• Profit & Loss Reports – In a time when everyone is looking for ways to save money, you can use QuickBooks to track how your business is spending money and may discover areas that you could cut costs.  Using reports such as Profit & Loss YTD Comparison and Profit & Loss Prev Year Comparison can show you how your income and expenses are comparing to the current year as well as previous years.  This will provide insight into what your largest expenses are and where you can reduce costs.  
• Budget Feature – Another valuable tool QuickBooks provides for managing your business, is the budgeting feature.  You can input an annual budget or budget by month and print reports that compare your actual expenses to your budget.  This will allow you to identify where expenses maybe more or less than expected.  Reviewing the budget vs. actual reports on a frequent basis will help keep costs in line with your expectations. 
• Customer Payment Tracking – QuickBooks has several different reports that you can use for tracking customer payments and balances due.  Reports such as the accounts receivable aging summary report are generated from using the QuickBooks customer features.  Under the customer features you can create invoices, enter sales receipts, enter customer payments, and create customer statements.  Tracking this information will allow you to be confident that you are being paid for all the hard work you are doing for your customers.

These are just some of the valuable tools that QuickBooks can bring to your business.  The key for any of these tools to work for you is to properly set them up and maintain the data on a frequent basis.  If you would like any additional information or need training in any area of QuickBooks, our office has QuickBooks Certified Proadvisors that would be happy to assist you. 

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

Because of the economic conditions that are currently facing our economy, organizations are struggling to create additional revenue streams, and at the same time, minimize expenses. While the prospects of reducing salaries, advertising costs, or a host of other costs can be frightening and painful, reducing the fees that you pay for your financial statement audit can save your organization significant dollars and can be easy and painless.

Here are 5 simple things you can do to have a more efficient audit and help lower your audit costs:

• 1: Schedule the Audit – Avoid the organization’s peak periods or when key financial personnel are on vacation. Auditors require a lot of time and attention. If you are not available to answer their questions, it will only result in additional time to complete the audit.
• 2: Complete All Requested Work Papers – The greatest cause of inefficiencies and increased fees during the audit is the result of the auditor beginning the audit process before the organization has completed the year-end close process AND has fully completed every single item on the list of items and schedules requested by the auditor. Many organizations feel they can complete the list of requested items as the auditors are working on other areas of the audit. This is rarely the case. As auditors are working through the audit, they will have questions. These will create additional requests that management may have not been prepared for and will delay the preparation of the other items on the list.
• 3: Don’t Be Intimidated – You will be asked about questionable accounting practices or pressures, fraud risk factors, and known deficiencies in accounting systems. Be open with your auditor about difficult areas you have encountered, concerns, questions, and recommendations you may have about your organization. The audit process is a time to improve upon your processes and operations. The auditor cannot provide you with this feedback if they do not know all of the facts and the complete situation.
• 4: Ask for Audit Status Updates – Schedule time to meet with the auditors periodically throughout the audit to learn about the progress of the audit, facilitate communication, resolve issues on a timely basis, and correct any misunderstandings. This is the time to find out if the auditors are getting all the information they need from staff personnel and if the audit is on track. Addressing any concerns or questions early on in the process while the auditor is in the field can save everyone time.
• 5: Complete an Audit Notebook – Keep copies of all spreadsheets and work papers provided to the auditor. Having a notebook will save you and the auditor precious time in creating the work papers for the next year’s audit. If you are paperless, maintain an electronic file of all documents prepared for the audit. