Save hundreds per month on your Business Bookkeeping!

Did you know that an independent bookkeeper can save you hundreds of dollarsper month on Payroll Taxes, Workers Compensation and productive time lost? Hiring even a part-time bookkeeper and placing them on your payroll is not always the most cost saving way of getting your books done. I would like the opportunity to show you how I can save you time and money doing your business bookkeeping.

Whether you are using QuickBooks® or need to be computerized to streamline your business finances, my experience and expertise in helping small businesses organize their books is a great asset to any company.  Let me be your in-house Bookkeeper without the in-house cost!

Don’t wait too long! Tax time likes to sneak up before you know it!


Call me today and I will include one free hour of consultation. You can reach me at (562) 420-0043 or (562)-544-7202 (cell) and I would be happy to schedule a time to meet with you.


                                 

checkedandbalanced.vpweb.com

Small Biz CAN Compete With "The Big Boys"

Small business has often been mentioned as the "little guy." The one who has to compete with giant retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, and others that are based locally. They have the marketing budget and the advertising dollars to drive the smaller competition out of business. Some small businesses have managed to compete with the Wal-Mart's of the world, and one has even rebuffed offers to sell products through the mega chain.


The truth is, small businesses everywhere are finding ways to compete with bigger competition and in some cases are winning the battle. How they are winning is what tells a compelling story. While none of it is rocket science, the cumulative effects of these efforts mean better relationships with customers and the area they serve, loyalty, and more business.



One such case was highlighted in a recent case study in the New York Times. Pamela Ryckman writes about how a local Kansas City dry cleaning business, Hangers, is competing with a Tide dry cleaning chain that moved into town. An excerpt from the story shows how different thinking can give you a competitive advantage and put you on top:





"Hangers continued to cultivate its offbeat image. "We have a personality in a business devoid of it," Mr. Runyan said. "We can't out-price or out-spend our big competitor, but we can be genuine, funny and edgy."

"He worked to create a tight-knit culture of service and accountability. If a garment was damaged, a store representative would call the customer immediately and offer to replace it. He held a St. Patrick's Day tailgate party for 60 people in a Hangers parking lot and financed a float in the local parade. "Maybe it's goofy and old-fashioned," he said, "but it seems to be resonating with the folks in K.C. Who would expect people to party with their dry cleaner?"

"He initiated partnerships with corporations, nonprofit organizations and community groups, and he can quantify the patrons gained from each. He also contacted schools and donates 10 percent of the proceeds from parents' dry cleaning back to each school."

The moral of the story is that small businesses are the cornerstone of the U.S. economy, and many have to compete with big national chains on a day-to-day basis. It's how they distinguish themselves from the bigger chains that shows their innovation, creative thinking, and marketing know how. Oftentimes, small businesses are better at reaching local customers than the higher financed competition, because they have to be more tactical and thoughtful about where their dollars are being spent. So think outside the box, take some lessons from other businesses, and find a way to stand out from the crowd.


Have you had to compete with a bigger business? How did you stand out, and are you succeeding? Adding personalized service to your business gives your customers something they're not getting for "The Big Boys". At Checked and Balanced I go out of my way to make sure I cater your bookkeeping needs to fit your business needs. Call now for a Free 1 Hour Consultation!

CheckedandBalanced.vpweb.com

Goldilock Approach to E-mail Marketing

What does a classic fable have to do with modern email marketing?


Do you remember when little Goldilocks was sampling the bears’ porridge (‘this one is too hot…this one is too cold…”) then laying in their beds (“this one is too hard, this one is too soft…”)? In both cases, she was looking for the one that was “just right.”

When it comes to email marketing – what you send and how often you send it – your customers also want the ‘just right’ version. Blast them too often and they will probably unsubscribe. Not often enough and they will forget about you. If the content is right on target every time they will be happy – but two ‘boring’ articles in a row may be all it takes for them to lose interest.

How can small business owners get it ‘just right’ in such an ‘information overload’ era? There is one, and only one way. Fortunately, it’s remarkably simple: ask.


Ask your customers how often they want to receive updates. Ask them what kind of updates they want to receive (stand-alone announcements or more comprehensive newsletters?). And ask which topics they would like to hear about.


Some of your clients might not mind receiving an email every day. To me, that’s remarkable. But it’s true. Others will want to receive only weekly or even monthly updates, with occasional ‘special announcement’ pieces if you have something really unique going on.

