Category: Accounting
-
Get the most from your small business accountant
your small business accountant is a primary agent of change Small business management is changing rapidly; more dramatically and at a faster pace than we have ever seen before. As a small business CPA I feel that it is important to help clients forecast the impact, tap into and leverage the benefits whenever possible and minimize the damaging impact of…
-
Mobile scanning apps for taxes and accounting
If you want to handle taxes or accounting on your smartphone or tablet, you need a mobile scanning app installed on your device. The two most popular apps that are completely free, have no premium upgrade option, include optical character recognition, and are available on all cell phone and tablet computer platforms are: Office Lens…
-
The $100 bill is doomed
The U.S. Department of Treasury says that we have a Trillion dollars in circulation in paper $100 bills. We’ve known for a while that much of this is kept outside of the United States and that a large portion of the $100 bills actually in circulation are used for illicit activities including drug trade, human…
-
Too many chefs spoil the financial plan
The saying goes “Too many chefs spoil the broth”. I saw that concept play out twice this month with the tax liabilities of two small businesses. These otherwise successful entrepreneurs used too many financial advisers without designating one of them as the chief financial officer in charge. The results were nearly disastrous. Potential disaster #1: S-corp cash…
-
What to do if your W-2 includes taxable health benefits
Summary: Employer-paid health benefits included as W-2 taxable wages is an accounting error that appears to flourish this year due to misinterpretation of tax laws surrounding the Affordable Care Act by small business accountants. The error financially hurts employees by overstating tax liability and reducing eligibility for various tax credits. Fix the error by talking to…
-
Why are tax attorneys so expensive?
The Wall Street Journal ran an article this week about the number of attorneys billing at $1,000 to $1,500 per hour. It turns out that there were more tax attorneys in the list than any other type. Why? In my own practice, the primary consideration in setting a fee is an estimate of the likely…
-
Three benefits of operating as an LLC
If you are self-employed, there may be at least three benefits of operating your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). In most states the cost is roughly about $200 to form a LLC and about $100 per year to maintain it. The potential benefits are: Liability protection – This is the usual reason, to…
-
Who is responsible when the payroll service screws up?
A new legal case might give some insight to responsibility for compliance with the maze of federal, state and local laws controlling electronic banking and payroll transactions Most small businesses that pay employees or contractors use a third-party payroll accounting service to handle the required record-keeping and tax payment transactions. These services are inexpensive, typically…
-
Control the cost of divorce with peaceful resolution techniques
A checklist of financial planning issues to consider in collaborative divorce Divorce is expensive and almost always a losing proposition for both parties from a financial perspective. Financial stress during the marriage is increasingly cited as one of the reasons that married couples seek a divorce. An expensive divorce only makes this problem worse. During…