old ina couple months And we have a
team of 20 people currently halfaccounting, half tax, basically
(02:57):
anywhere from transactionalwork, from accounting,
bookkeeping, tax prep.
We also do monthly forecasting,weekly monthly forecasting,
budgeting with our in-housecontroller.
We specialize in more like verytech-based and pretty agnostic
(03:20):
on industries Other than wereally don't do restaurants, we
don't do construction companies,but accounting and taxes are
the same for us anywhere else.
So we focus under 30, 40million small business anywhere,
from your one owner consultant,which we were just talking
about before we here record hereto 30, 40 million Amazon
business, online seller business, larger clients, maybe one to
(03:42):
10 employees about, and that'skind of our market.
So we started out just focusingon small business, kind of
bringing in house thetransactional and the advisory
and the planning work, becauseat the time, in 2011, i mean, it
doesn't seem that way today,but at the time nobody was doing
(04:03):
it for small business, it wasonly for larger companies And
that's how we got started.
And here we are today in anovernight success and still
going.
Dustin Steffey (04:13):
And you all might be wondering why I have
Chase on, why do I have a CPA on, and the answer is going to
become abundantly clear here aswe talk through.
But the short answer is, as youguys know, we are
entrepreneurship,self-development and smart
investment podcast, and so thereare some things that I think
(04:33):
that we take for granted, thatsome business owners we think no
, but really do they know.
And so Chase and I are going togo through a journey here where
we kind of educate and helphelp business owners and
entrepreneurs that are eitherstarting or seasoned veterans
understand why and theimportance of having a CPA
(04:55):
whether it be Chase or anyonefor that matter, and where and
why your investments should kindof go through.
Like, having a CPA Soundsawesome, let's go So.
With that being said, chase,i'm going to just ask the hard
question first, what are some ofthe pitfalls that you see with
(05:16):
businesses in general, or whathave you seen over the years in
your career that people shouldavoid, right?
Like?
I'm sure you've seen a lot ofthings, so, like, walk me
through that.
Chase Insogna (05:30):
It's always on a case by case basis.
I mean, i think the biggest oneis cash flow, budgeting your
money.
A lot of people, before theycome to us, don't consider
saving for taxes and paying them.
I mean, you hear it on podcastsand American greed all the time
it's just good back taxes, andso we're always constantly
(05:53):
making sure we're proactive andmaking sure saving for taxes too
.
But really cash flow andbudgeting especially here in the
e-com space, online sellerspace like cash flow is imminent
in order to buy inventory, tosell it and make a profit Any
kind of business owner where, ifyou're just a one owner,
(06:13):
consultant, i mean it'simportant too to make sure
you're saving enough for April15th next year and saving for
retirement again case by case,but really just depends on how
much money you're making.
What's your personal budgetlike?
That's really what we run intothe biggest, i would say over
(06:37):
the years is just kind of cashflow budgeting conversation.
The second one is kind of alittle bit different but over 20
plus years of doing this myself, people get into partnerships
and don't recognize that you'rein the honeymoon phase when you
(06:59):
partner up with somebody, andI've been in one and I've seen
clients go into it.
I've seen them try to exit.
I've seen it get nasty.
I've seen it become okay likeit.
So I think if you'reconsidering getting into
business with somebody that'snot your spouse, you wanna make
(07:20):
sure you have everythingdocumented.
You wanna get an attorney?
don't use one of the shops togo set up an LLC real cheap.
You wanna have an operatingagreement.
You wanna identify what each ofyou are doing, what your roles
are, how you're making money,how you're bringing income to
the partnership, what's thedistributions like.
All of that really never getswritten down.
(07:42):
Generally, when you start outyou're just kind of in the
honeymoon phase and you're like,oh, this sounds great, let's do
it together.
And then you just kind of upand run it and then three or
five years down the road and itcan get sideways sometimes and
people move on or they wannaexit out and then they want more
money than they deserve andit's just a big fight back and
(08:03):
forth.
So I would say partnerships area big one and budget cash flow
is probably the number one thing.
Dustin Steffey (08:11):
The biggest thing that I took from that that
came across to my mind was thatmovie about Facebook with Mark
Zuckerberg.
I feel like when you weretalking about partnerships and
cash flow and kind of having theoperating agreements and all of
that, i think that's huge andthat's important and I think
it's overlooked sometimes and Ithink that movie did a really
(08:34):
good job of showing the legalbattle of what happened.
I mean, i really feel like thepeople that were involved they
kind of got shafted a little bit.
In my opinion.
Chase Insogna (08:47):
Well, that's a perfect example, because a lot
of times, one person's bringingthe money and the other one's
bringing the operation or theexpertise, and those are the
ones that I generally have foundgoes sideways quicker because
the one that put up the moneywants the money back, but the
cash flow doesn't justify it.
(09:07):
In the same token, you'retrying to pay yourselves while
you're both doing some work, orone of you's doing more work,
and then it's like, well, i'mbringing the technology or I'm
bringing the expertise and I'mdoing the day to day, and it
just becomes this contentionvery quickly.
So that needs to be identified.
(09:28):
I mean, i would always just doa loan agreement or a payback
agreement, so it's very stated,clear terms of how the
investor's getting their moneyback, in addition to how each of
you are gonna make a living asyou build the partnership
together.
Dustin Steffey (09:43):
Which leads me to my next question, and I feel
like this was hard for meelecting the right tax benefits
right or the right term for yourbusiness.
So like, for example, we havesole proprietors, we have
partnerships, we have LLCs, wehave S-corps, we have C-corps,
we have a million differentthings.
(10:04):
How do you determine the rightelection for your business?
How do you determine the rightstructure to even get started?
Chase Insogna (10:13):
Yeah, great question.
I mean we have a page on ourwebsite that kinda breaks it
down a little bit.
I mean, effectively there'sonly two structures you have
from a legal perspective one LLC, two Inc.
That's it.
From there it becomes a taxelection.
You know, an LLC can be a soleprop.
(10:35):
So if you're making under 50Kyou wanna be an LLC.
That's what I would recommend.
Llcs can be taxed as an S-Corp,partnership, c-corp or sole
prop.
And then you've got Inc, whichis required to file a business
filing.
So if you're a sole proprietor,you know making under 50K is
(10:56):
kind of a break-even and you'renot sure, you know, if you're
around there you're under it fora while.
Keep your costs down.
Just be an LLC, because you'renot required to file a federal
business return And Inc isrequired to file a federal
business return.
