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Insogna CPA 3-Time INC. Award Winner

Insogna CPA Receives Award: Recognized as No. 129 on Inc. Magazine’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Southwest Region

Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 Regionals Southwest list had an average growth rate of 154% percent.

Austin, TX, March 15, 2022 – Inc. magazine today revealed that Insogna CPA is No. 129 on its third annual Inc. 5000 Regionals Southwest list. It is the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies based in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Southwest region economy’s most dynamic segment–its independent small businesses.

“We are excited to be recognized, for the 3rd year in a row, by Inc. Magazine,” said Chase Insogna, Founder and President of Insogna CPA. “Our experienced team of professionals work diligently to serve our valued customers every day. This dedication to delivering great customer experiences has led to significant year-over-year growth at Insogna CPA,” he continued. “We are extremely proud of our team’s success and look forward to continue providing ongoing financial expertise to our valued customers.”

The companies on this list show a remarkable rate of growth across all industries in the Southwest region. Between 2018 and 2020, these 141 private companies had an average growth rate of 154% percent and, in 2020 alone, they added 10,563 jobs and nearly $10.9 billion to the Southwest region’s economy. Companies based in the Austin, Texas, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Fort Worth, Texas, areas had the highest growth rate overall.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals Southwest, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found here.

“This year’s Inc. 5000 Regional winners represent one of the most exceptional and exciting lists of America’s off-the-charts growth companies. They’re disrupters and job creators, and all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you’ll be hearing about for years to come,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc.

Award Methodology

The 2022 Inc. 5000 Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2018 and 2020. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the minimum for 2020 is $1 million. The rigorous selection process ensures that only the most dynamic and rapidly growing companies are recognized, reflecting the vibrant entrepreneurial landscape across various industries and regions of the United States. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.

About Inc. Media

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent.

The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

eCommerce Business Stages – Profits Under $100,000

You’ve decided to take the leap and start an eCommerce business. Congrats!

You’re thinking about selling online.
You’ve started dipping your toes into online selling.
Your online selling business is taking off after your first “big” month and your profit is trending over \$30,000 this year.

This is the start of your hard work and investment into building this business to reach your goals. It’s time to nail down the big ideas, strategize over your growth targets, and develop a well, thought-out business plan. It’s time to clear out that storage shed or guest bedroom and begin accumulating stock. It’s time to take action so that you can live out your dream of building your own successful eCommerce business.

In the early days, you’ve probably done some homework and figured out what’s important: marketing your products, determining what capital to use to start, and getting those first sales in the door, especially during the fourth quarter. Achieving these three goals is usually crucial to kick-starting your success. You are likely doing all of your own sourcing, buying, pricing, and listing online, as well as managing fulfillment (or maybe utilizing a co-packer), customer service, inventory management, and sales taxes….and that is before you even think about completing all of the back-office tasks, such as accounting, inventory count and how to minimize your taxes.

Accounting 101

Getting accounting set up from the beginning is crucial with your eCommerce business, because the more this step is delayed into Phase 2 (or worse, Phase 3), the more mountainous the amount of work required to clean this information up – as well as the significant cleanup costs that come with this project work. And have you considered how you’ll provide your lender with financial statements if you’re seeking financing or a mortgage?

Accounting is not just syncing and categorizing your transactions. Are you properly recording gross revenues? Most merchants only sync net amounts to your books. If you value your time and would rather automate as much accounting work as possible, the costs easily outweigh focusing more of your attention on selling more of your products online. Maybe you manufacture or assemble your own products. What about recording COGS from inventory to match your revenues? Or maybe you’re reselling products by arbitraging? With all of the platform fees, do you have any easy way to determine true net profitability per product sold, with overhead included?

Then there is your business’ structure to consider. Many start out as a DBA (Doing-Business-As) with their county registration. Just remember this does not protect your business name with your state, so if you are building a brand or storefront name, it is possible someone could register this too and easily compete against you – or worse, legally claim your brand name. And if you’re selling on Amazon and/or other platforms, changing your business name and EIN# can potentially cause you to lose all of your reviews, causing you to start from scratch again (from a marketing viewpoint). So, setting up an LLC is likely beneficial in most cases when starting out. We can help advise on the best structure for tax strategy planning so you can maximize your tax savings with your eCommerce business.

