2007 Small Business Outlook Results Are In!!!

Adminstaff, the nations leading professional employer organization has conducted another survey in late October regarding small business owner’s confidence for the future. Again the year 2007 looks pretty optimistic for small business owners with 70% saying they expect their companies to exceed this year’s growth levels in 2007. The breakdown of small business growth will be reflected in the following ways:

70% plan to add employees
5% expected a drop-off in their workforce
59% expect to see an increase in employee compensation
33% plan to maintain their current compensation levels
64% expect to pay employees overtime
44% plan to increase capital spending

There were also a few challenges noted in the survey that small business owners will have to overcome. The majority of these challenges are the same ones that our larger counterparts must overcome in 2007, including:

Controlling costs
Retaining their best employees
The economic outlook
Increased business competition

As a whole, the small business outlook looks pretty good for the small business owner. It will take a collaborative effort by small business owners, employees, and their advisors to ensure that 2007 is a prosperous year for all. With effective planning now, the small business owner will be able to keep their Business N Synergy in 2007.

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

Let New Technology Help Your Small Business in 2007

Recently I was able to sit in on a webinar regarding technology and how it affects the accounting profession. Although it was directed to the accounting profession, the core values and principals of the webinar could be applied to any business. The topic was OCR or Optical Character Recognition a way of producing readable files from hard copies and /or scanned documents. I have had an opportunity to use this technology and must say that it can really streamline the process of data tracking, data warehousing, audit and compliance.

There are quite a few low cost vendors out there for a small business owner to use for OCR and other document management services. One I came across was alldocuments.com where their web based document management system for $35 a month. Microsoft’s Office software also has a document image writer (Microsoft Document Imaging) that allows users to review documents and edit text from documents. Other low cost ideas are to use a company intranet/extranets to store documents instead of paper files. Either way “thinking outside the box” may be the way to make your business run more efficiently.

As the year 2007 approaches, try to think of ways to streamline your small business processes and make your business more efficient. A small monthly investment can make your internal processes much more efficient and bring more dollars to your bottom line.

Use these tips to keep your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall
http://www.thebricogroup.com/

Final Baby Boomer Tax Tips

Here are some additional baby boomer tax tips for portfolio income in your retirement years. These tips are regarding IRA’s and how to withdraw money from them in the most tax advantage manner.

IRA’s

Boomers that have a substantial amount of appreciated securities should withdraw money from their IRA’s before taking the gains from those securities in taxable accounts. As long as the stocks produce small dividends, the tax burden will be minimal. The exception to this rule is when taxable accounts consist of mutual funds that generate capital gains distributions. When this occurs, the mutual funds need to be sold before withdrawing money from the IRA.

Typically a boomer should take IRA distributions after the age of 70 (70 and one half to be exact). The benefits of waiting are:

The IRA will continue to compound on a tax-deferred basis
There will be no change in the clients AGI (adjusted gross income)
The boomer can leave greater amounts of the IRA to heirs

IRA’s a great way to save money for retirement and tapping into them at the right time will produce benefits that won’t strain your budget at tax time. As always check with your financial advisor to see if these tips can work for you.

Until next time, keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

Baby Boomer Tips Continued

As tax season approaches, here are more tips for baby boomers to enjoy their retirement years at the same time minimizing their tax bill. This week’s tips deal with how to take income in those retirement years from CD’s and savings bonds.

Using CD’s for income

Using income producing assets such as CD’s is a great way to produce income in retirement years. Boomers can reduce their tax bill from the interest income that the CD’s generate at the same time allowing other tax advantaged investments to remain.

Savings Bonds

Boomers redeeming their savings bonds set off all the deferred income tax due on the bonds at redemption. Boomers should wait to redeem savings bonds as long as possible to benefit from the continuous tax-deferred interest accumulation.