It's automatically acorporation when it sets itself
up with the IRS EIN number Andso from there you can make an
(11:20):
S-Corp election with an Inc, youcan file as a partnership, as
an Inc, and.
But that's generally thebreakdown of the setup.
So I would say you know ourgeneral advice, obviously case
by case, but you know, is itjust you?
You know what is your exitstrategy.
Is this a lifestyle business oryou know?
are you looking to grow a brandand exit out in two or three
(11:43):
years?
Are you looking to take oninvestment, private equity, you
know, any kind of loans Likethat all has an effect on how it
should be set up, because youknow partnerships have two
columns of profit and loss, andequity.
Maybe you want to give awayequity to employees you're
hiring, maybe it's an Inc.
(12:04):
You know, when you want a 83Belection, which is basically if
you invest in a qualified smallbusiness stock, you know and
you're given shares away.
If it's 83B, qualified, like itbecomes tax free within five,
after five years, if you, youknow, hold it.
So there's all kinds ofdifferent nuances than caveats,
(12:25):
but you know, i would say, get agood business attorney or at
least talk to your CPA and havea quick conversation about what
you're looking to do, cause allof that has a tax effect And it
has a long-term effect with youand how your taxes are played
into it.
You know what's your tax effectgoing to be.
(12:45):
If you're a corporation, i mean, the only way to get money out
is W2 payroll or dividends.
But if it's necessary becauseyou have investor money or
private equity money, then Imean you don't have a real
choice.
But you know, if you're puttingup your own money and you're a
hundred percent owner, you'renot giving away equity.
I mean that's pretty much LLCescort, but you're building a
(13:08):
brand, so all kinds of differentnuances, but that kind of
hopefully helps break it down alittle bit.
Dustin Steffey (13:14):
It helps our listeners to understand that
it's important to do your ownresearch.
One and then two, to educateyourself on all the different
structures, cause, yes, you'reright, there's only two LLC or
Inc.
But then there's all theelections in between, for the
tax elections, and so, like youstated, i think it's important
(13:37):
and I've always learned this tohave a good business attorney,
and we're about to talk aboutwhy it's important to have a CPA
, which leads into the nextquestion Why have a CPA for a
business?
Why is that important?
Why can't I be the owner thatjust does it on my own?
Obviously, i mean.
The short answer is there's somuch that goes into it And I
(13:59):
think we overlook some things,but I'm sure you can shed some
light on this.
We will be right back after aquick break.
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Chase Insogna (15:29):
Yeah, you know we're always promoting, you know
, to have a CPA.
When you have a business youhave rental property.
I mean I own 15 rules myself.
Right now I have multiplebusinesses, so I've always been
entrepreneurial.
We're not not the typical CPAand just running a running a
lifestyle firm.
But so you know I've always,i've always communicated that
(15:53):
it's important to consult upfront because even when you're
going to register for your EINnumber, that is basically the
start of your tax election andhow you're going to have to
proceed going forward.
So from the onset, before youeven really start the business,
so to speak, before you evenregister that EIN number, i mean
(16:13):
we work with an attorney.
You know a lot of times he'schecking with me hey, is this
the right thing?
Is this not like what should I?
you know, what should they doin this situation?
Because when it comes to us,we're either going to have to
clean it up or it's correct.
You know one of the two.
But a licensed CPA you knowwe're always communicating is
important Because with alicensed CPA you have recourse
(16:36):
And a lot of people don'tunderstand.
You know there's a state boardaround licensing, just like
doctors and attorneys, and youknow if something goes wrong or
something goes awry or there'san issue or you can't get your
information, you know, whateverit may be, you at least have a
resource to go to.
You have the state board to goto And a CPA is required to
(17:00):
respond to a complaint within 30days back to the board and
provide support or information.
So you know.
A prime example is if somebody'sworking with just a tax shop,
an unlicensed tax person youknow, and they file their
returns, and two years down theroad you lost a copy of it and
you need it to file a mortgage,apply for a mortgage or
(17:20):
something.
You can't get a copy of itbecause you can't track this
person down.
There's no way to get it.
There's no, there's no personto call.
You can't call the IRS, theydon't care.
There's no, you know tax shopforum you can go to to find and
track this person down.
If it's a CPA firm, you knowyou can call the board if you
can't get a hold of that person.
Even if it's an individual,cpas are not.
(17:43):
I mean those that arelegitimate are not going to not
respond because it can affecttheir license And it takes a lot
of work, just like a doctor,attorney or any licensed
professional to get a CPAlicense And I'm not going to
give up my profession orprofessional liability because I
(18:05):
didn't answer you know,somebody's request in 30 days.
Dustin Steffey (18:07):
What is the average cost to like for the for
my small businesses, like supersmall, so even chop and
entertainment me.
What is the average cost of aCPA usually?
Chase Insogna (18:21):
I mean to be honest, it varies.
It varies by market, it variesby what you're doing.
We started off, now we're, iwould say, mid-range, we're not
ultra-expensive, but we chargefor our value and what we
deliver to our clients.
It really just depends on whatyou're needing and what you're
(18:41):
doing.
The way we price is more bywhat we're doing for you.
So pass through software,accounting time, payroll help,
sales tax, help controller help.
Are we checking in weekly,monthly, quarterly,
semi-annually, business,personal taxes, cfo, fractional
(19:04):
CFO work all of those littlepieces we add up together and
take a determined fixed price.
But every firm is different.
A lot of them charge hourly, alot of them charge tax only and
then they'll charge forbookkeeping hourly or whatever.
But it really depends on themarket.
I think in general we're inAustin, so we're not small-town
(19:28):
America cheap, but I would saythe minimum is probably around
$5,500, $5,600 for a one-ownerS-Corp today needing payroll
help because they have topayroll themselves reasonable
salary and business and personaltaxes.
Then we check in twice a yearon one-owner S-Corps and make
(19:50):
sure you're on track, beingprogressive with our advice and
making sure the reasonablesalaries are there, retirement
planning is there if you want tocontribute, et cetera.
Dustin Steffey (20:00):
The way I see it , it may sound like a big number
, especially for these smallbusinesses.
The average of $5,600.
But if I'm avoiding lawsuitsand fines and fees and other
things and I have someoneprofessional like you that is
really taking a look at all thetax benefits and making sure we
get more bang for the buck, it'sactually worth it in my opinion
(20:24):
.
Chase Insogna (20:26):
Yeah, It seems like a big number up front.
