Author: Tony Novak
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A gap in small business advice following the election
For more than 30 years my practice has focused on financial planning for small business on taxes, benefits and health care. We can agree that these are issues in the spotlight right now after last week’s election. Over the past week I’ve read comments by other small business accountants that basically say that it is…
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When is it worthwhile to challenge a tax demand?
Is it worthwhile for a taxpayer to dispute a demand from the IRS or state tax authority for additional tax payment? Does the expected savings resulting from a tax case justify the cost of the dispute process? The answer, we might suspect, it that “it depends”. It depends on the type of demand, the amount and the dispute process that is…
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The ‘Trump effect’ on the tax shelter industry
Tax planners and tax shelter promoters are finding a new wave of prospective client inquiries this year and the market shift has been dubbed “Trump effect”. Basically, people want to know how to pay no tax like Trump and the ultra-rich friends that they might have heard about. They typically have some incomplete notion about…
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Verizon Wireless vs T-Mobile cellular data
I’ve wrestled with the exploding cost of cellular data costs for my home and small business use. I’m not doing anything different that would account for the increase in data use. In fact, over the past three years I’ve dramatically cut back on practical use of internet technologies – no more web cam, music services, or…
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Preparing for an audit of your nonprofit organization
Most nonprofit organizations are required to present an annual audit, review or compilation report prepared by an independent accountant. The requirement might be incorporated into the organization’s bylaws or might be required by a government agency or funding organization. The cost of an accounting procedure is substantial and depends on many factors. For discussion purposes…
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Thinking about changing accountants?
The decision to change accountants often comes as the result of pain experienced. It is important to explore this experience so that we can learn from it and make improvements for the future. Author Rob Nixon suggests that we ask the following questions and then find a way to turn the negative comments into positives in…
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I cancelled pre-election tax planning offers
Tax planning has always been a larger part of my practice than tax return preparation. That means that this is my busy season. I offered a number of fixed fee tax consultations under assumptions that the 2017 tax code will be basically the same as this current year. Now that seems unlikely. There are suddenly hundreds…
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Pennsylvania charity registration and audit requirements
The requirement of a Pennsylvania charity to register and submit an CPA attestation depends on a number of factors including the amount of “receipts”, “contributions” or “solicitations”. All three of these terms are used in the applicable code sections. Today I received email confirmation from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue that, for this purpose, “receipts”, “contributions”…
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How to invite me to view your QuickBooks Online accounts
Log into QuickBooks Online as either the Master Administrator or Company Administrator. Click on the gear icon, located in the top-right corner. Within the Your Company section, click Manage Users. From within the Manage Users page, click the Invite Accountant button. In the mini interview that appears, enter email address tony@tonynovak.com into the Accountant’s email…
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It could get worse
Please America – regardless of your beliefs or political affiliations – let’s agree that Stephen Bannon has published more hateful, divisive, racist, antisemitic and otherwise controversial material than any other person* in national headlines in recent years. *Except perhaps, as my friend suggests, Alex Jones. But fortunately Jones is not expected to be working in the…