Category: Accounting
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Quoting fees for tax return preparation
Another accountant proposed the concept that there is significant business value of having a standardized and rehearsed response to an initial call from a potential client asking about tax work. I agree. We presume that a primary motivation of the caller is to push for price information. But giving a price with limited information is risky and,…
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S corporation vs. single member LLC
This issue comes up again and again in my tax practice: why do business owners and professionals establish S corporations when a single member LLC will suffice? Let professionals continue to set up one owner S corps. Single member LLCs offer the same legal protection but are considered “disregarded entities” for tax purposes. An LLC is…
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Is your small business ready for the change in credit card rules?
We are now only six weeks away from a major shift in financial risk that affects every small business that accepts credit card payments. Yet many small business owners are still unaware of the change or have not considered the immediate impact of this fundamental change in their business. Beginning October 1 2015 a business that accepts a stolen…
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Reconciliation problem with Quickbooks
I am having a bank account reconciliation problem with QuickBooks and so this post is created so that i can ask for help with the diagnosis. The problem seems clear: Transactions are uncleared and are correctly marked as uncleared in the bank account register as illustrated. 2. Yet the same uncleared transactions are included in…
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Clear explanation that there are no “1099 employees”
I like this clear simple language in Employee Benefit News: “Employers face an uphill battle in classifying a worker as an independent contractor due to DOL guidance that defines ‘employee’ so broadly that such a classification should only be reserved for a narrow subset of workers.” It is amazing how many employers are oblivious of…
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Most workers are employees
The issue of worker misclassification – where businesses classify workers as independent contractors and local, state and federal authorities call them employees – is a long-standing problem area for small businesses. Federal and state auditors (not just tax but worker’s compensation as well) have been engaged in an aggressive “crackdown” on misclassified workers. This week…
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Fixing the problems of financial do-it-yourselfers
New Jersey financial adviser Michael Kay wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal “Do-it-yourselfers often approach advisers as a last resort when they have an especially complex or urgent financial issue, and advisers should proceed carefully with this type of client.” Since the launch of my own practice six months ago, I notice that a high…
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First case of fraud in small business accounting
I’m dealing with my first case of likely fraud in a small business client’s bookkeeping. It apparently stems from the actions of an incompetent or inattentive bookkeeper and an overly trusting business owner. I should not be surprised knowing that $2 out of every $100 passing through the US economy is based on fraud of…