More tips to come next week until then as always keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovallwww.thebricogroup.com

Interesting Statistics Regarding Small Businesses

Here is some interesting news regarding the state of small businesses in the U.S. SurePayroll, the nation’s largest online payroll processing provider for small businesses recently conducted a survey asking small business owners what are some of the top challenges of owing a small business. Here are some of the results:

Around 19% said finding and keeping qualified employees
Around 18% said balancing business development and current workload
Over 14% said managing work time and priorities
Almost 12% said managing employees
Another 12% said generating expected revenues
Almost 12 % said cresting a work/life balance
7% said meeting income goals
Almost 6% said acquiring capital for growth

Another survey by SurePayroll revealed that the accountant is the most trusted advisor for small business owners contributing more to the success of the business than an attorney or banker.

With the threat of rising interest rates, health care costs, and inflation, it is rather difficult for a small business to operate in the current economy. By partnering with a small business accountant, small business owners can alleviate some of the challenges mention above; at the same time have someone by their side to ensure the success of their business.

Use a small business accountant to keep your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

Tax Tips for Baby Boomers

As many of our baby boomers get ready for the “good life” of retirement, many will begin to start drawing income from their retirement plans that they have spent years building. There are a few tax implications that may affect many boomers when they begin to withdraw funds from retirement plans and/or cash out of stocks. In the next few weeks, I will post a tip for boomers to ensure that their retirement years are spent enjoying life instead of paying a bundle in taxes.

Early Retirees

Many retirees will elect to receive Social Security benefits at age 62 (the earliest possible age to receive benefits) at the same time they may have stocks and other securities in their portfolios. If this is this case these retiree should not sell any stocks that have appreciated in value in any of their taxable accounts. This will ensure that any capital gains are avoided thus lowering the AGI (adjusted gross income) and the taxes owed on Social Security benefits. Additionally if the boomer passes away, the heirs will not have to pay any income tax on the investments appreciation during the boomer’s lifetime.

For more information on these tax savings strategies, review Internal Revenue Code Section 1022 (d) (2) or stop by our tax seminar coming later this fall. See our website for more information.

More tax tips to come…in the meantime keep your Business N Synergy!!!

Brian N. Stovallwww.thebricogroup.com

Branding Your Small Business Niche

Many small businesses are started to fill a particular need that larger organizations either feel are not profitable or have not devised a viable strategy to penetrate that market. It is very important for a small business to “brand” their service or goods to ensure that the market knows what particular niche they fill. This way a small business can create a lasting impression in the marketplace that can increase their reach and possibly profits.

Following are a few questions a small business owner needs to address to ensure that their goods or services are branded effectively in the marketplace:

What are your clients buying and who are your competitors? Know what your brand means to your clients and customers and who in the marketplace have similar products.

What is your short phrase sentence? This is your one sentence description that describes completely what your firm does.

What is your catch phrase? This is basically your tagline that supports your brand.

Has your brand been in the news lately? This is important for getting your brand out to the public. Make sure the publicity is not negative though.

Do you have a strategy for building your brand up? Brand building should be an integral part of a small businesses overall strategy. Always make this a part of your business and operational plans.

For more on branding your small business check out our free small business seminars at the College Park Library in the Atlanta area. New schedule can be found on our “Firm Notes” page of our website
www.thebricogroup.com.

As always keep your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

Small Business Planning Assistance

With the upcoming fall Small Business Seminars that I will be doing, I thought this would be a good time to provide viewers with some resources. If you are out there in cyberland and are thinking about starting a business or if you have started a business in the past year the Bplans.com site may assist you in constructing a concise business plan for SBA funding or bank loan. Bplans.com is part of Palo Alto Software who also developed the Business Plan Pro software. Their website is a one-click stop for information on how to write a business plan, start and grow a business, and manage your advertising/marketing campaigns.

Specifically the business plan website has calculators for cash flow, currency conversion rates, starting costs estimators, and investments. The site also has industry reports and FREE business plans for the budding entrepreneur. This is a great way to gain valuable insight and prepare a business plan that will get results and keep you new business in synergy from the start.

Brian N. Stovallwww.thebricogroup.com

Excel = (SEAMLESS:INTEGRATION)

In the September 2006 issue of Accounting Technology (a Source Media publication), the article “Living with =SUM” presents an interesting take on how Microsoft Excel has become the norm for integration with accounting and financial software for businesses and accountants. Many software vendors are embracing MS Excel to provide their end users with more flexible modeling capabilities, but at the same time putting a hurdle in front of the end user that may hinder expanding. Although MS Excel is good for the smaller operations, as a company grows it is imperative to have a more controlled accounting system in place to track the companies operations.

