Common Business Questions

$10.00/Hour $10.50/Hour $11.00/Hour $12.00/Hour $12.15/Hour $12.80/Hour In 2016, Arizona voters passed Proposition 206, increasing the state-wide minimum wage and mandating paid sick time for all employees. Employers who pay tipped employees are allowed to pay up to $3 less than minimum wage. The initiative also guaranteed 40 hours of annual paid sick time to employees of businesses with 15 or more employees and 24 hours to those of businesses with less than 15 employees. The measure entitled employees to accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. The [...]

All Arizona employers are required to pay unemployment taxes to the state of Arizona. The tax rate applied on the Determination of Unemployment Tax Rate is applied to the first $7,000 of wages. The Department of Economic Security (DES) calculates this rate based on a "reserve ratio." This reserve ratio is calculated by comparing wages paid during a base period (the prior 3 years ending June 30), with benefits paid out to employees. The higher the claims, the higher the rate. Employers may be able to reduce the rate by pre-paying amounts into their accounts. This is generally beneficial [...]

We often have clients asking how the depreciation deductions for an automobile used in your trade or business are determined. In fact, special limitations apply, which may result in it taking longer for you to depreciate a car than it would other business property. First of all, note that a separate depreciation allowance for a car only comes into play if you choose to determine the cost of its business use by the “actual expense” method. If, instead, you use the standard mileage rate (53.5¢ for 2017 per business mile driven, and 54¢ for 2016), a depreciation allowance is [...]

It is very important that you know what you’re supposed to be tracking and why. To prove you have a business expense, the IRS and the state require the following: Date (When) Payee (Who) Description (Why & how is it connected to the business) Amount (How much) Payment Method (What account, cash, check, credit, barter, etc.) This is required for every single transaction. You may recognize the Who-What-When-Where idea from school and storytelling. We have to use your financial transactions to tell the story of your business. Some clients give us a "lump sum" amount simply called "expenses."  While [...]