Running a startup or small business is quite overwhelming. Other than the daily duties of marketing, sales, customer service, and production, you’ll also need to face the seemingly endless mountains of paperwork! Unfortunately, there’s no way around these responsibilities, you must learn to prioritize the duties to survive and thrive.
This means working on urgent tasks and seeing what can be delayed for a little while or to be seen for the foreseeable future. However, there’s one part of your small business that needs to be put on the “Top Priority” list, and that’s compliance requirements. Not only are these complaints important, but they are also accompanied with deadlines.
From compliance training from True Office Learning down to your taxes, here are common compliance requirements you must complete as a startup or small business.
- Income Taxes
Individuals and corporations must pay taxes on what they earned from the calendar year. Fortunately, it isn’t as complicated as one may think, with many people familiar how taxes work for individuals.
Some businesses are considered pass-through entities, so their profits are taxed at individual level rather than corporate. Income taxes are one of the crucial compliance requirements you must pass, so you need to understand what and when the tax deadlines are in your state and pay the fees on time.
- Franchise Tax
Franchise taxes are fees the state collects from corporations for the privilege of conducting business in the area. This is also known as a state fee or privilege fee, with the taxes varying by state and industry.
- Annual Reports
Many businesses must send an annual report to their stockholders. The report may include balance sheets, shareholder reports, and meeting minutes, among other business documents. Essentially, it provides information about the business that’s freely available to the public to keep it accountable with the state government and citizens.
Moreover, there is another annual report a business must submit to the government of the state the business is from. The deadline to submit the annual report will vary by state, so do check with the Secretary of State’s office to determine the requirements.
- Internal Requirements
Businesses from certain industries may have strict internal requirements to adhere to, depending on the business entity you operate in. LLCs would have the fewest internal requirements, though the many requirements of a corporation are good things an LLC should do as well to organize the company structure.
Corporations must create and maintain bylaws, which are the company’s formal rules of conduct and business. They govern basic operating procedures and decision-making processes.
- Employee Training
Of course, your employees must also be compliant to avoid any mistakes that can lead to trouble in the future. This means providing regular compliance training on topics like cybersecurity learning from platforms like True Office Learning on necessary topics. Such topics can be about bullying, harassment, diversity, office policies, and the like.
Wrapping It Up
Ensure that you complete all these requirements timely to avoid any hefty fees or penalties!
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