Blog

Cloud Technology Requires A Learning Curve

Author: Paul Cantelli

All new technologies come with a lot of questions and a period of adaptation; cloud-based accounting is no different. In fact, because valuable financial data is involved, there tends to be even more questions and concerns. If you are exploring cloud-based accounting for your business, arm yourself with answers to the following common questions.

• Is cloud-based accounting secure? Data in the cloud is typically protected with advanced security procedures and encryption methods. You can also ensure data security by granting specific permissions to individual users. This can be even more secure than desktop software. With cloud-based systems, unauthorized personnel don't have the ability to log on and view financial data. With a desktop solution, this is not always the case.

• Where does the information go? When you enter financial data into your accounting application, it is stored and backed up on remote servers, usually several. This data is then available in real time to all users who access the application.

• What happens if the Internet goes down? Cloud-based accounting solutions generally require web access, but so do many of your other vital business functions. The beauty of the cloud is that you can access the data and software from anywhere, so if the Internet goes down in the office, you have the option to access and manipulate information from your laptop, or perhaps even your smartphone or tablet computer.

• Can we meet all of our accounting needs in the cloud? Yes. You can process payroll, pay bills, send invoices, submit time sheets, process credit cards, enter travel expenses, file tax forms and easily share up-to-date information with your accountant in the cloud. In fact, cloud-based solutions are much more versatile than desktop software, allowing you to integrate systems across your entire business.

If you have more questions about accounting in the cloud, or you want to get started, call us at The Tax Office, Inc. We can help you select and implement the cloud-based accounting solutions that make the most sense for your business and help you address any questions or concerns from your staff. Contact us today to learn more.

Retail Business Owner Can Expect A Visit

Author: Keith Huggett 

The State Board of Equalization has recently sent out a news release stating that their Statewide Compliance and Outreach Program will be sending out teams to visit retail businesses throughout the state. If you own a retail business you should be receiving a letter from the Board sometime soon.

The teams will only be going to specific zip codes throughout California at this time, although the Board intends to visit every retail establishment in the state, given enough time. Cities included in the current exam include Bakersfield (93301), Baldwin Park (91706), Boulder Creek (95006), Cambria (93428), Carpinteria (93013 and 93014), Culver City (90230 and 90231), North Hollywood (91601), San Jose (95134 and 95136), San Juan Capistrano (92675 and 92691), Sutter Creek (95685), and Volcano (95689). For more detailed information on this program, please take a look at our white paper The State Board of Equalization's Statewide Compliance & Outreach Program - Coming Soon. 

The main purpose of this program is to ensure compliance with our state's sales and use tax program.  The Board of Equalization collects more than $53.7 billion dollars annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services.  According to the BOE, under-reporting and non-compliance are responsible for more than $2 billion dollars in uncollected tax. By sending teams out to confirm that you are reporting accurately or correcting your reporting the Board is able to lessen the amount in uncollected tax.

If you feel any anxiety prior to your upcoming visit by the Board of Equalization, please feel free to contact us.  The specialists at the Tax Office, Inc., can assist you with your sales and use tax compliance before your scheduled meeting with the BOE, or after  your meeting to help make certain you are in compliance with the state requirements.  

The Art of Complaint Management

Author: Allyson Huggett

None of us likes to receive a complaint. We work hard every day to maintain an excellent reputation. Our goal every day is to deliver a professional and top quality service to our clients.  The reality of course is that no matter how hard we try and how attentive we are, sometimes things go wrong. Mistakes happen. No person, business or sytem can be perfect.

Complaints aren't just for clients either. They can come from all directions.  Colleagues, staff, suppliers, competitors, in fact, just about anyone that we deal with on a daily basis is a "potential complainant".  No matter whom is complaining, how we deal with it always remains the same:

