Meeting Title: Uttam <> Sonali—Brainforge-Tax-Return Date: 2024-09-14 Meeting participants: Sonali, Uttam Kumaran
WEBVTT
1 00:02:13.590 ⇒ 00:02:14.690 Uttam Kumaran: Hi! Good morning!
2 00:02:15.340 ⇒ 00:02:16.789 Sonali: Good morning. How are you.
3 00:02:16.790 ⇒ 00:02:18.090 Uttam Kumaran: Hi, good
4 00:02:18.680 ⇒ 00:02:25.620 Uttam Kumaran: sorry. I’m just getting to my my laptop, but thank you so much for taking the time on a Saturday. I really, really, really appreciate it.
5 00:02:25.620 ⇒ 00:02:32.345 Sonali: No problem. I mean, text return is due this Monday. I really want to get things done before Monday.
6 00:02:32.700 ⇒ 00:02:43.389 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I’m gonna do my best, too. It’s been a I mean, it’s been a crazy year for me. I I mean, I don’t know how much Braden has shared, but you know I started the business about a year ago.
7 00:02:44.930 ⇒ 00:02:50.749 Uttam Kumaran: And you know it’s been a whirlwind of like trying to make sure I get everything done the right way. And
8 00:02:50.800 ⇒ 00:02:58.740 Uttam Kumaran: yeah, taxes was one of the things like on the laundry list of things that you know. I just needed to figure out at some point. So I appreciate it.
9 00:02:59.360 ⇒ 00:03:05.259 Sonali: No, no problem. And I mean, you know, for 1st year of business, you know, on that 2 half year
10 00:03:05.320 ⇒ 00:03:08.399 Sonali: your numbers and everything looks looks good.
11 00:03:08.400 ⇒ 00:03:11.600 Uttam Kumaran: No, I appreciate it. I’m working really hard.
12 00:03:12.420 ⇒ 00:03:13.040 Uttam Kumaran: I can see that.
13 00:03:13.040 ⇒ 00:03:14.290 Sonali: Already.
14 00:03:14.670 ⇒ 00:03:20.749 Uttam Kumaran: I mean. So we’re you know, Brainforge is a consulting business. So you know, it’s
15 00:03:21.250 ⇒ 00:03:27.689 Uttam Kumaran: It’s not like a software company where we’re we’re spending upfront, you know. We are working for
16 00:03:28.196 ⇒ 00:03:44.210 Uttam Kumaran: for money as we go. But at the same time, you know, I I started it just myself, and then I kind of hired people slowly. You know we have some ups and downs like some clients leave. But overall it’s getting more steady, and then, you know, in the past few months we’ve signed a lot more partnerships.
17 00:03:44.491 ⇒ 00:03:52.139 Uttam Kumaran: and are starting to get more revenue. And you know, I think the toughest part has been. I had to put up a lot of my own money to kind of get stuff started and like for legal.
18 00:03:52.140 ⇒ 00:03:52.610 Sonali: Yeah.
19 00:03:52.610 ⇒ 00:03:53.190 Uttam Kumaran: Things like that.
20 00:03:53.190 ⇒ 00:04:06.580 Sonali: That’s what happens, you know, for the initial years, or you know, when you’re starting a business and you are the only owner there, you. You put in a lot of money, especially in you know something like what you are doing.
21 00:04:06.590 ⇒ 00:04:12.339 Sonali: I’m I’m sure you know you. You did invest much in the business.
22 00:04:12.340 ⇒ 00:04:16.240 Uttam Kumaran: And it’s not like, it’s not an equity. It’s not like a software business where
23 00:04:16.410 ⇒ 00:04:21.310 Uttam Kumaran: you can go raise a lot of equity. And I also wasn’t interested in doing that. I
24 00:04:21.700 ⇒ 00:04:25.689 Uttam Kumaran: I you know I’d be. I’d be. I’d consider doing it later down the line. But
25 00:04:25.970 ⇒ 00:04:33.140 Uttam Kumaran: this is a consulting business. So it’s not. It’s more like I’m now. I’m looking into options for like debt, or you know, something like that. But.
26 00:04:33.780 ⇒ 00:04:42.399 Uttam Kumaran: This has cash flow. I think the biggest thing is like, now, I’m figuring out, okay, who to bring on as like a W. 2 employee how to like stabilize
27 00:04:42.520 ⇒ 00:04:48.979 Uttam Kumaran: expenses a little bit. And then how do we start to have some like longer contracts? Basically, you know,
28 00:04:49.870 ⇒ 00:04:50.470 Uttam Kumaran: But again.
29 00:04:50.470 ⇒ 00:04:50.810 Sonali: It’s.
30 00:04:50.810 ⇒ 00:04:54.030 Uttam Kumaran: It’s just like it’s just the hardest thing ever. So
31 00:04:54.050 ⇒ 00:05:05.220 Uttam Kumaran: I I’m figuring out the tax stuff, and you know, legal stuff and and a lot of a lot of things, but I just know that if you make, if you just keep making money, then it solves.
32 00:05:05.690 ⇒ 00:05:17.470 Sonali: Yeah. And I think that you are on right track. I’m looking at 24 numbers, you know as well, and 23 Vandal, and in one year, you know you you did. You did really good.
33 00:05:17.500 ⇒ 00:05:22.019 Sonali: You know that, too, you know, just by yourself. So it’s it’s really great.
34 00:05:22.020 ⇒ 00:05:23.280 Uttam Kumaran: No, I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
35 00:05:23.280 ⇒ 00:05:24.150 Sonali: Much.
36 00:05:26.120 ⇒ 00:05:36.449 Sonali: And I mean, did did you already reclass some expenses? I mean, I’m looking at the bottom number, you know. We are reporting 28,000 income approximately, that’s still same.
