Michael Rose CPA PC

10/10/2026

⚠️ Money is one of the most consistently cited sources of stress in America.

For caregivers, that weight often increases! 😮

Having a clearer picture of where things stand can help ease some of the uncertainty that makes financial stress feel heaviest in the first place.

There's no clean solution to money stress.

Most of it is caused by the unknown. The uncertainty.

World Mental Health Day recognizes just how deeply finances can impact our well-being (and vice versa).

If financial stress has been sitting in the background of your life this year, a conversation with a professional can go a long way, be it a mental health professional or a financial professional. Pursuing comfort, understanding, and compassion is a team sport.

10/09/2026

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to prioritize health.

Early detection through regular screenings is one of the most effective tools we have in the fight against breast cancer.

Here are a few small things we can do this October:

✅ Schedule your annual screening if you haven't yet

✅ Educate yourself and others on risk factors and preventative lifestyle habits

✅ Support research and organizations dedicated to advancing breast cancer prevention and care

Taking charge of your health today makes all the difference for tomorrow. 🎗️

10/09/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁?

Your 2026 schedule is based on the payroll tax liability your business reported during an earlier four-quarter period, called the 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥. For businesses that file Form 941, it runs from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

To check which schedule applies to you in 2026, add up Line 12 on your Forms 941 for:
• Q3 and Q4 of 2024
• Q1 and Q2 of 2025

If the total is $50,000 or less, you’re generally a monthly depositor. If it’s over $50,000, you’re a semiweekly depositor.

If your schedule changed and you kept depositing on the old one, you may have incurred failure-to-deposit penalties.

Unsure which schedule applies, or already facing a penalty? Message us. We can check your filings and deposits, then review whether penalty relief is available.

10/08/2026

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀?

Yes, we can review a return you’ve already filed, even if someone else prepared it, to check for deductions or credits you may have missed.

If we find something, we can amend your return to claim what was missed.

It won’t apply in every situation. But if something looks off on one of your past returns, schedule an appointment and we can review it with you.

10/07/2026

September brought a rebound in private sector hiring, with employers adding 90,000 jobs, according to ADP. That's more than the 68,000 economists expected and well above August's revised gain of 36,000.

🏥 Education and health services led the way with 55,000 new jobs, followed by leisure and hospitality (22,000), manufacturing (17,000), and construction (15,000).

Not every industry shared in the gains. Financial activities lost 16,000 jobs, while professional and business services shed 11,000.

Pay continued to grow, too, with base pay rising 3.2% and gross pay increasing 4.7% from a year earlier.

The report offers another look at the labor market as the Federal Reserve weighs employment trends alongside persistent inflation.

Private job creation picked up in September after a brief slowdown.

10/07/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀?

Pull a year-to-date payroll summary and your general ledger report.

Then compare:
• Gross wages: Make sure total gross pay on your payroll summary equals the wage expense accounts in your GL.
• Payroll liabilities: Check that unpaid employee tax withholdings and deductions on your balance sheet match the outstanding balances on your payroll report.
• Employer payroll expenses: Verify that employer-paid taxes (F**A, FUTA, SUTA) and company contributions on your GL match your payroll summary totals.

Also watch for manual checks, voided paychecks, third-party sick pay, or unrecorded fringe benefits. (These are common culprits behind unexpected mismatches.)

If the numbers don’t line up, investigate now. Waiting until year-end leaves you digging through 12 months of historical data right when W-2 deadlines hit.

10/07/2026

There's a reason so many women business owners half-joke that their real title is "everything."

More women than ever are starting and running businesses, and they're doing it at a faster clip than the market overall.

Census data show women now own more than 14 million businesses nationwide, a number that's grown 26 percent since 2012, compared with 19 percent growth for businesses as a whole.

A lot of that growth is happening online, where women-owned businesses tend to be more digitally integrated than those owned by men.

It also means millions of women are managing key decisions from scratch:

💼 How income gets paid (salary, distributions, or owner draws) and what that means at budget time

💼 Which retirement vehicle fits, and how much room there is to contribute

💼 How healthcare, disability, and other insurance get sourced without an employer default

💼 How the business gets valued, and what a sale or transition would actually look like

💼 How personal finances stay untangled from the business's finances

Wearing a tall stack of hats doesn't make entrepreneurship harder than it's worth. Plenty of women running these businesses would say the trade-offs are part of the deal. But it does mean the hats keep stacking up, one on top of the other.

This month is a good time to tip our own hats to the women doing it all at once.

10/06/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹?

Turns out, some entrepreneurs are building pretty big businesses with very small teams.

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭?

Inc. 5000 CEOs and workforce experts explain why the fastest-growing companies view AI as a tool to support employees, not cut payroll.

10/05/2026

The U.S. economy grew faster than previously estimated in the second quarter, with consumer spending and business investment contributing to the stronger performance.

The Commerce Department revised annualized GDP growth for April through June to 2.2%, up from its previous estimate of 1.5%.

Consumer spending, which accounts for approximately 70% of U.S. economic activity, was a major contributor. It increased at a 3.8% annualized rate, compared with just 0.7% in the first quarter.

While the upward revision exceeded economists' expectations, second-quarter growth was still below the 2.5% pace recorded during the first three months of 2026.

The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.2% pace from April through June as consumer spending and business investment came in strong.

10/05/2026

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻?

Yes. Contributing pre-tax earnings to a Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA directly reduces your taxable income for the year.

Here's how those options compare:
• A Solo 401(k) lets you contribute as both employee 𝘢𝘯𝘥 employer. You can save a lot more, even if your profit is under $100,000.
• A SEP IRA is employer-funded only. It offers less contribution flexibility at lower income levels, but is easy to set up without much ongoing paperwork.

𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: pre-tax retirement contributions can lower your federal and state income tax liability, but they don't reduce your 15.3% self-employment tax.

Unsure which plan gives you the biggest tax savings? Send us a message and we can help you calculate the best fit.