But again, if you're makinglet's just call it $100,000 in
contractor income or net profitfrom your business and you don't
even have an LLC set up, or youhave an LLC, you're filing as a
Schedule C sole proprietor onyour 1040.
(20:46):
That example, if you take that$100,000, you're going to be
paying versus an S-Corp.
You're going to save about$9,200 in unnecessary payroll
taxes in that example because asa Schedule C filer, all of that
$100,000 is subject to payrolltax.
(21:07):
As an S-Corp, only a reasonableportion is subject to payroll
tax.
That difference that we wouldassign is reasonable.
Effectively that's about $9,200.
Yeah, you're paying us.
What $5,600,000?
You're still netting a $3,000saving.
You're going to have to pay forthe expertise, but that's the
(21:28):
base minimum that you're goingto save.
Which is why our break even islike $50,000, $60,000 for the
S-Corp, because just to do abasic tax return for an S-Corp
business, that's where the costeffectiveness comes in.
That's why we don't evenrecommend it below $50,000,
$60,000 right now.
(21:48):
That's a prime example of ifyou're a Schedule C sole
proprietor, there's no reasonyou shouldn't set up an
L-O-C-S-Corp because you're justwasting money to the government
.
Dustin Steffey (21:59):
That is why having a CPA is important, in my
opinion.
You guys keep up with yourlicense and you keep up with all
the rules and regulations.
You guys know what it takes tofile the most appropriate tax
return.
In my opinion.
Chase Insogna (22:17):
Yeah, a lot of people don't understand.
A CPA's name is on your return,a firm like us.
We describe ourselves, we'renot ultra risky, we're not ultra
conservative, but we play inthe gray area.
I have businesses, like Imentioned too.
I'm going to maximize the taxcode as much as I can With that.
Our name is on that return too.
(22:38):
If that comes back and getsquestioned, obviously we're in
that conversation with the IRStoo, because we prepared it and
we signed it as well.
A lot of people don't recognizethat fact.
When a CPA is signing theirreturn or any preparer really is
signing it.
If a CPA signs it again, youhave recourse against
(22:59):
professional liability insuranceor the state board licensing.
Most CPAs aren't going to riskagain.
We're not going to risk ourlicense for somebody that wants
to be risky or be questionableon their expenses.
It's just not worth the riskfor us so we just won't do it.
We will maximize deductions asmuch as possible.
(23:23):
My team isn't traditionallylike just taking your
information and spitting it backout.
We take it, prepare it.
Questions, questions, questionslike trying to dig out
deductions from you based offyour industry, what you're doing
.
We try to be progressive inthat way to make sure we're
(23:45):
maximizing the return.
That's why we feel like wejustify the prices we charge
today, because we're not justsend us your P&L and we'll knock
it out for you and here you go.
Dustin Steffey (23:59):
I think it's important to note that you
really care about making surethat each client is is getting
the best bang for the buck right.
Like, if I'm hiring you to doeverything for my business, i'm
not hiring you just because it'sthe right thing to do to have a
CPA and to have that knowledge.
(24:21):
I'm also hiring you because Itrust you with, like, making
sure that you're doing the rightthing by me.
Chase Insogna (24:28):
Yeah, you know I always took the position and
when I was doing taxes withmyself, with clients, you know I
always took the position ofbasically owning what I'm
preparing as if it was my returnwith their data, and so a lot
of times, like I would, ilearned to communicate a little
(24:49):
bit differently later on, but inthe beginning, you know, i'd
just be like passionate aboutwhy aren't you doing this?
Are you doing this this way?
And you know clients orreceptive sometimes, sometimes
not, but and that's how I trainmy team to be, you know,
proactive to and really takingownership of what they're
preparing, not just goingthrough the motions, and you
(25:12):
know, treating as if this istheir business.
And you know, if they don'tdeduct this or find this
deduction or ask the clientabout it and not care, then you
know it's as if they're losinghundreds of dollars or thousands
of dollars to.
You know, are we perfect?
No, but you know we always tryto be perfect And that's really
(25:34):
all I can ask of my team and mytax manager reviewing the
returns.
Dustin Steffey (25:39):
And the whole point of this conversation isn't
like hey, choose Chase to beyour CPA although I would
probably choose you and the firmover anyone else just based off
of the conversations.
It's more or less do the rightthing.
Right, Like, if you you're,you're opening a business.
That is going to be your life,like you're trying to make money
(26:02):
and you're trying to maximizeon as much as possible.
Do the right thing and havesomeone in your corner to help
you maximize on that.
Yes, it's going to cost you afew bucks, But at the end of the
day, I'd rather pay the fewbucks than have to pay a whole
ton more because I wasuneducated, right, And didn't
(26:22):
know what to do, And then thegovernment had not it or
something, and I messed up.
Chase Insogna (26:29):
Yeah, and you know, i mean most of the time.
You know, audits are really notwhat's driving the conversation
Really, it's just the structureand the tax savings.
You know, and for us, you knowyou're paying for the knowledge,
you're paying for the expertise.
I mean, i've been doing thisover 20 years.
You know you're paying for myteams expertise and knowledge.
(26:50):
You know that's what you'regetting.
It's when you build a house.
You don't get the cheapestperson to buy.
Build a house.
You want the right person thathas the right knowledge and the
right expertise to do it.
And again, yeah, you're goingto pay us.
Are you going to pay any CPAfor their expertise?
But that relationship should besaving you money from day one,
(27:11):
just like the example I gavewith the 100,000.
Yeah, you're going to pay usfive, six grand annually, but
you would have paid, you know,3,000 more to the IRS.
So do you want to pay all themoney to the IRS or you want to
pay us and save three grand?
Like which one?
which one's better?
So sure, you pay a CPAexpertise, but you know, from
(27:33):
day one, we're making sure wesave our clients and justify our
cost And that's just how weapproach the business.
I mean, i, you know I'll justtell somebody we're not the
right fit for you because youknow it's just not.
You know you can do it yourselfright now.
When it comes to taxes, surewe'll do, we'll do the taxes for
(27:53):
you and help with that, butmaybe, maybe they're not making
enough to justify QuickBooksonline or do their monthly
accounting yet, but or you know,they're kind of scaling into
the next section.
So you know what does that looklike.
Or give us a call down the road.
But you know we're just openwith clients and we just take
ownership of what we do.
(28:14):
And big on communication, weuse multiple channels of
communication.
Number one thing we hear fromfrom our leads is poor
communication, and so my team isalways diligent about probably
overly communicating with people.
That includes the tax return,you know, scheduling, a Zoom
call screen, sharing.
