Fishing with the EFTPS

Back in July, I posted about a new e-mail scam that had been circulating to get taxpayers personal data. Well, the crooks seem to be at it again according to the IRS, and this time the “fish hook” is the EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System). Now before everyone jumps to conclusions and says “See another reason to not use technology”, let me outline the details of the scam.


The scam claims to be from the IRS and states that it comes from the Anti-Fraud Commission (and many of the words are misspelled). The e-mail goes on to say that someone has used the taxpayer’s credit card information to pay a tax liability. The e-mail continues and says that taxpayer’s bank accounts have been used for fraud and money has been lost. To help recover the funds, taxpayers must click on a link within the e-mail to start the recovery process.

How to spot scam IRS e-mails

1. Misspelled words

2. E-mail does not end with IRS.gov

3. Link does not end with IRS.gov

4. IRS does not send e-mails to taxpayers

Hope the following tips will keep taxpayers safe when surfing the internet and checking their e-mails

The Tech Accountant

Don’t lose this late summer tax saving opportunity

With the end of the summer near (or for most already here), brings about time for back to school for many students. Taxpayers that have students in college will be relieved to know that there is still time to capitalize on a tax credit opportunity for college expenses paid. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is still available until December 31st 2010 and will help students and their parents offset the cost of college. According to the IRS there are six (6) important factors taxpayers need to know to claim the credit:


1. This credit, which expands and renames the existing Hope Credit, can be claimed for qualified tuition and related expenses that you pay for higher education in 2009 and 2010. Qualified tuition and related expenses include tuition, related fees, books and other required course materials.

2. The credit is equal to 100 percent of the first $2,000 spent per student each year and 25 percent of the next $2,000. Therefore, the full $2,500 credit may be available to a taxpayer who pays $4,000 or more in qualifying expenses for an eligible student.

3. The full credit is generally available to eligible taxpayers who make less than $80,000 or $160,000 for married couples filing a joint return. The credit is gradually reduced, however, for taxpayers with incomes above these levels.

4. Forty percent of the credit is refundable, so even those who owe no tax can get up to $1,000 of the credit for each eligible student as cash back.

5. The credit can be claimed for qualified expenses paid for any of the first four years of post-secondary education.

6. You cannot claim the tuition and fees tax deduction in the same year that you claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit or the Lifetime Learning Credit. You must choose to either take the credit or the deduction and should consider which is more beneficial for you.

For additional details on how you can claim the credit, be sure to visit the IRS website or speak to your tax professional.

The Tech Accountant

Rain Clouds on Peachtree? Here’s you Umbrella

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Sage Accountants Network that Sage Peachtree’s cloud based solutions will be discontinued on November 30th of this year. With the discontinuation of the Sage Peachtree cloud products (ePeachtree, Peachtree Web Accounting, Sage Peachtree WebsiteTrader and WebsiteCreator Services) is there a “next step” for clients that are using these products before the November 30th deadline? I have been getting calls/emails with questions and concerns about:


• Having access to their data after Nov. 30th

• Will Sage offer any other cloud products to move data over to

• How this affects the use of desktop Sage Peachtree products

Here is what we know so far regarding alternatives to Sage Peachtree Cloud products:

• ePeachtree – extract data by November 30th and Sage will offer customers a free desktop version of Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting and Sage Peachtree Simple Payroll

• Peachtree Web Accounting – Sage offers two alternate sources for web accounting. Sage Remote Access powered by GoToMyPC and Sage Peachtree Accounting 2011 using Terminal Services. To see which solution will work for your small business click here.

• Sage Peachtree WebsiteTrader and WebsiteCreator Services – Probably the toughest of the alternatives, clients will have to transfer their websites to another provider. The transfer can be completed via uploading the code to a new provider via FTP or exporting the website catalog item list to an XML or CSV file.

These are the solutions that are currently offered by Sage to somewhat minimize client’s pain with transferring their data to alternate sources. Clients must take the initiative and start planning for the transfer now to ensure that there is no interruption in their office procedures and administration and they can also test the transfers before the yearend reporting season. Be sure to seek assistance from a Sage Peachtree software consultant to correctly walk you through the transfer of your data.

The Tech Accountant

7 Steps to Paying Tax Liabilities

As the summer comes to a close, so does the 6 month extension to file tax returns. Extensions are used to extend the time to file your tax return but do not extend the time to pay any tax monies owed. If you are a taxpayer that has a tax liability that has not been paid, here are the seven steps to paying your tax liabilities:


1. Find out how much you owe in unpaid taxes. Either contact the IRS or get copies of your tax returns to verify the amount you owe. Tax liabilities not paid timely will include your original tax due, plus penalties and interest.

2. If setting up a payment plan, the IRS charges a user fee: $52 for direct debit installment agreements, $105 for new installment agreements without direct debit, or $45 for restructuring or for reinstating a defaulted installment agreement. Low income taxpayers can request a lower fee of $43.

3. Fill out Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request. Or use the Online Payment Agreement Application on the IRS Web site.

4. Choose a day of the month you want to make your payments. Your payment must be made by the same day each and every month. You can choose any day you want between the 1st and 28th of the month.

5. Choose your monthly payment amount. You must pay the same amount each and every month.

6. The IRS will respond to your request in about 30 days.

7. Make payments each and every month. You can pay by check, money order, credit card, EFTPS or automatic withdrawals from your checking account.

Taxpayers can increase the amount of their monthly payment if they like, but should at least make the same minimum payment each month. Taxpayers can always seek the assistance of a competent tax professional if they need assistance creating a budget for their tax liability or they do not have the time to complete the steps.

The Tech Accountant

Bankruptcy and Your Taxes

Bankruptcy filings are at an all time high according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts, the highest number since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Taxpayers that file bankruptcy need to know the rules regarding bankruptcy protection and how tax debts can come into play. Before a taxpayer attempts to include federal tax debts under their bankruptcy protection they must determine what tax liabilities might be dischargeable.

Find out which tax liabilities are dischargeable here:



Taxpayers also must attempt to salvage their credit history by researching other options before including tax debts in bankruptcy filings. Tax administrative options can include a request for abatement of penalties, installment agreements, offers in compromise, and innocent spouse relief. If these options have been exhausted or are not viable for the taxpayer, including tax debts in bankruptcy may be the only solution.

Taxpayers can find assistance with bankruptcy and their tax situation by seeking the assistance of a good bankruptcy attorney and their accountant. Working in conjunction with the attorney and accountant, the taxpayer can determine which type of bankruptcy they need to file, what tax debts if any will qualify for discharge in bankruptcy, and how a bankruptcy filing will affect their tax situation in the future. Filing for bankruptcy is not the end of the world and for some taxpayers may be the only option to help them rebuild their lives.