To maximize your open rate, grow your list and keep your readers engaged, you need a content strategy and a segmentation plan.

Content strategy is about the kind of information that people want to receive. They won’t all be interested in the same things, so it’s unwise to assume that a one-size fits all email policy will work. The best approach is to identify different interest areas and create content that is relevant to each one – then make sure you deliver only the content that your readers have expressed desire for.

Segmentation is about content and frequency. Once you know what I want to hear about, for example, you also need to know how often I want to hear it. This example may help:

If you own a landscaping business you might be an expert and service provider in several different areas such as:

Mowing


Botanicals (which plants, shrubs and trees are ideal for your customers environment)


Irrigation


Lighting


Masonry/hardscapes


Off-season service such as fall clean up and winter snow removal


Commercial/residential


Can you see how the interests of someone living in a standalone housing residential area might be significantly different from the needs of your commercial customers?

Once someone opts into your list, you’ll want to use a survey tool (like SurveyMonkey, which is free) to better understand his or her needs. Simply ask which services they would like to hear about, and how frequently, then drop your subscribers into unique groups such as those who want information about basic services such as mowing, snow removal and fall clean-up, others who want only hardscaping alternatives, and those who want everything. Sort by frequency as well. This approach means that you will have to do some work up front, but you can use auto-responders (which I’ll cover in my next post) to automate a lot of it. It’s worth it, as you will see right away when your targeted approach leads to increased open rates.

Once your marketing strategies start to pay off, please consider me for your bookkeeping needs.

Protect your business against bad payers

How to avoid unpleasant tasks and protect your company against bad payers


You are not responsible for a new customer's creditworthiness, right?

But if they don't pay, who is told to "look into it"? Who is asked "did we get the check?" When the answer is no, who is told to "take care of it"?


And when the check does not come-who gets yelled at?

As an entrepreneur the answer to these questions would be "YOU".

Providing references does not make a prospect creditworthy. Following up on credit references is not insulting. Asking creditors for key data is not nosy.



WHAT TO ASK EACH CREDIT REFERENCE

See that your credit application or other signed document gives you permission to contact references. Then ask each reference these 3 key questions:


1. "How recent was your latest transaction with this firm?" If it wasn't within the last 4 months, the information may not be of great value because your customer's financial position may have changed materially.



2."Are you related to the prospect in any way?" This may be difficult to assess, since people may lie. Use your instincts to decide how accurate the answer is and whether to probe further.


3, "Would you consider this firm a good, slow, or bad payer?" Talking to a few references now can save you months of stonewalling down the road.






An organized billing/credit and collection procedure ensures that you will be paid before others. In this economic climate it is critical to retain good client relationships. Let me help you put that in place. 1 Hour free consultation

Congress Introduces Bill to Help Taxpayers Cope with IRS

The House Ways and Means Committee has introduced legislation to help taxpayers enter into payment agreements with the IRS, relax the record-keeping requirements on cell phones, and improve IRS services for low-income taxpayers.

“This week, many Americans are preparing and filing their income tax returns,” said Oversight Subcommittee chairman John Lewis, D-Ga., in a statement. “The Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010 responds to taxpayer needs that have been raised in hearings before the committee. This legislation helps taxpayers who are struggling in this economy by making it easier to enter into payment arrangements with the IRS. It also helps low-income taxpayers by improving IRS services available to them and helps small businesses and nonprofit organizations by relaxing the record-keeping requirements for employer-provided cell phones. I am pleased that many of these provisions have broad, bipartisan support.”

As recommended by the Obama administration, the bill would eliminate the strict substantiation rules requiring individuals to keep detailed records regarding cell phones and similar equipment used for business purposes.

The bill would also allow the Treasury Secretary to exempt, for religious reasons, certain tax return preparers from the electronic filing mandate.

The bill would also accelerate the interest on refunds for returns filed electronically by requiring the IRS to pay interest on refunds related to individual income tax returns that are filed electronically if the refund is not paid within 30 days of the later of the return due date or the date the return is filed.


In addition, the Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010 would require the Treasury Secretary to conduct a study on the effectiveness of collection alternatives, such as offers-in-compromise.It would also repeal the partial payment requirement on submissions of offers-in-compromise. The bill would help taxpayers enter into offer-in-compromise agreements to settle their federal tax liabilities, and increase the likelihood that some amount of tax is collected, by repealing this requirement.

