Entrepreneurs should not miss the opportunity to build and maintain credit both individually and as a business owner. It’s important if you want to grow your business and not rely on your personal credit to do it. The reality is very few business owners actually understand how to establish business credit.
Trade credit is the term used to refer to credit that one business extends to another. Information about trade credit transactions is gathered by the business credit bureaus to create your business credit report. These are some of the major credit bureaus that compile these reports:
- Paydex from Dun & Bradstreet
- Experian Business
- Equifax Business
- Business Credit USA
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to employee theft and embezzlement because of generally lax internal controls. According to Marquet International’s 2011 report, the most common embezzlement scheme involved the issuance of forged or unauthorized company checks. The report also revealed that nearly three-quarters of the incidents studied were committed by employees who held finance/bookkeeping and accounting positions.
What can small business owners do to prevent embezzlement in their business?
Pre-Screen new employees
One of the best ways to prevent to employee theft is to ensure that all new employees are carefully pre-screened. In addition to conducting a background and credit check on new employees, small business owners should make a point of speaking to former employers.
Make vacations mandatory
Employees who are tasked with handling cash or accounting duties should be required to take vacations. During this time, the owner or another employee can take over the responsibilities of the employee on vacation. This increases the potential of uncovering any fraudulent behavior.
If you are opening a business in North Carolina and plan to have employees, you must register for a North Carolina Withholding Tax Identification Number. You can do this by completing Form NC-BR and submitting it electronically or mailing it to:
N.C. Department of Revenue
Post Office Box 25000
Raleigh
27640
Form NC-BR is a business registration application that covers income tax withholding, sales and use tax, machinery, equipment and manufacturing fuel tax. All taxpayers required to register for any of these taxes can do so by submitting Form NC-BR. Applicants that register online will receive their account numbers instantly.
