BN Daily E-Journal

If your business manufactures products or purchases them for resale, you generally must value inventory at the beginning and end of each tax year to determine your cost of goods sold. Some of your expenses may be included in figuring the cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold is deducted from your gross receipts to figure your gross profit for the year. If you include an expense in the cost of goods sold, you cannot deduct it again as a business expense.

The following are types of expenses that go into figuring the cost of goods sold.

• The cost of products or raw materials, including freight
• Storage
• Direct labor costs (including contributions to pensions or annuity plans) for workers who produce the products
• Factory overhead

Under the uniform capitalization rules, you must capitalize the direct costs and part of the indirect costs for certain production or resale activities. Indirect costs include rent, interest, taxes, storage, purchasing, processing, repackaging, handling, and administrative costs.

This rule does not apply to personal property you acquire for resale if your average annual gross receipts (or those of your predecessor) for the preceding 3 tax years are not more than $10 million.

For additional information, refer to the chapter on Cost of Goods Sold, Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Businesses and the chapter on Inventories.   – reprinted from IRS

This recession affects everyone, especially small businesses. If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to check your extra expenses and cut back on frivolous spending. Make sure you are getting the best prices on monthly charges such as phone, internet, and long distance. What you don’t want to cut down or slack on is payroll taxes, workers comp insurance, or liability/auto insurances. Times may be hard, but not paying the government will get you into trouble, and they are having a hard time as well so they have beefed up their efforts on collections. Being under insured can keep you from getting a job and could potentially lead to a disastrous situation.

Many small businesses operate without a budget, however it is never to late to get one going. If you are lost with budgeting, the best place to start is with your monthly expenses. Secondly, you want to create and stick with a budget for each new project that you start. It is not as hard as it sounds, and will save you a headache in the long run and now is the perfect time to learn and implement something new.

We have a unique opportunity to slow down, look at our expenses and make valid and smart decisions. The past 10 years were filled with rush, courage, power and money. The next few years are a cycle of thought, saving, reflection, and careful planning. It is also a good time to fix what is broken with your company and look to the future with new found skills and planning.

Lastly, it is a good time to learn about new ideas that can manifest global change one project at a time. How can your skills be matched with renewable energy? By opening the door to change, learning new ideas, saving, planning and budgeting, we are moving forward together into a better and brighter future.