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So, you have a star employee on your team—a proverbial rock star. She knows what is expected of her and excels at every turn. She shows initiative and creative problem solving skills. She is an informal leader and her peers respect her and see her as an expert. She lives by your company’s values and has earned the trust of everyone she works with. You know about an opportunity for her to move into a management role, but how do you set her up for success?

Business owners across the country are joining forces to form employee benefits group captives. A captive is an insurance company created by a group of businesses to insure the risk of its owners, who then share profits and losses from the insurance company within their group. A captive gives member groups the ability to provide quality health benefits for their employees, reduce volatility of healthcare costs, realize greater data and cost transparency, and control of how their dollars spend, and capitalize on financial benefits such as lower taxes.

The 21^st century has ushered in an age of creative risk sharing business models that are centered on the idea of people forming as a collective group to spread risk across a larger population. The practice of risk sharing or “risk pooling” gives groups greater buying power allowing them to purchase group health benefits at a better price point.

A group captive is one more way in which businesses have been coming together to provide quality health benefit to their employees, keep their health benefit cost down and mitigate risk for their companies.

Operating a successful business takes work, dedication, and money—sometimes a lot of money. Giving your business its best chance at success requires funds to purchase equipment and supplies, pay for assistance and labor, and establish a storefront or office location. Operating costs and overhead expenses are necessary for success, but you can use strategies to keep them under control. The payoff is worth it, since growing a business offers outstanding potential returns for your invested dollars.

This is the time of year that commercial property owners tend to dread—the deadline for filing property tax protests. May 15 (the protest deadline) is right around the corner, and however inconvenient it may seem to deal with the hassle of protesting, it is worth the cost savings—if you engage an experienced, knowledgeable property tax consultant. The fact is, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, about 30-60% of taxable properties in the U.S. are over-assessed, so there is a good chance your commercial property(ies) are, too. If you decide to be one of the 5% of taxpayers that actually challenge their tax assessment with your local appraiser, here are a few pitfalls to avoid when protesting your commercial property taxes:

Let's be honest, we've all worked at companies where college interns are thought of as the bottom man or woman on the totem pole. You may have even been at the bottom of that totem pole yourself some time ago! Interns are asked to do the most minuscule tasks like grabbing coffee, filling up the copier with paper, sorting mail, and anything else you can imagine. Although these tasks need to get done, could your intern be utilized in a way that is more impactful and beneficial to your company? Here are a few things to keep in mind when hiring your next intern to help you build your very own successful internship program.

We are in the thick of tax season and while many Americans and CPAs are losing sleep over the heaps of paperwork and documentation they will prepare for the IRS, small businesses with potential skeleton accounting departments may be relying solely on out-of-the-box software programs to help them generate the most tax deductions and savings. While these programs help millions of businesses manage their business' day-to-day accounting operations, it's important that business owners are aware of all of the different deductions that may be available to them--after all, any savings earned are opportunities to invest right back into your business or your employees. Whether you plan to file your taxes yourself this year or work with a CPA or tax advisor, here are 6 tax deductions you can leverage to lower your tax bill.

Through my work as a business advisor, I've seen firsthand that business owners have plenty to do. You're running your business, taking care of your home and family, and trying to attend to other responsibilities. Often, this existing to-do list is the reason business owners give for not pursuing exit planning. You may be unsure if it can help address important issues without taking up the little time you have remaining.

Companies strive to stay competitive either through the products they sell or through superior customer service. But, with stiff competition, particularly on the recruiting front, there’s another way companies across America are trying to stand out—hiring a diverse workforce. So, what does a diverse workforce look like and how can your company benefit from it?

Laura Paredez, Director of Business Services for Hill Country Pain Associates (HCPA), manages the day-to-day operations and activities, and ensures that the business is run financially sound. In her role, Laura oversees all matters from vendor management to payroll administration. With a practice of 27 full-time employees and one part-time employee, HCPA brings with it its own set of employee considerations, of which by no means falls short of HR-related inquiries.