Yes, $70k bottom line profit is a good starting point to know whether the time and additional expense to move to a corp will be worth your trouble.

And you should move to an S Corporation almost always. The C Corporation wouldn’t offer you the tax benefits you are looking for.

No, you can’t expense your time for installations (unless you pay yourself payroll). As a general rule, the IRS only lets you expense stuff you paid in cash. That is, if you didn’t pay for something, then you don’t get a deduction (curse the scurge of the IRS!).

Jason Blumer

Thanks,

Chuck Roberson
http://www.ChuckthePoolGuy.com

What I meant by the “charge what you are worth” is simply a restatement of some downfalls we’ve seen in the creative community.

There often seem to be a lack of courage to properly determine your price and then stick with that price (even to the end of possibly losing a potential client).

Truly, we can’t serve everyone. So determine who you want to serve, determine your proper market price and don’t waffle.

It is subjective – we just want people to know who they are, who they serve, what they are good at, and then get paid properly for it.

NO MORE STARVING ARTISTS!

Your points are very good, Ben, and I appreciate them!

Jason Blumer

I’ve always kind of wondered what this even means. Seems like a more useful dictum is: “Charge enough to cover your costs and make a profit”, which of course implies another dictum: “Properly understand your costs.”

Maybe you meant the same thing essentially, but whenever I hear “what you’re worth” it sounds a little too fuzzy-wuzzy-subjective to me.

And since the rates one charges are the biggest determinant of one’s bottom line, I think it’s pretty fundamental to get them right.