Author: Tony Novak
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A ‘systems’ approach to business improvement
Looking for ways to improve your business? It can be overwhelming when you are in the middle of day-to-day operations. Business advisers suggest looking at a business as just a combination of systems. Then looking at each system separately can lead to opportunities to learn more and make improvements. I’m a strong advocate of the…
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IRS Security Upgrade for 2018
Beginning last month and concluding yesterday, the IRS e-services system went through a dramatic increase in security. The online security upgrade is accompanied by a telephone service security upgrade that went into effect last week. This is the system that tax professionals like me use to address client issues involving the IRS. I wrote about…
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Small business employee benefits under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act
This is the one version of an opening to a group of articles that I am preparing for specific industry or professional groups in my area of concentration: small business employee benefits planning. This version is for CPAs but other versions of the article will be appropriate for small business audiences. In the final weeks…
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Ways to improve response to email
This blog post was written after a week where I felt that responses to my warm emails (people I know or at least am a ‘contact’) and online messages. The tips are compiled from multiple sources. Use numbers. Keep it short. Use bullet points Use the word “because” Speak to value Make a clear ask Offer…
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When is paper filing of tax returns required?
For Tax Years 2014, 2015, 2016, business e-file will re-open Tuesday January 9. Taxpayers who need to file business Federal and State tax returns will need to file on paper. Individuals can still e-file 2015 and 2016 returns at any time but earlier returns must be filed on paper. Paper returns cost a bit more…
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Encrypted Email, Secure Messaging and Secure File Transfer
“Encrypted Email”, “Secure Messaging” and “Secure File Transfer” are three terms that most people doing business online should know about today. This seems like a good time to review the options as we begin the tax filing season. While these security measures are probably not needed for most people most of the time, I include…
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Tax Preparation Service Offered Through LinkedIn ProFinder
This will be my second year using LinkedIn ProFinder service to match me with online tax service clients. The service was only marginally successful last year (the cost of providing the service was approximately equal to the fee received) last season but I decided to participate again because I found one new client who I…
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Referral fee for 2017 tax season
This year I am offering $50 referral fee to existing clients for new small business clients including ‘gig workers’ who are required to file a Schedule C. A $50 discount is also given to the referred new client. For individual tax clients, the deal is the same except the reward if $25 for the referer and…
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Product review: Trim
I’ve written often about the fast-paced evolution of consumer finance software. In summary, our best programmers and artificial intelligence resources are focusing on this field for a number of reasons and consumers stand to gain. he field is highly competitive and exected to continue to evolve so that the value of product reviews like this…
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Turned Sour on Bitcoin
I opened a CoinBase account in 2014 with the expectation that BitCoin would eventually be an important currency. this blog post titled “A practical approach to bitcoin for regular people” marked the occasion. I got “locked out” of the account recently and was impressed by the level of security it took to gain access to…