You know a lot of a lot ofprepares.
(28:36):
Don't take it to that nextlevel, and we're always trying
to make sure that we're doingthe best job we can to deliver
the best product at the rightprice.
Dustin Steffey (28:48):
And just so I'm clear and I heard you right, you
said you recommend not yourecommend doing your own until
you get to the 50,000 threshold,correct?
Chase Insogna (29:00):
I mean you know, if you want to pay us to do it,
sure we'll take the business,but I mean the cost isn't going
to justify the means.
I mean that's kind of a generalnumber.
I mean I'm talking about 50,000gross revenue, you know.
so you know gross revenue it's,you know it's probably not a
lot of transactions.
I mean, if you're a one-hourconsultant, you know keeping
track of your mileage, you knowmileage IQ is what our clients
(29:23):
use a lot of to keep track ofthat.
You know app on your phone, youknow use one credit card, use a
dedicated checking account.
You can download those intoExcel annually and then just
categorize your few transactionsfrom there.
So it's really not necessary todo QuickBooks online when
you're you know that small.
But you know if you're gettingthose six figures and you need
(29:46):
to know what your estimatedtaxes are.
you know you want us to adviseon reasonable salary and like
maybe you're looking forretirement planning.
That's kind of next levelconversation and sure you know
we need to start keeping trackof some data because otherwise
we just won't know what you havegoing on.
Dustin Steffey (30:01):
And the reason I reinforce that is because there
are people just starting outAnd so I don't want to sit here
and say, hey, go out and find aCPA today.
Right, I want to.
I want to give them theknowledge that they need to make
informed decisions And that andthat's all.
And just to recap, it'simportant to do your homework,
(30:25):
It's important to do your ownresearch and it's important to
understand the importance ofwhat the CPA's role is, what a
business lawyer's role is,anybody's role, for that matter.
I mean, if I'm just putting mybusiness into it, so if we're
just putting shopping into it,right, I mean we're not big
enough yet for me to justify,like you said, the cost means,
(30:48):
but that doesn't mean that I'mnot going to get there.
So it's really having a plan.
Chase Insogna (30:53):
Yeah, and also knowing.
You know we're always happy tohave the conversation because we
, you know, we want you to knowwhat you should be keeping track
of.
You know, like I said, havethose dedicated credit card or
checking account So you can keeptrack of the transactions,
because when January 24, 24rolls around, you're not going
to remember what you did inFebruary 2023.
Like you're not going toremember you had a business
(31:16):
lunch that you charged on yourpersonal credit card most of the
time.
So that's why I say, have thosededicated accounts so you can
download those transactions andmake it easier on yourself.
And then, keeping track of, youknow, home office seductions,
utilities, rent, mortgage, etc.
Mileage, you know, is usually abig one if you're driving
(31:39):
around a lot A mileage IQ.
But you know, intuit has apretty I think it's free or it's
a cheap product The quick book,self-employed version.
You know it doesn't give you aprofit and loss or balance sheet
, so it's not helpful and wecan't use it to file an escort
return.
You have to upgrade to do that.
But you know, self-employedagain, like kind of under 50K
(32:03):
basic transactions, like that'sjust a good software to start
out with.
So it keeps track of that andyou can categorize stuff or just
download it in Excel.
But I was, you know, kind ofback to the formation
conversation, since youmentioned starting out.
You know we always recommend atleast setting up an LLC.
And you know, especially ifyou're looking to have a brand
(32:29):
name or you kind of want to lockin a name you want to use Just
having.
A lot of people don'tunderstand just having a doing
business, as with the state,does not protect the name.
And so if you want to protectthat name that you're operating
under, then you have to form theLLC.
And again, if you're 100% owner, or it's you and your spouse
(32:53):
that own it 100%, then you knowyou can just file a schedule C
on your 1040 with that thatowned LLC.
So there's not a lot ofcomplexity to it other than
filing the annual state reportAnd other than that it's pretty
straightforward.
Dustin Steffey (33:11):
Yeah, that's what I do, So I use into it
right now to categorizeeverything.
In that it's just super helpful.
Of course, yes, you can use anExcel sheet, but I like how into
it walks you through it.
So, anyway, sorry.
With that being said, if peoplewant to get a hold of you,
(33:32):
chase like what's the best meansto get a hold of you in a world
where there's instantgratification in a ton of social
media.
Chase Insogna (33:39):
Yeah, just sit us up on our website insaniacpacom
.
So I N S O G N A C P A dot com.
fill out the contact does formand some of I'll be quick to
reach out to you.
We're here all year so we'renot like most firms that
disappear for months at a timein the summer.
We're working with clientsweekly, monthly and hundreds of
(34:00):
them weekly, monthly, so myteam's always around.
I'm always managing thebusiness.
You know we'll have a in-houseperson to reach out to you.
You know, when you call us,somebody's always answering the
phone during business hours andhappy to have a conversation,
just like we're having now, andmake sure you're on the right
track.
That's really our biggest thingis just trying to help and
(34:21):
educate people and you know, forthe right fit and you want to
work with us, great.
If not, hopefully we'll see youdown the road and you know when
you get more successful and wecan help save you more money.
Dustin Steffey (34:35):
Yeah, I appreciate that, Chase.
I appreciate having you onnumber one, number two for the
listeners that are kind of inbetween or don't know what they
need.
Like please reach out to Chase.
He has the knowledge and hisfirm will guide you guys into
the right realm and really helpyou guys out.
So please take advantage ofChase as a knowledge resource
(34:58):
and a knowledge bank.
Chase, thank you for being ontoday.
I appreciate you.
Chase Insogna (35:04):
Yeah, thank you.
Thanks for having me, you, you.
Welcome to another week of chopping with
fire.
We are so glad that you joinedus this week.
We're excited to have Chase onin just a moment.
here He is a CPA in Austin,texas.
I'm not going to ruin his story, as he will tell it, but I
thought that this would be animportant episode, especially
(00:22):
for you entrepreneurs out therethat don't have a CPA.
We go into some good details asto why you would want to have a
CPA, and also into otherdetails on picking the right
elections for when you startyour business.
So in just a moment, we'regoing to have Chase on, so let's
chop it up.
(01:08):
Welcome to your top rated globalpodcast that is your one stop
shop specializing inentrepreneurship, self
development, smart investmentdecisions and other relevant
topics that add value.
This podcast is hosted by owner, doctor and content creator,
dustin Steppy.