The Tech Accountant

Form 1099 reporting - Need Your Input

Small business owners are in for a treat starting in 2012 if they do not voice their opinions. Under Section 9006 of the Healthcare Act all businesses, tax exempt organizations, and federal, state and local government entities will be required to issue Forms 1099 to vendors who they make purchases from totaling over $600 during the calendar year.

What?!?!

So if you are a small business owner, the new law is going to increase your paperwork burden for the end of the year and may possibly increase your accounting fees. Currently there is a bipartisan effort to have this portion of the law repealed, but nothing has changed as of yet.

I would recommend that small business owners take the time to leave comments with the IRS regarding this new law. At the following link:

IRS Requests Pubic Input on Expanded Information Reporting Requirement

To hear my personal input, listen below.

The Tech Accountant

Another Cool Cloud Offering

Small business owners (SBO’s) that are out in the field or away from the office a lot will love the new offering from online fax vendor MyFax. For those SBO’s that use iPhone smartphones (and there are quite a few according to this webinar), MyFax has released an iPhone app that allows users to open view or preview mission critical faxes while away from the office.


To hear more about the app from MyFax provider Protus and get more details, be sure to check out the following link.

Additionally I was pretty shocked at the number of Blackberry, iPhone, and Android users in the webinar. Appears Android and iPhone users are on the rise while Blackberry continues to loose market share. So I decided to take a poll and see what kind of numbers are out in the small business world.

Feel free to take the poll to the left and let me know which smart phone you use.

The Tech Accountant

The End of RAL's

In the past I have personally expressed my opinion of refund anticipation loans or RAL's for short. Well the IRS seems to be coming around to my thinking with their recent announcement. Starting with the upcoming filing season, the IRS will not provide tax preparers or financial institutions with the "debt indicator" that is used to determine the creditworthiness of taxpayers for RAL's. For more information on this change be sure to see the details at the IRS website.

Is this the end of RAL's? Let me know your thoughts.

The Tech Accountant

3 Ways to Take Small Business Accounting to the Clouds

Small business owners (SBO’s) who use any kind of technology in their business will have undoubtedly heard someone mention “cloud computing” or “SaaS” and how this new technology will be the future of their business operations. Due to tighter budgets and a bit of misunderstanding of what the cloud has to offer, many small business owners continue with the “if it ain’t broke…” way of doing things. When speaking to small business owners about how they can streamline operations and save money, the topic of cloud computing seems to come up a great deal. I usually hear reasons for resisting the cloud to include security issues, control of data, and learning curve.


If a small business owner is not ready to fully jump out the airplane and into the clouds, they have three basic ways they can move to the clouds. These solutions also address some of the many issues that small business owners have about the cloud way of doing things.

Remote Access

Test your current accounting system using remote access. Remote access allows a SBO to still control their data by having it located on one of their computers and gives bookkeeping personnel the ability to login to the system from anywhere there is an internet connection. The bookkeeper can access accounting information at their leisure and can cut down on in office expenses. Remote access works best when there is a dedicated computer for accounting and only one person is accessing the data. Some remote access vendors include LogMeIn and Citrix.

Software Hosting

Hosting your accounting data is an even closer step towards the cloud. When an SBO “hosts” their accounting software bookkeeping personnel will login to the hosting company’s servers and complete their tasks over the internet. The data will reside on the hosting company’s computers and updates will be done by the company. Hosting also allows simultaneous users allowing more than one person access to accounting functions. SBO’s must use due care when setting up permissions to various functions of the accounting software to ensure that proper controls are in place. Some hosting vendors include CPAASP and Right Networks.

SaaS Solution

When an SBO uses a SaaS accounting product, all of their mission critical data is in the clouds. Bookkeeping personnel will login to the accounting system just like accessing an online banking module. Changes are updated in real-time and updates are usually done during non-peak hours. Simultaneous users can also access the system at once and the control functions are integrated into the module. Since the data is completely online, there is no data file to share or provide to outside parties. Some SaaS vendors include Netsuite and AccountantsWorld.

As a SBO, taking your accounting processes to the cloud can be done in many ways. Depending on the SBO’s resistance, one solution is sure to fit your business operations. Embracing the cloud can be tough for many SBO’s thus it is important to speak with cloud vendors, map out a plan, and test the systems before going full speed with a cloud accounting solution.

The Tech Accountant

Tax Tools for Tech Savvy Accountants

Are you an accountant that ever needed access to tax code while at a client's office for research? Have you ever been in the middle of a tax audit and needed access to the tax code and regulations to support your position? Here's a quick video that will provide tech accountants and tech savvy taxpayers with a solution.



The Tech Accountant

Another Phishing Expedition

Taxpayers need to be on the lookout for another slick e-mail scam. This one is centered on using the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) as a scare tactic to get a taxpayer’s personal information. The e-mail scam has a few variations but typically looks like this:


From: Internal Revenue Service

Date: July 19, 2010 7:48:08 AM EDT

To:

Subject: W-2 form update

We would like to inform you that as of the 16th of June

you are late in updating your W-2 form submition with the new

updated version. Please send us your completed W-2 update form

by 01/07/2010. The updated version of the W-2 form is attached

to this message.



Internal Revenue Service



If you notice the word “submission” is spelled wrong. Misspellings are usually a good sign that an e-mail is a scam. The dates are another dead give away. The most important thing to know is that the IRS does NOT send out e-mail notification in this manner. If you receive an e-mail similar to this one, be sure to send it to the IRS.



The Tech Accountant

Time to start your business engines

Aspiring entrepreneurs that have been thinking about starting their own business are in luck if a current House Bill is passed. The Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 5486) would increase the Code Sec. 195 deduction for qualified start-up expenses. The current law allows small business taxpayers to deduct up to $5,000 in qualified start-up expenses with the deduction being reduced by the amount of total start-up costs exceeding $50,000. For tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011, the proposed House bill would increase the start-up expense deduction from $5,000 to $20,000 and the threshold will be increased from $50,000 to $75,000.


The bill is an attempt to spur the economy by allowing small businesses to recover more of their initial start-up investment on the front-end (instead of spreading the expense over many years) increasing their cash flow, and giving them the ability to invest in the economy and hire employees.

We will keep our eyes and ears focused on the developments coming out of Congress for more information on planning to start a small business, be sure to speak with an accountant, attorney, and do your own research at the Small Business Administration and other small business resources.