This is food for thought for the MS Excel only users (accountants included) that want to stick only with MS Excel for their business. The majority of the software vendors have some kind of interface within their software that gives the end user the feel of MS Excel. Another point made in the article is that Google is experimenting with a free service on Google Labs for spreadsheet users, all the more reason to consider Excel and additional software for your operations.

Look for more information regarding integrating your business with MS Excel at the next small business seminar brought to you by The Brico Group, Inc. Free seminars at your local library in the Atlanta area. Check our website for more details.

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

IRS/SSA Summer Updates for Small Businesses

The IRS/SSA has a few updates for small businesses in the summer edition of The Reporter. Three new resources for small businesses are now available in electronic format to assist small businesses with understanding how taxes work. The three resources are:

The 2006 Small Business Resource Guide – an interactive CD that provides small business owners with valuable skills they need to manage their business. Included in the CD is information on starting a new business to choosing a retirement plan options.

A Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop (Publication 1066C) – a DVD that helps small business owners meet their federal tax obligations. It is a ten lesson workshop that presents tax subjects and also has a text only help lesson with links to the latest information on the IRS website.

The Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self Employed (Publication 1518) – consists of information on general business, SSA customer service, important tax dates, retirement plans, and more.

Order copies of these resources at www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=101169,00.html

Keeping Your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall

The Brico Group, Inc.

www.thebricogroup.com

A Tax Gift to Our Troops

I am sure that everyone is thinking about their plans for the holiday tomorrow and what way they will celebrate our independence. Let’s not forget about all the troops that have made sacrifices for that independence. Which brings me to this weeks post regarding how the government is saying thanks to our troops. On May 29th our president signed into law the “Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act” which allows combat pay that is typically excluded to be treated as compensation for IRA contribution rules. This will allow our troops to save more for their retirement and those earnings can grow tax free.

The change retroactively applies to taxable years beginning after December 31st 2003. Members of our armed forces have three years after the enactment to make a contribution for prior qualified years. Additionally any other credits or refunds that were not allowed because of a contribution are now allowed under the Act if a claim is filed before the close of the one-year period beginning on the date the contribution is actually made.

If you are in the armed services, be sure to check with your accountant regarding this change and your tax status.

Until next week…..Enjoy your Fourth of July

Keeping Your Business N Synergy

Brian N. Stovall
http://www.thebricogroup.com/

How the New Tax Law Affects You

May seems to be the traditional month in Washington for tax cuts and May 2006 is no different from past years. Congress has just passed a $70 billion tax cut package, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act, which impacts you.

Although one tax incentive - extending the dividend and capital gains tax rate cuts for two more years - has received the most press coverage, the new law includes many other important tax breaks that could help reduce your tax liability this year and in future years. Every time Congress changes the Tax Code there are exciting new opportunities for strategic tax planning. This letter highlights some of the important incentives in the new tax law. We encourage you to contact our office so we can take a detailed look at how the new tax law can save you money.

Dividends and capital gains. Three years ago, Congress lowered the tax rate on certain dividends and capital gains. The rate reductions were temporary and were scheduled to expire after 2008. The new law extends the lower rates for two more years.

The maximum tax rate on qualifying dividends and capital gains through December 31, 2010 is 15 percent. Not all dividends and capital gains qualify for the 15 percent rate. For example, the maximum capital gains rate on collectibles is 28 percent. Taxpayers in the 15 and 10 percent rate brackets can take advantage of even more generous tax treatment. Our office can help you create a tax strategy that maximizes the benefits of the lower tax rates on qualifying dividends and capital gains.

Roth IRAs. Until Congress passed this new tax law, higher-income individuals could not convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. Only individuals earning less than $100,000 could convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. The new law removes this limitation starting in 2010. Even though 2010 seems a long way off, it's important to start planning now to maximize this opportunity.