We are blessed to haveaccolades that include a 2022
(01:31):
nomination by the people'spodcast awards in the category
of business, which is voted onby the people all of you.
Money donated to two amazingcauses Cystic Fibrosis and the
Boys and Girls Club.
Lastly, global recognition ofbeing a top 50 podcast in four
(01:51):
countries.
Without further ado, let's chopit up.
Welcome to another episode ofChopping with Fire.
(02:17):
You are joined with your hosttoday.
Dustin Steppy, and I have Chaseon as well.
I am going to hand over the micto him and let him kind of talk
about who he is and what hedoes.
Chase, how are you?
Yeah, great.
Chase Insogna (02:36):
Thanks for having me on today.
Thank you for coming on.
Yeah, so, chase and Sonia, cpalicensed in Texas.
I've had my company since 2011,.
So we're almost 12 years old ina couple months And we have a
team of 20 people currently halfaccounting, half tax, basically
(02:57):
anywhere from transactionalwork, from accounting,
bookkeeping, tax prep.
We also do monthly forecasting,weekly monthly forecasting,
budgeting with our in-housecontroller.
We specialize in more like verytech-based and pretty agnostic
(03:20):
on industries Other than wereally don't do restaurants, we
don't do construction companies,but accounting and taxes are
the same for us anywhere else.
So we focus under 30, 40million small business anywhere,
from your one owner consultant,which we were just talking
about before we here record hereto 30, 40 million Amazon
business, online seller business, larger clients, maybe one to
(03:42):
10 employees about, and that'skind of our market.
So we started out just focusingon small business, kind of
bringing in house thetransactional and the advisory
and the planning work, becauseat the time, in 2011, i mean, it
doesn't seem that way today,but at the time nobody was doing
(04:03):
it for small business, it wasonly for larger companies And
that's how we got started.
And here we are today in anovernight success and still
going.
Dustin Steffey (04:13):
And you all might be wondering why I have
Chase on, why do I have a CPA on, and the answer is going to
become abundantly clear here aswe talk through.
But the short answer is, as youguys know, we are
entrepreneurship,self-development and smart
investment podcast, and so thereare some things that I think
(04:33):
that we take for granted, thatsome business owners we think no
, but really do they know.
And so Chase and I are going togo through a journey here where
we kind of educate and helphelp business owners and
entrepreneurs that are eitherstarting or seasoned veterans
understand why and theimportance of having a CPA
(04:55):
whether it be Chase or anyonefor that matter, and where and
why your investments should kindof go through.
Like, having a CPA Soundsawesome, let's go So.
With that being said, chase,i'm going to just ask the hard
question first, what are some ofthe pitfalls that you see with
(05:16):
businesses in general, or whathave you seen over the years in
your career that people shouldavoid, right?
Like?
I'm sure you've seen a lot ofthings, so, like, walk me
through that.
Chase Insogna (05:30):
It's always on a case by case basis.
I mean, i think the biggest oneis cash flow, budgeting your
money.
A lot of people, before theycome to us, don't consider
saving for taxes and paying them.
I mean, you hear it on podcastsand American greed all the time
it's just good back taxes, andso we're always constantly
(05:53):
making sure we're proactive andmaking sure saving for taxes too
.
But really cash flow andbudgeting especially here in the
e-com space, online sellerspace like cash flow is imminent
in order to buy inventory, tosell it and make a profit Any
kind of business owner where, ifyou're just a one owner,
(06:13):
consultant, i mean it'simportant too to make sure
you're saving enough for April15th next year and saving for
retirement again case by case,but really just depends on how
much money you're making.
What's your personal budgetlike?
That's really what we run intothe biggest, i would say over
(06:37):
the years is just kind of cashflow budgeting conversation.
The second one is kind of alittle bit different but over 20
plus years of doing this myself, people get into partnerships
and don't recognize that you'rein the honeymoon phase when you
(06:59):
partner up with somebody, andI've been in one and I've seen
clients go into it.
I've seen them try to exit.
I've seen it get nasty.
I've seen it become okay likeit.
So I think if you'reconsidering getting into
business with somebody that'snot your spouse, you wanna make
(07:20):
sure you have everythingdocumented.
You wanna get an attorney?
don't use one of the shops togo set up an LLC real cheap.
You wanna have an operatingagreement.
You wanna identify what each ofyou are doing, what your roles
are, how you're making money,how you're bringing income to
the partnership, what's thedistributions like.
All of that really never getswritten down.
(07:42):
Generally, when you start outyou're just kind of in the
honeymoon phase and you're like,oh, this sounds great, let's do
it together.
And then you just kind of upand run it and then three or
five years down the road and itcan get sideways sometimes and
people move on or they wannaexit out and then they want more
money than they deserve andit's just a big fight back and
(08:03):
forth.
So I would say partnerships area big one and budget cash flow
is probably the number one thing.
Dustin Steffey (08:11):
The biggest thing that I took from that that
came across to my mind was thatmovie about Facebook with Mark
Zuckerberg.
I feel like when you weretalking about partnerships and
cash flow and kind of having theoperating agreements and all of
that, i think that's huge andthat's important and I think
it's overlooked sometimes and Ithink that movie did a really
(08:34):
good job of showing the legalbattle of what happened.
I mean, i really feel like thepeople that were involved they
kind of got shafted a little bit.
In my opinion.
Chase Insogna (08:47):
Well, that's a perfect example, because a lot
of times, one person's bringingthe money and the other one's
bringing the operation or theexpertise, and those are the
ones that I generally have foundgoes sideways quicker because
the one that put up the moneywants the money back, but the
cash flow doesn't justify it.
(09:07):
In the same token, you'retrying to pay yourselves while
you're both doing some work, orone of you's doing more work,
and then it's like, well, i'mbringing the technology or I'm
bringing the expertise and I'mdoing the day to day, and it
just becomes this contentionvery quickly.
So that needs to be identified.
(09:28):
I mean, i would always just doa loan agreement or a payback
agreement, so it's very stated,clear terms of how the
investor's getting their moneyback, in addition to how each of
you are gonna make a living asyou build the partnership
together.
Dustin Steffey (09:43):
Which leads me to my next question, and I feel
like this was hard for meelecting the right tax benefits
right or the right term for yourbusiness.
So like, for example, we havesole proprietors, we have
partnerships, we have LLCs, wehave S-corps, we have C-corps,
we have a million differentthings.
(10:04):
How do you determine the rightelection for your business?
How do you determine the rightstructure to even get started?
Chase Insogna (10:13):
Yeah, great question.