The Tech Accountant

Homebuyer Assistance

Individuals that entered into contracts to purchase homes but missed the June 30th deadline got a little assistance before the 4th of July holiday. The President signed the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010. For more information regarding the Act, listen to the audio clip below.



The Tech Accountant

Five Trends Killing Horizontal Accounting Software

Blogger Austin Merrit of Accounting Software Advice had a recent post that discussed the 5 trends that are killing horizontal accounting software . Merrit states the 5 trends are:
1. Decision makers require more than a standalone system

2. Businesses want systems that fit their unique needs

3. SaaS emergence

4. Mobile Access and Social Media Integration with the enterprise

5. Software vendors fueling the switch

I would agree with Merrit that horizontal accounting software is quickly becoming obsolete and feel that the continued development of vertical software “flavors” are the driving force behind the switch. Software designed for small business (those that gross between $1 million to $5 million in revenue annually) currently on the market can be considered “vertical” once additional modules or “add-ons” are integrated with the existing software. If you take the major accounting software vendors (Intuit, Sage, Microsoft) each has what they consider a “middle” market product that can integrate customer management, financial management, operations management and employee/HR management. These systems are also currently providing advanced reporting, deeper sales and inventory management, customizable dashboards, collaborative workflow management and online training that further push their existing software into the vertical market.

The path to vertical accounting solutions for existing software vendors can be traveled down to major routes. One is to allow 3rd party vendors to develop add-on vertical products to use in conjunction with an existing horizontal software package. An example would be Intuit’s Marketplace and Worplace App Center. The Marketplace allows small business owners with horizontal accounting software the ability to add industry specific solutions that can be implemented via the desktop or the web. The Workplace App Center provides small businesses with software programs that can be loaded on the computer or smart phone to help save time.

The second route is to create an industry specific accounting software product that integrates other small businesses back office functions. Sage currently offers vertical software designed for the construction, real estate, and non-profit sectors. These software titles give small businesses the ability to focus on industry specific business management issues, operate their business in real time, and have all their back office functions in one package.

Small businesses using existing accounting software and third part add-ons are also pushing the industry to provide more vertical solutions to their business specific issues. The question is however; are these small businesses utilizing their existing software to its full potential. I personally have rarely seen a small business outgrown one of the higher level horizontal accounting solutions (QuickBooks Enterprise, Sage Quantum, and Microsoft Dynamics GP) when they are using all of the software’s features/modules/add-ons. A major problem is that many small businesses don’t take the time to learn how to use all the features in their accounting software. The key is that small business decision makers must prioritize their needs when considering an accounting software package. By focusing on the software’s features, implementation, technology, the vendor’s reputation in their vertical market and the small business’ budget a small business can turn their horizontal accounting software into a vertical accounting powerhouse.

The Tech Accountant

DSL- "Do Suppliers Lie"

Many entrepreneurs operate their businesses from home or use a home office to conduct part of their business activities. Having a secure and fast Internet connection in your home office is critical to the success of your business, but there may be times when you are not getting what you pay for. Are DSL suppliers lying to us about the speed of the service we receive? I found this out the hard way and the brief video outlines my problems.



The Tech Accountant

QuickBooks Helping IRS Audit Your Books?

The IRS and Intuit are joining forces to make it easier to audit your small businesses. This information was provided from a recent liaison meeting. Does this allow auditors the ability to review QB data that is NOT within the audit scope allowing the audit to be expanded? Let me know your thoughts.



ISSUE:

I was informed yesterday by a Revenue Agent that a national directive has been issued to all Revenue Agents to obtain a copy of the QuickBooks file for any taxpayer being audited who uses QuickBooks. Apparently each audit group has one license from Intuit.

What I plan to do is to use the utility feature to condense prior years so that no detail can be accessed. My audit is for 2008, but obviously other periods can be opened if they want. Hopefully this is not their intention....I have asked for a copy of the directive.

My main concern is the cost of audit representation for our clients if the IRS goes crazy with this. I would love to get your thoughts on this.


RESPONSE:

There have been some substantial changes in the last six to twelve months regarding the issues raised. The IRS has purchased 1500 to 2000 licenses from Intuit and will have one agent trained and licensed per group to assist others in the examination of taxpayers who use QuickBooks. Agents are instructed to obtain a copy of the taxpayer's data base for the year under examination only when it is necessary. This examination tool will not be used in all cases - it is the judgment of the examiner.

IRS has found that many taxpayers do not save hard copies of their records or the copies they have are incomplete. The Service also found that taxpayers reuse an old version and over write the prior year. The examiner may request the data base to verify the integrity of the internal controls. A definite problem could arise where a client thinks they have turned off the internal audit feature to avoid  tracking of adjusting entries but the program does not totally delete these items.

If the qualified representative (power of attorney) considers the Revenue Agent's request for the data base as totally unnecessary, he/she should speak to the agent's group manager. If the taxpayer/representative refuses to provide the data base and the revenue agent/manager determines it necessary, a Summons to obtain the information would be issued.

I spoke with our SB/SE national Technical Advisor for electronic records in our Exam Special Processes unit regarding the issue stated below. The Revenue Agent referenced in the question may have been referring to a memo issued by Monica Baker, the Examination Director, in late April announcing the implementation of the QuickBooks software availability to Revenue Agents. However, there is no written directive that has been issued instructing Revenue Agents to request the electronic data file in every instance where the taxpayer uses QuickBooks or other electronic records.

While Rev Proc 98-25 provides the authority for the IRS to request electronic records, in most cases (with exceptions), the Service will generally request the data file if some sort of electronic system was used. It is indeed up to the agent's and manager's judgment at the group level to make the request.

Although the data file generally retains information from the date of initial input to the date of backup which could obviously include multiple years in addition to the actual audit year, agents are instructed to look at the information only for the year under exam. If there is a decision to expand the examination to prior/subsequent years, then information for those years could be reviewed. As mentioned, using the cleanup utility condenses prior year information into a summary, rather than a detailed, format.

As the software finds its way into RA groups and more agents are trained in its use, we could definitely be seeing a trend in the way exams are conducted since so many small businesses use QuickBooks.


Gerry Kelly-Brenner
ID #94-06950
Senior Stakeholder Liaison Specialist
SBSE Communications, Liaison & Disclosure

Internal Revenue Service
1301 Clay Street, Suite 1090S
Oakland, CA 94612

The Tech Accountant

Just Checking

I came across a pretty interesting article today regarding making payments with checks versus using a new technology called "Peer-to-Peer" payments. Feel free to check out the article here.