AMT relief. Taxpayers who are liable for the alternative minimum tax (AMT) know that its bite can be painful. Congress has talked for years about reforming the AMT so it doesn't impact as many middle-income taxpayers but so far hasn't made any substantial changes to the AMT rules. Instead, the new law extends some temporary measures designed to reduce the burden of the AMT. Through 2006, AMT taxpayers can take advantage of higher exemption amounts and use the nonrefundable personal tax credits to offset regular and AMT liability.

Kiddie tax. The"kiddie" tax rules require that a child's unearned income, such as dividends and interest, be taxed at the tax rate of the parents. In most cases, the child's parents will be in a higher tax bracket. Currently, the "kiddie" tax applies if the child is under age 14 and some other criteria are met. The new law raises the age limit from 14 to 18 and this change is effective immediately. Taxpayers who had envisioned the lower age limit being effective for 2006 now have to revisit their tax plans.

Small business expensing. Over the past several years, small businesses have been able to expense rather than capitalize more purchases because of higher expensing thresholds. The new law extends the more generous expensing thresholds for two more years.

More tax cuts. In addition to all of these tax breaks, the new law also:
· Changes the offer-in-compromise rules;
· Modifies the foreign earned income and employer-provided housing exclusion rules for U.S. citizens living abroad;
· Extends and creates a new exception to Subpart F, which taxes foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies;
· Gives tax breaks to some environmental clean-up funds;
· Simplifies the active trade or business test for certain corporate distributions;
· Allows musical artists and publishers to elect special tax treatment;
· Tightens earnings stripping rules to prevent abuses;
· Requires withholding on payments made by some government agencies;
· Repeals the FSC/ETI grandfather provisions;
· Accelerates increased limits for industrial development bonds;
· Cracks down on exempt organizations engaging in tax shelters;
· Expands information reporting requirements for some tax-exempt bonds;
· Lengthens the amortization period for certain expenditures by oil and gas companies;
· Tightens the rules under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act ;
· Restricts the tax-free treatment for certain corporate cash-rich spin-off transactions;
· Imposes loan and redemption requirements on pooled financing bonds;
· Changes the timing of some estimated tax payments by large corporations;
· Clarifies the domestic production deduction; and
· Revises the tax treatment of loans to continuing care facilities.

The new tax law impacts taxpayers across-the-board. Many of the new incentives build on tax breaks enacted in past years. Careful and efficient tax planning requires attention to the details and nuances in the new and extended incentives

Be sure to check with your accountant to see if you can benefit from any of the changes listed and as always keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovall
www.thebricogroup.com

Personal Financial Planning Mistakes Don't Make These

While reading the May – June issue of the “Clients Tax and Financial Update” I came across an article regarding the ten most common failures people make when planning their personal finances. Try not to make these mistakes with your personal finances and there is a slim chance that you will have problems managing your small business finances (especially during start-up). Many feel that the two are not related, but your personal finances can hinder your business in certain situations where personal guarantees must be made.

Failure to have a family budget
Failure to involve other family members in financial decisions
Failure to insure personal property at replacement value
Failure to use employee benefits properly
Failure to diversify your investments
Failure to use proper attorney
Failure to have excess liability insurance
Failure to have enough cash for emergencies
Failure to project taxes
Failure to establish financial goals

Be sure to consult with you financial consultant, attorney, and accountant, if you have failed to accomplish any of these personal financial tasks. This will ensure you and your family’s future is bright and on track.

For more information regarding “Clients Tax and Financial Update” they can be reached at:
51 Upper Jefferson Boulevard
Warrick, RI 02888
1-800-255-1615

Brian N. Stovall
bstovall@thebricogroup.com
www.thebricogroup.com

Your Time is of Essence in Your Small Business

Every small business owner knows that timing is very important to grow a small business. Whether it is delivering your product and or service on time, being at the right place to discover new business opportunities at the right time, or submitting paper for additional funding before the deadline, timing plays an important role in many areas of your small business.

