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Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

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Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

CPA, Tax/Business/Nonprofit Strategist, TEDx Speaker & Entrepreneur. https://linktr.ee/lillymbinglo

Lilly Mbinglo, CPA, MBA, empowers businesses and nonprofits with strategies that ensure their financial structures align with their short and long-term goals. Lilly shares her expertise by speaking in business symposiums, webinars, conferences, networking events, and live social media broadcasts. Lilly is passionate about helping people reduce their tax liability, so they can direct their resources towards investments that will build generational wealth via her CPA firm, The Ark NPS

She is also able to help economically empower minorities and individuals from low-income communities though The Lilly Mbinglo Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

09/25/2026

Married Cousins in Business....Here Is The Most Overlooked Tool Married Entrepreneurs Need

Picture a husband and wife running a successful business together.

They have loyal customers, steady revenue, and ambitious plans for expansion.

Yet every major decision creates tension because neither spouse knows who has the final authority.

The problem may not be their commitment to each other. They may simply lack a clear operating agreement.

Cousin, when you build a business with your spouse, putting your expectations in writing is an act of preparation, not distrust.

Here are 4 matters your agreement should address for the sake of your marriage:

1. Who owns what?
Establish each spouse's ownership percentage and document the arrangement properly. Marriage does not automatically answer every legal question concerning business ownership.

2. Who is responsible for what?
Define operational responsibilities. One spouse might manage finances while the other oversees marketing or client relationships. Clear responsibilities help prevent duplicated work and overlooked obligations.

3. How will you make decisions?
Agree on spending limits, hiring authority, and which decisions require joint approval.
Do not wait until emotions are high to establish these rules.

4. What happens when circumstances change?
Discuss how you would handle a spouse leaving the business, transferring ownership, or facing an unexpected personal crisis.

An agreement should address difficult possibilities while both partners can discuss them calmly and with respect.

Your business agreement is not a substitute for love, trust, or communication. It provides a framework for protecting what you are building together.

If you are married, dating with marriage in mind, or considering a business with your future spouse, begin these conversations early.

For practical guidance on establishing your partnership, order From Vows to Ventures: Creating a Successful Business Partnership for Married Couples by Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA, available on Amazon.

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA
Author of From Vows to Ventures

09/24/2026

Cousins...How to Set Up Your Marriage and Business Partnership for Success

Imagine a couple celebrating the launch of their business. Their website is live, their first clients are arriving, and their shared dream is finally becoming a reality.

But 6 months later, disagreements begin.

Who makes the final decisions?
How should profits be divided?
What happens when one spouse wants to leave the business?

Cousin, love may bring you together, but structure helps you build together.

Here are 4 important steps every entrepreneurial couple should take:

1. Agree on your shared vision.
Before registering your business, discuss what you want to accomplish. Who will you serve? What should your business look like in five years? How will it support your family?

Your answers may differ. That is why you need the conversation.

2. Put your expectations in writing.
A formal partnership or operating agreement should address ownership, responsibilities, decision-making authority, profit sharing, and what happens if someone wants to exit.

Marriage does not eliminate the need for business agreements.

3. Separate your finances.
Open a dedicated business bank account. Track business income and expenses separately from household spending. Review your financial reports together regularly.

Financial clarity helps prevent unnecessary misunderstandings.

4. Prepare for difficult seasons.
Discuss business continuity, insurance, estate planning, and how you would handle an unexpected change in circumstances.

Building together requires preparation, not simply optimism.

If you and your spouse are ready to turn your shared dreams into a structured business, I wrote From Vows to Ventures with you in mind.

Order your copy of From Vows to Ventures: Creating a Successful Business Partnership for Married Couples by Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA, available on Amazon.

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA
Author of From Vows to Ventures

09/23/2026

Cousins who are married & run a business...here is wow to disagree without damaging the business & marriage.

Picture a husband and wife sitting across from each other during a business meeting.
One wants to make the investment. The other believes it is too risky.

Both care deeply about the business and the marriage. Both believe they are protecting the family.
Yet within minutes, a strategic disagreement begins feeling deeply personal.

Every couple in business will disagree. The danger is not disagreement. The danger is disrespect.

Here’s how couples can handle difficult decisions better:
1. Create decision rules before conflict comes.
Decide who has authority over specific areas. You might agree that purchases above a certain amount require joint approval, while each spouse has authority within their assigned responsibilities.