I mean we have a page on ourwebsite that kinda breaks it
down a little bit.
I mean, effectively there'sonly two structures you have
from a legal perspective one LLC, two Inc.
That's it.
From there it becomes a taxelection.
You know, an LLC can be a soleprop.
(10:35):
So if you're making under 50Kyou wanna be an LLC.
That's what I would recommend.
Llcs can be taxed as an S-Corp,partnership, c-corp or sole
prop.
And then you've got Inc, whichis required to file a business
filing.
So if you're a sole proprietor,you know making under 50K is
(10:56):
kind of a break-even and you'renot sure, you know, if you're
around there you're under it fora while.
Keep your costs down.
Just be an LLC, because you'renot required to file a federal
business return And Inc isrequired to file a federal
business return.
It's automatically acorporation when it sets itself
up with the IRS EIN number Andso from there you can make an
(11:20):
S-Corp election with an Inc, youcan file as a partnership, as
an Inc, and.
But that's generally thebreakdown of the setup.
So I would say you know ourgeneral advice, obviously case
by case, but you know, is itjust you?
You know what is your exitstrategy.
Is this a lifestyle business oryou know?
are you looking to grow a brandand exit out in two or three
(11:43):
years?
Are you looking to take oninvestment, private equity, you
know, any kind of loans Likethat all has an effect on how it
should be set up, because youknow partnerships have two
columns of profit and loss, andequity.
Maybe you want to give awayequity to employees you're
hiring, maybe it's an Inc.
(12:04):
You know, when you want a 83Belection, which is basically if
you invest in a qualified smallbusiness stock, you know and
you're given shares away.
If it's 83B, qualified, like itbecomes tax free within five,
after five years, if you, youknow, hold it.
So there's all kinds ofdifferent nuances than caveats,
(12:25):
but you know, i would say, get agood business attorney or at
least talk to your CPA and havea quick conversation about what
you're looking to do, cause allof that has a tax effect And it
has a long-term effect with youand how your taxes are played
into it.
You know what's your tax effectgoing to be.
(12:45):
If you're a corporation, i mean, the only way to get money out
is W2 payroll or dividends.
But if it's necessary becauseyou have investor money or
private equity money, then Imean you don't have a real
choice.
But you know, if you're puttingup your own money and you're a
hundred percent owner, you'renot giving away equity.
I mean that's pretty much LLCescort, but you're building a
(13:08):
brand, so all kinds of differentnuances, but that kind of
hopefully helps break it down alittle bit.
Dustin Steffey (13:14):
It helps our listeners to understand that
it's important to do your ownresearch.
One and then two, to educateyourself on all the different
structures, cause, yes, you'reright, there's only two LLC or
Inc.
But then there's all theelections in between, for the
tax elections, and so, like youstated, i think it's important
(13:37):
and I've always learned this tohave a good business attorney,
and we're about to talk aboutwhy it's important to have a CPA
, which leads into the nextquestion Why have a CPA for a
business?
Why is that important?
Why can't I be the owner thatjust does it on my own?
Obviously, i mean.
The short answer is there's somuch that goes into it And I
(13:59):
think we overlook some things,but I'm sure you can shed some
light on this.
We will be right back after aquick break.
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Chase Insogna (15:29):
Yeah, you know we're always promoting, you know
, to have a CPA.
When you have a business youhave rental property.
I mean I own 15 rules myself.
Right now I have multiplebusinesses, so I've always been
entrepreneurial.
We're not not the typical CPAand just running a running a
lifestyle firm.
But so you know I've always,i've always communicated that
(15:53):
it's important to consult upfront because even when you're
going to register for your EINnumber, that is basically the
start of your tax election andhow you're going to have to
proceed going forward.
So from the onset, before youeven really start the business,
so to speak, before you evenregister that EIN number, i mean
(16:13):
we work with an attorney.
You know a lot of times he'schecking with me hey, is this
the right thing?
Is this not like what should I?
you know, what should they doin this situation?
Because when it comes to us,we're either going to have to
clean it up or it's correct.
You know one of the two.
But a licensed CPA you knowwe're always communicating is
important Because with alicensed CPA you have recourse
(16:36):
And a lot of people don'tunderstand.
You know there's a state boardaround licensing, just like
doctors and attorneys, and youknow if something goes wrong or
something goes awry or there'san issue or you can't get your
information, you know, whateverit may be, you at least have a
resource to go to.
You have the state board to goto And a CPA is required to
(17:00):
respond to a complaint within 30days back to the board and
provide support or information.
So you know.
A prime example is if somebody'sworking with just a tax shop,
an unlicensed tax person youknow, and they file their
returns, and two years down theroad you lost a copy of it and
you need it to file a mortgage,apply for a mortgage or
(17:20):
something.
You can't get a copy of itbecause you can't track this
person down.
There's no way to get it.
There's no, there's no personto call.
You can't call the IRS, theydon't care.
There's no, you know tax shopforum you can go to to find and
track this person down.
If it's a CPA firm, you knowyou can call the board if you
can't get a hold of that person.
Even if it's an individual,cpas are not.
(17:43):
I mean those that arelegitimate are not going to not
respond because it can affecttheir license And it takes a lot
of work, just like a doctor,attorney or any licensed
professional to get a CPAlicense And I'm not going to
give up my profession orprofessional liability because I
(18:05):
didn't answer you know,somebody's request in 30 days.
Dustin Steffey (18:07):
What is the average cost to like for the for
my small businesses, like supersmall, so even chop and
entertainment me.
What is the average cost of aCPA usually?
Chase Insogna (18:21):
I mean to be honest, it varies.
It varies by market, it variesby what you're doing.
We started off, now we're, iwould say, mid-range, we're not
ultra-expensive, but we chargefor our value and what we
deliver to our clients.
It really just depends on whatyou're needing and what you're
(18:41):
doing.
The way we price is more bywhat we're doing for you.
So pass through software,accounting time, payroll help,
sales tax, help controller help.
Are we checking in weekly,monthly, quarterly,
semi-annually, business,personal taxes, cfo, fractional
(19:04):
CFO work all of those littlepieces we add up together and
take a determined fixed price.
But every firm is different.
A lot of them charge hourly, alot of them charge tax only and
then they'll charge forbookkeeping hourly or whatever.
But it really depends on themarket.
I think in general we're inAustin, so we're not small-town
(19:28):
America cheap, but I would saythe minimum is probably around
$5,500, $5,600 for a one-ownerS-Corp today needing payroll
help because they have topayroll themselves reasonable
salary and business and personaltaxes.