Here are two great time management tools I was able to sample this past week. The first for all the “Main Street Accountants” like my self is the “Efficiency Quotient” analysis on the AccountantsWorld.com site. This analysis tool, although designed for accountants is very effective at assessing how well a business uses their time to generate revenue. It took about 25 minutes to complete and the scores will come in the mail. I am interested to see the results that should arrive soon.

The second tool was a software package by KMT Software call OfficeReady Professional 3.0. This software is used in conjunction with Microsoft Office to improve your productivity. With the software a user can convert MS Office documents to PDF documents and e-mail them instantly. OfficeReady Pro also has a photo editor that can be used with your camera or scanner. Additional templates can be added to the browser for a small fee. For more information go to http://www.templatezone.com/

Check these out to improve your small businesses’ timing. Until next time keep your Business N Synergy.

Brian N. Stovall
bstovall@thebricogroup.com
http://www.thebricogroup.com/

Microsoft’s Small Business Accounting 2006 Update

I was reading recently in Accounting Technology about be experiences of my fellow colleagues regarding their experiences with clients inquiring about MS Small Business Accounting (MSSBA) and just like myself many have not received the inquiries that Microsoft was probably hoping for. Most of the comments from their clients were “Microsoft makes a small business software package!?!?” I am here to say I receive the same responses when I notify people of their software offering. When doing a recent seminar for small businesses, I noticed that the attendees all looked at me with blank amazement that there was something else out there for small businesses. With further research into the product, I believe many small businesses may find a benefit in MSSBA.

For the small business owner that requires an accounting software package that seamlessly integrates into all their other Microsoft programs, MSSBA will be a great fit. It also will help the small business owner that is moving from “shoebox” recordkeeping to a more secure technological simple process.

For the accounting professional new to MSSBA, Microsoft is now offering CPE credits for certification on MSSBA, in an effort to get more accountants to become familiar with the software. I recently received information regarding this new update via Microsoft’s Professional Accountants Network (MPAN). These initiatives may allow Microsoft to take a piece of the small business market away from Intuit (QuickBooks, Quicken) and I am eager to see how this plays out.

For information check out:

http://www.microsoft.com/

Keep Your Business In Synergy

Brian N. Stovall
The Brico Group, Inc.
www.thebricogroup.com
bstovall@thebricogroup.com

Found Your Refund Yet???

With this year's tax season over for most taxpayers, many are shifting focus from gathering their tax information to locating that elusive refund from the IRS. If you fall into this category, the IRS has a link on their site for you. Simply click on the "Where's My Refund" link on the IRS website (www.irs.gov.). Information that you will need is your SSN, your amount of your tax refund, the date that your return was sent and how it was sent (paper or electronically).

The IRS does not give definite time frame for your refund, but typically it can take about two weeks for processing if you e-filed and up to a month if the return was paper filed. For more information regarding how long it takes for your refund to arrive you can also take a look at the IRS Tax Topic 152 - "Refunds -How long they should take at the following link.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc152.html

Until next time........keep your business in synergy

Brian N. Stovall
The Brico Group, Inc.
www.thebricogroup.com
bstovall@thebricogroup.com

More Woes for America’s Tax Preparation Firms????

Here is a little information for all of you out there that have used or plan to use a tax preparation firm like H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, or Liberty Tax that may make you want to question the accuracy of their services. In my NSA Special Alert e-mail I just received, it appears that the Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) is inquiring into the business models, training, and compensation of the major tax preparation firms. This is due to the recent release of the General Accounting Office’s (GAO) report that uncovered dishonesty, inaccurate information, and poor service provided by tax preparation firms.

This is all in the midst of the potential passing of the current legislation, the Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act (S.832) which would require the registration of all non Circular 230 paid tax preparers (Non CPA’s, EA’s and public accountants). This is something that the average consumer must keep in mind when relying on a tax preparation firm to prepare and file their taxes. Many times these tax franchises are owned and operated by CPA’s, EA’s, and other Circular 230 tax professionals, but sometimes the staffs are not as fully trained. Be sure to do your due diligence when selecting a tax preparation firm and remember that the tax responsibility ALWAYS falls upon the tax payer.

