I wanting to start my own small business that involves employees of a total of 15 , how do you recommend I set up my business and business account that involves receiving credit cards?

Setting up a business is pretty involved. I recommend contacting you local SBA (small business association) chapter. They can help guide through the steps you need to take as well as give you lists of all the documents you need to complete to start a business and what you need to keep that business going. They are REALLY helpful.

I always recommend starting with an accounting program like QuickBooks for at least the first year (could be short-term or long-term depending on the business). QB is a very customizable program. In addition, any mistakes made by a novice are easily fixed by their accountant. Unless you are deleting transactions while the audit trail is off, your accountant will be able to fix any OOPS you may come across. My specialty has been start-up companies and no matter how many millions they get in start-up funding, they have all used QB precisely for it's ability to easily change what needs to be fixed, generally the chart of accounts in the first year. Intuit offers it's own merchant account which books the transactions directly into your data file, saving you time from processing a transaction from a third-party software and then entering it into your accounting program.

I am in the process of creating an ebook for small-business start-ups like yourself. I would love to hear your questions related to starting a new business. In return, I will answer your questions and give you a free copy of the ebook once completed. If this is something you may be interested in, please email me at [email protected]. I am an accountant and have been in business for myself for 11 years. I am also a professional advisor for QuickBooks. Good luck in your endeavors, whichever road you follow. Adina