School of Business Level Two Courses

The following courses are available in Level Two:

B201...Sole Proprietorship

The purpose of this course is to demonstrate that knowing the U.S. tax code for sole proprietorships will not only save you money from the tax man, but force you to implement business processes that will greatly increase your chances for success. The subjects addressed in this course are:

Definitions Tax Obligations and Forms Accounting Periods and Methods Disposing of Business Property General Business Credits

Types of Income Cost of Goods Sold Figuring Gross Profit Business Expenses Figuring Net Profit or Loss

By the end of this course, you should know the basic structure of how to file taxes for the Sole Proprietor business format and how to keep the documentation necessary to achieve the lowest tax liability.

B202...Partnerships

It is the purpose of this course to give you the knowledge to properly start a partnership, how to keep the proper documentation, avoid the pitfalls many people make, and disposition of your partnership interest. The topics we shall discuss include:

• Forming a partnership
• Partnership distributions
• Transactions Between the Partnership and Partners
• Tracking Basis
• Terminating a partnership

B203...S-Corporations

S corporations continue to be a very popular form of doing business. In fact, S corporations now account for over 62% of all corporate returns. Whereas a full C corporation is treated as a separate entity under the law, the S corporation is a hybrid legal form of business. It combines the legal structure of a regular C corporation with the income/loss pass-through properties of the partnership, which can give significant tax savings to the small business person and eliminate double taxation.

By the end of this course, you should learn:

• The difference between a C corporation, S corporation, and partnerships legal structure
• Whether the S corporation is right for your business
• The types of records you need to keep track of for an S corporation
• The tax reporting requirements for an S corporation
• How pass-through entities affect your personal taxes

B204...Limited Liability Companies

This course provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of operating your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). The LLC, a hybrid of the partnership and the corporation, has become a popular legal alternative for small business owners. Originating more than 30 years ago and now available in all states, the LLC combines the benefits of limited liability and pass through taxation, much like an S corporation. But the LLC's legal structure is much looser, allowing many companies that find S corporation status too restrictive to take advantage of its benefits.

LLCs solve one of the major problems with sole proprietorships and partnerships: the owners/partners are personally responsible for all of the debts of the business. The LLC offers the positive corporate characteristics of limited liability with the positive passthrough tax treatment of partnerships. It also offers owners substantial management and operational flexibility.

B205...C-Corporations

Coming in December 2009

B210...Independent Contractors vs. Employees

It is believed that in the U.S. there is currently a $345 billion tax gap – the difference between what taxpayers owe and what they actually pay. Since Congress only knows how to spend more money each year, they have put pressure on the Internal Revenue Service to aggressively reduce that gap. The purpose of this course is to give you an understanding of principles you need to use to make the proper determination for your business and avoid audits or penalties from improper compliance. In this course, we shall cover:

• How to identify the distinctions between employees and independent contractors;
• Discussing what the IRS uses to determine the proper classification;
• Describing what the IRS is doing to counter payroll tax evasion;
• What happens if you misclassify employees as independent contractors; and
• Special situations that affect tax exemptions or payments.