Assess Your 2024 Financial Position

Before diving into taxes, take a step back and assess your overall financial position. Gather your bank statements, investment accounts, and any financial documents you have accumulated throughout the year. Analyze your income sources, expenses, and savings. Ask yourself:

Did I meet my financial goals this year?

What were my biggest expenses, and can I reduce them?

Did I manage my debt effectively?

This reflection will not only give you insights into your financial habits but also help you identify areas for improvement in the upcoming year.

Review Your Current Tax Plan

Once you have a clear picture of your financials, it’s time to evaluate your current finances and tax plan. Understanding how taxes impact your overall financial health is critical, especially as tax laws can change. Here are some key steps to organize your planning exercise:

Gather Documentation: Compile all necessary documents, such as W-2s, 1099s, receipts and categorization or explanation for deductible expenses. Having everything organized will streamline the filing process and help you catch any potential deductions.

Maximize Deductions and Credits: Look into available deductions and credits that you might qualify for. This could include contributions to retirement accounts, educational expenses, or home office deductions. Every bit helps to reduce your taxable income.

Evaluate Your Tax Withholding: Check your paycheck withholding. If you received a large refund this year, you might be overpaying throughout the year. Conversely, if you owed money, consider adjusting your withholding to avoid a surprise next tax season.

Plan for Capital Gains: If you’ve sold investments this year, be mindful of capital gains taxes. Understanding your investment performance can lead to strategic decisions, such as tax-loss harvesting, to offset any gains.

Setting Financial Goals for 2025

With a clearer understanding of your current financial situation and tax plan, it’s time to set actionable financial goals for the new year. Whether it’s saving for a major purchase, investing more aggressively, or reducing debt, having specific goals will keep you focused. Here are some tips to help you set and achieve your financial goals:

Be Specific: Define your goals clearly. Instead of saying, “I want to save money,” specify an amount and a timeline, such as “I want to save $5,000 by June 2025.”

Create a Budget: Develop a budget that aligns with your goals. This will help you track your progress and make necessary adjustments throughout the year.

Automate Savings: Consider setting up automatic transfers to a savings account or retirement plan. Automating your savings can help you stay disciplined and prevent the temptation to spend.

Investigate Potential Programs: Reach out to your Americore representative to discover which programs such as R&D Funding Programs you could integrate now or in 2025 to free up cash and/or save on taxes.

Talk to a Professional for Help

If managing your finances and taxes feels overwhelming, don’t hesitate to seek professional assistance. A financial planner can provide tailored advice based on your unique situation. They can help you optimize your financial strategies and ensure you’re making the most of your resources.

Final Thoughts as 2024 Winds Down

As you wrap up your financials and tax plan, remember that the end of the year is not just a time for reflection but a chance to set the stage for the future. By taking proactive steps now, you can start 2025 with a solid financial foundation, equipped to reach your goals. Embrace the opportunity for growth and make this upcoming year your best yet!

In summary, wrapping up your financials and reviewing your tax plan is essential for a fresh start. Assess your financial position, evaluate your tax strategy, set clear goals, and don’t hesitate to seek professional help. With these steps, you’ll be well-prepared to face the new year with confidence and clarity.

First, Let’s Clear Up Who I Am Not.

I am not the Dennis Bays warrior invite in Evansville Indiana.  While I am always impressed by people who commit to a goal and then compete to meet it, I did not create this event halfway across the country.  Don’t let that stop you this August, if you want to enter it in 2023. Also, I am not the Dennis Bays in Ohio who is a tank inspector.  Good work, Ohio Dennis Bays; keep it up.  And though as an owner of my own firm, I too sometimes feel like chief bottle washer, I am not the Dennis Bays with that job description.  That Dennis Bays is in Washington in the oil and energy industry. 

Now Lets Cover Who I Am.

I am the Dennis Bays of Americore Group in Agoura Hills, CA who runs a Financial Advisory Firm.  If you already know just what a financial advisory firm is, go on to the next paragraph.  I get this question a lot, so let me just cover this to keep things straight. A financial advisory firm has expertise in one or more investment areas and provides guidance for an individual’s unique financial situation-Investopedia. Americore reviews a situation, assess multiple relevant factors and reveals an option or options that will be best for the individual or company’s overall success. 

At Americore Group, I have spent years honing my skills for helping small and mid-sized businesses discover and utilize legitimate, available funds to facilitate growing and prospering.

I Don’t Replace Your Current Consultant; I Work with Them.