"Insogna CPA has done our Amazon Business taxes for the last two years. They are the best accounting team that we have worked with to date and we plan to be long-term clients. Excellent staff who truly care about satisfaction and diligence. Great for All Amazon Sellers."

Nick Ehle

Owner

You may be selling through eBay, the Amazon Marketplace , Etsy, and/or perhaps your own website.

Your customers have mostly stumbled upon you or found you through word-of-mouth, and you wish you could focus more of your time and efforts on marketing and growing, instead of worrying about educating yourself in legal and CPA stuff. Expertise is developed over many years in business. So, the value you pay to a professional will help you alleviate any unnecessary time figuring this out for yourself and hoping you made the right decisions. The potential of losing your customers is a real concern. We have seen this before, where someone quickly set up shop on a marketplace and did not think through the long-term consequences, such as their business evolves.

Choosing the right legal structure (LLC or Inc) is not only important for liability protection and taxes but is also very important to set up when initially creating your Amazon store online.

In order to sell on Amazon, for example, you are best off having an Employer Identification Number (EIN) rather than using your Social Security Number as a DBA (doing-business-as) entity. Setting up your entity from the start is recommended because switching after you are already established on selling platforms can be very costly and time-consuming. These small details are exactly what an experienced CPA can help advise you with, and why many eCommerce business owners look to partner with a CPA early in their business growth.

Though you want a CPA who can deliver the best advice to your business, you’re also probably working with a limited budget – and are interested in getting the most bang for your buck. That’s why it’s essential that you join forces with a licensed professional, like us, from the beginning to avoid costly ‘catch-up work’ in the future as you grow.

There is a host of what we like to refer to as “craigslist bookkeepers” out there; people who advertise their services as though they are a professional, but do not actually hold a license. They also cannot provide you with the state board protections that a licensed CPA can, the same protections that provide greater transparency and allow you to trust that your information will not just ‘disappear’ one day when you are not able to get a hold of your ‘craigslist bookkeeper.’ If you decide to spend your hard-earned money on professional services, be certain that you’re getting the best professionally trusted advice and expertise.

Keep reading…

eCommerce Business Stages – Profits Under $100,000 Part 2

Not sure if someone is a CPA?

Just search your state board of public accountancy and look up the person’s name. Most people who advertise themselves as “accountants” or “bookkeepers” are not usually licensed CPAs providing you with greater transparent protections.

A reliable, knowledgeable CPA is just one part of the equation; the other part is making sure your CPA understands eCommerce and its nuances. “Firms that can provide a differentiated value – beyond traditional compliance services – will have the upper hand as the industry continues to revolutionize.” The kind of CPA you’re searching for should have the same priority as you: helping you reach your goals.

Getting Started

The first item on your agenda is to create a solid business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) agrees: “A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business.”

Moreover, your business plan is the initial document you can introduce to your CPA. A comprehensive traditional business plan usually includes the following sections:

• Executive summary

• Company description

• Market analysis

• Organization and management

• Service or product line

• Funding requests

• Financial projections

But, hey, let’s be honest—how many people actually do one of these business plans before starting a business? We’d say we’ve met very few in all of our years starting businesses who actually had one of these things. The most important is keeping an updated cash-flow forecast.

So, while it’s a good idea to have a plan, putting all of this work together is not necessarily needed to get your first online sale. Sometimes eCommerce businesses just happen. You buy some products, list them online for sale, and — boom! You’re now a business making money. Just don’t forget to now also get a CPA.

Also, don’t forget about taking advantage of a third-party application that will help you to manage your multiple online selling channels; again, this is an area that we can direct you through. Many eCommerce businesses move quickly through the four growth phases, and you’ll want to be in the best position to succeed as your business expands and your needs increase.

