Book

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. You Are My Champion

This book is for the underdog, the ultra-small business owner that wakes up each morning to serve fellow citizens, in spite of a thousand fears.  Fear of price wars that undercut your value.  Fear of bills and not getting paid.  Fear you won’t be able to provide for your family.  Fear that stress will cause your health to fail.  Fear you won’t make it and will fail again.  May you never again feel that you’re “less than” or small.  May you never again feel that you’re on the outside looking in.  May you never again feel you’re on an unlevel playing field.  Keep up the good fight.  You are my champion.  Rise up and roar!

1.2. So You Got a Letter (or Worry About Getting One)

One day, it happens.  You walk out to the mailbox and it’s there.  It’s the piece of paper all small business owners dread, yet many small business owners receive.  Maybe it’s your greatest fear, or maybe you didn’t even think it was possible for you.  But it’s happening – you’ve been selected for an IRS audit.  What do you do?  How does an audit work?  What does this mean for your business and your family?  All these questions and thoughts are completely natural.  Getting a letter that has such gravity would be stressful for any business owner.  It’s the reason Audit Armor is here.

As a small business owner, I have the same fears and concerns around audits that you may have.  I’ve had them for a long time.  However, I also have something many small business owners don’t have – awareness and experience and a team to help me out.  I have the experience of representing business owners in IRS (and State) audits.  The goal of Audit Armor is to use my experience and knowledge of the process to help you build your best possible defense against an IRS audit.

1.3. The Purpose of This Book

My goals in writing this book are to help you present your growing business in the best light possible, and to defend it.  To be clear, the focus is not to be against the IRS; rather, it is to be for yourself.  An old friend used to tell me “Jonathan, if you don’t take care of yourself, who will? Nobody.”  If you don’t take care of yourself and your family in an IRS audit, nobody else will. So build your defense and use it.

1.4. What This Book Covers

This book is not meant to be exhaustive.  And if it was you’d never read it!  I mean, really, who wants to read volumes of pages about IRS audits?  If that’s what you’re looking for, this book is not for you.

Instead, this book is meant to give you a basic education on what is involved in an audit, the types of audits, what may trigger them and what to do should you ever get audited.  You can prepare yourself.  We’re here to help educate you on the process.  So let’s get started… ready?

*You’ll notice that several of the concepts are repeated several times throughout this book. This is done purposefully so that you can retain what’s important.*