Then take our poll (on the left) and let me know your thoughts.

The Tech Accountant

Using your “INTUITion”

Well one of the worst weeks for Intuit the makers of QuickBooks software is behind them (not without another “outage” on Saturday)and although I did get a chance to read all the comments from various media and social media outlets I will not provide an opinion regarding what happen. I will only provide questions/comments on how Intuit can possibly use their Intuition in the future to create better transparency and show that they actually care about their customers.


According to Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit in a statement from their website:

“I want to share with you what we know at this time about what happened. The disruption occurred during a routine maintenance procedure. An accidental but severe power failure during that procedure affected our primary and backup systems, taking a number of Intuit’s websites and services offline.”

Question Mr. Smith, would your intuition tell you not to setup redundant servers in the same location as your primary server? This is still the main question that is on everyone’s mind.

Some also feel that Intuit did not handle the outage in a manner befitting a large corporation. Specifically many individuals felt that they were left to find out information on their own since calls and e-mails to Intuit only provided canned statements that they were “working on” the problem. Personally from what I saw on social media, there was more “support” there than via taking the corporate route. Again intuition would tell one to handle P/R in a more efficient manner.

Well those are some of the issues that Intuit has to deal with at the present time. All in all their products work for most small businesses owners but as for recommending their cloud based offerings at the present time would require more research. Bottom line….cloud computing is here to stay. Small business owners interested in moving to the clouds should do their due diligence before selecting a cloud vendor.

Be sure to voice your opinion or check out the comments on Intuit’s website.

The Tech Accountant

Intuit and Sage not ready for SaaS?

I was initially going to post a video today about ways to use Sage’s Peachtree small business accounting software for your small business, but their rival Intuit and their problems will put that post to the back burner for awhile. Now back to Intuit’s problems. Today I received an e-mail from Intuit that stated the following:


“I wanted to make you aware that there is currently a large outage in the San Diego Data Center and as a result many of our sites such as Intuit.com, Quickbooks.com, Intuitwebsites.com, Payroll.com, Payments, TurboTax, etc. are down. Intuit is actively working the problem. I'll send out an update when I hear about a resolution.”

The outage is surely affecting millions of small business owners (since QB has the largest share of the small biz market) who can’t have their businesses grind to a halt. The question is when will Intuit have the problem resolved and is this something we can expect from Intuit in the future?

Earlier in the month Sage (the makers of Peachtree) also had an outage of their online systems that affected their e-mail, order entry system and customer relationship management (CRM) software. The outage lasted 22hrs and according to the e-mail that I received they isolated the issue and are working to fix the problem. You can find more information here.

With a vast majority of small business vendors taking their products/services to the clouds (online) via software as a service (SaaS) will these “outages” make small businesses push away from using cloud based solutions?

Feel free to let us know if you are losing time and money due to the Intuit's or Sage's outages.

The Tech Accountant

S-Corp’s…a change may be a coming

Those professional small business owners that have organized their businesses as S-Corporations may want to take a look at the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Contained within that bill is a little provision that will have a big consequence for professional corporations that are organized as S-Corps. Professional corporations consist of doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers and the like and if the new law is passed, the profits for these small business professional corporations will be taxed (currently proposed to be 15%).


Why Professional S-Corps should care?

Currently S-Corps owner/shareholders can minimize their tax liability by taking part of their earnings from “reasonable compensation” and the rest from distributions from profits. Reasonable compensation is taxed thru payroll and distributions are not subject to payroll taxes. With the passage of this bill, distributions will now be taxed. There are tests that must be tried to see if your S-Corp will be deemed a disqualified S-Corp so be sure to speak with your tax advisor to see if your S-Corp is considered disqualified.

What’s a Professional S-Corp to do?

Now is the time to contact your senator and tell them your thoughts about the proposed changes for professional S-Corps. If the bill is finally passed, there may be a chance that some professional S-Corps will close down in the coming years.

The Tech Accountant

Save the Paper...IRS does not want it

The IRS does not want your paper anymore. Attached is an audio file below that outlines how the IRS is moving toward a paperless processing environment. By embracing less paper the IRS can save millions. If it save them millions just think how much it can save you and your small business. Enjoy.



The Tech Accountant

Mixing Business with Pleasure

Most of the time accountants are advising their clients to be careful when mixing business expenses with personal expenses. Whether it is comingling business and personal funds or paying for personal expenses with business funds mixing of business and personal is a sure fire way to get a visit from your friendly IRS auditor.

When may you ask is it ok to mix business and personal? Typically it is ok to mix the two when the expense has a valid business purpose. Take for example summer travel. If your travel is necessary to the operation of your business entity and the destination is a typical vacation spot, you will technically be mixing business with pleasure (so that’s way most my accounting conferences are in Vegas).

Below is a brief audio on mixing travel business trips with pleasure. Enjoy.

The Tech Accountant

The IRS is Open this Saturday

For many taxpayers that are having problems with the IRS, speaking with them is one of the last things they want to do. However this may be the best course of action to resolve one’s tax problems. If you fall into one of the following categories, the IRS will be available to help you this weekend. If you:

• received a notice seeking additional information
• cannot pay a tax balance due
• need assistance with offers-in-compromise
• are struggling to complete a certain IRS form or schedule

Be sure to stop by the IRS website to locate which tax office in your state will be open this coming Saturday to assist you.

The Tech Accountant

Tired of Your Business Running You? Turn the Tables with Technology

Increase productivity, save money and improve your social media reach/marketing in your small business with this week’s tech tools video. If you are tired of having your business run you when you should be running your business watch now and change how you run your business.





The Tech Accountant

Protecting Your Business

According to a recent report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) occupational fraud continues to be on the rise in the US and countries abroad. The 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse provides a wealth of information on workplace crimes, how much they cost businesses and how they were detected. The charts and graphs outlined on this link revealed some surprising statistics:

• Financial statement fraud schemes made up only a small percentage of cases, they were the most costly
• Most fraud perpetrators were from the accounting department
• Anonymous tips were used the most to detect fraud as opposed to audits

So what is a company to do to prevent fraud? One of the most important things to do is to closely monitor your business and keep an eye on all aspects of operations. For small business owners it may be difficult to implement the more traditional control functions (such as separation of duties in the accounting department) but the use of technology can assist the small business owner with controlling fraud. Just recently JP Morgan Chase Bank has released a free fraud protection service for small business account holders that will:

• Control check payments and returns with Reverse Positive Pay
• Keep tabs on your account activity with Security Alerts
• Get Paperless Statements to keep your statements from being intercepted in the mail

Check with your bank to see if they offer similar protection services so that you can make you small business more secure.

