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Bookkeeping
  • 7 Biggest Mistakes in Handling Accounts Receivables Managing your company’s accounts receivables is one of the most critical aspects of fiscal health. Yet, many business owners fail to effectively handle their accounts receivables, either directly or indirectly. Poor accounts receivables policies can lead to a bevy of ... Continue Reading
  • Charitable Contributions With the change in the season and the return of fall, many people begin the act of making their homes less cluttered, and we will all begin to get donation requests in the mail. As the weather cools, we tend to turn an eye towards end of year tax moves as well. The Tax Cuts ... Continue Reading
  • An Accounting System Implementation - Overview An accounting system is a collection of interrelated processes designed to accumulate, organize, and report on an organization’s transactions. The ultimate goal of an accounting system is to generate reports based on this information to support management decision making. ... Continue Reading
  • Common Bookkeeping Considerations for New Business Owners Most people starting a business start the business because they are good at providing the product or service they are selling. Bookkeeping is usually an afterthought but yet, a realized necessity to be able to provide the goods and services they wish to sell. Here are the ... Continue Reading

Business Analysis
  • What is Business Risk? In business, risk is anything that could negatively impact your revenues, reputation, or future operations. When you try a new vendor, you take on risk. Their products or services could be below your standards, and cost you customers. When you expand an existing business ... Continue Reading
  • Learning How To Interpret Your Cash Flow Just because there’s a positive balance in your checking account doesn’t mean that your business is making money. Checks that you’ve written for expenses may not have cleared yet, or customers could have paid in advance. Relying on a positive balance to determine if your ... Continue Reading

Business Performance
  • Autumn Tasks to Prepare You for Next Year’s Return It may be the first gorgeous day of fall, but it won’t be long until April 15 comes knocking. Be prepared for next year’s tax deadline by beginning your preparations today. That means, as a small business owner, now is the perfect time to begin organizing receipts, ... Continue Reading
  • Tax Issues Facing Small Business Small business ownership is a good way to take more control of your time and puts more money in your pocket. But what is the true cost of small business ownership? Surprisingly, many small business owners are faced with many challenges that may leave them with less time and ... Continue Reading
  • 3 Ways That Business Intelligence (BI) Can Save Your Client’s Business The role of Business Intelligence (BI) in your client’s company can be so pervasive and transformative that in many cases it can save their business. The basic spirit behind BI is what some call “data surfacing”—the process of taking large amounts of raw data and turning ... Continue Reading

Business Strategies
  • How To Write a Small Business Plan If you ever want to apply for a small business loan, the lenders will want to see your business plan. Your business plan gives lenders a concise snapshot of your business model. Having a small business plan also gives the owner added benefits. Often, business owners refer ... Continue Reading
  • Should You Offer A Discount? Discounts have become a way of life in the American marketplace. You can’t drive down the street without seeing a sign in a retailer’s window blaring, “50% off!” Coupons arrive in your inbox offering discounts for every occasion – even National Cheese Day. If you’re a ... Continue Reading

Business Tips
  • Should You Hire Your Spouse Or Children? If you own your own business you already know the joys of being your own boss. You may even have thought about bringing your spouse and/or children into the fold. There are definitely some benefits to hiring your spouse or children. Here are some to consider. Tax Advantages ... Continue Reading

Cash Flow
  • Business Credit Cards Many small businesses open business credit cards to help meet their capital needs. Roughly 67% of business owners have business credit cards, but less than half of them use them as their primary spending source. As a flexible line of credit, they’re easier to open than a ... Continue Reading
  • 3 Common Budgeting Pitfalls New Entrepreneurs Fall Into When it comes to making a budget, good intentions only go so far. Find out how to keep your budget realistic. If you’re a local artist or craftsman that’s turned your passion into a business, you’re quickly finding out the reality and needs of budgeting. Here are 3 common ... Continue Reading

Company Morale
  • BYOD Policies: Are They Right for Your Company? As technologies advance and real estate costs increase, more and more companies are moving towards allowing workers to telecommute. With the advantages of having remote employees, comes the question of how these employees interact with the company resources. While many ... Continue Reading

