**Credit Cards...Yay Or Nay??**

For the guys, paying with a CC will give up the true identity of the person paying. OK for sum, but not for me. I like to keep the hobby life very private.


For the girls, it can be seen as a big plus. I don't see how anyone in today's society can get by without a credit card, or a bank account. Establish an LLC or at least a fictitious name with the Missouri (or Kansas) secretary of state. With the above LLC number, or S Corp, you can set up a bank account that does not reference you as an individual. The corporation is viewed as an individual. With the LLC and S. Corp. the income flows through to you on the form 1040 tax return through a Schedule C. The schedule C enables you to list both income and expenses in operating your business. Thus, the CC charges would be deposited in your corporate (C or LLC) account.

I recently talked to a young lady and asked if she got a special rate for the hotel. Yes, she said $400 per week. That is every week, or $20,800 per year (less about $800 for vacation with her children).

So she can take $20,000 worth of income which is offset by the motel expense. Plus, all of her advertising and a lot of her car expenses can be deducted along with auto insurance.

So what starts out as a big income rapidly shrinks when you add the various expenses which are deductible.

You can pay yourself a salary and declare taxes, which puts you in a job that you can use to get the credit you need both as a company and personal.

Got a big party that you got paid for, well I would never suggest that even a small part of your income could be sidetracked away from the S corp tax return. But, if you were even tempted a second set of book for only you will track what you truly earn.

For every business owner, there are benefits such as: car, dinning out, car insurance, office supplies, etc. Many accounting firms suggest that these items be added to our personal income statements, for our own use; this way the owners can understand what their real income is.

I could go on and on, but I often do that. You guys get the picture.

JR Originally Posted by JRLawrence

Sorry, I got ahead of myself. If you call yourself something, such as Joe's lawn service, and you go around the neighborhood cutting the lawns and get paid $40 per lawn all summer for 20 lawns every two weeks: $40 x 20 lawns x 20 mowings/season = $8000 of income less expenses that you need to declare and pay income tax on.

But it is easy, and cheap, to register Joe's Lawn Service as a fictitious name. A Fictitious name is any name under which a person transacts business in a state, other than his legal name. One can not just make up a name, and do business. A name other than your name must be registered with the Secretary of state for a small charge, and kept actively registered.

Now that you have the name listed with the Secretary of state you can open a bank account at Joe's Lawn Service, even though you real name is , for example "Joe Blow". You can open a bank account, and get credit cards as Joe's Lawn Service and pay your bills with on line through the bank. You may have several Fictitious Names and bank accounts, for example: Joe also cleans rain gutters, and he wants to keep a separate set of books for the gutter cleaning service.

All of this is easy to go, just keep track of everything with your expenses and income. Now, the Schedule C is attached to a 1040, and the profit only comes over to the front page about what you have earned.

An S corporation, and an LLC (limited liability C.) also are set up for small business and come across to the owners Form 1040 tax return. (I got ahead of myself.)

But the schedule C is not incorporated (Thus, you don't have the same legal protection against a lawsuit as an S Corp, or an LLC), and an FN can be set up yourself. Just go on line to the Secretary of State, or go to the State Office Building. MO has a State Office Building downtown.

Why bother with all of this. Because, if you don't file something - you can be in big trouble. If they come against you and say: Joe, where did you get the money to buy that new pickup truck? Or maybe: Hay lady, where did you get the money to buy that car, you will need to produce some documentation anyway. If you are living quietly without a lot of flash, you are somewhat safe. But, you can't accumulate money without a bank account, or several.

JR

PS This may be of interest for Doing Business, or Fictitious Name.
https://www.sba.gov/content/register...iness-dba-name

I think it's a great idea. I absolutely disagree that it commits you to taxes. I have a square account where sometimes friends, family, etc pay me back for concert tickets, flights, etc rather than wait til the next time I see them and they have the cash. Only two things is I would 100% have to trust the person I'm giving my cc number to and I would want to know how it shows up.

It's not something I would be interested in doing. It creates more of a trail than I would like to commit to, and even if I did not worry about that, I would worry about chargebacks. Good luck however you decide. :-)

It's not something I would be interested in doing. It creates more of a trail than I would like to commit to, and even if I did not worry about that, I would worry about chargebacks. Good luck however you decide. :-) Originally Posted by Holly Love

I agree on the girls taking CCs. As a guy, I would not like to give out my personal information in this business.

I was talking about a girl being able to move from a card that has cash added to it, to a real credit card that she can use to document her business expenses.

If someone is operating a business, any business, one needs to track what is the income and expenses to determine how much profit there really is.

I once knew a lady who only would see me at the end of the month, so she could pay her rent. She wasn't really aware of what profit she made.


JR

Cash is and always will be king no matter how much technology we integrate in our lives. Plastic just doesnt have the same feel or look in your hands

So far this has been a good business discussion.

What do the ladies think when a person calls the credit card company and tries to get the charges reversed? For example, maybe they weren't satisfied with the service and then dispute the charge. The CC company might start asking a lot of questions. And if it happens often, they'll drop you.

I think for the women, it opens a risk not worth taking.

On second thought no to CC for providers. As Vivian said in pretty woman" Cash works for me"

It's not something I would be interested in doing. It creates more of a trail than I would like to commit to, and even if I did not worry about that, I would worry about chargebacks. Good luck however you decide. :-) Originally Posted by Holly Love

well said
taxes, ID issues. plus it's a multistep process to get your money and you have to raise rates or lose profit since CC charge a fee to the merchant to be used

the question should be
would a provider make more money accepting credit cards?
No
doubtful

seeing a provider isnt like buying gas or groceries or plane tickets, where I (the client) pay less money because my cc gives me a discount on those purchases)

so why would a provider want to accept credit cards?

I just now am starting to accept credit cards. Emmie, if you need any info do contact me & I will share what I know thus far. As far as options ect. Hugs all !!!

Cash works every time it's tried. And I won't go any place that money doesn't matter.