Author: Tony Novak
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Review of Lenovo T580 ThinkPad laptop for tax practice
Last month I purchased a T580 ThinkPad Laptop Machine Type Model 20L9CTO1WW, directly from Lenovo at a price of about $1,500 as customized, with tax and delivered. The machine is meant to be my primary accounting practice machine. This is my first ThinkPad after about 20 years of using comparable but less expensive primarily HP…
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Tax Reform 2.0 update
This is a bullet point overview of the “Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018” (HR 6760), the “Family Savings Act of 2018” (HR 6757) and the “American Innovation Act” (HR 6756), that are collectively referred to as “Tax Reform 2.0” as passed by the House of Representatives on September 27-28, 2018.…
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New Jersey real estate tax credit program made simple
This post attempts to list in simplified wording what we know and what we don’t know about New Jersey’s new real estate tax credit program. What we know: 1. In May of 2018 the tax credit program became law, even though most details of its operation were missing. 2. The program allows taxpayers to take…
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Which version of QuickBooks is right for your business?
This post and pricing information is now out of date. Sometimes it is actually useful or necessary to provide a long explanation to a simple answer. I find that is often the case when recommending an accounting system to a small business owner. The best answer for most small businesses is simple and clear. The…
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PDF document handling in 2018
The Internal Revenue Service, state revenue departments and many other branches of government and industry rely heavily on the Portable Document File (PDF) format handling electronic documents. It follows then, that a tax professional needs to be up-to-date in handling PDFs with maximum security and efficiency. According to Wikipedia, the Portable Document Format (PDF) is a…
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Check your e-filing acceptance
This tax tip is simple but important. After you e-file a business or personal tax return, go back to check to see that the e-file was accepted. I know of two business e-filed returns that were not accepted this week for reasons having nothing to do with the taxpayer or preparer. I read a rumor…
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Online support groups; the concept revisited
My business was boosted incredibly by online support groups for decades. In fact, I can easily say that my past businesses like Medsave (sold in 2008) and OnlineAdviser / OnlineNavigator (no longer active), would not have been successful on building to tens of thousands of users in the 1990s and early 2000s without this online peer…
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An experiment in password security
Back in 2012 I published a few educational articles reviewing and promoting the use of password management software. The message in short: we should all be using separate, randomly generated passwords for each our online accounts that are not written or recorded in non-secure online locations and are changed periodically. One of these articles is still…
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Sample small matters, financial planning and tax services engagement agreement
This is a sample high-value agreement for ‘piecemeal’ or small matter individual and small business financial, accounting and tax services performed outside of an agreement for comprehensive or ongoing services. The agreement incorporates cost-saving technologies and procedures to save time and money while maintaining a high level of professional service (revised April 4, 2019). Contents:…
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Fast Facts about the US economy
A few rich politicians are touting the “miracle economy” and unfortunately this propaganda is effective in fooling some people. Here is the real story for average Americans: REAL EARNINGS ARE GOING DOWN FOR MOST PEOPLE. We earn less than we used to when measured as purchasing power. We’ve had the greatest drop in real wages…