Hello.
I know most of the post are regarding the trade of installing hardwood floors.
I have a questions about :
Best insurance company?
Do you have to take one millon dollar insurance if you doing only floors?
How about corporation?
How many of ou are corporation?
Do you know of any book that would give good advises as far as accounting and so on?

I have an accountant do my taxes every year. I could use Turbo Tax or one of those but my accountant will keep me up to speed better than a software program and inform me of things I need to know. Worth every cent. As far as general liability insurance is concerned. I have a insurance broker/agent who specializes in contractors insurance. Insurance is a complicated matter with A+, A, B, C carriers and admitted and non-admitted carriers. Levels of coverage vary from policy to policy, company to company. You are not required by law to carry it but most general contractors insist on it because they will have to pay for it if they've hired you and you don't have it. So if you work for GC's as a sub, you will need it. Find a local insurance broker who specializes in contractors. The only reason for incorporating is to shelter your personal assests from being taken should you be sued. There is no tax advantage for the small guy. But I'm not an accountant so perhaps you could find a good one and ask him. There's tons of accounting books and software but you don't need to make it complicated. Basically, you have gross earnings (what people pay you) minus expenses (labor, materials, vehicle, phones, office, insurance, etc) that equal your net adjusted income; on which you get to pay 15.3% to Uncle Sam PLUS Income taxes on top of that (at least another 15%) So you can figure about 30% of your income (after expenses) goes to the federal government. This doesn't include state and local taxes OR unemployment taxes, workers comp, and 7.875% SS taxes if you have employees. That's why I use an accountant for taxes only. Keeping records of all your transactions (banking, taxes, income, expenses) can be done with Microsoft Money, Quicken, Quick Books Pro, etc. Keeping good records is important.

You have several options when it comes to liability protection and taxes.

Sole Proprietorship - simplest way for taxes. You and your company are one and the same. You report income and expenses on Schedule C of your personal 1040 return. You can deduct 100% of health insurance payments as an adjustment for AGI. You also have to pay self-employment taxes on top of paying income tax. You do however get to deduct 1/2 of the self employment tax as an adjustment for AGI. This form of business offers no liability protection.

Corporation - separate entity from the owner and employee. Offers limited liabilty to the owner of the business. However, business owners who are also employees of the corporation cannot limit their liability for actions that they themselves commit. One of the primary disadvantages is the potential double taxation of profits. You are taxed at a coporate level, then as profits are distributed to shareholders, they are taxed again at the shareholder level.

S Corporation - corporation that has elected to have it's income, deductions, capital gains and losses passed through to the shareholders. Allows owner to be subject to limited liability for the debts and obligations. However, business owners who are also employees of the S corp cannot limit the liability for actions that they themselves commit. Profits are taxed only once. Income is "passed through" to the shareholders.

Limited Liability Company (LLC) - hybrid entity created under state law. Combines the limited liability of a corporation with the pass through tax treatment. Some states allow single owner LLC's, while some states require two or more owners. It allows members to choose the desired tax treatment for income tax purposes. Single member LLC's are normally treated as sole proprietorships.

I'm not a hardwood installer, I'm actually in finance. I hope this helps!

S-Corp.

Any Insurance that WORKS! Definitely get local refrences.