First State CPAs and Associates

09/04/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?

Getting paid via Venmo or PayPal doesn't automatically make your side income a business. The IRS looks at how you operate and whether your primary goal is making a profit.

If you keep separate books, set aside regular work hours, and take on ongoing gigs like freelancing or tutoring, you're operating as a business.

If you're just making money here and there from something you do for fun, like streaming or selling a few crafts, that's usually hobby income. You aren't really trying to make a living off it.

This distinction completely changes your tax setup. Business owners report their earnings on Schedule C and can deduct ordinary expenses to lower what they owe. If your side income is more of a hobby, you report the earnings on Schedule 1 as other income, but you can't write off any expenses against it.

09/03/2026

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 “𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆𝗺𝗮𝘅𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁?

It’s the social media term for getting more value from your money, like cutting expenses or even putting rewards points to use.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?

09/02/2026

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸?

If you’re operating as a sole proprietor, there’s no legal separation between you and your business.

So if your business can’t pay a creditor or gets hit with a lawsuit, your personal savings, home, or vehicles could be exposed too.

As your business grows, make sure the way you operate reflects that growth.

That may mean forming an LLC or corporation, then moving your business banking, contracts, insurance policies, vendor accounts, and payment processors into the company’s legal name.

The goal is to create a clearer line between what belongs to you personally and what belongs to the business.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

08/31/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻?

Draw cash strategically across three accounts to keep your tax bill as low as possible.
• Pull just enough from your Traditional IRA or 401(k) to fill up the lowest tax brackets (10% or 12%).
• Cover remaining living expenses with taxable savings or brokerage cash so you don't push yourself into a higher bracket.
• Use tax-free Roth IRA dollars for big one-off expenses with zero tax impact.

Balancing your withdrawals this way keeps your overall tax rate low and can even unlock 0% capital gains rates.

08/28/2026

𝗔𝗺 𝗜 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗜?

You could be. Time to fix that.

(We already make sure all privacy settings are enabled for any AI tools we use here.)

Worried about your personal AI chats being exposed? Here's how to tighten your privacy across several major chatbots.

08/27/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆?

Consider looking into the R&D tax credit.

Eligible small businesses can apply up to $500,000 per year of their R&D credit directly against quarterly payroll taxes. That cuts your quarterly payroll bills almost immediately, keeping extra cash in your bank account to hire talent or fund new projects.

To prepare for claiming it, build your paper trail early:
• Flag projects as they start
• Keep basic project logs
• Make sure contractor agreements state your business owns all the work

08/26/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆?

A core strategy we suggest during this retirement gap is a Roth conversion staircase:
• Move funds from your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA when your income sits in lower tax brackets.
• Pay taxes today at low rates so that money and its future growth stay 100% tax-free.
• Convert in stages each December to fill your target bracket line, instead of moving a single lump sum that spikes your tax bracket.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦: Pay the taxes using cash outside your IRA, such as a high-yield savings or taxable brokerage account. Withholding tax money directly from the IRA reduces your tax-free shelter and triggers a 10% IRS penalty if you're under age 59½.

If you recently left your job or plan to step away soon, DM us to find out how to map out your retirement gap.

08/25/2026

𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥&𝗗 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿?
You don’t need scientists on staff, but the IRS requires your project to hit four specific benchmarks:
1. You set out to build or improve a product, process, or software.
2. The work relied on hard science, engineering, or software development.
3. You faced technical uncertainty about how to achieve the end result when you started.
4. You used a process of trial and error to figure it out.

If you spent time and payroll working through those kinds of technical hurdles this year, you likely qualify. That includes projects that were ultimately scrapped.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥&𝗗 if you want to find out if any projects in your business would apply for 2027 filing.

08/24/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹?

Whether it's how W-4 withholdings work, how interest adds up, or how credit scores are calculated, we've all had that moment. Drop yours below!

08/21/2026

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲?

Yes, because your tax status has changed, and if you don't note that, you could end up paying more in taxes than you should.

Do these two things as soon as possible:
1. Update your W-4, switching to Single or Head of Household
2. Assign child tax credits to whichever parent qualifies for the full dollar amount. (Check income phase-outs before deciding who claims the kids.)