Seaman’s Insurance Group is St Augustine’s Premier Boutique Independent Insurance Agency. Our specialties include: Auto, Boat (Personal Water Craft, Yacht, Charter Boats, Boat Dealer and more), Home, Business Insurance, Surety Bonds, Cyber Risk, Drone, International Health, Mexico Property & Mexico Auto, Pet Health, Workers Comp, Legal, General Liability, Retirement Planning, Life Insurance & Annuities.
Our New Year’s Resolution is to provide our readers with even more valuable content. In order to do this, we reached out to some of the greatest First Coast and St Augustine minds and business owners for their input on some timely subjects. Our first expert, Richard Brooks runs a local Law Firm in St Augustine, FL. Mr. Brooks provided us with some great advice for business owners to begin the New Year on the right foot.
Richard Brooks is an Attorney at Law in St. Augustine, Florida. His firm, St. Augustine Law Group, PA, serves St. Augustine and its surrounding areas. The firm’s areas of specialty include: Small Business Law, Real Estate, Social Security/Disability Claims, and more! For more information on the author or the firm, visit www.staugustinelawgroup.com.
St Augustine Law Group
New Years Resolutions for Business
January 15, 2016
Put these items on your calendar!
There are a few items that many business owners a) aren’t aware of, or b) forget about in the hustle and bustle of the new year. This blog is designed to help remind you of some critical items that you should address as we progress into the new year.
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Annual Report
What is an annual report? It has NOTHING to do with your financials. In most states (Florida being one) your business entity MUST file an annual report with the state effectively confirming that your business is a) still in business, and b) ensure that the information on record with the state is current/correct. In the event you fail to file your annual report, your business could be subject to “administrative dissolution”. In other words, in the eyes of the state, you are out of business. This means you no longer have the liability shield for your personal assets. There are ways to resurrect your business, but all of them are DRASTICALLY more expensive than filing your annual report on time.
If you are a Florida Company, visit SunBiz today for more information!
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Annual Minutes
Remember that operating agreement (LLC) or Corporate Bylaws (Inc.) you created for your company? Within that document, it likely requires an annual meeting. At this point you are saying to yourself “Yea, yea… Every business is supposed to have annual meeting… What are we going to meet about?”
The fact is, if you are supposed to have those meetings and you don’t, your personal assets may not be as protected as you think. In the event you/your company gets sued, it is a distinct possibility that the opposing attorney is going to ask about those annual minutes in order to prove that you weren’t operating your company in accordance with your own rules, much less your state statutes.
For a free minutes form, Contact Us today. Just let us know what you need, and we will email it to you right away.
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Local Business License/Tax
Depending on where your business is located, you may have already paid these. If you don’t know what we are talking about, please research the rules of your local municipality, and get compliant today!
If you’ve already paid the applicable taxes and fees for your jurisdiction, cross this one off the list!
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Insurance Review
Insurance is an essential part of our lives, and the life of our businesses. The beginning of the year is a great time to work with your insurance provider to make sure you are adequately covered. For example:
- your business may have grown last year, and your exposure may be greater than the insurance you are carrying.
- Maybe you bought a second location and forgot to buy insurance for it, or
- you started using a car almost solely for business, but don’t have a commercial insurance policy on it.
- Maybe you added a partner and need to consider a per-structured buy/sell agreement funded at least in part by life insurance.
If any of these situations sound like you, be sure to speak with your local insurance provider today!
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Tax Planning/Deductions
Did you drive a lot for work and didn’t do a good job keeping track? Have you made any retirement contributions to your IRA? These questions, among others, are going to be important for you in the coming months as you work with your CPA to 1) Analyze your tax exposure for this year, and 2) start developing a plan for next year.
Conclusion
As a business owner, there are a lot of things pulling at you for your time. Work, employees, customers, family, hobbies, and the list goes on. However, if you ignore the items above, you may not have that luxury much longer. Remember, in the United States of America we are PRIVILEGED to have the types of opportunities that we do to own and operate our own businesses. Taking a close look at these 5 items will 1) keep you and your assets protected, and 2) make your business that much more marketable when it comes time to sell it.
If you have any questions about this blog, we’d love to talk with you about them! Email us at info@staugustinelawgroup.com today!