The Tech Accountant

Who's Afraid of the Clouds

Looking for a way to save money and increase productivity in your small business? Don't be afraid of cloud computing or software as a service (SaaS) solutions. Many small business owners (SBO's) are reluctant to move their systems over to the clouds citing privacy and security issues as the major reasons. If this is the case maybe the SBO's should take baby steps toward the cloud instead of jumping in head first. Here is a funny little video that may tap into the feelings of many SBO's about the changing world of technology and where they will fit in it. Enjoy.

The Tech Accountant

Microsoft Office Web Apps…the new player

There has been a great deal of talk about the release of Microsoft’s Office 2010 product recently and I wanted to give everyone out there in blog land a brief overview of what the new software can do. One of the major additions to the software is the ability to view, share, and edit Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) files from virtually anywhere via Office Web Apps. The changes in Office 2010 are an attempt by Microsoft to go after the Google Apps market as the battle between the two seems to be heating up.


If you are a small business owner and are in the market for new productivity software, be sure to also take a look at this PCMag.com article that puts Google Apps up against Microsoft Office Web Apps and make the decision for yourself. Would love to hear what others think on the subject.

The Tech Accountant

Spreadsheets or Cloud - Tax Planning Made Easy

 
The Tech Accountant

Digital Image Risks

If you have not heard or seen the reports on tv lately. There is a risk associated with using a digital fax, copier, scanner in your business. Basically the digital images are stored on the equipment's hard drive (yes copiers and the like have hard drives) and once the equipment is sold can be access by those wanting to steal confidential information. If you have not seen how this can be done or who is at risk be sure to watch the video below



The Tech Accountant

The Timothy Geithner Approach

Many tax preparation software out there comes with an accuracy related guarantee that goes something like if there are errors found on your return, the software provider will take full responsibility for resolving the problem. I guess to some that may give them a little reassurance that they can prepare their own taxes without the assistance of a competent professional. Well the IRS also has a saying and it goes a little something like this:

"Taxpayers have a definite responsibility to file an accurate tax return...."

So it is up to the taxpayer (not the software) to file an accurate return. If you think that is not the case here is what can happen if you attempt to blame your errors on the software.

The Tech Accountant

Source: Kiplinger

Business Development Workshops

Last evening I had the pleasure to sit-in (and contribute) to a business development workshop aimed at helping those interested in starting their own businesses get the tools they need to start off on the right track. The workshops are being put on by John C Riley of The E-mail Specialist/Atlanta Professional Business Network and Marc Parham of Partec Consulting Group, Inc. The 2-hour workshop last night was a first in a three part series that will take place every Wednesday at the East Point Library for the next few weeks. Last night’s workshop dealt with the legal aspects of starting a business, business plan development, and marketing your business. Next week we will dive deeper into the business planning aspect of start-up and help aspiring entrepreneurs write their business plans. Following are a few pictures from last night’s workshop and we would like to assist more individuals that want to start their own businesses. The next workshops are as follows:

Business Development Workshop Part II – Wednesday May 5th 2010 6-8pm

Business Development Workshop Part III – Wednesday May 12th 2010 6-8pm

For more information regarding these free workshops feel free to contact John, Marc, Michael, or myself via the website links listed in this post.

The Tech Accountant

Marc and John

John discusses marketing

Q&A session

Michael Hickman talks about library resources

You Have Choices in the Cafeteria

Thanks to the IRS and Notice 2010-38, small business owners (SBO’s) with cafeteria plans now have guidance on how to provide the recently passed tax free health coverage for employees with children. The employees’ children must be under the age of 27 and are eligible for the tax benefits from March 30th 2010. The term “child” can mean a son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or eligible foster child. Those SBO’s that have cafeteria plans may allow their employees to immediately take pre-tax salary reductions to provide coverage to their employee’s children.

According to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman the changes will “make it as easy as possible for employers to quickly implement this change and extend health coverage on a tax-favored basis to older children of their employees.”

The Tech Accountant

New HIRE Form

For those small business owners that will be adding employees in the future, there is a new proposed form that will need to be filled out to ensure that your new employees qualify for the HIRE Act's tax break.

To view the draft of the form click here.

The Tech Accountant

Tax Credit Window Pains

Use this video to gain insight into the energy efficient tax credit and how to use it to minimize your window pains.

Hire Ground for SBO’s

New bill signed into law for SBO’s looking to hire new employees.

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE), also known as the "jobs bill," signed by the President on March 18, 2010, is a plan to create jobs by providing a temporary tax break to small businesses that hire the unemployed.

How is it planned to help SBO’s (2 Ways)

Payroll tax exemption– SBO’s that pay wages after March 18, 2010, and before January 1, 2011, to qualified individuals are exempt from the (i.e., the Social Security portion) of the FICA employment tax for those qualified unemployed workers they hire.

Watch Your 1st and 2nd Qtr. Payroll Tax Forms (Form 941)

For wages paid prior to April 1, 2010 (1st Qtr.), the exemption comes in the form of a second quarter credit. That is, wages paid prior to April 1 that would otherwise qualify for the exemption are subject to regular payroll tax rules. However, the amount by which an employer’s payroll tax would have been reduced under this provision will be treated as a payment against tax in the second quarter of 2010.

Business Tax Credit

Tax credit for retaining new hires– For tax years ending after March 18, 2010, a business tax credit equal to the lesser of $1,000 or 6.2% of wages paid to the worker during the 52 consecutive weeks of employment, and is allowed for each employee in the taxable year in which the 52 consecutive week period is first satisfied will be allowed for each qualified individual.

The Tech Accountant

Entrepreneur Insight Teleconference - Start Your Business Right

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest speaker on a local teleconference recognizing small businesses and entrepreneurs and how they got their start. The main point was to introduce the speakers "P.I.P.E. H.I.T." strategy to help aspiring entrepreneurs transition from the workforce to working on their own. Good information is packed in this 30 min teleconference. Enjoy.

Fire and the Clouds- A Client Story

As many of you out there in blog land know, I am a supporter of using technology to make life a bit easier for myself and my clients. One of the more common technology products that I currently use is a cloud (online) backup and data storage solution. We have been using it for quite some time now and since it has been integrated within my firm’s daily processes, we think nothing of it. At least until recently…

A client of mine had a house fire back in 2009 and is still in the process of putting their life back together. As I met with him and his wife recently, we were all trying to piece back their businesses and personal financial information only to find out that the majority of their statements and contracts were destroyed. Luckily this client was having us scan all of their important financial data since 2004. I was able to pull out my trusty smartphone and login to our data storage and pull up everything we needed to get their taxes completed and provide them copies to recreate their records.

