What's the most effective way to create and manage a simple workflow system/process inside of a CPA firm?

I don't think it is what you are looking for, but MailChimp.com was created by mistake from a services agency. They were sending emails for their clients and the next thing you know, they were making most of their money from send costs and the rest is history. Sorry I can't be more help.

Yo are talking apples and oranges. Capital gains are related to your basis not the form of payment. If you are a cash basis taxpayer, you pay taxes when you receive cash beyond your basis. We can help you with structure.

Hi, I'm not in Oregon so you'll need to speak to a local tax expert to verify the details but here is how it works: When you issue points you're creating a liability. You owe something to someone. It's like a gym which sells a one-year membership, they're only supposed to recognize 1/12 of the sale in the month it was sold. 11/12 of the money actually is a liability called 'deferred revenue.' As each month goes by, they reduce their liability by 1/12 and credit that money to income because now it is 'earned.' In your case you sell points to merchants (who give them to consumers) but most of the money collected is now owed to consumers to redeem their points. This is not income, you're just holding money owed to someone else. A small portion of the money, your gross margin on points sales, would be recognized as revenue and would have to cover your overheads and give you your profit, if any. So your balance sheet will keep growing in cash and an offsetting liability. Your income statement will only recognize the small margin which is your profit from selling the points to the merchants. I hope this helps make it more clear. With this type of business you may wish to investigate whether it makes sense from a liability point of view to hold the funds owed to consumers in a trust account rather than just 'floating' the points. I could see problems arising if you ever dipped into this cash pool to cover your own expenses while trying to argue to tax authorities that you're holding the cash for someone else. If you'd like to learn more about how merchants account for their own proprietary point systems, just book a call with me. I worked in the loyalty field for a few years. Cheers Dave

I'm going to answer you with my own experience. The way you mentioned to divide the expenses makes total sense and it's consider the "rational" thing to do. I have seen it work many times and it's what many would consider "fair". The problem (and this is counterintuitive) is that we are humans with emotions and we can't separate us from them. Once someone starts buying nicer things the "ego" hits in, also the "jealousy" and the competitive nature. This brings bad culture and a worst environment. I know you think "we are different", "it won't happen to us" but it actually does and it's not your fault, it's just our nature. My solution is the following. Treat the company as a separate entity from the three of you. So the company (not you) have revenue and costs. THE company can have expenses and they should be as little as possible to run efficient and lean. THE company has to create the most profits as long as it's in the same direction of creating value for their clients. Now, because the company has shareholders (you guys/gals) the profits it generates will go into your pockets 50/30/20. This is after your salaries, that depends on your place in the company and that is money totally entitled to each of you. The profits can be expended as whatever you want because it's like part of your salaries. You will think this makes no sense due that is just a "technical" step. But it's important to separate you from your company. Keep personal and professional in each side of the table. Hope this helped :) If you want to reach out I would be happy to talk. I have helped many family companies to also deal with this kind of issues. Have a great day

When you open a bank account for your corporation, you'll need to make an initial deposit with your personal funds. A shareholder's initial contribution can be recorded as either debt or equity. If you want to record the initial contribution as equity, you would debit cash for the amount deposited into the bank account, and credit an equity account, such as “shareholder’s equity” or “capital stock”. Alternatively, you can record the deposit as a shareholder loan. Debit cash for the amount deposited, and credit a liability account, such as “Loans from Shareholder”. There are also methods to bifurcate the contribution by recording a contribution as a combination of debt or equity.