Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi,

I just recently incorporated a new business as a Wyoming LLC, and I'd like to set up some cell phones for the members in my business.  Originally I was planning to sign up directly with the cell phone company (aka Sprint or AT&T) and set them up all as business accounts, so I can properly do the bookkeeping as business expenses.

However, I have a friend who works as a cell phone sales rep for ACN.  If I set up a new account with him, he says I can save 20% over signing up directly with the cell phone companies.  He says I have to sign up as a personal account, however, and not as a business account, in order to get the discount.

He says, apparently, it's not a problem if I sign up the accounts as a personal account, because he says I can just do it as a DBA ("doing business as") under my own personal name, and I can just pay using my business checking account, and this is considered legit business expense.

Is this true?

Thanks in advance!

You can always submit an expense report to your business to get the money out of the business to pay the credit card bill.

With cell phones, the IRS will assume that not all of the expense is business (unless you have a seperate phone).  At the moment, you have to indicate the calls that are business and whatever % that is of the total bill, you can charge that to your LLC.  However, the IRS may be changing that rule to make it easier, but that is still in the "comment" phase.