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Traditional Effective Low Cost Small Business Marketing
Traditional Effective Low Cost Small Business Marketing This case study demonstrates how Hair Salon owners worked with their Accountant to create an effective low-cost marketing campaign which targeted lapsed and new customers to increase sales. The campaign was traditional but effective. About The Client A Client runs a small funky hair salon in New York. They decided it was time to move to larger premises with more passing foot traffic, but they knew they had to grow their existing strong and loyal client base first. Solution To achieve this goal, a project was completed with the following objectives: [...]
Avoid Changing Horses in Midstream
It’s rare that Accountants are spoken of as examples of great marketing. So please indulge us as we share with you a wonderful campaign run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales back in 1995. So proud were the Institute of their campaign that they bought serious billboard space in London. On the billboard was written in huge writing: "It’s easier to sleep with a Chartered Accountant." Talk about impact. The number of letters this campaign generated to the national press in England was amazing. It probably even turned up in comedians’ lines, [...]
New Law Alert – Information Return Filing Due Dates
The filing due dates for information return Forms W-2 and 1099 have changed! Copies must be furnished to recipients AND filed with the IRS by January 31. If you need help filing 1099s, please call our office.
Filing due dates for certain tax and information returns changed
On July 31, 2015, President Obama signed into law P.L. 114-41, the "Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015." Although this new law was primarily designed as a 3-month stopgap extension of the Highway Trust Fund and related measures, it includes a number of important tax provisions, including revised due dates for partnership and C corporation returns and revised extended due dates for some returns. This letter provides an overview of these provisions, which may have an impact on you, your family, or your business. Revised Due Dates for Partnership and C Corporation Returns [...]
Year-End Planning for 2016
As the end of the year approaches, it is a good time to think of planning moves that will help lower your tax bill for this year and possibly the next. Factors that compound the planning challenge this year include turbulence in the stock market, overall economic uncertainty, and Congress's all too familiar failure to act on a number of important tax breaks that will expire at the end of 2016. Some of these expiring tax breaks will likely be extended, but perhaps not all, and as in the past, Congress may not decide the fate of these tax [...]
Five Things You Should Know in 2015 about the ACA
In recognition of the five-year anniversary of healthcare reform, here are five things you should know about some of the key ACA requirements for businesses in 2015: The shared responsibility provision of healthcare reform is effective either this year or next year, depending on how many employees you have. The employer mandate or “play or pay,” provision requires companies with at least 50 full-time equivalent employees to offer minimum essential healthcare coverage to their full-time employees and their dependents. Applicable large employers (ALEs) can choose to pay a substantial penalty if they don’t abide by the law. Companies with 100 [...]
Forgot Something on Your Tax Return?
If you realize you forgot something on your tax return, you can amend that return after it has been filed. There are many reasons individuals need to amend their returns, whether it is for the just-filed 2014 return or prior year returns. Here are some key points when considering whether to file an amended federal (Form 1040X) or state income tax return. If you are amending for a refund, be aware that refunds generally won’t be paid for returns if the three-year statute of limitations from the filing due date has expired. Except for amending a return to carry back [...]
Ten Steps to Starting A Business in Arizona
Republished from the Arizona Corporation Commission IMPORTANT – the following is only a suggestion of the sequence and type of steps that might be needed to start a business in Arizona. Your particular business, tax, or legal needs may require that you take different action or do things in a different order. The below information is only an overview, and is not intended to provide legal or tax advice or to be a complete resource. We recommend you consult with knowledgeable professionals such as an accountant and an attorney to determine the particular needs of your business. 1. CHOOSE [...]
What is the deal with EMV Credit Card Processing?
Guest post by Ben Ford of American Payment Solutions, a locally owned and operated merchant processing company. You’ve probably heard talk of EMV with increasing regularity over the past several months. This new regulation seems to be creating a sizable knot in the stomachs of most business owners. It’s doubly scary because it is being advertised as the key to credit card security. With breaking news of new credit card data breaches every time we turn around, and deadlines for implementation of EMV set for 2015, it’s understandable that EMV is the topic everyone both does and doesn’t want to [...]