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RLJ Financial Services, Inc.

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RLJ Financial Services, Inc.

Straight answers. Friendly service. Practical help with taxes, accounting, payroll, and business questions. RLJ Financial Services, Inc.

Visit us at: www.rljfinancial.com
Or give us a call: (209) 538-7758 located in Ceres CA is dedicated to leading small business and individuals to success. Our passion is to serve our clients with a top-quality team, supported by exceptional resources and unique services including Tax Preparation, Tax Reduction Strategies, Payroll, and many more. Our firm’s core values are Faith, Family, Integrity, Trust, and Honesty. We truly enjoy helping clients with tax reduction strategies and assisting with organizing all their financial matters, including, tax, estate, and legacy planning.

10/06/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮 𝗪-𝟵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿?

You should collect a signed W-9 while you’re still actively paying the contractor, rather than trying to track them down afterward.

One practical approach you could implement is a no W-9, no check policy once a contractor reaches $500 in payments.

You can also run a year-to-date vendor payment report to see which contractors are getting close to $600 and check whether you already have their W-9s on file.

If you’re finding gaps in your contractor records, don’t wait until year-end to deal with them. Comment below 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 and we can help you get everything organized.

10/06/2026

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗜𝗥𝗦 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀?

Getting retroactive S corp status fixes your business tax classification, but it doesn't erase back penalties.

To the IRS, these are two completely separate files:
• 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 fixes 𝘸𝘩𝘰 you are for tax purposes (granting you retroactive S corp status from the date you intended).
• 𝗜𝗥𝗦 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 are triggered by 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (filing tax returns late, missing payroll tax deposits, or paying late).

Approving one does not automatically cancel the other.

The good news is, you can still request separate penalty abatement to get those IRS fines taken care of.

Comment 𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦 to see if you qualify for penalty relief.

10/03/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗿?

Your payroll total can get out of sync with your books when certain transactions aren’t recorded correctly.

A few places to look for the mistake:
• Manual checks
• Voided paychecks
• Third-party sick pay
• Unrecorded fringe benefits

Pull your year-to-date payroll summary and general ledger report and compare them side by side.

If you find a difference, just don’t carry it forward. Make it a habit to check your payroll summary against your general ledger regularly.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴: 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦?

10/03/2026

𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗥𝗦 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼?

No, federal approval doesn't necessarily mean your state will recognize the same S corp treatment.

That’s because your federal election and your state tax treatment are separate. Some states follow the federal election automatically, while others require their own election, filing, or payment.

So after your federal election is approved, let us help check your state’s rules to see whether anything else still needs to be filed or corrected.

10/03/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲?

You can deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses, which reduce your taxable net income dollar-for-dollar.

Some of the bigger deductions to check for include:
• Home office expenses
• Business mileage
• Self-employed health insurance premiums
• The business portion of your phone and internet
• Software, web hosting, cloud storage, and other business tools

But having the expense isn't always enough. You also need the records to back it up.

Vehicle mileage is a good example. An end-of-year estimate can put your entire mileage deduction at risk if you don't have a detailed log showing the dates, miles driven, and business purpose.

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?

10/02/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?

Start with one small move:
• Cancel a subscription you forgot about.
• Sell something around the house you’re not using.
• Pick up a little extra work this month (and set aside part of what you earn for taxes).

If payments toward an IRS tax debt are stretching your budget, comment below. We can review your payment options and see whether one fits your situation better.

10/02/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?

If cash feels tight in your business, start by collecting money that's already owed to you.

Here are three places you can start:
1. Audit monthly software and vendor subscriptions, and cancel whatever isn't bringing in revenue or saving time.
2. Send follow-ups on overdue invoices past 15 days (uncollected money is an interest-free loan you're giving away).
3. Offer an add-on service to active clients, which takes less effort than landing a new customer.

Cash flow problems are usually a system issue, not a personal failure.

Comment below if you want another set of eyes on your expenses and unpaid invoices.

10/01/2026

A customer payment should appear in your books once.

If you've already recorded an invoice payment or sales receipt in QuickBooks Online, categorizing the downloaded bank deposit as new sales can duplicate the income. Before accepting the bank feed entry, look for the existing record and confirm the match.

For Modesto and Ceres business owners reviewing income that looks too high, this is a useful place to start. Our article explains how duplicate deposits happen and what else to review when your QuickBooks numbers look wrong.

Read the article:
https://rljfinancial.com/2026/09/30/how-to-fix-common-quickbooks-online-problems-modesto-small-business-owners-face/

10/01/2026

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱?

It depends on how you reported the income on your personal return while the election was missing.

If you already filed your personal return consistently with S corp status, you generally don't need to amend it once the IRS grants retroactive approval.

But if you reported the income under a default entity status (like Schedule C) you will need to amend your personal return.

So, start by pulling your personal return and checking how the business income was reported. Then compare that with the S corp return and the effective date you're asking the IRS to recognize.

Comment 𝗙𝗜𝗫 below if you want us to step in and help you clear this up for your business.

10/01/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗲𝗻𝗱?

You should start reviewing your payroll records before Q3 closes so that you have time to catch problems while you can still address them.

A few things to check now:
1. Do your payroll reports match your general ledger?
2. Are any manual or voided checks creating discrepancies?
3. Do you have the right information on file for your contractors?
4. Are your payroll wage categories recorded correctly?

You have a three-month buffer to get those records cleaned up before December 31.

And if you want help reviewing the numbers, don’t hesitate to reach out (especially before Q4 gets too far along).

Address

1788 Mitchell Road, Ste 102
Ceres, CA
95307

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 4pm

Website

https://rljfinancial.com/

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