Then we check in twice a yearon one-owner S-Corps and make
(19:50):
sure you're on track, beingprogressive with our advice and
making sure the reasonablesalaries are there, retirement
planning is there if you want tocontribute, et cetera.
Dustin Steffey (20:00):
The way I see it , it may sound like a big number
, especially for these smallbusinesses.
The average of $5,600.
But if I'm avoiding lawsuitsand fines and fees and other
things and I have someoneprofessional like you that is
really taking a look at all thetax benefits and making sure we
get more bang for the buck, it'sactually worth it in my opinion
(20:24):
.
Chase Insogna (20:26):
Yeah, It seems like a big number up front.
But again, if you're makinglet's just call it $100,000 in
contractor income or net profitfrom your business and you don't
even have an LLC set up, or youhave an LLC, you're filing as a
Schedule C sole proprietor onyour 1040.
(20:46):
That example, if you take that$100,000, you're going to be
paying versus an S-Corp.
You're going to save about$9,200 in unnecessary payroll
taxes in that example because asa Schedule C filer, all of that
$100,000 is subject to payrolltax.
(21:07):
As an S-Corp, only a reasonableportion is subject to payroll
tax.
That difference that we wouldassign is reasonable.
Effectively that's about $9,200.
Yeah, you're paying us.
What $5,600,000?
You're still netting a $3,000saving.
You're going to have to pay forthe expertise, but that's the
(21:28):
base minimum that you're goingto save.
Which is why our break even islike $50,000, $60,000 for the
S-Corp, because just to do abasic tax return for an S-Corp
business, that's where the costeffectiveness comes in.
That's why we don't evenrecommend it below $50,000,
$60,000 right now.
(21:48):
That's a prime example of ifyou're a Schedule C sole
proprietor, there's no reasonyou shouldn't set up an
L-O-C-S-Corp because you're justwasting money to the government
.
Dustin Steffey (21:59):
That is why having a CPA is important, in my
opinion.
You guys keep up with yourlicense and you keep up with all
the rules and regulations.
You guys know what it takes tofile the most appropriate tax
return.
In my opinion.
Chase Insogna (22:17):
Yeah, a lot of people don't understand.
A CPA's name is on your return,a firm like us.
We describe ourselves, we'renot ultra risky, we're not ultra
conservative, but we play inthe gray area.
I have businesses, like Imentioned too.
I'm going to maximize the taxcode as much as I can With that.
Our name is on that return too.
(22:38):
If that comes back and getsquestioned, obviously we're in
that conversation with the IRStoo, because we prepared it and
we signed it as well.
A lot of people don't recognizethat fact.
When a CPA is signing theirreturn or any preparer really is
signing it.
If a CPA signs it again, youhave recourse against
(22:59):
professional liability insuranceor the state board licensing.
Most CPAs aren't going to riskagain.
We're not going to risk ourlicense for somebody that wants
to be risky or be questionableon their expenses.
It's just not worth the riskfor us so we just won't do it.
We will maximize deductions asmuch as possible.
(23:23):
My team isn't traditionallylike just taking your
information and spitting it backout.
We take it, prepare it.
Questions, questions, questionslike trying to dig out
deductions from you based offyour industry, what you're doing
.
We try to be progressive inthat way to make sure we're
(23:45):
maximizing the return.
That's why we feel like wejustify the prices we charge
today, because we're not justsend us your P&L and we'll knock
it out for you and here you go.
Dustin Steffey (23:59):
I think it's important to note that you
really care about making surethat each client is is getting
the best bang for the buck right.
Like, if I'm hiring you to doeverything for my business, i'm
not hiring you just because it'sthe right thing to do to have a
CPA and to have that knowledge.
(24:21):
I'm also hiring you because Itrust you with, like, making
sure that you're doing the rightthing by me.
Chase Insogna (24:28):
Yeah, you know I always took the position and
when I was doing taxes withmyself, with clients, you know I
always took the position ofbasically owning what I'm
preparing as if it was my returnwith their data, and so a lot
of times, like I would, ilearned to communicate a little
(24:49):
bit differently later on, but inthe beginning, you know, i'd
just be like passionate aboutwhy aren't you doing this?
Are you doing this this way?
And you know clients orreceptive sometimes, sometimes
not, but and that's how I trainmy team to be, you know,
proactive to and really takingownership of what they're
preparing, not just goingthrough the motions, and you
(25:12):
know, treating as if this istheir business.
And you know, if they don'tdeduct this or find this
deduction or ask the clientabout it and not care, then you
know it's as if they're losinghundreds of dollars or thousands
of dollars to.
You know, are we perfect?
No, but you know we always tryto be perfect And that's really
(25:34):
all I can ask of my team and mytax manager reviewing the
returns.
Dustin Steffey (25:39):
And the whole point of this conversation isn't
like hey, choose Chase to beyour CPA although I would
probably choose you and the firmover anyone else just based off
of the conversations.
It's more or less do the rightthing.
Right, Like, if you you're,you're opening a business.
That is going to be your life,like you're trying to make money
(26:02):
and you're trying to maximizeon as much as possible.
Do the right thing and havesomeone in your corner to help
you maximize on that.
Yes, it's going to cost you afew bucks, But at the end of the
day, I'd rather pay the fewbucks than have to pay a whole
ton more because I wasuneducated, right, And didn't
(26:22):
know what to do, And then thegovernment had not it or
something, and I messed up.
Chase Insogna (26:29):
Yeah, and you know, i mean most of the time.
You know, audits are really notwhat's driving the conversation
Really, it's just the structureand the tax savings.
You know, and for us, you knowyou're paying for the knowledge,
you're paying for the expertise.
I mean, i've been doing thisover 20 years.
You know you're paying for myteams expertise and knowledge.
(26:50):
You know that's what you'regetting.
It's when you build a house.
You don't get the cheapestperson to buy.
Build a house.
You want the right person thathas the right knowledge and the
right expertise to do it.
And again, yeah, you're goingto pay us.
Are you going to pay any CPAfor their expertise?
But that relationship should besaving you money from day one,
(27:11):
just like the example I gavewith the 100,000.
Yeah, you're going to pay usfive, six grand annually, but
you would have paid, you know,3,000 more to the IRS.
So do you want to pay all themoney to the IRS or you want to
pay us and save three grand?
Like which one?
which one's better?
So sure, you pay a CPAexpertise, but you know, from
(27:33):
day one, we're making sure wesave our clients and justify our
cost And that's just how weapproach the business.