As I was leaving, the client told me that from now on he wanted to have me scan every piece of paper her ever receives. That way he would have no worries.

Just another example of how cloud data storage can save you and your small business. Stop by our website for more information on how you can protect you and your business.

The Tech Accountant

3 Ways Accounting Systems Can Save Your Small Business

Small Businesses are the backbone of our economy. Being that small businesses play such an important role in the American economy, typically what affects the economy will affect the small business owner. In the wake of large businesses financial scandals that are changing the way the government and regulatory agencies mandate new regulations, one would think what are the consequences if small businesses fall prey to similar scandals. The small business owner must take these issues into consideration for accurate financial reporting is not only a “Wall Street” problem, but a “Main Street” problem.

When a small business owner tries to tackle the financial problem alone, they are usually too caught up in the activities of bringing in new business to take any time out to “look over the books” or balance the checkbook. It is also difficult for the small business owner to stay current on all the new changes in the tax law that may affect their business. Despite all the government talks of tax simplification Congress has made more than 5000 changes in the federal tax law since 1986. Small business owner must take into account these issues to ensure a solid future.

Typically a small business owner may attempt to alleviate the problem by purchasing an easy-to use software program to in a sense “do the work for them”. This usually only puts the small business owner back into the same loop of trying to bring in new business at the same time managing day-to-day activities. The time training on the software and entering the data alone could be spent on revenue producing activities which is why often time a small business needs to develop a system of financial record keeping.

How Accounting Systems Help

When a small business utilizes an accounting system in conjunction with an accounting software package, all financial issues can be addressed. This will ensure that the most prudent course of action is taken when making business decisions. At the same time the small business owner can focus their efforts on the revenue producing activities that will help the company grow. The three main ways an accounting system can help a small business owner are:

• Have more efficient tax planning- By preparing year round
• Improve cash flow- By knowing where the business stands at all times
• Have better insight as to where it is going- By utilizing accurate reports for decision-making.

Tax Planning

By utilizing an accounting system, a small business will be able to uncover potential tax savings they can apply throughout the year instead of only at tax time. An accounting system that closely monitors the potential tax implications of various transactions during the year will assist the small business owner with the timing of those transactions to reap the best tax benefit.

Cash Flow

Cash is the life-blood of any business especially a small business. Without cash the business will suffer and will possibly be forced to cease operations. By implementing an accounting system a small business’ cash flow position can be improved. The system can provide the small business owner with the numbers beyond just the bank balances so cash and/or financing needs can be addressed efficiently and effectively.

Management Controls

Many small businesses operate under a blindfold when it comes to planning for the future. By having an accounting system in place, the small business owner will have a better grasp on where they are and where they plan to go. By focusing on the business growth strategy, in conjunction with financial reports the accounting systems can “forecast” potential business scenarios before they occur. This will empower the business owner with the necessary information they need to stay in line with their strategic vision.

Accounting Systems are Important

By implementing an accounting system a small business can improve its tax planning, effectively manage their cash flow, and improve their management controls. It will also allow the small business owner to spend more time on revenue producing activities. Small business is a contact sport, it is important for the small business owner to make new contacts, cultivate their present contacts, and keep in contact with their bottom line. By using an accounting system, small businesses can effectively manage these contacts and continue to be the backbone of the economy.

The Tech Accountant

Start Your Business Right

As the economy continues to decline, many people are looking for other ways to make a living. Jobs are still hard to find for most and the opportunity to start your own business is becoming a viable option. For those that are interested in hanging out their own shingle, there are some very important steps one must take before starting their business to better of chances of success. As I was going through some of my group discussions on Linked In, I came across a lady named Silvia Johnson who operates a coaching and consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay area. She will be conducting a 60 minute teleconference on March 10th to help those people who would like to start their own business on the right track. Be sure to stop by her site for more details and to sign up for the teleconference. Hope those in blog land can make the call.

The Tech Accountant

Tweet Birds in the Clouds

Would you like a way to export all of your tweets, here is a nice cloud product that may be for you. Check out the video below to find out how you can save your tweets as csv files within your cloud data storage which can then be edited, stored, sorted, and more. There is the change that social media networks like Twitter, You Tube and Linked In will not make it as businesses, so be sure that you have a way to get access to your data. Sign up for a free cloud storage account to back up your tweets here.



The Tech Accountant

Your Data Can Be Hacked

As I sit in the office starting off my Monday, I overheard an interview on our local news morning show with a gentleman name Greg Evans of Ligatt Security discussing how most computer data is not secure. This got me thinking about how small business owners secure their data and what measures they need to take to ensure that their data is difficult to hack. Mr. Evans did make some very good points regarding how one should go about protecting their data and computers. The first is to ensure that you have spyware and malware detection software loaded on your computer in addition to antivirus software. He also mentioned ensuring that your firewall is enabled as a precaution too.

What really caught my attention in the interview was the following link that was given to check and see if your computers are hacker proof. Be sure to stop by and enter your computer vitals to find out if there are any additional measures you need to take to protect your computer and data. Finally I need to check on a new iPhone app that has been introduced recently that will maybe help protect some of the shortcomings of the iPhone.

Enjoy your week

The Tech Accountant

Bright Idea…Dimdim

The buzz around the small business owners that I interact with is technology. More and more small business owners (SBO’s) are beginning to embrace the world of technology to help them get more done and operate their businesses more efficiently. One tool that many of my SBO clients like is a little tool call Dimdim. I have posted before on the benefits of this software but recently Dimdim made some updates. Dimdim allows you to share your desktop, make presentations, and conduct online meetings. I use it to show SBO’s how to use various accounting software, how to upload files to our secure web portal, and even conduct online seminars. The possibilities are endless with this jewel. Best of all, Dimdim is free and they also have a low cost Pro version that has more features and functionality.

So be sure to stop by the Dimdim website and see if your small business can benefit from using it.

The Tech Accountant

SMB's need good accounting now more than ever..

Small and medium businesses need to have an efficient accounting system in place now more than ever due to the economy and recent tax law changes. Here is a brief video on what a good accounting system can do for your business. Enjoy.

