During May 2025, the Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5814 which added certain services to the definition of retail sales for purposes of the Washington State sales tax. Historically, Washington State Sales Taxes have applied only to goods, and there were exceptions to that, such as exempting groceries, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. […]
Archive | Planning
Economic Update 2025
Are we going into a recession? Are we already in one? What will be the impact of Trump’s tariffs? Here are some observations. Recently, I’ve noticed more companies that I deal with are struggling. Some a little and some a lot. I see this typically in the monthly financial reviews that are the cornerstone of […]
The Coming Recession
At this point, it seems that a Recession starting in 2025 is almost inevitable. The media and pundits are almost unanimous in this forecast. Given my record of predicting five of the past two recessions, I’m hesitant to predict another, but I have to agree with everyone else. I’ve read one report that blamed the […]
Million Dollar Idea
With all the people and organizations who want time and money from us, how can we decide which people and organizations to spend our time and money with? And, let’s face it, we are constantly inundated with those wanting our time and money. Be it a course, an event, a book to read, a seminar, […]
The Covid Hangover
In response to Covid, the federal government rolled out a number of programs to help stabilize the economy. The most well known was the PPP, or Payroll Protection Program of loans, most of which were forgiven, making them grants. PPP loans probably did protect payrolls and it certainly put a lot of money into business […]
Are We Going to Have a Recession?
Are we going to have a recession? Of course, the only question is when. Here’s my prediction: It has already started. The statistics that will confirm this are a lagging indicator; we’ll learn this summer that it started in May. I wouldn’t be so sure but the Fed’s efforts to stop inflation seem to guarantee […]
What Are We Hiring the Office to Do?
What are we hiring the office to do? That’s a question asked by the CEO of a large investor in commercial office spaces. That’s also a question that CEOs of businesses large and small are asking right about now. Proponents of going back to pre-pandemic conditions are arguing that we are hiring the office to […]
Post Pandemic, Part 2
This is the second part of my thoughts on post-pandemic workplaces, management, company structures and company cultures. Last week I gave you my general thoughts, including my recommended approach to business owners trying to figure out the combination of going back to pre-pandemic norms while adopting new approaches learned over the last 15 months. Briefly, […]
Post Pandemic, Part 1
We’re coming out of the pandemic and it seems to be happening very fast. For business owners, what’s next? The consensus is that the pandemic acted as an accelerant to trends that were already underway. What the pandemic did was accelerate those trends about ten years in the space of about 15 months. To me, […]
This Time of Year
This time of year, we businesspeople are typically working on next year’s budget and year-end tax planning. During December 2020, most of us are adding Covid concerns and PPP Loan Forgiveness to our usual year-end list. Let’s briefly talk about each of these items. Budgets While Covid brought a whole new world for many, and […]