Posts by Bill Wortman
Consultant’s Corner: Filing for a Sole Proprietorship
Question: How do I file a sole proprietorship under the same name in the state of California? You can review the other basic steps to forming a sole proprietorship in California through the following government and business resources, which include these general considerations: File for a fictitious business name (optional) Obtain Licenses, Permits, and Zoning…
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Consultant’s Corner: Destroying Personal and Customer Data on Old Devices
Q. I bought a new printer and I want to get rid of my old one safely. My concern is that the hard drive has a lot of personal information on it for me and my customers. How can I be sure that when I hand it to a recycler they will destroy the data?…
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Consultant’s Corner: Starting a Nonprofit Association
Q: I wish to start an “unincorporated nonprofit association” as a nonprofit enterprise to help disabled veterans. What steps should I take and what are the limits of an “association” rather than a 501[C](3) nonprofit organization? These informal groups are called unincorporated associations. The advantages of being an unincorporated association is that there are (generally)…
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Consultant’s Corner: Regulations for Teenage Workers
Q. What is the minimum legal age for a home care worker performing non-medical tasks in Illinois? My understanding is that as long as the environment is not hazardous, 16 or older is a legal age for teenage workers. We have provided labor law reference information below for your consideration; however, since your GSB general…
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Consultant’s Corner: Should I Hire an Executive Management Team?
Q. I am writing my startup business plan with the goal of presenting the plan to investors. I have no business ownership experience, so should I hire someone to manage my business and give investors more confidence? If you lack any experience in starting and running a business, then you may need to consider hiring…
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Consultant’s Corner: Business Vehicle Asset Transfers
Q. I am looking to pledge my truck into my existing LLC. What should I do next? We do not know the details of your LLC and its tax status or your business use of the truck, but our response assumes that your LLC is a single member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship and that…
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Consultant’s Corner: Paying the Members of an LLC
Question: Can a three member LLC, being taxed as a partnership, place the three members on a payroll service with other employees of the company? The members of an LLC taxed as a partnership cannot take W-2 salaries or wages like employees of the LLC and cannot therefore have their compensation processed through a payroll…
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Consultant’s Corner: Using Backlink Services
Q. Is it safe to use website backlink services? Are there any downsides to using these services? Generally, we do not recommend utilizing these services as they can possibly hurt you more than they can help. Backlinks can be very important for increasing rankings; however, if done improperly and/or seen as spam, they will lower…
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Consultant’s Corner: Break Policy and Video Surveillance
Question: We are having a lot of difficulty with employees taking multiple smoke breaks during the day and just generally wasting time. What are some typical policies regarding employee smoking breaks? Also, what are the legal implications of installing on-site video cameras to monitor our business? There are steps you can take to help limit…
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Consultant’s Corner: Can You Dock Pay for Salaried Employees?
Q. Are there rules for docking they pay for salaried employees if they are absent from work? Our answer assumes that you are referring to salaried employees that qualify for exempt status. There is a wide range of reasons and amount of time that an employee may be absent from work: vacation, personal time-off, illness, workers’ compensation injury, family…
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