​As we get to the very end of June, everyone is finishing up school, summer really begins, and families start to look forward to their vacations. That leads right into next week when July 4th falls on a Tuesday, prompting talk of whether a four-day weekend makes the most sense for it.

So, do we actually work less over the summer? Yes, the school calendar lingers in how it shapes our lives even long after our classroom time is complete. And come on, it’s just warmer out there, it’s a time made for vacations.

This can be difficult for some small business owners to navigate, though, for when they take time to step outside of work, it can mean that much of their business’s work shuts down. And then what are their customers going to think if there is a week (or heaven forbid, two weeks!) when they can’t receive their services?

Well first off, if a customer doesn’t value you enough as a person to appreciate that you need a vacation, they may not be the ideal customer. The best relationships there are when you are valued for who you are and aren’t seen as just a plug-in service. So if this was THAT big of a problem, maybe it is just an indicator that you don’t need that customer.

Secondly, good customer service means that you aren’t breaking the news of your vacation out of nowhere. And letting people know that you will be taking some time off doesn’t have to be an involved process. Once you have something planned, you can just put the dates in your email signature to give people a quick and natural heads-up weeks ahead of when it will happen.

And then, of course it’s possible that these dates may overlap with a time when a customer needs something but knowing that ahead of time gives the chance to find a workaround that will accommodate everyone’s needs.

And finally, remember that your needs are also important. If you only ever see yourself as someone who serves others, that may be wildly fulfilling most of the time but there are going to be other times when it burns you out and you need to think about yourself or you’ll rush toward the end of your business’s life. So yes, this is the time of the year for vacations and time off … and that is quite all right.

​Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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A survey released last week found that almost all Americans have curtailed their spending somewhat due to concerns about inflation. There is not a whole lot that is surprising here around it happening, but just how universal it is should serve as reason to pause and think. And this can especially be true for small businesses.

If you are someone who sells goods, you probably are only too aware of this already. The survey founds that 92% of Americans are pulling back spending, which is such a large number it is going to affect everyone. It also may prove rather impossible to try to market and sell to only that remaining 8% who are unfazed. And at that point you probably feel the tightening yourself, have cut back your own spending, and are continuing the cycle.

And this may not be a bad strategy. In a time when people aren’t trying new things and are holding back on getting the same amount of the old things, putting efforts into what you know best could keep those who love it most around. So even if that is all you have, a little extra appreciation and a higher touch of customer service could be well used in such times.

By doing that, you also will be keeping better tabs on where people are in their current economy. Again, the overwhelming majority are holding back, but not everyone is. So if you can find that customer or two who is ready for more, that can feel like it goes further when new business is so scarce.

When such things do feel scarce, though, they can come with a bonus, too, in the form of time. On the one hand, this can feel challenging because you don’t seem to have as much to do, but you can then fill it with things that will be good for your business.

I am sure that at some point in your business’s life you had ideas of things you would like to do but never had the time to do it – well, maybe now you do. And of course, such times may not be the most opportune to invest a lot in something new, but it can be the perfect time to set yourself up to be ready to do it when things start to feel more secure.

Overall, this comes around to the idea of don’t stop moving. Even if this is not a time of a great growth, it is a time that can help you hold onto the customers you do have and be ready to move into new (and hopefully greater) areas when the time is right.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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As we get deeper into the summer, more people are taking the opportunity to take some vacations and do some travel. If some of that travel is happening for business, though, you want to keep things documented to take advantage of the tax deductions you can get for it.

Now of course, this doesn’t mean that every time you travel, things are automatically deductible. Sure, you took your laptop out a couple times while on vacation, but that doesn’t mean you were actually traveling FOR business. So to have travel qualify, you must be traveling for business purposes, be away for longer than an ordinary day’s work, and have to sleep in a location other than your home to meet the demands of your work tasks.

Of course, once you are somewhere, not everything is automatically deductible either. It’s not as if the IRS says you’re allowed to stay an extra day and sightsee – those expenses wouldn’t be related to work and therefore are not deductible. But here is a quick list of things that you will want to keep track of that can be deductible for business travel:

• Travel by plane, train, bus, or car between home and the business destination. Note that this can include your personal vehicle, so track your mileage if that is how you are traveling.
• Fares for taxis or other transportation between an airport, train stations, etc. and a hotel, or from a hotel to work locations.
• Shipping for baggage or any display materials sent to the temporary work locations.
• Lodging.
• Meals.
• Dry cleaning and laundry.
• Tips paid for services related to other expenses.
• Other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to business travel.

That last piece contains some important information in the “ordinary and necessary” bit, which is essentially the rule for what is acceptable when deducting these expenses. It is understandable that you will need to eat some meals while on the road for work, but it’s less understandable if you are spending thousands of dollars in fine dining establishments for each meal. This doesn’t mean you have to have a gas station sandwich for every meal but be reasonable.

And the most reasonable thing you can do to take advantage of this is to have good recordkeeping. Keep your receipts that back up your expenses, track your mileage, and hold onto whatever other documents support these deductions and let them work for you come tax time.

​Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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This certainly is not unique to the accounting industry, but I keep seeing articles about how
ChatGPT and AI could affect our work. And there is no fight here over whether it will, it is clear that this is a technology advancing at a rapid rate that is bound to have ramifications through most sectors of our life.

But I think it is also worth spending some time thinking about just what it is doing.

Many of the articles we have seen in our industry involve ChatGPT passing the CPA exam. It couldn’t at first, there have since been reports that it can, but no matter what, it is clear that it was not acing the test. So, for argument’s sake, let’s say this means it’s getting graded at about a 75 out of 100.

Now let’s think, how often are we satisfied with that level of performance?

Well, it depends on what we are talking about. If you go to McDonald’s and the performance of the restaurant is 75%, that’s probably in line with expectations. If you are a steakhouse where you are paying 10 times as much for your meal, you probably are expecting higher performance.

So, if we are talking about a technology that can ‘pass,’ let’s give it credit that this is still pretty amazing. But let’s also realize that this means many actual people are performing much better than it. When it comes to what this can be good for then, we are going to have to make many of the same choices I mentioned above and decide when and where we want better attention.

And when it comes to your finances, this seems one of the most important places to keep the best service. I will not pretend that there aren’t some small businesses out there who largely could have automated services take care of some of their bookkeeping. This has even already been available for a while with a middling level of success. Once a business grows, though, the chances for mistakes widen and the chances to miss catching those mistakes gets exponentially bigger with the more you trust to happen automatically.

​And sure, this type of AI technology is bound to get better and better at doing more and more. But even as it grows, we need to keep in mind what it can do and, more importantly, what it can’t. So let’s enjoy it for the wonders it brings while being aware of what it cannot replace. 

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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