1. Stay Calm.  When someone is complaining, the are already in a heightened state of stress.  We do not want to add to that level.  Quite frankly the only way to solve the problem is to lower the level of stress and by staying calm yourself, it will help. Receiving a complaint can often release a wide range of negative emotions.  It is easy to become defensive, angry, worried, or even panicky.  These emotions will not help you.  Stay calm and composed, which is not necessarily easy, and remain professional. The process has only just begun. 
2. Understand the Complaint. Since the compainant has brought they complaint to you, they have already considered their own position. It's important to undertant the complaint as they see it and not rush ahead to what you think the issue may be. Listen carefully to everything they say or read everything they've written before considering a response. Note down the important points and go over them with the complainant to make sure you fully understand what the complaint is before you examine it.
3. Apologize. Always apologize as soon as it is clear that you understand the nature of the complaint. It is not important whether you agree or not. If it is blatantly clear that you are in the wrong, you unreservedly apologize, but even if you are convinced 100% to the contrary than an apology should still be made. It's the bare minimum that the complainant is looking for so it's unlikely to resolve quickly without one, but also, regardless of where the fault lies, you are sorry that they've felt it necessary to complain.
4. Explain. People rarely complain for the fun of it. Something isn't right for them and they want something done to fix it. Staying calm, taking the time to listen and understand what the complaint is about, offering an apology, shows them that you are taking them seriously. Now it's a matter of communicating what has happened.  Many complaints arise from a break in communication.  Communication is often the key to resolving complaints as well as avoiding them in the first place. Don't try to provide an explanation until you have fully investigated the event. Then be clear, factual and informative in your response.
5. Put Matters Right. If it's your fault, they you put it right, ten times over, as soon as possible, with the minimum fuss and with no further disruption for the complainant.  If it's partly your fault, then you still put it right, again ten times over, with the miinimum of fuss. The difference here though is that while you still take responsibility for putting it right your properly communicate all the elements to the complainant so that they understand the role they have played in this. If you are entirely blameless, then you need to communicate this to the complainant.
6. Wow Them. What you have to do now is put things right in a way that goes beyond their expectations. In doing so, you start to turn this negative into a positive. A gift, flowers, wine, free service, anything that says "we value this relationship."
7. Aftercare. After the issue has been "put to bed," both you and the complainant would hope that it hasn't been forgotten. A follow-up courtesy call or letter a couple of weeks after the even will help to reassure the client. A brief update on the position and any actions taken will suffice but it's further evidence of how proactive you have been about dealing with the matter.
8. Wow Them Again. After the follow-up call is a chance to exceed expectations. A free service or offer works particularly well at this point. Something that that will lead them into the next phase of your relationship and into the future with them.

Dealing with unhappy customers is never any fun. Turning them back into happy customers is always a plus. Take the time to instruct your staff in how to speak to a client with a complaint.  If you all work the plan in the same way, soon you will have a systemized approach to radically affect the outcomes in a positive way.  It may not be easy, but definitly worth it.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other marketing plan, please contact us, the Tax Office, Inc. Our business consulting service specialists are waiting to speak with you.  For additional newsworthy information, you can also sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Your Personal Home Is Not Necessarily Your Tax Home!

Author: Keith Huggett

Where you live plays a huge role in structuring your tax plan.  It is not necessarily your tax home however.  Your tax home is defined as where you maintain your principal place of work.  This could be 100 miles away from your home.  Another thing you should be aware of is that business travel and business transportation are two different things.  Business travel is when you travel away from your place of business (tax home) overnight or long enough to require sleep. You deduct the cost of business transportation as a cost of going to and from tax deductible business destinations.

Here are 5 tips for your personal and tax home:

1. Have your personal home within 50 miles of your tax home.
2. When your personal home is within 50 miles of your tax home, claim the home-office deduction under the administrative office rules so you can eliminate commuting to your outside-the-home-office.
3. Deduct overnight business travel when you travel on business outside the area of your tax office.
4. If you have more than one business on which you spend the most time and make the most money is the principal business. It's the location of your tax home. Overnight travel outside the tax-home area of the principal business to a secondary business is deductible.
5. If you have one business with multiple offices in different cities, the office where you spend the most time, do the most important things, and make the most money is your tax home. When you travel away from this office overnight to a secondary office, you are in business travel status.

3 Effective Tips That Create A Sense of Personalization

Author: Allyson Huggett 

Day after day the mailbox is filled with advertisements and mailers.  What differentiates your advertisement from every other advertisement out there?  Why do I want to read your marketing piece? Is there something that is going to catch my eye?  A bold headline? Or maybe it's something else.  Maybe your company took the time to do something a little different, and made your marketing more personal, JUST FOR ME.

Taking the time to personalize your marketing pieces can increase response in your customers and therefore increase your sales.  While it may take a little more time in creating the advertisement, the good news is that it's very easy to create a sense of personalization with some little known yet easy to apply tricks of the trade.  Here are 4 things that you can do to create that sense of personalization in your marketing pieces.

1. Use the prospect or client's name. Everyone like's to see their name so addressing your material to a named person will always bring about a response.  You do want to make certain you use the correct spelling. If you are going to take the time to address the material, at least spell it correctly.
2. Use "handwriting".  Addressing an envelope by hand almost always will get that envelope opened.  That doesn't mean use a "handwriting font." It means that you get a pen and literally address the envelope. You can always outsource this if you do not wish to do it yourself.
   