Your E-Filed Tax Return Will Be Rejected

Yes people in the blogsphere, your tax return will be rejected by the IRS if it contains one of the following errors:

Making Work Pay Credit (MWPC) – the MWPC will cause your return to be rejected if you are not sure if you received the credit or not. Most tax software will assume that you did receive the credit based on your age and other factors, but taxpayers and their tax preparers should contact the Social Security Administration to confirm that the credit was actually received. Another way to find out is to go back and look at your bank statements around May of last year and see if there was a deposit for $250.

First Time Homebuyer Credit (FTHBC) – The FTHBC can only be claimed on returns that are paper filed. If you are a taxpayer that is trying to claim this credit, you will need to attach additional documents to your return to adhere to the more strict guidelines set forth by the IRS.

For more information regarding these credits or other issues that may delay your tax return, be sure to stop by our website.

The Tech Accountant

Falling From the Clouds

As I looked out the window earlier today, I couldn’t help but notice that the winter snow storms have finally made their way to the south. The snow was falling from the clouds at a pretty constant pace and oddly enough it was beginning to build up on the ground. I thought to myself that the forecasters were correct in timing the snow fall and since I live by the 6 P’s (proper prior planning prohibits poor performance), I did not have to run out to the store to buy the necessary bread and milk.

Instead of having to go out and brave the elements today, I was able to get all my work completed thanks to the use of technology. As I watched the news reports about how many of the schools, churches, and other facilities were closing early today in addition to the traffic build up around the city; I reveled at the fact that by using software as a service (SaaS)products and cloud computing my business was able to operate “business as usual”. This is just one of the many reasons a small business owner needs to investigate the use of technology resources in their firm. By using technology driven resources a small business owner can operate in the clouds instead of worrying about what’s falling from them.

The Tech Accountant

Outsourcing Basics

Lately I have been hearing a great deal about small business owners looking for a way to get out of doing all of their back office functions so that they can focus on growing their businesses. I don’t know if it is the economy that has changed many of their focus but the word “outsourcing “ seems to be on the minds of many small business owners that I come in contact with and in the publications that I read. This makes me laugh because when I mention the word outsourcing and did seminars about the benefits of it many years ago (the mid 90’s to be exact), many small business owners were not open to the idea. I am now under the impression that since there has been a considerable change in the small business marketplace in addition to the economy as a whole, most small business owners are looking for ways to cut cost at the same time maintaining (or increasing) productivity. Well here is a brief overview of outsourcing and how it works.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing as per Wikipedia is defined as the process of subcontracting to a third party.

What can be outsourced?

For the small business owner, many processes can be outsourced. Among those include bookkeeping, website design, search engine optimization, lead generation and other administration and marketing tasks.

Where can outsourcing be performed?

Many of the larger firms outsource their functions overseas to areas such as India, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Most small business owners feel that this is not a secure process and worry about data security issues. Outsourcing has come a long way, and what many small businesses don’t know is that when they send their information to large businesses, it is already being sent overseas. Case in point when you call customer service of a large corporation the call is usually sent overseas and those people have access to your data.

How do I outsource?

The first step to small business outsourcing is locating reputable outsourcing firms. The best way to do this is to join social networks and search for the firms there. If you are a small business that can provide outsourcing, be sure to let everyone know (on the social networks) about your firm and how your outsource process works.

I hope this time around that small businesses will quickly embrace the outsourcing function so that it will help them increase their productivity, save time and focus on more revenue producing activities.

The Tech Accountant

Tax Preparation Changes

Recently I signed my firm up to use a new product being offered by Intuit that may change the way tax professionals prepare returns for their clients. The new Intuit ProLine Tax Online Edition is in the process of being developed by the company and currently allows our firm to prepare personal tax returns from virtually anywhere we have an internet connection. The ProLine Tax Online Edition is currently in beta testing and our firm is excited to be one of around 2000 other firms that are testing the product for the current year. Intuit plans to add business returns, document management, workflow management, and integration with accounting products (QuickBooks I’m sure). Here’s a funny video from Intuit about their new product.



This is an exciting time for tax and accounting professionals as our profession and the way we do business is changing. The question is which firm will embrace the change and who will resist it.
The Tech Accountant

Current Tax Updates

With tax season off to a brisk start this year; many taxpayers are unaware of recent tax updates that can affect their bottom line. Here are two brief changes that may affect your tax filing season.

Home Buyer Credit – Those taxpayers that will be using Form 5405 to claim the credit will have to include some additional paperwork this year. Taxpayers must now include a copy of the settlement statement, or a copy of the sales contract, or certificate of occupancy. Due to the additional paperwork documentation that is needed, home buyer credit tax returns must be paper filed instead of eFiled.

Contributions to Haiti – Taxpayers that itemize this year can deduct their contributions to Haiti relief. Only cash contributions between Jan. 11th 2010 and March 1st 2010 will be eligible. Be sure that your contributions are to qualified charities.

Hope these updates can help lower that tax bill this year.

The Tech Accountant

Cloud Data Storage for Yor Business

Technology Makes Strange Bedfellows

Came across this little piece of information yesterday and thought many out there in blog land would get a kick out of this one. It appears that two of the largest rivals in the tech game will be joining forces. Microsoft and Intuit will be partnering together to help develop cloud computing applications aimed at the small business market. I am personally eager to see how this one will play out. Will Microsoft and Intuit merge in the coming years? Only time will tell.

The Tech Accountant

PowerPoint on Smartphone

After being in a conference all weekend (that was wonderful) to add another dimension to my business I wanted to find a way to make business presentations with Microsoft Powerpoint from my iPhone. After doing a bit of searching (and reading some bad reviews for iPhone apps at the ITunes store), I came across a site by Chris Pirillo that walked me through how to do it and more. Be sure to read the article and watch the video below. Enjoy


Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

The Tech Accountant

Twittering for the New Year

I have to admit that when it came to Twitter I had to be one of the laggards that bought in. Now that I have finally setup an account (@TechAccountant) I am having a ball getting into the “groove” so to speak. What really jumpstarted my interest in Twitter was an article that I read before the end of the year in Entrepreneur that provided me with a roadmap on how to use Twitter and the benefits of using it for my business. Since then I have been tweeting virtually every day providing information that can help small business owners using technology to their advantages. In the process I have come across some rather interesting people who also use Twitter via a Linked In group. I also found out by accident that my online data backup has the capability to save my tweets and backup my Twitter account.

These are just a few of the fun tools that I have been playing around with for the first 15 days of the New Year. Be sure to post what tech tools you use for Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social media tool that you use.

Oh and if you have not noticed the name of the blog has changed to “The Tech Accountant” to better portray what the blog is all about. Still the same look and feel (for now), but lookout for more changes in the next 15 days of January and beyond.

