Category: Accounting
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‘Assurance’ though a web app is not insurance
‘Assurance’ based on technology is nice but it does not include the financial risk shifting of insurance or the legal force of a contract. I recall writing a blog post years ago about how health insurance was morphing into a web app. Consumers seemed unaware or unconcerned of the distinction between a legal contract that…
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Initial thoughts on tax season wrap up and where to go from here
Initial thoughts on the wrap up of tax season: 1. OVERALL: It was the roughest tax season in my 30+ years, yet it was not as bad for me as many others tax professionals reported. Tax accountants’ online discussion groups are filled with stories of excess stress, it’s health impact, and threats of retirement from…
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Update on accounting business practices
In the normal course of business it is necessary to periodically update for changing trends, technology and legal and industry standards. This month I made the following six changes that will be reflected in future engagements: 1. Elimination of fax communications. Fax is just outdated, often insecure and inefficient. Instead, I encourage the use of…
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Business services checklist
While every small business has its own requirements for accounting services, this list compiles 20 of the most commonly requested help topics grouped in strategic groupings. Each contributes to overall success, but the needs typically vary over the life of a small business owner. The decision to perform each function internally, outsource or handle collaboratively…
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Butting heads on small business bookkeeping
I had unfortunate occasion to butt heads with an old-school bookkeeper. She is top quality with decades of experience. She knows her debits and credits and trial balances inside and out. She was quick to tell me that the accounting systems I use are worthless. The thing is: the world has changed. Not always for…
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15 features to ensure success of bill payment outsourcing
One of the best ways to use technology in your small business is to outsource bill payments. The time and expense savings that most can achieve puts this high on our list of recommended technologies. The simple fact is that a bill pay expert can do this more simply, reliably and at lower cost than…
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Five reasons that you don’t know about tax-free stocks
Our government taxes most kinds of income. The exceptions list of tax-free income is short. One of the least known sources of tax-free income is gains on qualified small business stock ownership. Gains on qualified small business stock is completely exempt from tax. So why haven’t you heard this before? Here are five good reasons:…
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Corporation or partnership? File an extension now.
If you need to file a tax return for a corporation or a partnership, time is running short before the March 15 filing deadline. The easiest thing is to ask us to file an extension and follow-up with the documentation available. The extension filing fee is $40 and $25 of that (the e-file fee) is…
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Break down the tax filing process
Any complex task is easier when broken down into small pieces. Tax filing is no different. While there are plenty of different options, we break it down and pull out the best methods. Ways to collect information: BEST: Cell phone scanner with tax organizer OK: Flatbed scanner batch documents ALTERNATE: Photos or papers Ways to…
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What’s up with QuickBooks?
Intuit Corporation’s QuickBooks product is easily the most popular small business accounting platform in the nation. This popularity carries through to my law firm market niche where most use some type of QuickBooks platform to connect various components of financial management. Most of these users are converting from older desktop software to more modern hosted…