   You can also use handwriting to write your marketing piece. Or write a note on a Post-It note and attach it to one of your marketing communications.  This can make your marketing piece seem more relevant and personal.
3. Written Just For Me.  Perhaps the most important method of personalization is to write your marketing piece focused entirely on your target market.  When you write, write as if you were writing to one person - the reader, even if you are sending it out to thousands.

Remember, it takes more time and effort to create personalized marketing materials but this extra attention to detail will increase the returns for your business.  Should you have any questions regarding this or any other marketing issues, please contact us, The Tax Office, Inc.  Our specialists are here to assist you in all business related matters.

Just Say "I Do"

Author: Keith Huggett 

With the legal definition of marriage changing, there will be changes in the tax laws regarding marriage as well. As it stands currently, there are both benefits and setbacks to being married in the tax code, depending on how much you earn and how you file.

Married, filing jointly allows married couples to use the most-favored tax-rate table to prepare their taxes.  However, you also have the option to file separately.  The only way to find out which way saves you more money is to run the numbers through your tax return.

At this point, how much you and your spouse earn determines how much you can save.  If you earn more than your spouse, you can save more.  If you and your spouse both earn high wages, you can expect to pay more in income taxes.  Over the years, our lawmakers have tried to balance out the penalty of being married and earning high wages.

As a married couple, you also have an IRA advantage. If your spouse is "jobless" and has no compensation - wages, salaries, fees, commissions, tips, bonuses, or self-employment income, you can contribute to an IRA on his/her behalf. Also, the income limits that apply to your IRA contribution when you are in a qualified retirement plan increase if you are married.

If you are planning on selling your home, as a single tax payer, you qualify to exclude up to $250,000 of the sale profits. If married, that amount doubles to $500,000.  However, you and your spouse must both pass the required "use" test and one of you must pass the "ownership" test.

Death comes to us all, and the IRS wants their part of it.  Should you accumulate enough cash, investments, and property during your lifetime, it will fall to your heirs to pay the estate taxes. Federal estate and gift tax rules benefit married couples.  For the 2013 tax year, an individual's estate qualifies for an exclusion of up to $5.25 million from estate taxes.  If you are married, you and your spouse get to exclude double that amount for up to $10.5 million from estate taxes.

Citizenship has it's benefits too, as we all know. If you are married, the unlimited marital deduction allows you to pass assets to your spouse with no federal estate or gift taxes as long as he/she is a United States citizen.  

As you can see, marriage can affect your taxes in both a positive and negative way depending on your earnings throughout your life, even unto your death.  Proactive tax planning along the way can help you get the most out of your earnings and required tax payments.  The Tax Office, Inc. and their tax specialists can assist you with tax planning, estate planning and any additional questions you may have.  Please contact us today.

Every Marketing Piece Must Have A Powerful Headline

Author: Allyson Huggett 

When you are writing your marketing pieces the primary goal of the piece is to grab your customer's attention. The best way to do that is with a powerful, eye-popping headline. But how do you know if your headline is one of those? There are four key objectives to a great headline:

1. to get attention
2. to select an audience
3. to deliver a message
4. to draw the reader into the body copy - or keep them listening to you.

If you fulfill these four things then you can expect some improvement in your results. Fulfilling theses four things (all of them) may seem complicated at first, but we have 5 rules that simplify the matter and can multiply your sales and profits:

1. Your headline should always stand out. Make it big and bold, generally at the top of your marketing piece.
2. Your headline must be clear and direct. Nothing complex and difficult to understand.
3. Your headline should be specific. People in general always respond better to specifics. For example, "Lose 20 Pounds in 4 Weeks!" is a better headline than "Lose Weight Fast!"
4. The headling must promise a reward or benefit for reading on. See the above example.  Who doesn't want to learn more about how to lose 20 pounds in 4 weeks?
5. Use powerful words in your headline. Studies have been done to determine which words in the English language are the most powerful words to use in headlines. The top 20 words are...

Now that you know the rules about headlines, we'll give you one more as a bonus rule:

Always test your headlines! For example, create a letter with two different headlines. Make certain that the only difference between the two letters is the headline.  Send them out to your target market and compare the results. The one that receives the best results is the one with the best headline.

The Tax Office, Inc. would be happy to assist you with your marketing program. Should you have any questions, please contact us.  Our specialists in our Client Accounting Services, Business Services, CFO Services, or Marketing Division would be happy to assist you.

 Add These Tax Deadlines to Your Calendar! 