37 00:05:37.621 ⇒ 00:05:58.729 Uttam Kumaran: I haven’t yet. I was just mainly doing on some of the expense side, the biggest concern I have on the income side. And this is where I need to look again, is there’s income there, there’s there’s like income that came from clients. And there’s also like some contributions that I made. So I just wanna make, I just want to confirm that those are categorized correctly.
38 00:05:59.150 ⇒ 00:06:11.659 Sonali: I? I think so because you received income from data analyst services right? Like Ben Cohen, David Drew. Yes, only that is reported as income which adds up to
39 00:06:11.710 ⇒ 00:06:14.189 Sonali: 97,400.
40 00:06:14.190 ⇒ 00:06:14.840 Uttam Kumaran: Okay?
41 00:06:15.410 ⇒ 00:06:35.700 Uttam Kumaran: And then there’s there’s also should be some income this year from like Pungo insights. But again, yeah, anything listed under data, analytics, services or data engineering services is the is the income you you I just like. At times I had to transfer some money from like personal account into the business. But again, all that should be listed as like owners, contributions.
42 00:06:35.700 ⇒ 00:06:39.936 Sonali: Yes, yes, and I did account let me share my screen.
43 00:06:40.969 ⇒ 00:06:42.129 Sonali: Da, da.
44 00:06:42.760 ⇒ 00:06:44.680 Sonali: and tired on this one
45 00:06:44.810 ⇒ 00:06:46.410 Sonali: screen share.
46 00:06:47.450 ⇒ 00:06:48.979 Sonali: You see my screen right.
47 00:06:49.270 ⇒ 00:06:49.910 Uttam Kumaran: Yes.
48 00:06:50.770 ⇒ 00:06:59.640 Sonali: Okay. So for 23, this is what we are reporting as income. And all this, you know, I I see. I mean, these were raised.
49 00:06:59.640 ⇒ 00:07:00.500 Uttam Kumaran: Yes. Correct.
50 00:07:00.620 ⇒ 00:07:04.069 Sonali: Here. I’m Ben Cohen. David Drew.
51 00:07:04.070 ⇒ 00:07:04.970 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. Great.
52 00:07:04.970 ⇒ 00:07:08.480 Sonali: And we have a period listed here as well. It’s
53 00:07:09.190 ⇒ 00:07:11.969 Sonali: I don’t know that. I’m sure it means something to you.
54 00:07:11.970 ⇒ 00:07:16.840 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s that’s totally fine. So so the earliest invoice is on August first.st
55 00:07:16.990 ⇒ 00:07:17.710 Sonali: Yes.
56 00:07:17.710 ⇒ 00:07:20.149 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay, great. Yeah. I, we started.
57 00:07:20.450 ⇒ 00:07:29.009 Uttam Kumaran: I think we we started getting clients in July. And then the business incorporated like, later in July. And then, yeah, we probably sent out our 1st invoice in August. So.
58 00:07:29.970 ⇒ 00:07:34.199 Sonali: and let’s look at what we are reporting as your contribution
59 00:07:34.210 ⇒ 00:07:36.070 Sonali: to business your money.
60 00:07:37.260 ⇒ 00:07:38.839 Sonali: Let’s do
61 00:07:39.740 ⇒ 00:07:41.660 Sonali: last year.
62 00:07:45.630 ⇒ 00:07:50.479 Sonali: So we are showing that you did invest almost 67,000 in the business.
63 00:07:50.480 ⇒ 00:07:50.830 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
64 00:07:50.830 ⇒ 00:07:53.600 Sonali: A 68. Does this look right to you?
65 00:07:53.600 ⇒ 00:07:55.560 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, that looks right.
66 00:07:55.710 ⇒ 00:07:57.789 Sonali: And amount is not even
67 00:07:58.110 ⇒ 00:07:59.010 Sonali: does that
68 00:07:59.410 ⇒ 00:08:01.210 Sonali: is that okay? As well? Normally.
69 00:08:01.210 ⇒ 00:08:14.719 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s correct. Yeah, there is. There’s because there’s sometimes where I paid the. I paid the bill from my personal account. So that’s why it’s uneven, like I paid the credit card bill. Basically.
70 00:08:15.450 ⇒ 00:08:18.179 Sonali: Yes, yes, that’s what we have.
71 00:08:25.140 ⇒ 00:08:28.899 Sonali: Yes, you paid the credit card expenses
72 00:08:29.600 ⇒ 00:08:31.150 Sonali: from capital one.
73 00:08:31.690 ⇒ 00:08:32.620 Sonali: Maybe
74 00:08:33.559 ⇒ 00:08:36.279 Sonali: no one doesn’t see the bank, and you did.
75 00:08:36.289 ⇒ 00:08:37.939 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. Go ahead.
76 00:08:37.940 ⇒ 00:08:41.190 Sonali: And you did take some money out of business as well right.
77 00:08:41.190 ⇒ 00:08:48.340 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, there’s there’s also that. But there’s times where we made money, and I and I took it out. So there should be some. You should see owners draw as well.
78 00:08:48.700 ⇒ 00:08:52.820 Sonali: Yes, but this is what we classified as owners draw.
79 00:08:53.050 ⇒ 00:08:55.539 Sonali: and these amount looks right to you. I mean
80 00:08:56.610 ⇒ 00:08:58.790 Sonali: all these teeny, tiny amount here and.
81 00:08:58.790 ⇒ 00:09:13.249 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, we. I was putting a lot of like personal expenses on the credit card. So we reclassified a lot of that, especially like in the earlier part. These days. There’s some of that, but not as much.
