341 tomorrow - business owner experiences?

[philajackie]

Hi,
I discovered this forum last week and have been reading everything. My 341 is tomorrow on my Ch 7 case. I've owned 3 different small businesses over the past few years. I have P&L statements for all of them and as one is basically defunct and there other two are only 6 months old, none of them show a profit. At times, I have not been the best record keeper. I use quickbooks and do bookkeeping that way, but at times when I've had to order a new business debit card, I used my personal account for business purchases and then just transferred the money between accounts. The two recent businesses are not LLC, so I didn't see a huge problem. I didn't expect to declare bankruptcy, so now I'm worried about the trustee asking me about transfers of money between accounts, my sloppy business records, etc.

Anyone have experience at a 341 that owned a business? What type of questions were asked? One of my businesses is retail and involves a small inventory. Any questions about inventory?

[mcordry]

Philajackie, I don't have an answer but I will be very interested to know what the great people on here have to say about this. I co-own and business and have been "stalking" these boards for months, I am on the verge of starting to make calls to attorneys. I worry about keeping my business. I am lucky because we have always had an accountant do our books so we are good there, but I am concerned about being able to go on with my business. Please come back and let us know how your 341 was, it will help me greatly because I am worried about how they deal with business owners. Good Luck tomorrow and please be sure to let us (me) know how it went.

[LadyInTheRed]

philajackie, those transfers should not be a problem as long as they weren't away to hide money from the trustee. If your business inventory was listed as an asset in your petition, it's nothing to worry about, except that if you can't exempt it the trustee may want to liquidate it. I am sure trustees are used to sloppy business records. As I said in the other thread, just answer questions honestly. If you aren't hiding anything, there is nothing to worry about. A few questions won't hurt.

[bcss]

I own my own business. Sole owner. The trustee asked the usual questions asked here. The only thing they asked that pertained to business was if I had any employees, which I don't. Very easy 341. Good luck.

[frogger]

You should not have any problems provided you disclose everything.

Note the key word: EVERYTHING

As long as you are truthful and make no attempts to hide anything, it won't be a big deal.

[philajackie]

Thanks for all the replies. I've imagined tomorrow might go something like that scene from Goonies where Chunk is captured by the Fratellis and tells them about all the "terrible" things he's done since childhood. I've definitely disclosed everything, just hoping not to go the Chunk route.

[philajackie]

341 is done! thanks again everyone for the replies, it helped calm my nerves today. I arrived about 45 minutes early so I could see how it went. Most people were dressed street casual, one guy was in shorts. The meetings were in an office and everyone else sat in a waiting room. I heard about 4-5 people go before me. They all seemed to take about 5 minutes and the trustee asked basically the same questions each time.
I was the first to go in my time slot. The trustee examined my social and driver's license and then asked some standard questions. I felt like he was taking a lot of time reading things on his screen. He asked why there was a big gap between what my house was worth and what I owed on my mortgage. I was totally dumbfounded and didn't know what to say at first. We bought in 2006, so we took a huge hit when the real estate market went down. I just told him that the house lost value after we bought it. Then he went over each business I've owned over the past few years, what each was worth, what the assets were of each, their structure, whether they are active and whether I had any employees. He asked about transfers of property and whether I've cut up or destroyed my credit cards. He confirmed how many people were in my household. He confirmed that I want to surrender the house. He asked what led me to file for bankruptcy. Overall, it was mostly yes or no questions. The house value question rattled me because I was just surprised. I think my meeting lasted about 15 minutes which was longer than the others I saw, but I had more to address with the business issues. He made a comment that my income picture certainly looked bleak, said my supporting docs were in order and wished me good luck.
I feel relieved but also sad. It's a great relief to have this done with and be able to move on. Sad because bankruptcy was not exactly a life goal I had for myself and facing all these financial issues has been hard. I've learned a lot of lessons, but one is that avoiding making decisions generally does not do any good and if you have a business or any other kid of complexities, you should really get a lawyer. No one I saw today was pro se.
And I guess I'm now in the 60 day club! Full speed ahead with my new financial life!

[frogger]

That's great news. Now, just hurry up and wait. It won't be long.

Congratulations!

[bcss]

Congratulations!

[LadyInTheRed]

Congratulations!

[lucielulu209]

congratulations, glad you made it through okay