To your prosperity

Brian N. Stovall
The Brico Group, Inc.
www.thebricogroup.com
bstovall@thebricogroup.com

Accounting Seminar Facts

Back from a long tax season folks and wanted to share some information from a seminar I did for small business owners this past weekend. The topic was how to make your accounting function more innovative and productive. Most small businesses break down into one of three categories for assessing accounting needs:


Pen and Paper businesses
Microsoft Excel businesses
Accounting Software businesses

Pen and paper businesses have may have the largest challenge but also have an opportunity to build a customized accounting system that can grow with their business. Businesses using Microsoftsof Excel can also benefit by having a smooth transfer to an existing accounting software. Small businesses using accounting software presently can build on their existing software by integrating their human resources, sales, and lead generation systems with their accounting software.

Always remember that your small business must stay agile so that you can stay competitive in the markets that you serve. Changes to your business structure may mean changes to your software infrastructure. Be sure that you are prepared.

For a copy of the Innovative Accounting Presentation send an e-mail to:

contactus@thebricogroup.com

Brian N. Stovall
Consultant - Accounting and Business Advisory
The Brico Group, Inc.
www.thebricogroup.com

Commerical Software vs. Open Source...Is There a Clear Winner?

As I casually flipped through one of the IT Trade magazines I recieve I came across a statement by an executive of a software company. His statement was a bold one indeed as he said, "...the days of commerical software are numbered as Open Source is truly taking over."

First off, Open Source software is usually free software that companies give out. Now as a commericial software developer myself that statement truly made me wonder. Is this gentleman right?

It depends. First off, Open Source software is a good thing. Alot of times the code of the software is written using a non-Microsoft software language (i.e. Java, RealBasic, etc.). Also the label "Open Source" software comes from the fact that these software applications are often developed by a community. That is a group of individuals start writing the software application and then share the code so others can contribute. Thus there is a "community" that develops from all the contributors of the software development and the subsequent users of the software.

The most popular Open Source software on the internet today is from the Mozilla foundation. They developed Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird (web browsers and email clients). Anyone can go to their site and download the software...and millions of individuals across the world have.

Ok so now let's get into a debate - which is better...open source or commerical software? I believe that their is no distinct winner. For example, the open source browser Firefox is a tremendous piece of software. Often times it is thought of better than Internet Explorer. Since it is a community developed software there are hundreds of add-ins such as having customized weather reports, password checkers, and the list goes on and on. AVG Free (a free anti-virus program) from GriSoft is another excellent piece of open source software. I often recommend that program to my clients as it is extremely reliable for home users.

So at this point your saying..."looks as if Open Source software is the better choice!". Well not necessairily. A good deal of open source software is more technically advanced than the traditional commercial software. Sometimes just installing the software is enough to drive users crazy! Also, the technical support for the software may be somewhat limited due to the lack of a centralized development team. Perhaps the most important fact is that alot of the open source software items on the internet that are indeed free are the basic versions of the software. For example, AVG Free is the free anti-virus software for home users but for business use GriSoft only has commerical versions. Some companies are bringing open source into the enterprise but for the most part that's the trend. You get a free basic version but for professional versions you have to pay.

Now for most folks (i.e. home users) that is fine. However for business use, the small business owner should take a minute and closely evaluate each piece of software (open source vs. commericial) before deciding.

For questions or comments please reply to this post or email me directly at bwinston@thebricogroup.com

Blog On.

Brian J. Winston

Block Goofs on Their Own Taxes!?!?

Another weekend in tax season (of course I’m working the weekend) and my business partner forwarded me an e-mail regarding the tax bill that H&R Block just had to shell out. Found this to be rather interesting that a firm that prides them selves on preparing taxes for individuals and businesses would make a mistake on their own taxes. The company underestimated their own tax liability by 32 million last year, which kind of makes you wonder if they are passing these “strategies” on to their customers. People who use these “tax boutiques” to prepare their taxes must also know that the responsibility ultimately falls on the tax payer so tread with caution when going to a tax prep company to get your taxes done. I guess it all comes down to buyer beware.

Brian N. Stovall
Consultant - Accounting & Business Advisory
The Brico Group, Inc.
bstovall@thebricogroup.com
www.thebricogroup.com