Author: Jenny Shilling

When you think of tax deadlines, most people think of April 15th, or tax day. Sad to say, there are many more deadlines when it comes to taxes.  If you file an extension, you can add another tax day to your calendar.  If you pay estimated taxes, you can add 4 more deadlines.  If you run a business, you can add a few more deadlines to your calendar as well.  To make things a little easier, the IRS has put together a "tax calendar" to show you when everything is due. 

We will soon be leaving the third quarter of the tax year. With it, we have some important tax dates for you to remember as tax extensions are coming due:

• September 16, 2013:  Third installment of estimated taxes due.
  Partnerships: File Taxes (if you requested an extension).
  Corporations: File Taxes (if you requested an extension). 

As we enter the fourth quarter of the tax year, important dates to remember:

• October 15, 2013: Individuals: File Taxes (if you requested an extension).
• December 16, 2013: Fourth Installment of estimated taxes due.

If you are handling your payroll inhouse, there are also payroll tax deadlines that need to be met during these months.  If your are outsourcing your payroll, the payroll company should be handling your payroll tax issues.

At the Tax Office, Inc., our tax specialists are able to answer questions regarding extensions, taxes, non-filed tax returns, late returns, or tax related concern you may have. Please contact us by phone, email, twitter or facebook at #plan4tax or facebook.com/plan4tax.

Solid Business Plan Critical for Success

Author: Keith Huggett

For many companies, growth comes with forming a business partnership. Combining forces with another individual or company that complements your strengths and weaknesses is an excellent way to expand quickly and with less capital. However, no matter what business path you decide to take, having a strong business plan in place is critical. Consider it a road map to success. A solid business plan will be helpful in not just enticing investors, but also for keeping your business running smoothly.

Your business plan should include the following components in a clear, concise document:

• Describe the marketplace gap that your company fills. Whether you offer an innovative product that no other company has, or simply provide an unparalleled customer service experience within your industry, the first step is defining the gap your company aims to fill.

• Explain how your company fills this gap. What product features or unique service offerings does your company provide that others do not?

• Define your market. It is important to fully understand the size of your industry and how your company fits into it. You should also describe your target customer in this section.

• Outline your business model. You are presumably in business to make money; your business model defines how you will do this effectively.

• Understand your competition. Who else sells a product or service similar to yours? What advantages do you have over them and are they sustainable?

• Describe your sales strategy. In real life, "If you build it, they will come" is not an effective marketing strategy. You need to know how you will generate new customers and promote sales growth from year to year.

• Have an exit strategy. Do you plan to form a business partnership, keep it in the family or sell to a competitor in five years?

If you need help with developing a new business, forming a business partnership or tax planning for your existing company, contact the professionals at The Tax Office, Inc. We can help you with the day-to-day tasks of bookkeeping and the bigger picture strategy issues that every business faces. Contact us today to learn more.

New Business Owners Have Several Choices for Accounting Services

Author: Keith Huggett

Starting a new business is a tremendous challenge. You have to design and create products and/or services, establish a brand, find customers, fill orders, etc. You also need to figure out what you spend and what you take in, maintain a positive cash flow, perhaps deal with payroll and certainly manage your tax obligations.

If you don't have the accounting expertise necessary to do this, there are a number of ways to handle your financial books. Here are four common options:

1. Do it yourself. Some entrepreneurs who have no accounting or tax experience manage their own financials. Dedicated software can help, but you still need to understand the basics of accounting. If you take this on, you risk classifying income and expenses improperly, which will make it harder to analyze your company's performance and meet your tax obligations accurately. This is risky for anyone but the smallest of businesses.
2. Hire a bookkeeper. Bookkeepers can do a satisfactory job of entering information into a pre-configured system. Most are not experienced enough to set up an accounting system, though, and they're not qualified to give you tax and planning advice.
3. Hire a CPA. The right CPA can do things well. But CPAs practicing solo have the same challenge that you do: keeping their own businesses running. And you're limited to the expertise of one individual.
4. Hire an accounting firm. Accounting firms typically have a mixture of CPAs along with other accounting and business professionals, and support staff. These days, they're also well-versed in technology. They can set up your bookkeeping system and help you in myriad ways, while basic data entry is done by non-chartered accountants and bookkeepers. This model can provide the expertise that you need, when you need it, and save you money.

Accounting is a time-consuming, unfamiliar process for most new business owners. It's very familiar to us at The Tax Office. We can handle every aspect of your financials, from online bookkeeping to payroll to tax planning and preparation to general business management and complete accounting. Contact us to get started, so you can focus on what you do best -- building your business.