United States · Business finance
Nine plain-English guides for people who own the business — written without the jargon, the upsell, or the pretence that any of it is simple.
Start here
If you read nothing else, read these. Structure decides your liability and your tax bill; cash flow decides whether you survive a good year.
Structure & Setup
Which entity actually protects your personal assets, what each one costs to run, and when the S-corp election starts paying for itself.
Read the guide →Tax
The layers of tax a business owner pays, why self-employment tax surprises people, and how quarterly estimated payments work.
Read the guide →Planning
Reading a P&L and balance sheet, the working capital cycle, and the forecast that prevents most cash emergencies.
Read the guide →All guides
Every guide is self-contained and cross-linked. Start anywhere.
Business structures
Which entity actually protects your personal assets, what each one costs to run, and when the S-corp election starts paying for itself.
02How business income is taxed
The layers of tax a business owner pays, why self-employment tax surprises people, and how quarterly estimated payments work.
03Deductions & records
What is genuinely deductible, how the home office and vehicle rules work, and the records you need to keep to defend any of it.
Business loans
The main forms of business borrowing, what underwriters look at, and how to read the true cost of an offer.
05Business credit
How business credit files are created, which agencies matter, and the realistic sequence for building a profile that lowers your borrowing costs.
Commercial leases
Gross versus triple net, the charges hidden behind “base rent”, escalation clauses, and the terms worth negotiating hardest.
07Buying vs leasing
How commercial mortgages differ from home loans, the real cost of ownership, and the conditions under which buying beats renting.
Before you rely on any of it