Tax & Business Insights

There’s a term in competitive gaming called “Elo hell”. The phrase comes from the Elo ranking system, which was originally created for chess matches in an attempt to match players of similar skillsets to play against each other. The ranking system has since been used by participants in board games, sports leagues, and a number […]

“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” ― Mark Twain I’m a big proponent of tracking key metrics in your business. (For those unfamiliar with the term, a metric is simply a quantifiable measure that businesses use to track, monitor and assess the success or failure of various business processes). A large portion of my […]

Nearly seven years ago I started “Micah Fraim, CPA” on a bit of a whim. As I’ve noted to many of you along the way, I started with $2,000 in the bank, no clients, and next to no contacts. I spent half of that money on the laptop and software I needed and hoped for […]

“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.” – Richard P. Feynman Hardly anyone is fully content with their current situation – least of all entrepreneurs. If you ask 100 business owners, even those […]

“They used to tell me I was building a dream With peace and glory ahead Why should I be standing in line Just waiting for bread?   Once I built a railroad, I made it run Made it race against time Once I built a railroad, now it’s done Brother, can you spare a dime?” […]

A few years ago, I did a string of articles talking about the importance of charging appropriately. They talked about how customer loyalty can sometimes be fleeting, how low prices can diminish perceived value and the volume of customers you get, and how low prices can attract the wrong type of customers. In the last […]

One of my favorite things in music is when one artist samples another artist’s work. (“Sampling” means taking a portion of an existing song and using that as an element of a new song.) Musicians in all genres do this, but you seem to see it the most in R&B and hip-hop. The sample can […]

“I can do that myself. I don’t need to hire someone else to do it.” How often have you heard the above statement? Someone is capable of doing a task themselves, so they don’t want the “unnecessary” expense of hiring someone else to do it for them. And in some situations, that’s perfectly reasonable. For […]

“I don’t care about money. I’m focused on other people” “My business is about helping others, not profit” “My company has a mission to do good. I’m not worried about the bottom line” There’s nothing wrong with being altruistic. Helping others is one of the single most worthwhile things we can pursue. And it is […]

“You should be stronger than me You’ve been here seven years longer than me Don’t you know you supposed to be the man? Not pale in comparison to who you think I am You should be stronger than me But instead you’re longer than frozen turkey Why’d you always put me in control? All I […]

A few years ago, I wrote an article on gold and the fallacy of so-called “safe” investments. One of the major points in that article was that (over the long-term) “low risk” investments can be very expensive because of opportunity cost. Compounding interest is powerful, and the change of a few percentage points of return […]

Every year, I have (nearly) countless conversations with clients about how they can reduce their tax bills. And, obviously, that is a big part of the expertise we provide and the service for which they pay us. When we meet, at least half of the conversation centers around legal tax maneuvers they can make to reduce their […]

“Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more.” – Ray Charles   I fire clients. Not with great frequency, and not on a whim. But I do fire them – and more often than you […]

“I’d like to pick your brain. Let me take you out for a beer” – many generally well-meaning individuals A few articles ago I talked about how everyone loves to give advice – irrespective of whether they have any idea what they are talking about or not. Most people love to pontificate to anyone who […]

“We don’t know what it was but we had it We don’t where it went but we lost it And it may never come back again but I sure wish it would We don’t know what it was but it sure was good” – George Jones and Tammy Wynette – “It Sure Was Good” A lot […]

Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Trump/GOP Tax Plan) Congress recently passed the most comprehensive tax reform in three decades. And suddenly, I’m a popular guy. People who would normally cross to the other side of the street when seeing a CPA approaching them, or who would avoid me at parties – fearing […]

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me Deep, dark depression, excessive misery If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all Gloom, despair, and agony on me” – From the TV Show “Hee-Haw” In the last article we talked about how viewing our gifts and abilities as inordinately spectacular can be damaging. We […]

“‘Normal’ is the cruelest of all insults” ― Mike Snelle That quote embodies the perspective that most of us have. No one wants to be typical. No one wants to be a simple cog in the machine. No one wants to be a faceless blob indistinguishable from the masses. All of us want to be unique. […]

“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it’s someone else’s witch being hunted.” ― Walter Kirn Every single one of us is guilty of some kind of hypocrisy. Try as we might to avoid double standards, we will all have some. After all, we’re only human. But the double standards that fascinate me are the […]

“Advice is a peculiar commodity. Those who have the capacity to give good advice generally have too much sense to waste their time trying to get rid of it.” – William H. McMaster In our last article we talked about the epidemic of “Rent-A-Friend”-style business/career coaches – those people who give nothing but vague and generic […]

Leslie: “No Ann, please. I beg of you. Will you just shut your beautiful pie-hole? Just sit there, let me stare at you while you silently support me on this game plan.” Ann: “Leslie…” Leslie: “Shh, Ann! Your quiet support means the world to me, as well as your tacit endorsement of all my behaviors.” […]

“To love his maker, for he was SELF-MADE! Self-made, self-trained, self-willed, self-satisfied, He was himself, his daily boast and pride.” – “Two Millions” by William Allen Butler Last year I went to a conference at which most of the speakers were fairly big time authors, coaches, and online marketers. In practice, those speakers are people […]

“I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French.” – Charles de Gaulle Most of the people who walk into my office work. And work very hard. They put in long hours, come up with innovative solutions, […]

“Debt can be a very good thing. The calculations are pretty simple. Some people just seem to think I’m lying to them with math.” –  Me (Micah Fraim) –  just now People hate debt. It is almost universally viewed as negative – and in many cases with good reason. Certain kinds of debt (high interest […]