September, 2020

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9 Benefits of Getting an EIN (Even If You Don’t Have To)

Fundera

Benefits of Getting an EIN. File Business Taxes and Avoid Tax Penalties. Prevent Identity Theft. Add Credibility as a Freelancer and Independent Contractor. Speed up Business Loan Applications. Open a Business Bank Account. Build Trust With Vendors. Establish Business Credit. Easily Hire Employees. Get More Options as an Overseas Entrepreneur. An employer identification number (EIN), or business tax ID, is a unique nine-digit number that you use when filing taxes for your business.

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How CFIs Can Remain Relationship-Focused in a Digital World

Abrigo

Key Takeaways With more customers leveraging channels like online and mobile banking, community financial institutions are trying to solve how to maintain their hallmark community focus in an increasingly digital world. Technology can create efficiencies that allow them to reimagine customer interactions moving forward. The PPP might have been the first time many community financial institutions saw such clear returns on digitization investments, but the same automation and efficiency gains can

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How to Finance Your First Commercial Real Estate Deal

StackSource

How a first time commercial real estate investor can get approved for a commercial mortgage. Hint: it's not the same underwriting as residential mortgage loans!

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GoCardless for Salesforce Billing: a fully integrated and automated Quote-to-Cash journey

GoCardless

Salesforce customers now benefit from the GoCardless global bank debit network.

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10 Small Business Marketing Ideas for Fall

Fundera

Top 10 Fall Marketing Ideas. Fall-Specific Content Marketing. Fall Contests and Giveaways. Get Your Business in the Fall Spirit. Create Special Fall Products or Services. Fall-Themed Direct Mail Campaign. Infuse Fall Energy Into Your Social Media Channels. Launch a Thanksgiving Charity Initiative. Put a Fall Spin on Your Loyalty Program. Cross-Promote With Fall in Mind.

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145 New Service Business Ideas for 2020

Fundera

Service Business Ideas: The Top 15. Personal fitness trainer. Grocery shopping and delivery. Makeup artist. Doula and birth coaching services. Private school application consultant. Elder companion and care provider. Pet sitting. Handyman service. Mobile car-wash and detailing. Virtual assistant. Graphic designer. IT systems consultant. Mobile notary public.

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Year-Over-Year Growth: What It Is and How to Calculate It

Fundera

What Is Year-Over-Year Growth? Year-over-year (YOY) growth evaluates a company’s financial progress over time. With the year-over-year growth formula, you and your investors can compare two metrics within a given time period, such as revenue over a yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis. Every small business owner wants to know how their business is doing over time.

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Burn Rate: Definition, Formula, How to Calculate

Fundera

Burn rate is one of the most important metrics you can know for your business. Unfortunately, many small business owners don’t understand what burn rate is or how to calculate it. Burn rate isn’t a metric your accounting software will calculate for you directly, but by using your financial statements, you can calculate it easily. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at burn rate, discuss why it’s essential, and show you exactly how to calculate this vital metric.

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Commercial Property Insurance: Definition, Coverage, Costs

Fundera

There are a variety of inherent risks associated with running a business—which is why it’s so important to have adequate small business insurance. Of course, the specific types of insurance you need will depend on what your business does, where you operate, your industry, and more. If you have physical business assets, however, you’ll certainly want to consider investing in commercial property insurance to protect those assets from damage, theft, and loss.

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Labor Laws for Small Business Owners: Everything You Need to Know

Fundera

Many small business owners are expected to do everything themselves. Those duties include everything from hiring employees and running payroll to filing taxes and everything in between. While some aspects of running a business don’t need to be done perfectly, others—like complying with labor laws—must be done correctly. Between various state and federal laws, there’s a lot for a small business owner to know about labor laws.

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Collateral Coverage Ratio: Formula, Definition, and Examples

Fundera

What Is the Collateral Coverage Ratio? The collateral coverage ratio is the percentage of a loan that’s secured by a discounted asset. This ratio is calculated by the collateral coverage ratio formula, which is the discounted collateral value divided by the total loan amount. The lower the ratio, the higher the risk for lenders; the higher the ratio, the lower the risk for lenders.

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Alibaba vs. AliExpress: Differences, Dropshipping, Costs

Fundera

The world of selling goods online goes far beyond Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Etsy, and other brand names that might come to mind. Both Alibaba and AliExpress, once considered online shopping behemoths specific to the Asian market, have become global forces for ecommerce that rival Western-born competitors across most industries. Many people may not know the difference between Alibaba vs.

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How to Void a Check in QuickBooks Online

Fundera

You’re familiar with the process of voiding paper checks. Writing “VOID” on a check—whether you’ve made an error writing the check or because you need to submit a voided check for electronic payment purposes—indicates the check is no longer valid to use for payment. This gives you some level of protection from fraud. However, there’s another step you must follow when you void a check.

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7 Best Business Budget Software for 2020

Fundera

Best Budget Software for Small Businesses. QuickBooks Online : Best for overall functionality. Xero : Best for advanced features. FreshBooks : Best for basic budgeting. PlanGuru : Best for forecasting. Float : Best for cash flow management. Budget Maestro : Best for collaboration. Adaptive Planning : Best for bigger businesses. Online business budget software is a must-have for many businesses, freelancers, and accounting professionals looking to automate their business financial tasks.

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Illinois Small Business Grants: The Top Options

Fundera

7 Grants for Small Businesses in Illinois. Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. South Side Pitch. Metro East Startup Challenge. City of Urbana Business Grants. Feed the Seed Business Grants. Amber Grant for Women. Illinois GrantWatch. Finding working capital to help start or run a business in Illinois can be complicated, especially when you’re looking into small business grants.