2. Give both voices room.
Being married does not mean thinking alike. One spouse may see opportunity while the other sees risk. Those differences can strengthen the business when both perspectives receive respect.

3. Use a cool-off period when necessary.
When emotions rise, pause. Revisit the decision after both people have had time to think clearly. A delayed decision is often better than a damaging conversation.

4. Bring in wise counsel when needed.
A trusted advisor, mentor, coach, CPA, or other appropriate professional can provide perspective when both spouses become too close to the issue.

Cousin, you do not need a marriage without disagreements. You need a partnership mature enough to disagree without destroying trust and love.

From Vows to Ventures provides practical guidance for couples navigating the intersection of love, leadership, money, business, and difficult decisions.

Order From Vows to Ventures: Creating a Successful Business Partnership for Married Couples by Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA, available on Amazon today.

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA
Author of From Vows to Ventures
I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA.

09/17/2026

Cousins...Thinking of the Fairest Way to Run a Business Together as a Couple is Critical.

Picture a married couple who owns a business together. One spouse works in it full-time, handles clients, manages operations, and carries much of the daily pressure. The other contributes several hours each week while managing other responsibilities.

Should they automatically receive exactly the same compensation? Not necessarily.

Fairness in a marriage-business partnership requires more thoughtful conversations than simply dividing everything equally.

Here are three approaches couples should understand:

a. Equal compensation can provide stability.
When both spouses contribute relatively equally, equal salaries or owner draws can simplify household planning and reinforce a sense of shared ownership.

b. Compensation can reflect contribution.
When one spouse works substantially more hours, generates more revenue, or provides specialized expertise, compensation based on role may better reflect the economic reality of the business.

c. A hybrid approach can create balance.
Couples can establish a base amount for stability and then use bonuses, profit-sharing, or performance-based compensation. This recognizes contribution while preserving predictability.

But compensation should never become the only measure of value.

One spouse may contribute through business operations while the other carries significant family responsibilities or provides emotional, strategic, and practical support. Those contributions matter too.

The important thing is not to guess or simply “see how it goes.” Discuss compensation before resentment develops, document the arrangement appropriately, and revisit it as responsibilities change.

From Vows to Ventures takes couples into these conversations before money becomes a source of unnecessary conflict.

Order From Vows to Ventures: Creating a Successful Business Partnership for Married Couples by Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA, available on Amazon today.

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA
Author of From Vows to Ventures
I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA.

09/14/2026

Cousin, especially business partners (partnerships) your Schedule K-1 contains tax information, but one number on it can create confusion: your capital account.

For a partnership, the capital account reported on Schedule K-1 is not necessarily the same as your adjusted tax basis in the partnership. IRS instructions specifically state that the capital account information in Item L cannot be used by itself to determine a partner’s adjusted basis.

Why can the numbers differ? One reason is partnership liabilities. A partner’s adjusted tax basis may include a share of certain partnership liabilities, while the tax-basis capital account reported on Schedule K-1 does not include those liabilities. Partner-level transactions and adjustments can also create differences.

This matters because basis helps determine tax consequences. A partner’s deductible share of partnership losses is generally limited by adjusted basis before other loss limitations are considered. Basis also matters when determining whether certain distributions produce taxable gain and when calculating gain or loss upon the sale of a partnership interest.

S corporation shareholders have their own basis rules.

Shareholders must track stock basis and, when applicable, debt basis. A K-1 showing an S corporation loss does not automatically mean the shareholder can deduct the entire loss. Likewise, the tax treatment of a nondividend distribution depends partly on stock basis.

Do not wait until a large distribution, loss, ownership sale, or other major transaction to discover that your basis records are incomplete.

Maintain basis records from year to year. Keep documentation of contributions, distributions, income, losses, ownership purchases, and qualifying loans or liabilities that may affect basis with you each tax year.

Your K-1 tells an important part of your tax story, but it may not tell the whole story. If basis could materially affect your return or a planned transaction, ask your CPA to review the calculation before you act.

If you need assistance, please contact our office at 757-977-8911 or email us at [email protected]

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA, helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofits with accounting, tax, and business services.

09/11/2026

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA Appointed to the Board of Directors of Pergamon Investment Bank in Kenya

I am pleased to share a new chapter in my professional journey. I have been appointed to serve as a Board Member of Pergamon Investment Bank in Kenya, East Africa.