Employees
  • BYOD Policies: Are They Right for Your Company? As technologies advance and real estate costs increase, more and more companies are moving towards allowing workers to telecommute. With the advantages of having remote employees, comes the question of how these employees interact with the company resources. While many ... Continue Reading
  • Do You Know About The ‘Nanny Tax?’ Did you know that under current law, any family or individual who pays a household employee more than $2,000 (2016) a year must withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, also known as FICA. The law mandates that all domestic workers, such as cooks, nannies, ... Continue Reading
  • Some Things You Should Know About Hiring A Caregiver Many of us will eventually face what it’s like to engage a professional caregiver to help care for the needs of someone we love. It’s not an easy task, and sometimes it can be frightening as we entrust the life of a loved one to someone outside of the family. The process of ... Continue Reading
  • The Difference Between the Family Leave Act (FMLA) and the Paid Family Leave Act (PFL) – What Does It Mean? In a previous article posted in February 2016 we discussed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). In this article, we will discuss what the Paid Family Leave Act (PFL) is and how it works as an adjunct to the FMNA. The FMNA and PFL work together; they do not cancel ... Continue Reading

Finance
  • What You Need To Know About A Roth IRA Roth IRAs can be mystifying with all the conflicting information out there. Investments in Roth IRAs are quite simple to understand despite what financial ads that run during major sporting events would lead you to believe. Roth IRAs are for people who have an income of up ... Continue Reading
  • Refinancing your Home Financial Considerations in Refinancing your House: Pros and Cons If you’ve owned your home for a couple of years, you might have started thinking about refinancing. Maybe interest rates have dropped, and you want to save money, or you want to tap into your home’s equity to ... Continue Reading
  • Taxation of E-Commerce As the holidays near, more and more shoppers are turning to online methods of procuring that special gift. And it makes complete sense. The world of e-commerce opens the buyer up to products that may be unavailable in the local area, and it’s often cost-efficient. With this ... Continue Reading
  • Tax Issues Facing Small Business Small business ownership is a good way to take more control of your time and puts more money in your pocket. But what is the true cost of small business ownership? Surprisingly, many small business owners are faced with many challenges that may leave them with less time and ... Continue Reading

Financial Planning
  • What You Need To Know About A Roth IRA Roth IRAs can be mystifying with all the conflicting information out there. Investments in Roth IRAs are quite simple to understand despite what financial ads that run during major sporting events would lead you to believe. Roth IRAs are for people who have an income of up ... Continue Reading
  • Taxation of E-Commerce As the holidays near, more and more shoppers are turning to online methods of procuring that special gift. And it makes complete sense. The world of e-commerce opens the buyer up to products that may be unavailable in the local area, and it’s often cost-efficient. With this ... Continue Reading
  • Tax Issues Facing Small Business Small business ownership is a good way to take more control of your time and puts more money in your pocket. But what is the true cost of small business ownership? Surprisingly, many small business owners are faced with many challenges that may leave them with less time and ... Continue Reading
  • Foreign Accounts – Changes in Reporting When most people think of foreign accounts, they think of ex-pat living overseas and utilizing banks for the accumulation of their payments. However, many taxpayers may also be subject to the federal Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts or FBAR reporting without realizing it. ... Continue Reading

IRS Problems
  • What is the IRS 20-Factor Test? In these days of the gig economy, more business owners are leveraging the affordability and convenience of hiring freelancers (independent contractors) instead of regular employees. It makes sense. There are some tremendous benefits to hiring independent contractors (ICs), ... Continue Reading

Payments
  • Taxation of E-Commerce As the holidays near, more and more shoppers are turning to online methods of procuring that special gift. And it makes complete sense. The world of e-commerce opens the buyer up to products that may be unavailable in the local area, and it’s often cost-efficient. With this ... Continue Reading

Small Business
  • How can you tell when it's time to grow Your business? Most small business owners hope to, or plan to, grow. When you open one café you may have dreams of a nationwide chain. The first product you use to launch your manufacturing business could be one of many designs you have mapped out. But how do you know when it’s actually ... Continue Reading
  • Step-by-Step Guide to Forming a Non-Profit A non-profit organization can have several definitions depending on the perspective of the people discussing the matter and the context of the discussion. To the layman, the term generally means a charitable institution or perhaps a church, or an organization which provides ... Continue Reading
  • Dissolving a Partnership Going into business with a partner can be a great way to spread risk, to draw on each other’s skill sets, and to combine resources to grow your business. But, at some point, the partnership may not be serving either you or the business well. It might be time to dissolve it. ... Continue Reading
  • Business Credit Cards Many small businesses open business credit cards to help meet their capital needs. Roughly 67% of business owners have business credit cards, but less than half of them use them as their primary spending source. As a flexible line of credit, they’re easier to open than a ... Continue Reading

