by Karla Dennis | Apr 7, 2014 | Blog
It would be great if you could just show up for your tax preparation appointment and leave with a rebate check on the same day, but there is actually quite a bit of preparation required. The good news is that if you know what paperwork to bring, your tax preparation can be a snap. First, you have to bring proof of your income and the taxes that you paid. This comes in the form of a 1099 or a W-2 form. It is issued by your employer, and it comes with a copy to send for state taxes, federal taxes, and one to keep for your records. Your tax preparation cannot occur without this information. Copies of your bank statements are also helpful for tax preparation because they can contain an explanation for all of the deposits for your bank account. There are many times that clients will receive a gift from a parent that looks like a deposit into your bank account. If you don’t have a bank statement available, that money could look like income, but if you can show that it is a gift, it won’t be taxed. IRA accounts also have special rules when it comes to tax preparation so you should always bring proof of any IRA contribution to your tax preparation appointment. You will also need to have social security information for all of the members of your family so that you can claim the tax credits that come with each family member. There is lot of information to bring to your tax preparation meeting, and other receipts to bring are proof of...
by Karla Dennis | Apr 3, 2014 | Blog
Your bookkeeper wants to make sure that you get the best bookkeeping advice to get the most out of your money as a business. They can help you understand where you money is going so you will be able to make better use of your cash flow. If you want your business to succeed, there are three big picture items your bookkeeping service can help you analyze. While your bookkeeping service will not be responsible for filling out your taxes, they can provide your CPA with the necessary information that you need to establish a concrete tax plan. If you don’t take care of the receipts, payments, and expenditures, you are going to have a hard time establishing a truly effective tax strategy. Your bookkeeping service is also not a marketing specialist. They are not the people that put together a marketing plan, but they can help you understand how much money you can put into advertising. There really is no way to establish a marketing budget unless you understand exactly what kinds of funds are available. Forecasting your budgets can be a lot easier if you have a good bookkeeping service on your side. They can let you know the bills that you will be responsible for during the next fiscal year. They can tell you how much the employees are getting paid and where the other money is going. With this information at hand, your accountant will have a better idea of where your money can be moved around. For instance, if you find that you are putting more than 20 percent of your budget into marketing, you may...
by Karla Dennis | Mar 30, 2014 | Blog
Running a small business seems to take a lot of time, energy, and money, but these are issues that almost every small business can have. Have you ever wondered how a bookkeeping service can help you to overcome these issues? First, most small businesses have a similar complaint-cash flow. It seems like it is impossible to try to come up with the money that you need to expand the business or even run your small business the way that you dreamed of. The good news is that bookkeeping can help you overcome some of this problem. A bookkeeping service can help to manage your cash flow. Understanding where all of your money goes is one of the first keys to knowing how you can save money. A bookkeeping service can also help you to see where your money will go in the future so you can get a real grasp of the income that you have available to expand your business. A bookkeeping service can also help you to establish a payment schedule. They can help you work out when and how you will accept payment from clients. If you do good work, you may find that many clients are happy to pay some money up front so you can have the funding you need to bring in more clientele. Finally, a bookkeeping service will help you see how much money you get from specific customers. As a general rule, if you are getting more than 10 percent of your total income from only one client, you may be too reliant on one company to make your ends meet....
by Karla Dennis | Mar 26, 2014 | Blog
With the Small Business Tax Act from 2010 came a number of retirement plans to drop your taxes.
by Karla Dennis | Mar 22, 2014 | Blog
There are a lot of businesses that choose to outsource their bookkeeping services to a private company. It is a great way to have your bookkeeping needs met, and it can save you money because you don’t have to provide benefits or incentives to a private employee. While this can often be a good financial choice, many businesses aren’t sure exactly what role a bookkeeping service will play in their company. The first thing you should know about a bookkeeping service is that they are not a CPA firm and they are different from accountants. Bookkeepers will keep track of the ledger that outlines your company’s expenses. They do not forecast or find ways that you can save money. An accountant has gone to college to learn about the way the money in a business can be successfully run and a bookkeeping service will keep track of the money. A bookkeeper will not normally deal with your taxes either, that’s a CPA’s job. Another role that bookkeepers don’t cover is that of payroll. A business will normally have another person that takes care of payroll, and a bookkeeping service will be in charge of entering all the money that comes and goes from the company. One valuable role a bookkeeping service will play in a business is that of setting up a company’s financial records. They make it possible for businesses to easily enter in data about the money being spent. They can also serve as trainers. As a business grows and changes, the roles of employees can change as well. In fact, there are many people that take...