82 00:09:13.320 ⇒ 00:09:14.799 Uttam Kumaran: But that’s kind of like
83 00:09:15.260 ⇒ 00:09:19.319 Uttam Kumaran: that’s just more discipline on my side. I know that we can just pre categorize those.
84 00:09:19.320 ⇒ 00:09:24.700 Sonali: Yes, and I think that’s what they did. But maybe you know, going forward.
85 00:09:25.230 ⇒ 00:09:28.160 Sonali: even if you’re taking money out of business.
86 00:09:28.300 ⇒ 00:09:34.339 Sonali: maybe you know. I I mean run, run some more from your salary like 20
87 00:09:34.450 ⇒ 00:09:37.450 Sonali: three-year salary, was 6,300.
88 00:09:37.690 ⇒ 00:09:38.390 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
89 00:09:38.913 ⇒ 00:09:43.249 Sonali: Maybe you can increase it to. I don’t know. 50,000 at least.
90 00:09:43.250 ⇒ 00:09:53.100 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. And I think the main thing is like, I kept like a very low W 2. And then basically, like as needed, I kind of paid these days.
91 00:09:53.940 ⇒ 00:09:57.260 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, I get it. It’s like I’m not paying a ton out of.
92 00:09:57.720 ⇒ 00:10:00.870 Uttam Kumaran: I’m doing still doing some contributions depending on the month.
93 00:10:00.920 ⇒ 00:10:11.770 Uttam Kumaran: but it’s mainly for cash flow reasons like as we. And this is kind of where I’m I’m changing some things on the contracts with our employees where we do everything as contractors. So
94 00:10:12.110 ⇒ 00:10:12.610 Uttam Kumaran: the problem.
95 00:10:12.610 ⇒ 00:10:13.380 Sonali: Yeah, it’s.
96 00:10:13.380 ⇒ 00:10:16.540 Uttam Kumaran: If the month closes, and then I don’t get paid by the clients.
97 00:10:16.720 ⇒ 00:10:19.460 Uttam Kumaran: and I don’t have cash. Then I’m like, Okay, I’ll just.
98 00:10:19.610 ⇒ 00:10:24.797 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t want them to sit, so I’ll pay them kind of what I’m what I’m planning on doing.
99 00:10:25.260 ⇒ 00:10:32.950 Uttam Kumaran: is, I’m going to move. Some people will get moved to W. 2, and then any contractors will kind of get. There’ll be a 4 week delay, basically that I’ll agree with them.
100 00:10:33.240 ⇒ 00:10:34.589 Uttam Kumaran: Agree with them on
101 00:10:35.080 ⇒ 00:10:38.761 Uttam Kumaran: for cash flow reasons. It’s tough like I can’t.
102 00:10:39.440 ⇒ 00:10:42.290 Uttam Kumaran: There’s just some months where we’re like again. Every expense hits.
103 00:10:42.650 ⇒ 00:10:43.450 Sonali: And then it’s like.
104 00:10:43.450 ⇒ 00:10:51.330 Uttam Kumaran: I’m I’m left with nothing. And then again, I spend some money on marketing, or there’s other things, and then we kind of like we’re low. So then I contribute, and I
105 00:10:51.540 ⇒ 00:10:53.530 Uttam Kumaran: sort of like bridge. The gap.
106 00:10:53.530 ⇒ 00:10:57.209 Sonali: I mean it. It was 1st year, so that is fine, but.
107 00:10:57.210 ⇒ 00:11:00.480 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. Yeah. The 1st year we didn’t hire, we really.
108 00:11:00.480 ⇒ 00:11:00.810 Sonali: Didn’t.
109 00:11:00.810 ⇒ 00:11:03.600 Uttam Kumaran: Hire anybody until this like December.
110 00:11:03.700 ⇒ 00:11:10.120 Uttam Kumaran: There’s expenses on the legal and marketing side, but there should be only like one person.
111 00:11:10.900 ⇒ 00:11:12.390 Sonali: On a as a contractor.
112 00:11:12.390 ⇒ 00:11:16.020 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, like, yeah. 12 k, exactly like, yep.
113 00:11:17.760 ⇒ 00:11:23.110 Uttam Kumaran: yeah. Brian, pay, John. And then, yeah, exactly like, there shouldn’t be any.
114 00:11:27.650 ⇒ 00:11:28.670 Sonali: No, but but.
115 00:11:28.670 ⇒ 00:11:33.429 Uttam Kumaran: I think we probably have, like, yeah, like maybe 20 K and
116 00:11:33.930 ⇒ 00:11:36.250 Uttam Kumaran: contractor expenses.
117 00:11:37.210 ⇒ 00:11:41.218 Uttam Kumaran: But again, that that increases with the revenue
118 00:11:42.220 ⇒ 00:11:49.080 Uttam Kumaran: And that’s also why there’s some stuff we’re doing on the R. And D side that that’s why I wanted to kind of poke at that. But it’s fine if we can. If it’s not.
119 00:11:49.080 ⇒ 00:11:52.399 Sonali: Yes, we we have to wrap up like
120 00:11:53.640 ⇒ 00:11:56.339 Sonali: I’ll say today, because, you know, once
121 00:11:56.510 ⇒ 00:12:07.370 Sonali: I finished text return, I will send it to you through. Docusign to sign, and once you sign it I will tell somebody from my team to go ahead and e-file text return.
122 00:12:07.370 ⇒ 00:12:07.750 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
123 00:12:07.750 ⇒ 00:12:17.950 Sonali: Once they send it to Irs. There is another time, Lag, you know. I’ll say, like 5, 6 h till they accept the return, and sometime, if there is something
124 00:12:18.110 ⇒ 00:12:30.129 Sonali: off with the text, Return, return gets rejected. Then we have to go back and fix the error. So I want to keep some time, if at all. Anything like that comes up to, you know. Make sure it is like accepted by.
