Nick Sailer

I am not a financial advisor. Building a tax business with a day job in equity compensation. Focused on optimization, health, taxes, personal finance & growth.

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

The reason I got into taxes was to help people play the tax game by implementing tax strategies

A full tax season taught me that almost no small business owner even has a good set of books

I don’t really see how I can give tax strategy without first getting books right

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@CompoundCayden I bought a similar tool when I knew very little and have realized over the last year how useless it is from planning/strategy side of things

So much more to it then the headlining “strategies”

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@pestctrlguy Awesome, sounds like you have a good plan. Equity is definitely a great way to incentivize and retain. Good luck!

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@pestctrlguy I would not recommend doing equity from the s corp. You’d probably be better off avoiding compliance costs/risks and giving away ownership forever.

A good commission/bonus structure is probably more retentive anyway and way less headache

Lmk if you want to talk about this

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@pestctrlguy This is the worst one to issue equity from but still possible. Notes:

NEVER issue to non US citizen
Need to issue RSU or Options if you want vesting; not RS or PIU
Will add to your compliance costs because new share holders need K-1s
All distributions must be equal w holders

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@pestctrlguy Sound promising. What business structure are you? I ask because I’ve had a few businesses issue the wrong type of equity based on the details or do it unofficially and I had to clean it up for them

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

So no, it is not free money to start a business - it’s a deduction

And no, you don’t get a $50k deduction by filing an llc and starting a business - you need expenses to deduct

This would be a big W for taxpayers and preparers, but not in the way it’s being posed imo

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

The misunderstanding on this $50k startup thing is insane:

Rn, new business can only deduct $5k of pre-open expenses, anything above that is spread over 15 yrs

The change lets you deduct $50k of pre-open expenses in yr of open

Not a massive benefit but does help new biz owners

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@JStaatsCPA I like generalizing right now because it forces me to learn so much

The biggest thing holding me back is not wanting to niche into something simple before understanding the full cycle

Probably will pick an avatar in the next year and do a DBA for it

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@MyCPAAccounting @rbryant44 @djherbieherb @taxretreat It was great meeting you as well and learning from so many of you!

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@Master_Self_ Everyone commenting on #3 but even #2 doesn’t make sense. CEOs getting paid in stock have to pay income taxes on the value of stock at the vest date

Founder (not just CEO) would be the only way it would play out this way

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

I use Tax Planner Pro as a tax planning/estimate tool for small business owners

It's great, but there's something I love about building a custom tax calculator in Excel for specific clients...

Nothing beats quick inputs and instant results

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@Chris_Ryan1 The certain tax strategies sound sexy but don’t work in most cases. A business owner is best off having someone like yourself who understands their full picture - business and personal financial

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@mountainwesttax Dave Ramsey mutual fund rate of return right there

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

And for those that will actually do it right, the STR loophole / Bonus Depreciation can play out very cool

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

The 3 big tax strategies you hear far too often:

Bonus depreciation on vehicle
Augusta rule
Paying your children

Here’s my Top 3:

1. Optimizing S corp salary / QBID
2. HSA/401k
3. Don’t buy crap that won’t help you make more $ than it costs for “write off”

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

I spent months trying to get Asana and Monday to do what I want and really just hated them both

Probably just not compatible with my brain

Tried Todoist on Friday and my mind was blown. It does exactly what I want

So much mental clutter now resolved

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@Blythe_MG Definitely good callouts

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

Sometimes I feel bad about not being a CPA, but then I see something like a CPA having $30k of "bad debt" expense on a cash basis tax return (1120s)

That's got to just be waving a flag asking for an audit

I feel pretty confident I'm bringing the average up

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@cordes_tax @JWellsTax Dang dude I thought I came up with that originally on the fly but you are the OG!

[Nick Sailer @SailerTax]

@seattle_tax I feel you there, probably only gets better with time. Big win! Thanks Ashley