As recommended by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, the bill would allow IRS employees to refer taxpayers to Low Income Taxpayer Clinics. The bill would also codify the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and allow the Treasury Secretary to allocate, in the absence of a specific appropriation, up to $20 million of grant funding annually for the program. The bill also would increase the allocated amount for LITCs from $6 million to $20 million annually.

The bill would require the IRS, to the extent practicable, to notify taxpayers of the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit in prior taxable years. The bill also would require the IRS to review return information (such as Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statements) and identify potentially eligible taxpayers to the extent possible.


The bill would require the IRS to notify taxpayers when it suspects that their identities, or their dependents’ identities, have been stolen. It would also allow the IRS to use "mass communication," including the Internet and its Web site, to notify taxpayers of undelivered refunds.

The bill would require the National Taxpayer Advocate to conduct a study on the feasibility of delivering federal tax refunds on debit cards or prepaid cards, or by other electronic means. Furthermore, as recommended by the National Taxpayer Advocate, the bill would require the Treasury Secretary to study, and make recommendations on, the administrative and legislative steps required to allow the IRS to receive information returns before it processes income tax returns. The bill would also require the Treasury Secretary to study how to reduce the number of taxpayers making in-person payments at IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

To pay for all the various provisions, the bill contains revenue-raising aspects, including expanding the "bad check" penalty to electronic payments. As recommended by the Obama administration, the bill would clarify that the penalty applicable to bad checks or money orders extends to all commercially acceptable instruments of payments, i.e., electronic payments. This proposal is estimated to raise $47 million over 10 years.

Similar to another administration proposal, the bill would also increase information return penalties. The bill would hike the penalties for failing to file correct returns, failing to furnish correct payee statements, and failing to comply with other information reporting requirements. This proposal is estimated to raise $419 million over 10 years.

Let me help you with your tax filing needs, I am CTEC certified and bonded.

Let me help you with your tax filing needs, I am CTEC certified and bonded.

IRS to Step Up Audits of Sole Proprietors

Washington, D.C. (April 12, 2010)

The Internal Revenue Service plans to check for unfiled tax returns and look for unreported income from sole proprietors of small businesses during correspondence audits.


Estimates by the IRS show that $68 billion of the $345 billion tax gap in 2001 was due to the underreporting of income by sole proprietors. The IRS conducted more than 5.1 million correspondence examinations between fiscal year 2004 and FY 2008 that recommended the IRS collect approximately $35 billion in additional taxes, according to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. For each tax return examined, a correspondence examination generated about $6,800 in recommended additional taxes.


TIGTA found 129 audits where sole proprietors may have avoided tax and interest assessments totaling more than $1.7 million because the IRS failed to address significant potential income misstatements during compliance audits. These audits were identified from a statistically valid sample of 298 closed correspondence audits of individual returns with sole proprietorships that were closed by tax examiners in the IRS Campus Compliance Services operations during fiscal year 2007. Unlike procedures for audits conducted in the field, procedures for correspondence audits of sole proprietors do not require examiners to complete minimum checks for unfiled returns (employment tax and information returns) and to probe for unreported income.

TIGTA recommended that the IRS require correspondence examiners to check for unfiled returns, such as employment tax and information returns, and to probe for unreported income. These checks are required of IRS examiners who conduct in-person audits, but not of correspondence examiners.

"Sole proprietors who underreport their income can create an unfair burden on honest taxpayers and diminish the public's respect for the tax system," said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement. "It is imperative that the IRS institutes policies to address this problem."


In response to TIGTA's draft report, the IRS agreed to develop inventory selection filters to identity and refer to field examiners those sole proprietors who did not file required employment tax or information returns; and those with indicators of unreported income.

Protect yourself by keeping audit proof records of all your business transactions.  As a QuickBooks Certified Pro-Advisor, I can help.  Call for a free 1 hour consultation.

IRS Adds Web Infor on Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit

The Internal Revenue Service has updated its Web site to provide information to small employers regarding the new tax credit for providing health coverage.



The new Web pages include a graphic to help employers quickly determine if they qualify for the credit; scenarios that explain how much certain businesses and exempt organizations would benefit from the credit; tax tips on taking the credit, and a set of questions and answers.   Here is a link:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=220809,00.html

The IRS is encouraging small employers to carefully consider the tax credit.