125 00:12:30.310 ⇒ 00:12:43.349 Sonali: you know, sometime on Monday, and I don’t know. I mean, I’m sure my team is working, but I have to see who I can, you know. Get hold of. I’m I’m sure somebody will be, you know, there to E file text, return. But.
126 00:12:43.730 ⇒ 00:12:44.400 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
127 00:12:44.400 ⇒ 00:12:46.750 Sonali: I don’t know if you do, you know, take any chance.
128 00:12:47.060 ⇒ 00:12:50.802 Uttam Kumaran: No, that makes sense. If I can look at, let me just
129 00:12:51.480 ⇒ 00:12:57.020 Uttam Kumaran: Can you send me the links to those reports that you’re looking at, and I’m just gonna go through and and.
130 00:12:57.020 ⇒ 00:12:57.990 Sonali: Sure.
131 00:12:58.560 ⇒ 00:13:00.000 Sonali: Let let me.
132 00:13:01.120 ⇒ 00:13:04.199 Sonali: you have. I’m sure you have access to your online quick book. Right?
133 00:13:04.200 ⇒ 00:13:08.334 Uttam Kumaran: I’m in online, quick books. I just, I’m not really great at navigating it.
134 00:13:08.630 ⇒ 00:13:09.550 Sonali: Fine.
135 00:13:09.920 ⇒ 00:13:17.742 Uttam Kumaran: I am like I need to get better, so that every time I go in I’m like, I don’t know where I am exactly, and I, my business is like a technology business.
136 00:13:18.090 ⇒ 00:13:20.060 Uttam Kumaran: and it’s still like confusing.
137 00:13:20.150 ⇒ 00:13:24.560 Uttam Kumaran: And you’ll be you’ll you’ll be. You’ll laugh. My dad works for intuit. Actually.
138 00:13:25.350 ⇒ 00:13:25.850 Sonali: Wow!
139 00:13:26.350 ⇒ 00:13:27.679 Uttam Kumaran: You work for.
140 00:13:27.680 ⇒ 00:13:34.479 Sonali: Okay, you know, that’s absolutely okay. You are good at what you are doing, and that’s all you should think about. And do.
141 00:13:34.480 ⇒ 00:13:35.630 Uttam Kumaran: No, I I tell.
142 00:13:35.630 ⇒ 00:13:37.130 Sonali: All about Davey.
143 00:13:37.130 ⇒ 00:14:00.002 Uttam Kumaran: No, no, I I tell him that. Your product sucks like it looks like hardly. I’m a business owner. It’s hard to use you like you’re not getting. And then, you know the funniest thing. I asked him to get me a discount. He’s like I can’t get you a discount. I was like, what? What’s the point of you working at into it? You can’t give me a discount.
144 00:14:00.320 ⇒ 00:14:02.570 Sonali: Be some employee discount. Come on.
145 00:14:02.570 ⇒ 00:14:07.600 Uttam Kumaran: I know. I told him that he’s like, I don’t know. I have to go through some people and ask, I’m like
146 00:14:08.400 ⇒ 00:14:13.829 Uttam Kumaran: Dude. I just, I’m a small business owner. Just see if you can get me 50% off or something like that, like.
147 00:14:18.130 ⇒ 00:14:21.000 Sonali: Okay. Yes, I’m generating couple reports.
148 00:14:21.000 ⇒ 00:14:21.580 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
149 00:14:21.580 ⇒ 00:14:25.739 Sonali: And a summary of profit and loss and balance, sheet
150 00:14:25.980 ⇒ 00:14:26.569 Sonali: and
151 00:14:27.880 ⇒ 00:14:34.800 Sonali: profit and loss, detail, profit and loss. Detail will help you see each account, and what
152 00:14:34.910 ⇒ 00:14:39.799 Sonali: is in that account? All that you know detailed breakup, and let me send it to you
153 00:14:39.850 ⇒ 00:14:41.340 Sonali: right away.
154 00:14:46.550 ⇒ 00:14:52.860 Sonali: and let me know if you have trouble reading it, or, you know, trying to make sense out of it.
155 00:14:53.180 ⇒ 00:14:53.990 Sonali: Okay.
156 00:14:54.360 ⇒ 00:15:01.270 Uttam Kumaran: And yeah, I guess I had a couple of questions. One like you prefer email for communicate, I know, like I sometimes
157 00:15:01.460 ⇒ 00:15:04.950 Uttam Kumaran: I’m messaging some Braden and some folks on the flowfi
158 00:15:05.450 ⇒ 00:15:06.540 Uttam Kumaran: inside.
159 00:15:07.080 ⇒ 00:15:09.000 Uttam Kumaran: like within the Flowfi app.
160 00:15:11.070 ⇒ 00:15:19.969 Sonali: Yes, I mean either ways. Even if you send a message in Flowfi App, we get a email that there’s a message sitting in there.
161 00:15:20.110 ⇒ 00:15:25.670 Sonali: I think that is better, because there are more people in there, and sometime, if I don’t get to it like
162 00:15:25.680 ⇒ 00:15:31.219 Sonali: right? And they’re like Sonali. Did you see that message there? I was like, Okay, yes, I’ll get back to you know.
163 00:15:31.220 ⇒ 00:15:33.149 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I like, ideally.
164 00:15:33.150 ⇒ 00:15:34.769 Sonali: There are more people in there.