For sellers with profits of $100,000 – $500,000

Record-Breaking Tax Refunds by Insogna CPA

The entire Team at Insogna CPA is excited to announce we helped our clients grow their revenues totaling $2,357,000 in 2019. This is from all returns prepared as of Dec 31, 2020.

A special thank you to all of our valued clients. We are excited to continue working with you, year-over-year, and looking forward to a successful 2021!!

Record Breaking Revenues 2021

The entire Team at Insogna CPA is excited to announce we helped our clients grow their revenues totaling $215,464,385 in 2021.

A special thank you to all of our valued clients. We are excited to continue working with you, year-over-year, and looking forward to a successful 2022!!

Senior Care Costs and Financial Resources for Texas

Did you know that twelve percent of Texans are over the age of 65?

While longevity is a wonderful byproduct of our modern society, the downside is that age often arrives at a cost. Declining health often means that seniors require daily support; from meal preparation to hygiene and medical nursing care. These necessities quickly become expensive. In the state of Texas, there are options for seniors in need of care, as well as financial resources and options the family may need to consider.

In-home Care

Sometimes, an elderly family member may need someone to shop, cook meals, and do some light house cleaning chores. If cooking has become an issue, there is a Texas outpost of the national Meals on Wheels organization, providing food to seniors for little or no cost.

If you are comfortable having an outsider visit an elderly family member in their home, there are many in-home care services available from agencies and franchises, as well as from individuals. Several national resources are also available, such as Care.com and visitingangels.com, but there are local and county options as well. Costs can vary widely and payment is either by the hour or a day-rate. There are also local and state agencies that provide some limited financial and services support. Details on those programs are available on the Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) website. If the senior owns his/her home but is running low on cash, looking into a reverse mortgage may provide the needed cash for services while allowing them to remain in the home.

Assisted Living and Nursing Home Care

The inability to cook meals or travel to the store, a pharmacy, or a doctor without assistance is relatively easy to remedy with piecemeal service options, from ride-share and UBER to delivery services. However, if your elderly family member has a deteriorating medical condition, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, or physical impairment such as onset Parkinson’s, or blindness, being alone may no longer be an option. If a live-in caregiver is not an option, he/she may not be able to remain in their home. If this situation develops, it may be time to investigate an assisted-living or nursing home alternative.

If the individual is still relatively ambulatory and possesses strong cognitive powers, moving to an assisted living situation can be an ideal solution. Assisted living facilities offer both single and shared living quarters and provide meals and activities that are ideal for someone who would benefit from social interaction. They are expensive, unfortunately. In Texas, costs for assisted living facilities range from $4,000, to as much as $10,000, a month or more. Of course, amenities vary widely as well.

Facilities are licensed. There is also a nonprofit organization, Assistedliving.org that may be a useful guide to the cost, location, and quality of Texas providers. Again, they may range in cost from high $3,000 to $10,000/month. Most assisted living facilities offer step-up care options or can refer you to comparable facilities when your senior needs nursing care, or memory care support.

Costs associated with a nursing or assisted living facility vary. However, the senior’s assets, including a home (unless alternative asset planning has been undertaken years in advance), will be drawn down to pay the monthly costs. There are often entry fees or deposits of thousands of dollars that may or may not be drawn upon for monthly expenses. While room and board, including meals, may be part of the monthly cost, other incidentals, such as hair salon services, cable, and turn-down services, may cost extra.

Finally, if a senior has spent down their assets and requires nursing home care, it is never too early to visit Medicaid options. Medicaid is both a Federal and State-run program. There are nursing facilities in the state that accept Medicaid-eligible seniors, but space is often limited. There are many asset limitations for Medicaid and the paperwork could take weeks, perhaps months to complete.

Of course, financial planning today often includes consideration for older parents and relatives that may need assistance—both physically and financially—beyond their means. Talking to your accountant and estate planner is a good first step in discovering what options and resources will be needed in advance of when your senior needs a helping hand.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Insogna CPA for more information or a discussion on this matter.