I mean, i, you know I'll justtell somebody we're not the
right fit for you because youknow it's just not.
You know you can do it yourselfright now.
When it comes to taxes, surewe'll do, we'll do the taxes for
(27:53):
you and help with that, butmaybe, maybe they're not making
enough to justify QuickBooksonline or do their monthly
accounting yet, but or you know,they're kind of scaling into
the next section.
So you know what does that looklike.
Or give us a call down the road.
But you know we're just openwith clients and we just take
ownership of what we do.
(28:14):
And big on communication, weuse multiple channels of
communication.
Number one thing we hear fromfrom our leads is poor
communication, and so my team isalways diligent about probably
overly communicating with people.
That includes the tax return,you know, scheduling, a Zoom
call screen, sharing.
You know a lot of a lot ofprepares.
(28:36):
Don't take it to that nextlevel, and we're always trying
to make sure that we're doingthe best job we can to deliver
the best product at the rightprice.
Dustin Steffey (28:48):
And just so I'm clear and I heard you right, you
said you recommend not yourecommend doing your own until
you get to the 50,000 threshold,correct?
Chase Insogna (29:00):
I mean you know, if you want to pay us to do it,
sure we'll take the business,but I mean the cost isn't going
to justify the means.
I mean that's kind of a generalnumber.
I mean I'm talking about 50,000gross revenue, you know.
so you know gross revenue it's,you know it's probably not a
lot of transactions.
I mean, if you're a one-hourconsultant, you know keeping
track of your mileage, you knowmileage IQ is what our clients
(29:23):
use a lot of to keep track ofthat.
You know app on your phone, youknow use one credit card, use a
dedicated checking account.
You can download those intoExcel annually and then just
categorize your few transactionsfrom there.
So it's really not necessary todo QuickBooks online when
you're you know that small.
But you know if you're gettingthose six figures and you need
(29:46):
to know what your estimatedtaxes are.
you know you want us to adviseon reasonable salary and like
maybe you're looking forretirement planning.
That's kind of next levelconversation and sure you know
we need to start keeping trackof some data because otherwise
we just won't know what you havegoing on.
Dustin Steffey (30:01):
And the reason I reinforce that is because there
are people just starting outAnd so I don't want to sit here
and say, hey, go out and find aCPA today.
Right, I want to.
I want to give them theknowledge that they need to make
informed decisions And that andthat's all.
And just to recap, it'simportant to do your homework,
(30:25):
It's important to do your ownresearch and it's important to
understand the importance ofwhat the CPA's role is, what a
business lawyer's role is,anybody's role, for that matter.
I mean, if I'm just putting mybusiness into it, so if we're
just putting shopping into it,right, I mean we're not big
enough yet for me to justify,like you said, the cost means,
(30:48):
but that doesn't mean that I'mnot going to get there.
So it's really having a plan.
Chase Insogna (30:53):
Yeah, and also knowing.
You know we're always happy tohave the conversation because we
, you know, we want you to knowwhat you should be keeping track
of.
You know, like I said, havethose dedicated credit card or
checking account So you can keeptrack of the transactions,
because when January 24, 24rolls around, you're not going
to remember what you did inFebruary 2023.
Like you're not going toremember you had a business
(31:16):
lunch that you charged on yourpersonal credit card most of the
time.
So that's why I say, have thosededicated accounts so you can
download those transactions andmake it easier on yourself.
And then, keeping track of, youknow, home office seductions,
utilities, rent, mortgage, etc.
Mileage, you know, is usually abig one if you're driving
(31:39):
around a lot A mileage IQ.
But you know, intuit has apretty I think it's free or it's
a cheap product The quick book,self-employed version.
You know it doesn't give you aprofit and loss or balance sheet
, so it's not helpful and wecan't use it to file an escort
return.
You have to upgrade to do that.
But you know, self-employedagain, like kind of under 50K
(32:03):
basic transactions, like that'sjust a good software to start
out with.
So it keeps track of that andyou can categorize stuff or just
download it in Excel.
But I was, you know, kind ofback to the formation
conversation, since youmentioned starting out.
You know we always recommend atleast setting up an LLC.
And you know, especially ifyou're looking to have a brand
(32:29):
name or you kind of want to lockin a name you want to use Just
having.
A lot of people don'tunderstand just having a doing
business, as with the state,does not protect the name.
And so if you want to protectthat name that you're operating
under, then you have to form theLLC.
And again, if you're 100% owner, or it's you and your spouse
(32:53):
that own it 100%, then you knowyou can just file a schedule C
on your 1040 with that thatowned LLC.
So there's not a lot ofcomplexity to it other than
filing the annual state reportAnd other than that it's pretty
straightforward.
Dustin Steffey (33:11):
Yeah, that's what I do, So I use into it
right now to categorizeeverything.
In that it's just super helpful.
Of course, yes, you can use anExcel sheet, but I like how into
it walks you through it.
So, anyway, sorry.
With that being said, if peoplewant to get a hold of you,
(33:32):
chase like what's the best meansto get a hold of you in a world
where there's instantgratification in a ton of social
media.
Chase Insogna (33:39):
Yeah, just sit us up on our website insaniacpacom
.
So I N S O G N A C P A dot com.
fill out the contact does formand some of I'll be quick to
reach out to you.
We're here all year so we'renot like most firms that
disappear for months at a timein the summer.
We're working with clientsweekly, monthly and hundreds of
(34:00):
them weekly, monthly, so myteam's always around.
I'm always managing thebusiness.
You know we'll have a in-houseperson to reach out to you.
You know, when you call us,somebody's always answering the
phone during business hours andhappy to have a conversation,
just like we're having now, andmake sure you're on the right
track.
That's really our biggest thingis just trying to help and
(34:21):
educate people and you know, forthe right fit and you want to
work with us, great.
If not, hopefully we'll see youdown the road and you know when
you get more successful and wecan help save you more money.
Dustin Steffey (34:35):
Yeah, I appreciate that, Chase.
I appreciate having you onnumber one, number two for the
listeners that are kind of inbetween or don't know what they
need.
Like please reach out to Chase.
He has the knowledge and hisfirm will guide you guys into
the right realm and really helpyou guys out.
So please take advantage ofChase as a knowledge resource
(34:58):
and a knowledge bank.
Chase, thank you for being ontoday.
I appreciate you.
Chase Insogna (35:04):
Yeah, thank you.
Thanks for having me, you, you.
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