165 00:15:34.770 ⇒ 00:15:35.140 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
166 00:15:35.140 ⇒ 00:15:45.059 Sonali: Lofi App, and we want more and more clients like you to go and use that app that you know they did and did it built in house so.
167 00:15:45.770 ⇒ 00:16:00.879 Uttam Kumaran: So, how is the model? How does the model work like there’s they hire a bunch of professionals. And then you guys dedicate parts of your time, because I know we also I’m working with Liam and I worked with some other people, I mean, because again I’m in the consulting business I am also interested in, like how these businesses work.
168 00:16:00.880 ⇒ 00:16:10.579 Sonali: See what they do is, there will be one account in charge. They have a particular name for that. Who is Braden, for you know for you. He is
169 00:16:10.620 ⇒ 00:16:12.569 Sonali: what they call it client.
170 00:16:12.690 ⇒ 00:16:33.220 Sonali: some manager, something so he will oversee. He will make sure you are all good. All your questions are addressed and answered, you have taken good care. So that is Braden’s role. And Liam you said you’re working with. He. He does all the bookkeeping for you so all these numbers that you and me we just saw where
171 00:16:33.220 ⇒ 00:16:44.689 Sonali: you know where entered or fixed by Liam. So I think year round you will be working closely with him, because if he has any question he don’t know, you know where to class something.
172 00:16:44.710 ⇒ 00:16:53.379 Sonali: so he will check with you on those, and I’m the text person on, you know your account. So I. My responsibility is to make sure a text return is done, all that is good, and
173 00:16:53.510 ⇒ 00:16:59.470 Sonali: any text related question. That’s me. Are you dealing with any other person here?
174 00:16:59.910 ⇒ 00:17:01.214 Uttam Kumaran: No, that’s that’s it.
175 00:17:01.540 ⇒ 00:17:05.849 Sonali: Yes, yes, so normally. There’s 1 accounting person, one text person and one
176 00:17:05.920 ⇒ 00:17:11.069 Sonali: project manager say, who will just take care of you know you overall
177 00:17:11.970 ⇒ 00:17:15.031 Sonali: and make sure we are doing our job right on time.
178 00:17:15.319 ⇒ 00:17:26.489 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think my other question was like, kind of I think this year I know we’re already into the year, but I kind of want to think about before the year ends, like any proactive tax stuff
179 00:17:27.189 ⇒ 00:17:30.609 Uttam Kumaran: that I can do. I know we talked a little bit about R. And D, but.
180 00:17:30.610 ⇒ 00:17:39.040 Sonali: You know what we can do, I mean for some clients we use 3rd party who will do R. And D
181 00:17:39.200 ⇒ 00:17:51.430 Sonali: credit calculation for you and we for text purpose. I will use their reports and put that in the text return. So that is one of your option, and you will qualify for R&D credit.
182 00:17:51.660 ⇒ 00:17:59.960 Sonali: Okay? And so that is one thing to look for. You know, you can maybe consider looking at this year, or maybe check with Braden.
183 00:18:00.420 ⇒ 00:18:13.499 Sonali: you know. I’m sure they have contact, you know who we work with regarding all these credits, so we can do that. And and I don’t know what’s on your personal tax return other than this. W. 2
184 00:18:13.640 ⇒ 00:18:21.549 Sonali: and the business income. And we see how your year goes. Sometime, maybe in November we can look at it and
185 00:18:21.610 ⇒ 00:18:25.879 Sonali: see if you need to make any estimated payments, because this year.
186 00:18:25.980 ⇒ 00:18:37.229 Sonali: you know, it’s it’s late, like, you know, we we can file extension next year. But even after you file extension, you still should pay any tax due by April 15, th
187 00:18:37.280 ⇒ 00:18:45.539 Sonali: and if you don’t do that, there are penalties and interest. I mean, they give you time to file the tax return, but not time to pay taxes. So.
188 00:18:45.540 ⇒ 00:18:46.430 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah.
189 00:18:46.430 ⇒ 00:19:11.489 Sonali: If you have any tax liability or depending on you know how your business looks like, you know, few months down the line we can maybe do some tax projection to see if you need to make any payments, or instead of making estimated payments, we can, you know, gross up your payroll, maybe, and you know, instead of you making estimated payment, we can have more tax withheld from your W. 2,
190 00:19:11.900 ⇒ 00:19:14.409 Sonali: so it’ll still be same.
191 00:19:14.550 ⇒ 00:19:21.620 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean for for me, it’s 2 things. One is. Yeah. I was gonna ask, like, Do you guys do you guys handle personal tax as well, because for me.
192 00:19:21.620 ⇒ 00:19:22.739 Sonali: Yeah, this is the.
193 00:19:22.740 ⇒ 00:19:23.580 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. Okay.
194 00:19:24.560 ⇒ 00:19:29.469 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. So I can ask Brayden about that. And then the second thing, because again, I would like
195 00:19:29.700 ⇒ 00:19:36.609 Uttam Kumaran: for me, it’s like to explain the books in the business to like more and more people. It’s already what I do, but it’s just like.
196 00:19:36.840 ⇒ 00:19:39.160 Uttam Kumaran: even in my business. I’m trying to give as
197 00:19:39.360 ⇒ 00:19:48.900 Uttam Kumaran: small team as possible, because my time is very limited. So as much as I can work with you guys to kind of get everything done that’d be great. The second thing is, yeah. I was.
198 00:19:49.030 ⇒ 00:19:51.751 Uttam Kumaran: You know, I started initially the year
199 00:19:52.300 ⇒ 00:20:14.030 Uttam Kumaran: sort of setting aside like, I don’t know 1520% for tax. But then I needed some of that money. So that’s the thing I kind of want to do more is have a sense of what the projection of the tax payment is as a percentage of revenue that way. Whenever revenue comes in, I’ll set that aside.