Small Business Cash Flow
  • 7 Biggest Mistakes in Handling Accounts Receivables Managing your company’s accounts receivables is one of the most critical aspects of fiscal health. Yet, many business owners fail to effectively handle their accounts receivables, either directly or indirectly. Poor accounts receivables policies can lead to a bevy of ... Continue Reading

Small Business Expenses
  • Expense tracking To succeed in business, small business owners must keep a close eye on expenses. Poor expense management can destroy your profit on a project or business venture. A component of expense management is expense tracking. If you’re not keeping track of your expenses, it’s easy ... Continue Reading
  • What’s Considered a Business Travel Expense and Can You Deduct It? Determining what’s a business travel expense and what’s not can be a very gray area. Find out how to clear up the confusion. Essentially, to be considered a business travel expense, the main question to ask yourself is, “Did this expense go towards moving my business ... Continue Reading

Small Business Finance
  • Mixing Personal and Business Finances Don’t Mix the Personal and the Business; Keeping Finances Separate When you launched your business you might not have paid much attention to keeping your personal and business finances separate. If a vendor needed to be paid you grabbed the closest checkbook and wrote out a ... Continue Reading
  • 7 Biggest Mistakes in Handling Accounts Receivables Managing your company’s accounts receivables is one of the most critical aspects of fiscal health. Yet, many business owners fail to effectively handle their accounts receivables, either directly or indirectly. Poor accounts receivables policies can lead to a bevy of ... Continue Reading
  • Taxation of E-Commerce As the holidays near, more and more shoppers are turning to online methods of procuring that special gift. And it makes complete sense. The world of e-commerce opens the buyer up to products that may be unavailable in the local area, and it’s often cost-efficient. With this ... Continue Reading
  • Foreign Accounts – Changes in Reporting When most people think of foreign accounts, they think of ex-pat living overseas and utilizing banks for the accumulation of their payments. However, many taxpayers may also be subject to the federal Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts or FBAR reporting without realizing it. ... Continue Reading

Small Business Payroll
  • Pros and Cons of Hiring Independent Contractors or Employees When it comes to getting work done in your business, you have the option of hiring independent contractors or traditional employees. Both types of workers can get the job done, but there are pros and cons of each that you need to be aware of. Pros of Hiring Employees There’s ... Continue Reading

Small Business Practices
  • 7 Biggest Mistakes in Handling Accounts Receivables Managing your company’s accounts receivables is one of the most critical aspects of fiscal health. Yet, many business owners fail to effectively handle their accounts receivables, either directly or indirectly. Poor accounts receivables policies can lead to a bevy of ... Continue Reading
  • Taxation of E-Commerce As the holidays near, more and more shoppers are turning to online methods of procuring that special gift. And it makes complete sense. The world of e-commerce opens the buyer up to products that may be unavailable in the local area, and it’s often cost-efficient. With this ... Continue Reading
  • Tax Issues Facing Small Business Small business ownership is a good way to take more control of your time and puts more money in your pocket. But what is the true cost of small business ownership? Surprisingly, many small business owners are faced with many challenges that may leave them with less time and ... Continue Reading
  • BYOD Policies: Are They Right for Your Company? As technologies advance and real estate costs increase, more and more companies are moving towards allowing workers to telecommute. With the advantages of having remote employees, comes the question of how these employees interact with the company resources. While many ... Continue Reading

