Starting a New Business? 4 Important Steps to Get You Started
- 21
- Jan
If you are starting a new business, you are excited but you also have many tasks ahead of you. Sometimes the planning can leave you overwhelmed. Here are 4 important steps to getting started in a brief list to get you going. For additional help with requirements, see your local SBDC office. Let us help you start your bookkeeping off right with the proper Quickbooks setup and chart of accounts.
1. Choose a Name and Register Your Business
You will need to Choose a name and Register your Business with the Secretary of State and Department of Revenue. The state has a convenient website to help you register (see the One Stop link on the resources tab.)
2. EIN Number
You will need to apply for an EIN number (or Federal Tax Identification Number). This is required on some of the other forms, so get this done early in your to-do list. The simplest way to apply is electronically through the IRS website. You will receive a response in about 1 week. You can also apply by telephone, fax, or mail.
3. Licenses, Unemployment, Workers Comp, State Withholding, Sales Tax
Once you have an EIN, you may need to apply for some additional licenses and state forms depending upon whether you will have employees, whether you will be selling taxable items, or if you require special licenses.
4. Bookkeeping
It is important to have accurate bookkeeping from the start of the business and to keep business records separate from your personal records. This can be frustrating to go back and fix if you don’t set it up correctly the first time. Personnel records are vital to be collected and payroll can be time consuming. Let us help you with the proper bookkeeping and setup.
- I-9 Form must be filled out by the employer and check the employee identification to verify he/she is eligible to work in the U.S.
- W-4 Form must be filled out by the employee to select the tax withholding for federal taxes.
- K-4 Form must be filled out by the employee to select the tax withholding for state taxes.