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Downsizing a Business: How to Do It Successfully

Fundera

When you first started your business , you likely didn’t consider that one day you might need to downsize. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has forced many business owners to downsize their workforce just to stay afloat. Workforce cuts like this have left over 58 million Americans filing for unemployment. [1]. Besides this specific event, companies downsize for a number of reasons and at various times.

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Navy Federal Business Account Review, Plus Top Alternatives

Fundera

It’s not easy to figure out which business bank account might be best for your business, or even where to begin looking. If you’re an active military member or veteran, or a Department of Defense employee, you’re probably curious about what Navy Federal Business accounts offer. After all, credit unions offer tons of perks that commercial banks don’t.

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LawDepot Review 2020: Fees, Services, Alternatives

Fundera

Founded in 2001, LawDepot is an online legal service aimed at providing every possible document you will need to not only start your business, but also continue to manage it for years to come. They offer over 150 document templates for use in all 50 states, but are they right for your business? In this LawDepot review, we’ll explore the features, cost, pros, cons, and alternatives to consider.

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How to Hire Virtual Assistants

Fundera

When you’re starting a business , you might be wearing multiple hats. You’re answering emails, onboarding clients, managing projects, and doing the bookkeeping. With your plate stacked high with tasks demanding your attention, you’re bound to feel overwhelmed. Instead of just wishing for someone to help keep the order, you can hire virtual assistants to free your plate of administrative tasks and odd jobs.

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8 Best Business Card Scanner Apps for 2020

Fundera

Despite how frequently people connect over email and social media, business cards are still the quickest, simplest way to exchange contact information. When you’re starting a business, networking with the right people is essential to growth, which is why it’s worth having business cards on-hand when you attend a networking event or meet with a potential client.

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Michigan Small Business Grants: The Top Options

Fundera

6 Grants for Small Businesses in Michigan. Match on Main. Moving Flint Forward Small Business Grant Program. Hatch Detroit. Emerge Fund. Michigan GrantWatch. Amber Grant for Women. Known for its natural beauty and proximity to the Great Lakes, Michigan is a beautiful state, and home to over 800,000 small businesses. [1] But owning or starting your own small business means finding ways to sustain your cash flow and business operations.

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Payroll4Free Review 2020: Features, Fees, Alternatives

Fundera

Finding an easy way to manage and streamline your payroll is a concern shared among top small businesses across the country. When choosing payroll software for your small business , you must take features, cost, and usability into account. While there are many affordable payroll solutions on the market, not all small or new businesses have the budget to pay for payroll software.

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5 Best Free Property Management Software in 2020

Fundera

5 Best Free Property Management Software in 2020. TenantCloud. Rentec Direct. Innago. Cozy. Hunt. If you manage a rental property , you probably already know that it can be a lot of work. Tending to home maintenance, balancing the books, and tackling marketing tasks can easily keep you busy. It’s little wonder that 88% of landlords say that renting out properties brings on some degree of stress, according to a survey conducted by home remodeling site Porch.com.

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Managing Loan Workouts: 10 Lender Action Items

Abrigo

Key Takeaways Managing a large volume of loan workouts is the next challenge facing many financial institutions. Managing loan workouts requires tackling numerous process-related decisions concerning selecting, analyzing, and tracking loans. It's also wise to review the process for segmenting loans for allowance estimations, since even loans that aren't labeled as TDRs might not retain their current credit risk profiles.

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Cost Adjustments: Why Living in the 1990s Might Be Depressing Your Financial Institution’s Market Value Premium

Abrigo

Key Takeaways Financial institution executives wondering about changes in their market value premiums might need to look at the assumption used for modeling deposit servicing costs. Some ALM models rely on cost of servicing assumptions that haven't been updated in years. Ideally, have your own cost of servicing data, but if not, here's a basic formula that might generate more meaningful discussion with your board and ALCO.

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Red Flags for COVID-19 Related Fraud – What You Need to Know

Abrigo

Key Takeaways FinCEN has released three COVID-19-related advisories that remind financial institutions to stay alert to increasing fraud trends. Imposter scams, money mule scams, and cybercrime are all increasing due to a growing vulnerable population. Adjust your scenario thresholds and ensure your front line staff is aware of these fraud red flags to help detect and deter COVID-19-related fraud.

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How Your Asset/Liability Management Model Makes Budgeting and Forecasting Easier

Abrigo

Key Takeaways A good asset/liability management (ALM) model has a wealth of information and tools that can be used in the budgeting process. An ALM model can help budgeters consider the impacts of the pandemic on balance sheets and strategies. The what-if scenarios available in an ALM model help you weigh options in budgetary decisions. Budgeting? Don't forget your ALM model as a resource.

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How Your Asset/Liability Management Model Makes Budgeting and Forecasting Easier

Abrigo

Key Takeaways A good asset/liability management (ALM) model has a wealth of information and tools that can be used in the budgeting process. An ALM model can help budgeters consider the impacts of the pandemic on balance sheets and strategies. The what-if scenarios available in an ALM model help you weigh options in budgetary decisions. Budgeting? Don't forget your ALM model as a resource.

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7 Reports Your ALM Model Can Provide to Manage Changes Ahead

Abrigo

Key Takeaways ALM professionals often inquire about reports they can run using their ALM models to help manage their financial institutions. It's a good question, because the impact of changes are often hard to discern in the short term -- the focus of our typical reports. Set up these ALM model reports once and run them monthly as needed. What kind of reports can your ALM model provide?

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7 Reports Your ALM Model Can Provide to Manage Changes Ahead

Abrigo

Key Takeaways ALM professionals often inquire about reports they can run using their ALM models to help manage their financial institutions. It's a good question, because the impact of changes are often hard to discern in the short term -- the focus of our typical reports. Set up these ALM model reports once and run them monthly as needed. What kind of reports can your ALM model provide?