The Tech Accountant

Windows 7’s “Intuit”ion is Broke

I recently had a client that upgraded their computer systems to Windows 7 and as I was moving over their accounting system (they use Intuit’s QuickBooks) and going through all the problems with compatibility the client and I thought we had everything ready to go for 2010. Well hold on a minute there, we attempted to test the Remote Access with WebEx and found out that there was an issue with accessing the client’s computer. Thinking that this would be a simple fix I contacted support only to find out that QuickBooks Remote Access Service does not work on the Windows 7 operating system. One would think that two mega corporations like Intuit and Microsoft would be on the same page when it comes to systems and compatibility but as with most new software/operating systems releases, one does not know what the other is doing. We were provided with a workaround, but that “solution” did not work also.

Problems like the previous make me wonder why many small business owners use boxed accounting software instead of a true technology driven accounting solution. The majority of the issues that occur can be alleviated since the data is in the clouds (similar to online banking) and updates are done behind the scenes. There are rarely problems with an online accounting solution and many small businesses may need to investigate these solutions to compete effectively in the new decade.

B. N. S.

Small Biz Advice for 2010 and Beyond

Now that 2010 is here, it may be time for many small business owners to take a look at ways to survive the New Year and the next decade. For the most part, small business owners need to think outside the box and devise totally different strategies for tackling the new market emerging from this recession. A survey of 750 small business owners for Discover Small Business Watch came up with ten tips that will help a small business owners learn how to succeed in the coming year/decade based on their shortcomings in the past. I personally like number 1, 2, 6, and 10 (and will continue to speak vehemently about implementing these strategies) although the whole list in and of itself is a great start for small business New Year’s resolutions. Just be sure to follow thru on the list.

B. N. S.

Tax Season less taxing with technology

Happy New Year everyone out there in blog land! Now that the holidays are over everyone’s focus is now on going back to work, paying off those Christmas bills and the dreaded taxes. Luckily there are ways to make filing your taxes a little less stressing. Typically you have to compile all of your tax data, schedule a time to meet with your tax professional and then wait for the return to be prepared. If you are one of those taxpayers that loves technology, then the following process may be of interest to you.

Some tax professionals allow their clients to fill out online tax organizers that will assist in getting all of your tax data compiled and ensure that you don’t forget any important paperwork. Once the online tax organizer is completed you send the organizer back along with your tax information via e-mail. This is very dangerous since you would be sending your tax data over the internet unsecure. This is where a client portal comes into play. A portal is similar to logging into online banking whereas you would login to your own secure account, fill out your tax organizer and upload all of your tax information. Once you have completed these tasks, an e-mail would be sent to your tax professional notifying them that your documents are ready to process. By using this approach, you can cut out wasted time playing phone tag with your tax professional to schedule an appointment, or sitting waiting in their office for them to review your information….that is unless you enjoy sitting and waiting on your tax professional to review your data.

Using technology can make your tax season less taxing.

B. N. S.

Celebrity Tax Problems – A Year in Review

With the economy being as tough as it has been this past year, many individuals have been too busy focusing on their own financial issues to really focus on the tax issues of others. Well luckily with a little research on the web and a review of all daily tax e-mail (yes I did keep the whole years worth), I am able to present a year in review of celebrity tax problems. You would think that with all the money these people make or have made that they would at least put some aside for Uncle Sam. Oh well guess not.

Some of the more famous (or infamous) on the list include:

• The Black Eyed Peas
• Sinbad
• Nicolas Cage
• Pamela Anderson
• “The Governator” Schwarzenegger
• Rapper Nas
• Rapper Method Man
• Boxer Floyd Mayweather
• Golfer Jim Thorpe
• Singers Foxy Brown and Toni Braxton

Wow typing this post makes me almost feel like a reporter on one of those tabloids TV shows. Be sure not to use any of these people’s accountants.

B. N. S.

The Return

It is the day after Christmas and so begins’ the start of the great return season. In this case the word return can take on quite a few different meanings. For some it will mean returning back to work to help those still on vacation. For the vacationers, it will mean going to the store and returning some of those unwanted gifts that were given and to some others it will mean returning to the shopping centers to look for bargains on items that are reduced for a quick sale.

For me, the return means a chance to get back to work, although by using technology, I am always one click away from accessing the tools I need to get tasks completed. The iPhone has been a great addition to many small business owners’ technology tools arsenal. While surfing the net yesterday, I came across this fun article of some of the best iPhone apps for 2009. The majority of theses apps are more for personal use however there are a few that can make one’s life a bit less confusing. Enjoy.

B. N. S.

Small Biz Hiring 2010

Here is an interesting article that I came across this morning regarding the steps small business owners should take when hiring for positions next year. I found the article to provide some very good ideas that many small business owners can benefit from. The advice to consider converting employees to independent contractors (IC’s) and/or hiring contractors is pretty sage, but I personally would seek out independent contractors outright. Converting employees to IC’s can be pretty dangerous and is frowned upon in the eyes of the IRS and other regulating bodies. The best advice in the article to me was the last suggestion to change your thinking and get away from the 8-5 work day. There is currently a change occurring in the working environment and many jobs can be done from the comfort of one’s home and at a cheaper price. This is definitely on way for a small business owner to save money in the long run. Let me know what you think small business owners.

B. N. S.

Tax Provisions Extended

Hear about the latest tax provisions extended by the House

Files from FilesAnywhere

QuickBooks Updates and Downgrades

In a recent post, I mention the problems many QuickBooks users were having with the new R9 update for QuickBooks 2009. The problem with the update was so bad that many QuickBooks users decided to downgrade their software back to the R8 update and work from there. The problem caused a great deal of frustration for many of the accountants that use QuickBooks to service their client’s books due to many accountants upgrading their system, only to find out that they could not use the data sent from clients on their system.

QuickBooks did however, respond to the issues with the R9 update (see their response here) and made available a new update (R10) that should fix the issue. Actually the R10 update is more of an oops we screwed up and here is our solution, instead of an update. Now that the R10 update has been released, some accountants on the discussion boards seem to be having similar issues as the R9. One particular issue is the compatibility with earlier versions. We tested the R10 update in our office and noticed that it is not backwards compatible with earlier updates (i.e. R8) as we were not able to open client files from R8. Maybe the update issue is not completely over QuickBooks so there may be some late evenings for all of us trying to fix this problem.

This is just another example of why a cloud based accounting solution may be the best fit for your small business. There are no updates to be done since the software is on the internet and updates are completed at the enterprise level and do not affect your day to day operations. Let me know what you think.

B. N. S.