Just started a business? Here’s the list nobody gives you.
Congratulations. The first ninety days are when most money mistakes get made, not because new owners are careless, but because nobody hands them the list. Here it is, and a free 15‑minute call to walk through it for your company.
No charge and no pressure. You can do all of it yourself afterward if you want.
Your first 90 days
The six things to get right while the company is new.
- Get your tax ID and a business bank accountKeep business and personal money apart from day one.
- Decide on S corporation statusIt can change what you pay, and there’s a deadline.
- Register for Florida sales taxBefore your first taxable sale.
- Set up payroll the right wayIncluding how you pay yourself.
- Plan your quarterly estimated taxesSo April isn’t a shock.
- Start your books nowWhile there are twenty transactions, not two thousand.
Mark May 1 on your calendar. Your first Florida annual report is due the year after you formed.
Why each one matters
The short version. On the call, we go through the ones that apply to you.
1Tax ID and a bank account
Your federal tax ID is free from the IRS at irs.gov. Websites that charge for it are not the IRS. Open the business account the same week, and run every business dollar through it.
2S corporation or not
Electing S corporation status can lower what you pay in self-employment tax, or it can add cost for nothing. It depends on your profit. There’s a deadline to elect, and it comes up fast.
3Florida sales tax
If you sell anything taxable in Florida, register with the Florida Department of Revenue before your first taxable sale, then file on the schedule they give you.
4Payroll, including you
Paying people means payroll tax deposits and Florida reemployment tax. If you own an S corporation, you pay yourself a salary through payroll too.
5Quarterly estimates
Federal estimated taxes are due four times a year: April, June, September and January. Set aside a share of every month’s profit so the payments are already there.
6Books from day one
Books started now take an hour a month. Books started in March of next year take a week and cost more to fix than they would have cost to keep.
Watch your mailbox
Once your company is on file with the state, the official-looking letters start. Offers to file your annual report, to send you a “certificate of status,” or to get you a tax ID, all for a fee.
Some of them come from private companies, not the state. You can file the annual report and get a certificate of status yourself on Sunbiz for the state’s fee, and the tax ID is free from the IRS. If a letter asks for money, check who sent it before you pay.
What we do for new owners
All six, on a flat monthly fee, with the same people keeping your books and doing your taxes all year.
Set it up right
Tax ID, bank and books connected, sales tax and payroll registered, and the S corporation question answered with your numbers.
Keep it current
Books closed every month, payroll and sales tax filed on time, estimates planned, and your annual report on the calendar.
File the returns
Business and personal returns prepared from books we keep ourselves, so tax season is a meeting, not a scramble.
After the first ninety days, we help you grow. Our founder, Bruce Gordon, has spent 38 years building and running companies, more than one of them past 500 employees. Once your books are set up, the quarterly Owner’s Review shows you which work makes money, whether your prices are right, and how your cash looks thirteen weeks out. See how monthly service works
Questions new owners ask
- Is the call really free?
- Yes. Fifteen minutes, no charge, nothing to sign. You’ll leave with the list for your situation, even if you do it all yourself.
- Should my company be an S corporation?
- It depends on how much the business will make and how you pay yourself. For some owners it saves real money; for others it adds cost for nothing. We run your numbers on the call.
- When is my first Florida annual report due?
- Between January 1 and May 1 of the year after you formed the company, and every year after that. After May 1 the state adds a $400 late fee.
- Do I really need a separate bank account?
- Yes. Mixing business and personal money makes your books and your taxes harder, and it weakens the separation your LLC or corporation is supposed to give you.
- What does monthly service cost?
- It depends on how many accounts and transactions you have and whether you run payroll. After the call, Bruce gives you a written quote for a flat monthly fee. Nothing starts until you sign.
- My company isn’t in Gainesville. Can you help?
- Yes. We work with new businesses all over Florida, by phone, video and secure file sharing. Most clients never need to visit.