Keep your current consultant team.  As a financial advisory firm, Americore does not replace your current team of advisors and consultants.  Americore, works with them.  We are interested is helping you find long term financial success and goal achievement.  To do this, we facilitate access to make-sense programs available to you.  Businesses rarely take advantage of these programs .  But Dennis Bays of Americore has spent years learning how to help businesses use these programs.

What Programs Are We Talking About?

We really should have a conversation about this.  We spend years intimately learning beneficial programs, and while they do change over time, we know their language.  With that said, many businesses don’t know how to complete the forms.  They ultimately get denied program access due to a technicality or misstatement.  Since we understand the programs, we understand the application questions and can walk you through the entire process.   

We’re Talking About Dennis Bays Personal Commitment.

For years, I’ve grown and helped sell businesses, worked with banks, CPA’s and attorneys.  I’ve funded over 150 businesses over the years, helped with exit and sell situations and with structuring sales to avoid or mitigate capital gain taxes. 

After working with businesses for decades, I have learned similar patterns and wisdom that apply to other businesses. That wisdom is probably the most valuable asset I have gained and it can benefit my clients.  I constantly discover great programs to help business owners earn more, while paying less in taxes, legitimately. My goal is to help more, because they work so hard to protect their employees, and their family, we want them to keep as much of the money they earn as legally permitted. And those funds are more than business owners realize. 

Contact us for your no obligation or cost analysis of your financial position to learn what advantages are available for your benefit. Don’t put this off.  Saving those dollars today means growth in your retirement account.

Americore regularly works with a business’ existing team, their CPAs and Financial Planners. We also work with lenders like regional banks, investment banks, inventory and equipment lenders to bring improved liquidity to our clients’ businesses. We are a well-capitalized organization. Our nimble organizational structure offers clients and referral sources direct access to principals and decision makers.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Dennis comes from a family rich with entrepreneurial spirit. His father had a law firm and real estate brokerage firm among other businesses. Since Dennis Bays was a teen he has owned several of his own businesses, even while earning a W-2 salary in corporate America. Along the way, he discovered a love for the entrepreneurs of our country and has funded well over $100,000,000 for other businesses.

As for why he loves entrepreneurs, Dennis responded, “they’re the secret sauce… They create opportunities and industries; they give most of the rest of us opportunities to work. ”    

The Tax Code is NOT just for the Rich.

But many entrepreneurs seem to be facing a disparity. Taxes are considered an unavoidable liability. Still, we’ve all seen news reports of fortune 500 companies who don’t pay them. We’ve also seen billions of dollars handed out of government programs to those same big companies. The thing is, “the tax code is written for all businesses.”  And tax savings programs are NOT just for the “big guys”.

Sadly, while small businesspeople are focused on growing their small to mid-sized businesses, they miss opportunities. The fortune 500 companies have teams of professionals spending their days in finding and leveraging those same wealth building programs.

Tax Incentives for your Business

Tax incentives have become a way for the government to stimulate certain business  activities. Small businesses are often performing the same activities the rich are getting paid to carry out. Regrettably, the government is not great at promoting those programs to more businesses.

Americore makes it their business even the playing field for activities the government wants to encourage, even in small businesses. Since the government wants to foster these behaviors, they aren’t looking to punish businesses for using the related  program.

Still businesses hesitate to take advantage of available benefits. Whether it stems from unfamiliarity with the programs or incorrectly completed paperwork many entrepreneurs are missing out. By working with small to midsize businesses to correctly complete program documentation, Americore facilitates use existing program in the tax code.

As Dennis Likes to say, “CPAs help you with the [tax] loopholes; we help you with the programs.”  These are not just tax reductions or write offs. These are programs that release money set aside for certain government encouraged business activities.

Examples of Some of Dennis Bays’ Favorite Programs

You may wonder what type of activities the government rewards. You’ll be familiar with some, but we’ll go over a few anyway.

Everyone knows if you buy a house there is a mortgage interest credit. The government offers this tax break because a neighborhood with more homeowners is a more stable neighborhood than one with transient renters.

If you buy an electric car or solar panels for your home, the government will offer tax credits because they want the country to reduce carbon emissions.

For businesses who are looking for more better products or more efficient operation methods, there is an R&D credit. If you hire certain workers or have a business in a certain zip code, the government might help with your business costs.

There is also a program for employee healthcare insurance. If you offer health insurance to your employees, you can receive up to $2500 a year per employee.

These are just a few of many more programs out there, designed to encourage certain behavior.

Americore can help your business benefit from many of the same programs the “big guys” use. Call our office at 747-224-8110 or contact us here. Tell your Americore Group representative  what you’re looking for, and we’ll tell you how we think we can help you make that happen.