200 00:20:14.150 ⇒ 00:20:14.620 Uttam Kumaran: you know.
201 00:20:14.620 ⇒ 00:20:14.980 Sonali: That’s.
202 00:20:14.980 ⇒ 00:20:21.770 Uttam Kumaran: It’s tough, like I wanted to do that. I read a really, I read a good book, kind of like that. Explain like, try to set aside
203 00:20:22.555 ⇒ 00:20:27.430 Uttam Kumaran: stuff for tax stuff for profit, like by a percentage of revenue basis.
204 00:20:27.830 ⇒ 00:20:28.520 Sonali: Oh!
205 00:20:28.690 ⇒ 00:20:42.690 Uttam Kumaran: But I would love to just have a number in in my head of like cool. Every dollar we get in like 20 cents needs to be set aside, and then I’ll kind of set up rules for that. And then I’m now starting to do a forecast you know, for the next year or 2
206 00:20:43.540 ⇒ 00:20:47.290 Uttam Kumaran: based on the clients. And then we’re setting some sales goals. So
207 00:20:47.460 ⇒ 00:20:57.190 Uttam Kumaran: it just helps me get a sense of like how much I need to earmark for tax. And then, yeah, you know, I don’t know if there’s any sort of other like startup credits or
208 00:20:57.250 ⇒ 00:21:00.049 Uttam Kumaran: stuff with the state that I can look into. But
209 00:21:00.070 ⇒ 00:21:04.650 Uttam Kumaran: you know I’m I’m I’m all ears on like options on the tax side to get.
210 00:21:04.760 ⇒ 00:21:05.620 Uttam Kumaran: you know.
211 00:21:06.360 ⇒ 00:21:07.080 Uttam Kumaran: You know.
212 00:21:07.080 ⇒ 00:21:19.079 Sonali: There are more credits like, you know, if you have employee and you start their 4 0. 1 K. Or if you do, some health insurance, you know, for small business owners. There are more credits when you
213 00:21:19.130 ⇒ 00:21:23.049 Sonali: give more options to your employees.
214 00:21:23.050 ⇒ 00:21:23.410 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
215 00:21:23.410 ⇒ 00:21:30.170 Sonali: And and for regarding a startup R&D is the thing that will help you right now.
216 00:21:30.350 ⇒ 00:21:31.010 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
217 00:21:31.250 ⇒ 00:21:55.509 Sonali: And and regarding the estimate regarding some percentage of tax that you want to keep aside, I have to look at your personal return. Maybe you know, and then put these numbers there and, like you said, you have some projection, or you will have it, you know, few months down the line for next couple of years. It will help us figure out what your income will look like and what your tax will be, so I’ll I’ll need more information
218 00:21:55.780 ⇒ 00:21:59.749 Sonali: to give a percentage or something to you.
219 00:21:59.750 ⇒ 00:22:00.150 Uttam Kumaran: That makes sense.
220 00:22:00.150 ⇒ 00:22:01.469 Sonali: Yes, just.
221 00:22:01.470 ⇒ 00:22:05.319 Uttam Kumaran: So I can keep that because I’ll I’ll produce that and and get that going. So.
222 00:22:05.700 ⇒ 00:22:14.410 Sonali: Okay, okay, so, but what what else you have on your personal return? I mean, were you working somewhere else? You have any other double.
223 00:22:14.410 ⇒ 00:22:18.178 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, last year last year I will have
224 00:22:19.590 ⇒ 00:22:23.259 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, I quit my job like in April. So I will have other income.
225 00:22:23.567 ⇒ 00:22:24.489 Sonali: W. 2.
226 00:22:24.490 ⇒ 00:22:26.690 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. And then this year, too.
227 00:22:27.241 ⇒ 00:22:36.750 Uttam Kumaran: I’m deciding like, there’s some people that like this is the thing with my business is like, there’s some people that come to me, and they want to hire me. And then there’s some people that want to hire the business.
228 00:22:36.790 ⇒ 00:22:42.579 Uttam Kumaran: So the kind of depending on the health of the business. I will take some opportunities that go directly to me.
229 00:22:44.700 ⇒ 00:23:02.989 Uttam Kumaran: but, like again, that’s all. Just it’s actually pretty basic, like it’s just another 1. 1 more W. 2 same thing last year. It’s just another W. 2 but it’s I would say. Last year it was like a full time job until April this year. It’s maybe like a month or 2, but we’ll see.
230 00:23:03.910 ⇒ 00:23:07.270 Uttam Kumaran: But yeah, it’s it’s pretty basic. Otherwise.
231 00:23:09.160 ⇒ 00:23:11.899 Sonali: Okay. Do you own a house in Texas?
232 00:23:11.900 ⇒ 00:23:16.129 Uttam Kumaran: No, I’m renting this place. I do have some Home Office deduction.
233 00:23:17.880 ⇒ 00:23:20.370 Sonali: Did we account it with 2,023.
234 00:23:21.310 ⇒ 00:23:22.679 Uttam Kumaran: For the Home Office.
235 00:23:23.980 ⇒ 00:23:26.320 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t think so.
236 00:23:29.080 ⇒ 00:23:31.549 Sonali: We can maybe consider doing that.
237 00:23:31.550 ⇒ 00:23:32.280 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
238 00:23:34.270 ⇒ 00:23:37.550 Uttam Kumaran: yeah. For 2023, I can tell. Yeah, I can tell you. The.
239 00:23:37.550 ⇒ 00:23:39.650 Sonali: Were you renting any office.
