WROC TV CBS Rochester
CPA Dave Young offered some tips for starting your own business Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. Young said you don't need to incorporate to start your own business. You can act as a sole proprietor under you own name or under a "doing business as" or DBA. This enables the public to know who is actually operating the company. Your DBA is filed at the County Clerk's office. The upside of being a sole proprietor is it's easy and cheap according to Young. You just file a "Schedule C" on your personal tax return to report business income or losses. The downside is there is no legal protection for your personal assets, meaning you have no limit to your personal liability for business failures or mistakes. To limit liability, you must choose a formal corporate for.