Tax Strategies
  • 14 Life Events That Warrant a Visit with Your CPA Change is a constant part of life. With each change, adjustments have to be made. Certain changes in our lives put us in a different tax category or changes how we need to file our taxes. Legally, we may come under different rules and requirements. There are tax advantages ... Continue Reading
  • 2019 Tax Refunds Delay As we get deeper into the 2019 tax season, some taxpayers are experiencing a delay in receiving their tax refunds. The old adage that if you are expecting a refund you should file early seems to be coming under fire a bit in recent years, but none so much as the 2019 tax ... Continue Reading
  • The 2018 IRS Dirty Dozen (Pursuant To IR-2018-66, March 21, 2018) Internal Revenue Service Every year the IRS issues its “Dirty Dozen” report to highlight the biggest scams that the public needs to avoid. The IRS has released the following press release: This year's “Dirty Dozen” list highlights a ... Continue Reading
  • Have You Heard About IRC Sec 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges? If you’re an investor who is looking to sell property, IRC Sec 1031 has good news for you: you can defer any and all capital gains by reinvesting the proceeds of your sale into new property. As IRC Section 1031 (a)(1) states: No gain or loss shall be recognized on the ... Continue Reading

Tax Tips
  • 10 Common Accountant Terms Explained Does it sometimes feel like your accountant is speaking an alien language? You hired a CPA in the first place so you could benefit from their many years of experience and expertise. Obviously your CPA knows more than you do when it comes to taxes and taking advantage of the ... Continue Reading
  • 14 Life Events That Warrant a Visit with Your CPA Change is a constant part of life. With each change, adjustments have to be made. Certain changes in our lives put us in a different tax category or changes how we need to file our taxes. Legally, we may come under different rules and requirements. There are tax advantages ... Continue Reading
  • 2019 Tax Refunds Delay As we get deeper into the 2019 tax season, some taxpayers are experiencing a delay in receiving their tax refunds. The old adage that if you are expecting a refund you should file early seems to be coming under fire a bit in recent years, but none so much as the 2019 tax ... Continue Reading
  • The 2018 IRS Dirty Dozen (Pursuant To IR-2018-66, March 21, 2018) Internal Revenue Service Every year the IRS issues its “Dirty Dozen” report to highlight the biggest scams that the public needs to avoid. The IRS has released the following press release: This year's “Dirty Dozen” list highlights a ... Continue Reading

Taxes
  • Simple Strategies to Reduce Small Business Taxes Small strategies make big impacts when it comes to figuring out the year’s deductions. Sadly, many small business owners never get the help they need because they’re simply unaware of the many tax deductions available to them. This is where a good, knowledgeable CPA is ... Continue Reading
  • Tax Deductible Home Selling Which Items are Tax Deductible when Selling a House? When you list your house on the market, you’re probably thinking about how much money you’ll make or where you want to move next, not about your taxes. A home sale does have tax implications which can either help or hurt ... Continue Reading
  • Travel and Entertainment: Maximizing the Tax Benefits on Travel and Entertainment Expense Travel and entertainment are legitimate deductions, but few business owners take full advantage of them. One reason may be that they fear that the deduction will be challenged by the IRS and they’ll have to undergo the scrutiny of an audit. Another reason may be because the ... Continue Reading
  • Taxes and Other Implications of Real Estate Investing for Retirement Two of the biggest concerns of those who are investing for retirement are not running out of money and maintaining regular cash flow. It can be difficult to switch from a bi-weekly paycheck to carefully timed withdrawals from a retirement account. Market fluctuations cause ... Continue Reading

Tips
  • What You Need To Know About A Roth IRA Roth IRAs can be mystifying with all the conflicting information out there. Investments in Roth IRAs are quite simple to understand despite what financial ads that run during major sporting events would lead you to believe. Roth IRAs are for people who have an income of up ... Continue Reading
  • Immediate Steps to Take if Your Identity is Stolen A recent study confirmed that over 16 million people were the victims of identity theft in the span of one year in America alone, which resulted in $16.8 billion in stolen money. Identity theft is dangerous to your wallet and to your credit. Identity thieves use your ... Continue Reading
  • Helpful Tips For Getting Clients to Pay on Time Does your company have problems getting paid on time? Certain industries are more vulnerable to this than others, but every business owner has experienced it at least once. There are effective strategies for always getting paid on time that really work. If you put these into ... Continue Reading
  • Best Small Business Loan Products to Manage Cash Flow Small business owners quickly learn the importance of monitoring their cash flow. The flow of money in and out of your business can impact everything from the stock you have to sell to keeping the lights on. In a perfect world, your cash flows would align. All of our ... Continue Reading