Category: Accounting
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Robocall response II
Last year I appeared on a short segment on the NBC national news and the Today Show about how robocalls have disrupted the traditional role of my business telephone. In the NBC interview I said “I like to talk to customers, strangers, clients, but it actually made me hesitant to even want to pick up the…
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Six basic rules for handling a tax audit
Everyone hopes to avoid a tax audit but sometimes it happens anyway. An audit always starts with a written notification by mail from the IRS, state, or local tax authority. It might just be triggered by a simple computer-generated “mismatch” error or it might be the beginning of one of the more rare types of…
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Platinum Level QuickBoooks ProAdvisor
Did you see the episode of ABC sitcom “Modern Family” where Jay and the family visit Mandalay Bay? In the story line, Jay learns there is an even better high level accommodation than the resort penthouse suite he booked so he becomes obsessed with trying to upgrade, only to learn that there are still higher levels…
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QuickBooks Self-employed revisited
This month I took a fresh look at QuickBooks Self-employed version. As much as I want to endorse and offer this platform for self-employed individuals, I can not. The simple reason is that Intuit does not support this product under the same platform as other QuickBooks products. I find the support to be inefficient, unprofessional…
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Accepting QuickBooks invitation to online accountant
Some blog post I write just for me, so that I’ll remember next time the situation comes up. If this helps another accountant, great. This is a workaround to a overly sensitive security issue that’s caught me a few times. A prospective client sends the accountant invitation through QuickBooks Online. (If you are not an…
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How to refer me for income tax services
At this time of year I often receive questions like: “Do you handle individual taxes?“ “How much would it cost?“ “How do I get more information to get started?“ “Do I have to come to your office?“ YES, we welcome new individual tax clients and we make…
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Last minute 1099 preparation
At this time of year (the last 10 days of January) it is typically too late for small businesses to order the required paper forms to prepare and mail Form 1099s to avoid penalties by the January 31 deadline set by IRS. This triggers questions about whether I can do it as a stand-alone last…
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Bill.com Expert Certification
Bill.com is a market-leading software that automates tedious tasks, gets you paid faster electronically, and integrates with your accounting software to fit your workflow. I started using it last year and passed the expert certification program today. For a demonstration of how this technology can save time and money for your firm throughout the year and…
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Simplify the business of life
This blog title is a slogan used by the world’s most popular personal and small business software maker. For my purposes as an adviser, I’m using it here to refer to the accounting for essential financial transactions between an employer and employee: payroll, taxes and employee benefits. Small businesses have wide latitude in some areas of…
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Small business payroll fees for 2019
I’m sending this email message to my smallest business payroll clients: In planning for 2019 services, I’ve noticed that payroll processing fees have risen sharply for me. This seems to be an industry trend apparently related to spreading out the cost of state and local tax compliance issues for some companies but doesn’t otherwise affect…