How I Sweet-Talked the IRS

Entrepreneurs try to keep the Internal Revenue Service at a comfy distance. But when your business is in hot water, it's time to get real friendly.

Eleven years ago I discovered this the hard way when I took over as president of a small Philadelphia based multimedia company.

After a month and several calls from irate suppliers, the bookkeeper informed me that my predecessor had kept two sets of books -- one for banks and investors and a second with the real facts -- which revealed that we owed 63 vendors a total of $500,000. ...