240 00:23:39.650 ⇒ 00:23:42.700 Uttam Kumaran: I was. Yeah, I was renting a co-working space.
241 00:23:42.700 ⇒ 00:23:44.499 Sonali: Yes, wuka co-working.
242 00:23:44.500 ⇒ 00:23:45.893 Uttam Kumaran: We’re co-working
243 00:23:46.620 ⇒ 00:23:49.020 Uttam Kumaran: and then anything with like we work
244 00:23:50.250 ⇒ 00:23:52.940 Uttam Kumaran: like. If I had to get a day pass anywhere.
245 00:23:53.847 ⇒ 00:23:56.180 Uttam Kumaran: And then I
246 00:23:56.200 ⇒ 00:24:00.939 Uttam Kumaran: I do have, I can tell you this. I can try to make the square foot calculation for
247 00:24:01.010 ⇒ 00:24:09.119 Uttam Kumaran: my my apartment where I was last year. I recently moved into this house where I’m at now, but it’s I’m still renting. And then
248 00:24:09.270 ⇒ 00:24:11.030 Uttam Kumaran: I did have some.
249 00:24:13.130 ⇒ 00:24:17.099 Uttam Kumaran: yeah. The only other stuff is like car related expenses, but like it’s
250 00:24:17.310 ⇒ 00:24:19.979 Uttam Kumaran: so, I had to travel for work or drive.
251 00:24:19.980 ⇒ 00:24:25.830 Sonali: Yeah, I see a lot lot of Uber expenses here, mostly in October. Uber left
252 00:24:29.290 ⇒ 00:24:30.230 Sonali: some lift.
253 00:24:31.320 ⇒ 00:24:32.560 Sonali: Once they open.
254 00:24:33.330 ⇒ 00:24:35.800 Uttam Kumaran: But the Home Office is like the only thing that’s like.
255 00:24:38.800 ⇒ 00:24:40.900 Sonali: Yeah, we we can account
256 00:24:41.060 ⇒ 00:24:51.089 Sonali: maybe 1,500. I mean, usually when it’s, you know, single member Llc, and we file text, there’s it’s not a C. Corp.
257 00:24:51.140 ⇒ 00:24:53.600 Sonali: We do 1,500 for
258 00:24:55.080 ⇒ 00:24:57.939 Sonali: for Home Office. I can account that.
259 00:25:00.740 ⇒ 00:25:06.120 Sonali: But you you use your business card for business right? You don’t use your personal
260 00:25:06.440 ⇒ 00:25:06.960 Sonali: car.
261 00:25:06.960 ⇒ 00:25:18.289 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean that. That’s the thing that I told Liam. Like, I’ve I, we move, we actually, that’s a lot of what I worked on. I was working with a previous bookkeeper, and we worked on like that categorization.
262 00:25:18.712 ⇒ 00:25:22.099 Uttam Kumaran: And these days, yeah, I’m I’m doing my best to kind of keep things.
263 00:25:22.250 ⇒ 00:25:23.029 Sonali: Yeah. Summer.
264 00:25:23.310 ⇒ 00:25:35.899 Sonali: Please do that. Make sure you’re not, you know, commingling personal and business, if at all. You know, you need to put money in. Just do a lump sum, you know 5,000, 10,000, whatever 2 business.
265 00:25:36.400 ⇒ 00:25:46.139 Sonali: and if you want money, you know, taken out of business rather than paying your expense from business. Just take 5, 10,000, you know, to move it to your personal account.
266 00:25:46.430 ⇒ 00:25:51.860 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I I think the biggest thing initially was, it took a while to start the business accounts.
267 00:25:53.500 ⇒ 00:25:57.009 Uttam Kumaran: and then, yeah, it’s it’s just. It’s just my fault.
268 00:25:57.360 ⇒ 00:26:09.103 Sonali: Yes, I mean, that was start of your business, you know. You’re just one year, almost one year into one year in this and that that’s fine. You’ll just learn with time your dos and don’ts.
269 00:26:09.430 ⇒ 00:26:13.610 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. And then also, it’s again, I I’m trying to get into a process of like
270 00:26:14.000 ⇒ 00:26:17.969 Uttam Kumaran: when books close, I like can go through and review transactions.
271 00:26:17.970 ⇒ 00:26:23.319 Sonali: I I think we we do that right. I’m sure you’re meeting am periodically to just.
272 00:26:23.320 ⇒ 00:26:31.689 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, we had a previous bookkeeper, but it took a long time to close books. I we weren’t meeting that often. Liam just started with me, maybe like 3 weeks ago.
273 00:26:32.150 ⇒ 00:26:39.399 Uttam Kumaran: because we were having some issues. And then he quickly closed everything. So that’s what took a long time, because we’ve been in this book.
274 00:26:39.500 ⇒ 00:26:41.780 Uttam Kumaran: closing phase for like 4 months.
275 00:26:41.780 ⇒ 00:26:42.270 Sonali: So.
276 00:26:42.500 ⇒ 00:26:43.980 Uttam Kumaran: That’s why I was like
277 00:26:44.630 ⇒ 00:26:51.727 Uttam Kumaran: I was like Brady, like what’s going on. And then we moved some people off, and then Liam joined, and he finished in like 2 weeks.
278 00:26:52.080 ⇒ 00:26:58.900 Uttam Kumaran: But then again, it’s like this isn’t something I think about every day. So it’s a it’s another thing for me to follow up and like figure out.
279 00:26:58.900 ⇒ 00:27:08.349 Sonali: Yes, and I saw the books. There were a lot of, you know, personal expenses paid through business like small expenses that we briefly saw. So I’m sure it was a lot of
280 00:27:08.570 ⇒ 00:27:20.229 Sonali: work, you know, a lot of coordination, because we when we see any expense, we I mean, we assume it is business, because we are taking it from the business account, unless you tell us otherwise.
