LEWISTON, Idaho – The Region II Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Lewis-Clark State College will hold five workshops in October covering topics that include QuickBooks, financial management, tax deductions, cash flow projections, and online sales.
Pre-registration is required for the workshops and is available online at www.lcsc.edu/sbdc, by emailing ISBDC@lcsc.edu, or calling 208-792-2465. Four of the workshops will be at the SBDC offices, located at 406 Main St. in Lewiston, while “Converting Searches to Sales” will be held in Grangeville. All have registration fees.
The first workshop is “Show Me the Money: Financial Management & Strategy.” It will be held Oct. 3 at 5:30-7:30 p.m., and will focus on learning from financial statements and how to compare a business with others in the same industry. It will discuss what lenders look for and how to improve business performance. The fee for the workshop is $20 and Judy Schumacher will be the instructor.
“Tax Deductions for Small Business” is set for Oct. 10 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. and will be taught by Su Brown, a CPA in Lewiston. The workshop will cover the common business expenses that are tax deductible and the general rules for deducting those expenses. It will cover meals, travel and entertainment expenses, in-home office deductions, advertising and mileage expenses. The workshop fee is $20.
A workshop on “Cash Flow Projections” is set for Oct. 24 at 5:30-7:30 and will be taught by Region II SBDC coordinator Barbara Leachman. There is an enrollment fee of $20 and the workshop will cover making predictions on cash flow, research, cash vs. profit, capital needs, breaking even and feasibility analysis.
“Quickbooks Payroll Parts 1 and 2” will be a two-part workshop on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 at 5:30-8 p.m. Quickbooks pro advisor Janice Gobbi will discuss the basics of Quickbooks in the first session and participants will be introduce to the structure of paychecks, employee and employer taxes, payroll forms, payment schedules, payroll liabilities, and salary/wage expenses. The second part of the class will teach how to enter timesheets, process paychecks and generate payroll forms and reports. Idaho and Washington payroll requirements will be covered. The enrollment fee is $60, which covers both workshops.
In Grangeville, the “Convert Searches to Sales” workshop will discuss how to hook people into making purchases once they visit your website. The hands-on workshop will help tailor website content, social media, search engines, ad words, analytics, and more. Even if someone is hired to do a website, the workshop will show the business owner how to work with the web developer. Leachman will be the instructor and the workshop fee is $35. The workshop will be held at 3:30-6 p.m. at 201 E. Main St. in Grangeville.
In addition to these workshops, the Idaho SBDC is teaming up with the Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Department of Commerce to hold a small business technology funding workshop on Oct. 19 at 2-5 p.m. at the Lewiston City Library, located at 411 D Street. The workshop is free and open to the public, but anyone attending is asked to pre-register.
Attendees can learn how to access $2.5 billion in grants through the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. These programs, funded through the Small Business Administration, encourage domestic small businesses to engage in high-growth research and development with potential for commercialization in the market.
For more information on any of the workshops or the Region II SBDC at LCSC, contact the office through any of the methods mentioned above for pre-registering for the workshops.