<p>Hi all, I'm a parent who's been perusing the forums... great info here! Could you help with this Q?</p>
<p>I own a sole proprietorship business with 3 employees (including myself and significant other).</p>
<p>FAFSA states "do not report net value of the business as an asset." What constitutes "Business Assets" that can be excluded? Business Checking and Business Savings?</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice....</p>
<p>What they mean is assets (both tangible and intangible) minus liabilities, so it includes value of checking and savings business accounts as well as equipment, inventory, good will, etc (decreased by the liabilities).</p>
<p>P.S. Your business tax return should give you an idea what not to include in your application. I hope you tracked the value of your business of checking and saving accounts on your business tax returns, otherwise it will be an uphill battle to argue that they are part of business assets and not your personal assets.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, Lerkin… but I’ve been filing Schedule C now for 9 years, and I don’t recall anywhere where I am asked the value of my business or anything about the totals in my checking and savings account. Are you referring to an LLC or SCorp or Corp? I’m a Sole Proprietor – we file Schedule Cs with our 1040s. Please tell me more? Thanks,</p>
<p>Is your child applying to only FAFSA schools or profile as well? That’s when the business value and deductions get difficult.</p>
<p>Hi Waverly, thanks for the Q, because it allowed me to look up the differences. I simply don’t know. Should we be filling out both? And you mention difficulty… please explain?</p>
<p>Schedule C is tricky, I thought you were doing 1065 where they have a section that keeps track of the assets.</p>
<p>If you have EIN and opened business accounts using EIN (and your business name), then it is better. </p>
<p>In general it will be harder to argue that accounts are business assets if you use them for non-business purposes. I am not sure how you pay yourself (W2 paycheck or withdrawal), but in either case you should not be withdrawing money for household expenses from business accounts (you should be paying yourself and then using your personal accounts to pay for household expenses).</p>