This appointment is especially dear to my heart because of my longstanding interest in Africa’s economic development and my belief in what becomes possible when knowledge, capital, responsible leadership, and opportunity come together.

Throughout my career as a CPA, consultant, educator, and business leader, one part of my mission has remained constant: to teach and distribute knowledge that helps people and organizations make better financial and business decisions.

I believe Africa’s economic progress will require more people who understand how to build sustainable businesses, mobilize capital responsibly, strengthen institutions, and connect promising opportunities with informed investors.

Serving on the board of an investment bank in Kenya gives me another avenue to contribute to that work.

Pergamon Investment Bank operates from Nairobi and participates in Kenya’s investment and capital markets. Its work connects investors with opportunities across areas that can contribute to economic activity and long-term wealth creation.

I am particularly interested in what this appointment allows me to learn, contribute, and share. Board service carries responsibility. It requires sound judgment, thoughtful questions, accountability, and a willingness to bring one's professional experience to decisions that affect institutions and the people they serve.

For friends, business leaders, professionals, and members of the African diaspora who are interested in investing in Kenya or understanding opportunities within Kenya’s capital markets, I encourage you to learn more about Pergamon Investment Bank.

Africa holds enormous human and entrepreneurial potential. Converting that potential into sustainable economic progress requires strong institutions, informed investors, access to capital, and leaders willing to serve responsibly.

I am grateful for the privilege to contribute through Pergamon Investment Bank as a board member.

For me, this appointment brings together several things I care deeply about: Africa, financial knowledge, investment, education, responsible leadership, and economic development. Read more here https://pib.africa/about/

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

09/09/2026

Cousin...If you are a partner performing services for your partnership, putting yourself on W-2 payroll may feel natural, but federal tax rules generally treat partners differently from employees.

The IRS states that partners, including members of an LLC taxed as a partnership, are self-employed when performing services for the partnership.

Partners are not employees of the partnership and should not receive Form W-2 for distributions or guaranteed payments.

That distinction matters because the way money reaches a partner affects how it is reported and how it is taxed.

A partner may receive a distributive share of partnership income, guaranteed payments, and distributions. These terms describe different tax concepts, so they should not be treated as interchangeable labels for money leaving the business.

Your distributive share represents your allocated portion of partnership income, gain, loss, deductions, and other items. A guaranteed payment, by contrast, is determined without regard to partnership income and may compensate a partner for services or the use of capital. A distribution represents money or property transferred from the partnership to a partner and does not, by itself, determine the partner’s share of partnership income.

Self-employment tax also deserves careful attention. Its application can depend on the partner’s status and the character of the income. For example, the rules governing general partners and partners who qualify as limited partners for self-employment tax purposes are not identical.

This is why a partnership should not be viewed as simply two people combining their Schedule C businesses. Partnership taxation has its own reporting, allocation, basis, payment, and distribution rules.

Before partners begin moving money, decide how compensation and distributions will be handled and documented.

If you are already receiving W-2 wages from your partnership, or you are uncertain how partner payments should be classified, have your CPA review the arrangement.

If you need assistance, please contact our office at 757-977-8911 or email us at [email protected]

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA, helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofits with accounting, tax, and business services.

09/08/2026

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA to Speak at the 2026 Community Impact Conference

I am pleased to share that I will be speaking at the 2026 Community Impact Conference, taking place September 15 and 16 at Tidewater Community College’s Chesapeake Campus in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Co-hosted by Black BRAND and Volunteer Hampton Roads, the two-day conference will bring together approximately 100 regional decision-makers, nonprofit executives, social entrepreneurs, philanthropic leaders, and community stakeholders for conversations centered on building stronger and more sustainable organizations.

The conference will address issues that nonprofit and community leaders face every day, including budgeting from a CEO’s perspective, organizational sustainability, endowments, impact investing, earned revenue, funding diversification, and political engagement for nonprofit executive directors.

For me, this is especially meaningful.

One of the missions that has guided my work as a CPA, consultant, educator, and business leader is to "teach and distribute finance knowledge."

I believe professional knowledge becomes more valuable when it moves beyond offices, classrooms, and technical conversations and reaches the people making decisions that affect organizations, families, and communities.