281 00:27:20.520 ⇒ 00:27:24.119 Sonali: So I’m sure that was the reason it took longer.
282 00:27:24.370 ⇒ 00:27:26.990 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s fine. So it’s okay.
283 00:27:27.160 ⇒ 00:27:32.399 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. So I can take a look. So I’m gonna just take a look at these reports right now, and I can get back to you.
284 00:27:32.779 ⇒ 00:27:38.280 Uttam Kumaran: At least within an hour, just like confirming. And then can we get everything we can just get everything.
285 00:27:38.280 ⇒ 00:27:43.740 Sonali: Yes, and I. I have text written, drafted, based of what is in quickbook now.
286 00:27:44.160 ⇒ 00:27:46.940 Sonali: But you said you didn’t make any changes
287 00:27:47.030 ⇒ 00:27:51.630 Sonali: then. I think I should be good. I will look at it one more time to make sure. My individual
288 00:27:51.790 ⇒ 00:27:54.430 Sonali: account, you know, agrees.
289 00:27:55.630 ⇒ 00:28:03.320 Sonali: and if that’s the case, I will. I can send text written to you through intuit docusign. You will receive email.
290 00:28:03.540 ⇒ 00:28:12.849 Sonali: something, you know, regarding docusign. And you can, you know, review and sign there. Once you sign, then I can e-file after that
291 00:28:12.920 ⇒ 00:28:22.660 Sonali: and and feel free. I mean, if we, if we need to schedule time after you know you receive text it, and you’re looking at it. If you have any question, I’m available. You know all the rest of today.
292 00:28:22.660 ⇒ 00:28:31.149 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, yeah. And again, thank you so much for taking the time on a Saturday. I try to these days not to work on Saturday, but
293 00:28:31.850 ⇒ 00:28:37.949 Uttam Kumaran: I work. I work every day, one way or another. But I know that we have a deadline. So thank you.
294 00:28:37.950 ⇒ 00:28:39.719 Sonali: Yes, yes, no.
295 00:28:39.940 ⇒ 00:28:48.679 Sonali: so you you will talk to I mean Braden, or I can give him a heads up as well that you want us to work on your personal text, written as well.
296 00:28:48.680 ⇒ 00:29:09.060 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I’m just. I’ll just send an email. I’ll just send an email to both of you on a separate thread requesting that. And then, we can start that thread. And then, yeah, maybe once this is closed sometime. I know it’s already September. So sometime, maybe later or next month, we can talk a little bit about planning and projections. I should have a little bit of a financial forecast.
297 00:29:09.340 ⇒ 00:29:16.100 Uttam Kumaran: And then again, I just kind of want to set the tax like portion on autopilot like. What should I expect to pay.
298 00:29:16.383 ⇒ 00:29:16.949 Sonali: And then.
299 00:29:16.950 ⇒ 00:29:19.030 Uttam Kumaran: Trying to plan before the year closes. So.
300 00:29:19.030 ⇒ 00:29:26.720 Sonali: Okay, I I think November sometime will be good time 1st or second week of November. That way you will have your solid 10 months.
301 00:29:26.760 ⇒ 00:29:34.950 Sonali: and we can project for 2 months, and maybe by then, if you have any projection for future. But I think right now we should
302 00:29:35.040 ⇒ 00:29:41.620 Sonali: focus more on 24, because we still have time to fix things if we need to.
303 00:29:41.680 ⇒ 00:29:51.319 Sonali: Okay. So I think 1st or second week of November should be good, and or maybe immediately when Liam he closes October month October books, then we can, you know.
304 00:29:51.370 ⇒ 00:29:53.009 Sonali: do a projection for you.
305 00:29:53.010 ⇒ 00:29:54.420 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, perfect. Okay.
306 00:29:55.640 ⇒ 00:30:00.150 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. Great. Yeah, that’s the biggest thing that’s like lingering in the back of my head. Cause I always
307 00:30:00.300 ⇒ 00:30:17.840 Uttam Kumaran: you just get to the tax. And you’re like, I didn’t optimize anything, or I didn’t think about like what I could do. But again, this is like a pretty simple basis. We pay people out there’s work we do. And then for me, it’s like making sure the margins are good on that, and then making sure that I can get clients on longer contracts.
308 00:30:19.630 ⇒ 00:30:25.810 Uttam Kumaran: but at the the challenge is on the cash flow side in this business, because I have people that have to get paid and like that’s the sort of.
309 00:30:28.910 ⇒ 00:30:29.480 Sonali: He!
310 00:30:30.083 ⇒ 00:30:31.249 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. Great.
311 00:30:32.160 ⇒ 00:30:39.150 Sonali: Okay. So you review this, and I will send text written to you shortly in couple hours.
312 00:30:39.280 ⇒ 00:30:45.580 Sonali: and then we’ll go from there, I mean, just just let me know. Feel free, you know, if we need to hop on a call to discuss.
313 00:30:45.630 ⇒ 00:30:48.140 Sonali: If you have any question text return related.
314 00:30:48.530 ⇒ 00:30:50.640 Sonali: and I think we should be good.
315 00:30:50.990 ⇒ 00:30:52.680 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, perfect.
316 00:30:53.020 ⇒ 00:30:53.700 Sonali: Okay.
317 00:30:53.700 ⇒ 00:30:55.540 Uttam Kumaran: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
318 00:30:55.540 ⇒ 00:30:57.040 Sonali: No problem. You have a good day.
319 00:30:57.950 ⇒ 00:30:58.810 Sonali: The bay.