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In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast I speak with certified public accountant Rick Norris on creating a strategic plan for your business (which is something you need even before a business plan) and about what players you the small business owner should recruit for your team. He also answered these burning questions:

• What’s the difference between a CPA and a bookkeeper?
• How do I protect myself from fraud (bogus checks!)?
• How do I know when I need a bookkeeper?
• What percentage of income do medical bills need to be before I can claim them as a write-off?
• How do I use independent contractors without running afoul of labor laws?
• How do I reduce my audit risk if I take a business loss?

Details from the Podcast:

1. All music in this episode by Gold Chains.
2. Rick’s articles and Rick Norris CPA on Facebook and Twitter.
3. Stephen Fishman’s book and interview.
4. Tips:
   • Tell your bank to alert you every time someone tries cash a check.
   • Never have bookkeepers in charge of both writing checks and doing bank reconciliations. It’s supposed to be a check and balance.
   • Make sure you classify your staff correctly. The IRS is really coming down on small businesses who improperly classify employees as independent contractors.
5. Quotes:
   • Once you’ve built the car, you need a map. That’s what a strategic plan is: a road map of where you are going to be 10-20 years from now.
   • Most people think that if they are not going out of the black, they’re doing fine, but they really don’t have a direction for where they are going.
   • Keep one eye on the step in front of you and one eye on the horizon.
   • If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
   • Once you start going outside of your core competency you run the risk of losing your vision, and then the whole thing just falls apart.
   • The more money you make, the less you can deduct.