That is why I value opportunities to sit with leaders who are doing the difficult work of building organizations and solving problems in their communities.

My years of working with nonprofit organizations have shown me that passion for a mission must be supported by sound financial stewardship, responsible structures, and long-term thinking. An organization can have an important mission and still struggle if its leaders lack the financial knowledge and systems required to sustain that mission.

The 2026 Community Impact Conference creates space for those conversations.

I am looking forward to contributing what I have learned from accounting, tax, consulting, education, and working directly with organizations. I am equally looking forward to learning from the experiences of the other leaders in the room.

For me, speaking and training is never simply about having a platform. It is an opportunity to distribute useful knowledge, strengthen the people doing important work, and help turn good intentions into sustainable impact.

Event Details:
September 15–16, 2026
Tidewater Community College, Chesapeake Campus
1428 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, Virginia
Link to the event: https://app.glueup.com/event/community-impact-conference-2026-190272/

I look forward to seeing many of our Hampton Roads nonprofit and community leaders there.

Blessings!

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

09/07/2026

Cousins...if you own an S corporation and work in the business, taking distributions does not automatically eliminate the need to pay yourself wages.

The IRS treats corporate officers who perform more than minor services and receive or are entitled to compensation as employees.

For an S corporation shareholder-employee, payments for services must be treated as wages to the extent they represent reasonable compensation. Simply labeling money as a “distribution” does not determine its tax treatment.

This matters because wages are generally subject to employment taxes, while S corporation distributions generally are not. That distinction is one reason S corporation taxation can be useful, but it is also why reasonable compensation receives IRS attention.

The IRS can reclassify distributions as wages when the facts show that the payments were compensation for services.

There is no salary amount or percentage that works for every S corporation owner. Reasonable compensation depends on the facts and circumstances. The IRS identifies factors such as training and experience, duties and responsibilities, time and effort devoted to the business, compensation agreements, payments to other employees, and what comparable businesses pay for similar services.

So, paying yourself no salary while working in the business and taking distributions deserves careful review. The same is true if your salary was chosen because it produces the lowest payroll tax bill rather than because it reflects the value of your work.

A better approach is to establish compensation and document how you reached it. Consider your role, hours, responsibilities, experience, industry, market, and compensation data.

If you are unsure whether your salary is supportable, talk with your CPA or tax adviser about your circumstances. Tax planning does not mean forcing every dollar into the lowest-tax category.

It means understanding the rules, documenting your decisions, and using the S corporation structure correctly.

If you need assistance, please contact our office at 757-977-8911 or email us at [email protected]

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA, helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofits with accounting, tax, and business services.

09/04/2026

Cousins...Being even one day late with a partnership or S corporation return can be more expensive than many business owners realize.

For returns required to be filed in 2026, the IRS late-filing penalty is generally $255 for each partner or shareholder for every month, or part of a month, that the return remains late, for up to 12 months. The penalty may not apply when the business establishes reasonable cause, and certain qualifying small partnerships may have specific penalty relief available.

Consider a partnership with four partners. If its return is filed even one day into the first late month, the basic penalty calculation can be $255 multiplied by four partners, or $1,020. That is why “only a few days late” should never be treated casually.

One common misunderstanding is that a partnership or S corporation filing deadline is less important because these entities generally pass income, deductions, credits, and other tax items through to their owners.

But pass-through treatment does not remove the entity’s federal filing responsibility. The business return also provides information used to prepare Schedule K-1s, which owners generally need for their own tax reporting.

If you received a valid extension for a calendar-year 2025 Form 1065 or Form 1120-S, September 15, 2026, is generally the extended filing deadline.

Now is the time to confirm that your CPA has everything needed to finish the return. Check for unanswered document requests, incomplete bookkeeping, missing transaction details, and unresolved questions.

If you believe your business cannot file on time, speak with your tax professional before assuming there is nothing you can do. If a penalty has already been assessed, professional review may also help determine whether reasonable-cause or other available relief applies.

A filing deadline is a financial responsibility. Please treat it accordingly, Cousin, starting right now, please.

If you need assistance, please contact our office at 757-977-8911 or email us at [email protected]

Dr. Lilly Mbinglo, CPA

I serve through Regent University as an Accounting Professor and through The Ark NPS as Founder and CPA, helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofits with accounting, tax, and business services.

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