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Michigan CPA Firm Celebrates 65th Year
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Tuesday September 25, 2012In 1947: Harry Truman was President of the United States; Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball; The mdoern nation of Israel was formed; The top marginal U.S. income tax rate was 86% ; Also in 1947, the accounting firm Weidmayer, Schneider & Raham , CPAs, P.C. was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Initially named Gregg and Felker, CPAs, after its founding partners, the firm has transitioned over the past six decades. As they celebrate their 65th year in practice, Steven Schneider, CPA, the firm's current managing principal (and only its fourth in 65 years,) has been reflecting on the changes the practice has seen during that time. "We first formed in response to a need for accounting services in the region, so... -
Afraid of Losing Your Mobile Phone? You May Have Nomophobia!
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday September 20, 2012
The “Bleeding Edge” Blog. There are not a lot of perks associated with being a magazine writer. Sure, we get to interview an occasional celebrity, but those esteemed persons remember us mostly as a nuisance – if they remember us at all. We get to go to conferences at exotic places like Las Vegas, but frankly after a few years, hotel rooms and conferences start to look the same. As for the pay, I could make more money making French fries at McDonalds. Mostly what we get as magazine writers are news releases. Tons and tons of news releases. From eager PR staffers who buy distribution lists with little or no regard for what we write about, pitching stories that would bore our readers to death, often so badly written that it is... -
Which PC Web Browser is the Best?
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Thursday September 20, 2012Most professionals use their web browser nearly all day long. From research, to checking news stories, file sharing, collaboration and accessing web-based programs. And watching videos on YouTube, of course. Which browser do you prefer? On my PCs, I have all three of the major browsers designed for Windows (Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome). I've also had the PC version of Safari in the past. Personally- I use Firefox as the default, but mostly just because I've gotten accustomed to it. That isn't to say I believe it is necessarily better than the other two. PC World recently did a comparison of these three browsers (not sure why they left out Safari), and found similarities between them, but when it came to a few hey factors... -
Death and Taxes: Make Sure Your Firm Survives Tax Season
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Friday September 14, 2012Benjamin Franklin said it first: the only certain things in life are death and taxes. In the case of accountants, though, he might have mentioned that the greatest risk is death during tax season. Forget about last minute changes to the tax code. Forget software updates, and clients without proper receipts, and identity theft, and problems with the IRS electronic filing system. The biggest threat you may face during any tax season is when the owner and majority partner of the firm stops speaking in the middle of a sentence, looks slightly confused, and them drops dead in front of a client. And while no one seems to be keeping statistics on how often this happens, I’ll bet a paycheck that it is much more common than we like to talk... -
More Mississippi Counties Get IRS Tax Relief Resulting from Hurricane Isaac
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor - Thursday September 13, 2012The IRS has added to the list of counties in Mississippi where victims of Hurricane Isaac can qualify for tax relief. After recent disaster declarations for individual assistance issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the IRS announced that affected taxpayers in Mississippi will receive tax relief, and other locations may be added in coming days based on additional damage assessments by FEMA. The counties include Adams, Amite, Clarke, Forrest, George, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson, Lincoln, Marion, Pearl River, Pike, Stone, Walthall, Warren and Wilkinson, which were declared a federal disaster area. The declaration permits the IRS to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in... -
Fall Firm Challenge: 5 Strategies for Strength
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Wednesday September 12, 2012We are in the final 4 months of 2012. I’m issuing a challenge to everyone out there to strengthen your firm’s culture by implementing the following 5 strategies in your firm. Don't criticize the team . It is super easy to walk around and see things that you would like to change and believe that you have all of the answers that will solve the issues within your firm. Stop criticizing and blaming and start looking for ideas and solutions. There are likely things that need to change but if you choose the path of criticism, you will come off as rude and the team will feel compelled to defend themselves. Ask "Name one thing that we should stop doing immediately to make us more effective?" Your staff does not want more work... -
Eight Small Business IRS Audit Areas to Watch Through 2013
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Monday September 10, 2012
The IRS continually analyzes compliance levels for entities, issues and industries by conducting hundreds of compliance projects and initiatives each year. Leading up to the start of the government’s fiscal year on Oct. 1, the IRS has announced emerging or significant areas that it will prioritize for the coming year. When it comes to compliance, the IRS has increasingly focused on small business underreporting, which is responsible for 84% of the $450 billion tax gap. At national and regional tax forums held this summer, the IRS projected small business areas where it will focus through 2013. Here are the highlights: Fringe benefits, especially personal use of company cars. The IRS is completing its third and final year of a... -
IRS announces a multi-year effort to increase audits in flow-through entities
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Thursday August 30, 2012
As tax season approaches, practitioners can expect the IRS to quickly expand its audit focus to flow-through entities, according to an IRS official. IRS Small Business/Self Employed operating division Commissioner Faris Fink, speaking at the IRS Tax Forum in Charlotte, NC, on Aug. 8, announced that the IRS would focus on partnerships and S corporations for audit for at least the next three years, starting in October. The IRS will use more of its audit resources for the 3.4 million partnership returns and 4.4 million S corporations filed annually. In 2011, the IRS audited very few of these entities - only 13,770 partnerships and 18,519 S corporations, representing 0.4% of total returns filed. Compared to the overall 0.9% audit coverage... -
Tablets Speed Adoption of Electronic Signatures
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Thursday August 30, 2012
Consumer technologies such as the iPad and iPhone are driving the use of electronic signatures using tools like DocuSign and Adobe EchoSign. This has been happening for quite some time in other industries such as real estate but is just now starting to gain traction in the accounting profession. Today, firms are using electronic signatures in the engagement letter process with clients and internal workflow documents. Other firms have used them to get their partner agreements signed in multi-office situations where they were previously mailing paper documents around. In doing so they are recognizing significant efficiency gains. However, the real opportunity for CPA firms lies with IRS Form 8879. Significant time and... -
Writing White Papers
By Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Wednesday August 29, 2012There are three kinds of “white” papers that an accounting firm should create. Papers that should be posted to the web site, sent to clients and included in new business proposals. The three kinds are: Client Case Histories The “Ten Steps To…” Papers The “Thoughtful Analysis” Papers I did not create these categories, nor did I cause them to be important. Back in the early Eighties, a wise old Greek-American named Mike Vasilakes did that. He had already been a trade magazine editor, industrial publicist and corporate communications expert for a century or more when he took me under his wing and taught me the trade, but I have used what he taught me every day for more than three decades since. Think of him as Yoda to...