Category: Accounting
-
Remote part time small business controller services: pricing model
I’ve been wrestling with the pricing of remote controller services for small businesses. I had, on my own, established a ‘rule of thumb’ that any business that does not spend one percent of its gross revenues on internal and external accounting will likely hit legal or financial disaster. The cost is closer to two percent of…
-
Accounting considerations for handling cash
Some of my primary client groups depend heavily on cash transactions. The seafood and farming industries in rural southwest New Jersey, for example, are almost entirely run on cash. There isn’t a bank branch in our rural township; the closest bank is a 20-30 minute drive each way. Also, parts of our are do not…
-
Avoid being a fraud victim when venturing into the cannabis industry
It seems like every week lately we read about another cannabis industry fraud. Investors are losing millions. Regulators are levying fines. The IRS, tax court and states are moving at full speed against these companies that simply lack effective management controls. In one tragic case, a cannabis business founder committed suicide after losing millions in…
-
Questions about TechSoup
My largest block of clients are charitable organizations. In that nonprofit field the company TechSoup is a popular vendor of technology services. A few recent events cause me to ask more questions. I’ve made a few purchases for clients through them. TechSoup markets “donated and specially discounted technology offers”. But lately I’ve noticed that specific…
-
Five tech tools to boost small business income
There are two approaches to boost the income of your small business: Increase revenue, or Decrease expenses. If your experience is like mine, there is no shortage of people willing to help you raise income. Marketing experts, business coaches, networking specialists, branding experts, and so forth. My inbox is overflowing daily from so many offers…
-
A survey of state-specific continuing professional education ethics courses for Delaware CPAs
Editing note: In February 2020 the state Board notified me by email that they completed an audit of my CPE program records for the period of July 2017 through June 2019 and found no deficiencies. Most Certified Public Accountants, like me, take continuing professional education (CPE) courses from a variety of sources on a range…
-
Three nonnegotiable points on CPA verification letters
CPAs are commonly asked to verify business information including ownership, finances and available funds. This is a useful part of business operations and often part of the bank lending process. Some banks go as far as to ask for verification of an opinion, which if course is not possible. But to the extent that a…
-
An accounting niche opposite the AICPA trend
An advertisement by a top-qualify national information publishing firm joined up with a prominent AICPA event to deliver an educational program designed to prepare CPA firms for imminent change. The bullet points describing the course content are: End-to-end, automated cloud-based tax preparation AI-enhanced, highly intuitive tax research A cloud-driven, Integrated Audit Approach that focuses on…
-
Ten million people with tax debt can still move forward with a normal financial and personal life
Millions of Americans are saddled with tax debt that prevents them from moving financially. That financial struggle impacts other aspects of life including mental and physical health and relationships. I’ve observed that the key to resolving these problems – even when they seem insurmountable in the beginning – is to establish a supportive professional relationship…