Got Nexus? Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s monumental ruling on the South Dakota v. Wayfair case, state legislators now have the green light to pass legislation that would require businesses to pay taxes to their state if certain criteria are met. As of press time, 38 states have passed legislation in line with Wayfair and four others are taking steps to follow suit.
YOU MIGHT HAVE NEXUS IN A STATE IF … • Your business has a physical presence in multiple states. • You sell more than $100,000 worth of goods or services in a state over a 12-month period. • You complete 200 or more transactions in a state over a 12-month period. • You use a third-party to sell your products, such as Amazon, and their facilities are housing your products in multiple states.
OUTSOURCING May be the solution you're looking for. You've worked hard to build a suc- cessful company. But at the end of the day, do you ever wonder if you could be doing more? For years, the term “outsourcing” brought to mind American jobs being shipped overseas. Nowadays, the term has taken on a more positive connotation. Today, many successful businesses are outsourcing a portion of their operations to local service providers in an effort to fuel sustainable growth. In fact, outsourcing has been linked to higher quality service, cost savings and greater convenience for your company – and all jobs are located right here in America. Has adopted a Wayfair-like standard In the process of adopting a Many business owners start out think- ing they can handle their company’s en- tire operations. Before long, bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and other back of- fice responsibilities snowball and become overwhelming. As a result, many small- to mid-sized businesses will add to their staff, while others seek out external assistance. Wayfair-like standard No sales tax/has not yet implemented a Wayfair-like standard. If you sell products or services into any of the states highlighted in orange or yellow, you might have nexus issues. Rea’s state and local tax professionals provide a vari- ety of services to help you identify where the problems are while helping you comply with the new laws on each state’s books.
BUSINESS OWNERS CAN’T DO IT ALL By Matthew Long, CPA, principal, client advisory services, [email protected] (Wooster office) Outsourcing your business’s back office functions can help you focus on developing the company in your vision while generating revenue – freeing you from the responsibility of filing paper, analyzing spreadsheets and paying bills on time. Although it’s important to have ac- cess to professional accounting, fi- nance, HR, IT, legal or marketing per- sonnel, depending on the size of your company, it might not make financial sense to hire people internally to fill these positions full-time. Instead of onboarding a high-priced employee to run your business finances, con- sider foregoing the costs of hiring (and training and retaining) a new employee and outsource the position instead. Should You Outsource? The first step to determining whether outsourcing is right for you is to con- sider the scenario from all angles. • Determine what job functions work well internally • Identify your immediate business needs • Assess your team’s capabilities and risks • Consider areas that could benefit from more proficiency • Think about the risks associated with a lack of specialized expertise, including fraud and compliance issues After looking at the whole picture, reach out to others who have utilized out- sourced professionals to learn about their experience. (This could be a great research call opportunity! See pg. 10 for details.) How To Hire Outside Service Providers When hiring outside service providers, securing the lowest cost should not be your only consideration. Instead, be on the lookout for competency and depend- ability. You’ll need to seek out qualified individuals who can perform the task at hand. Once you’ve researched several companies, make a point to interview the top contenders before making your de- cision. Then, before any work is started, you’ll want to document the responsibili- ties of all parties and develop a budget. Rea offers an array of outsourced services to help your business flourish. Contact me to discuss your situation to see if outsourcing is the right answer for you.