The Basics of Business Expenses

Every business has expenses. The good news, however, is that many of these expenses can be deducted, thereby lowering a business’s taxes. If you run a business, then you’ll definitely want to educate yourself on what qualifies as a deductible business expense. That way, you can safely get all the deductions available to you and benefit from them as well!  

Business Expenses Defined

Business expenses can be defined as anything that is an “ordinary and necessary” expense for your business. Basically, if you have to have something for your business and everyone else in your line of work does and would too, then it probably counts as a business expense.

However, what type of business expense it qualifies as and whether or not it’s deductible is dependent on a few different factors, which is why it’s always best to have a tax professional look over and handle your business expense deductions to make sure you’re doing everything correctly.

Business Expenses Vs. Personal Expenses

One of the things that you really have to be careful of is keeping business expenses and personal expenses separate. Of course, this can be hard when an expense is….well…kind of both. When you have a home office, for example, you have to go through some major steps to figure out which “percentage” of your home the offices takes up and, thus, how much you can deduct for related business expenses.

It can get pretty crazy trying to separate the two, which is another reason why a qualified financial adviser is such a great tool to have on your side. In fact, when it comes to separating business and personal expenses appropriately and ensuring that you get as many deductions as possible, there is no better resource than a financial adviser.