Category: Business Resources

For most of the year, focusing on running your business can take priority over focusing on your taxes. As a result, it can be easy to put off filing your taxes, especially this year, given the many new challenges that business owners are facing. With Tax Day looming, if you haven’t done your business taxes, the last-minute scramble to track down paperwork and crunch numbers can feel overwhelming. Especially if you’re new to running a business. If you’re one of the many last-minute tax filers out there, we want to help by sharing a few tax planning strategies to help you save time, reduce the stress of filing, avoid costly mistakes, and make the process easier next time around.

Running a small business is a balancing act. On the one hand, you’ve got to focus on your bottom line. On the other hand, you need to support the well-being of the employees that keep your business going. You can do both by finding ways to support your workers’ financial wellness. Particularly now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers of all sizes are recognizing the importance of helping their workforce stay financially fit. Experience has shown that financially secure employees are more productive and dependable. If you want to boost your employees’ financial wellness – and your bottom line – these employee-friendly tax strategies are a great start.

Paying employees by direct deposit is a win-win. If you’re an employer, completing payroll electronically – via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions – gives you more control over disbursements, saves time, and helps eliminate the costs associated with paper paychecks. Meanwhile, your employees can be sure their paychecks arrive on time, don’t have to worry about lost or stolen checks, and don’t need to run to the bank every payday. However, because ACH transactions are so common, and highly automated, they’re definitely a target of criminals. In this article, we provide tips for keeping your business safe.

As the owner of a small business, day-to-day operations keep you busy. Whether you're attending to your customers' needs or planning a new product launch, cybercriminals count on these and other necessary tasks to distract you from noticing their nefarious activities. Fortunately, you can protect your business from falling victim to cybertheft — including business wire fraud — by taking a few simple steps.

What’s the cost of doing business? For many businesses, answering that question is harder than it seems. The process for handling expenses varies from one business to the next, and many business owners have less control of expenditures than they’d like. This can lead to wasteful spending and other losses, potential cash flow problems, and a greater administrative burden. If you want…

If you’ve built a business or helped it grow, there’s one thing you can take for granted: You’re good at your job. It’s how you’ve gotten this far. But there’s something else you should know too. Amid the economic turbulence and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, your business’s success depends on far more than your professional expertise. Whether you’re a service provider, farmer, or…

Sometimes, staying highly efficient can come at a price. That’s one of the hard lessons that businesses learned during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many extra-efficient supply chains temporarily seized up as a result of reduced manufacturing activity, changing consumer demand, and distribution and transportation delays. Global supply chains are more complex than ever, and they’re designed for efficiency…

The marketplace is constantly changing. So when it comes to supporting the long-term success of your business, few things are more important than learning to adapt to new market conditions. It’s all about agility. But let’s be honest: Business owners crave stability. After all, once they’ve developed the skills and products to compete in their market, why would they want to continuously…

The low interest rate environment that currently exists in the United States is a double-edged sword.  On one side, it’s an opportunity for businesses to borrow money at a low interest rate making it easier to expand, purchase equipment or invest in new income earning assets.  But, businesses with a low leverage (i.e. few loans) or strong cash liquidity are penalized with little or no interest earned on the deposits they keep in bank accounts.  The good news is there are opportunities for business owners to maximize earnings on their cash.  Ephrata National Bank has compiled a list of 6 opportunities that could result in your money working harder for you.

A lack of funds to pay for direct expenses is one of the most significant challenges facing the non-profit sector. But non-profit organizations who provide patrons with an online giving option might have a better chance of achieving their annual giving benchmarks. Reducing the time frame between when a donor commits to giving and when they actually give is crucial to successful fundraising campaigns. When someone signs a donor card without providing the donation, there's always a chance they'll change their mind.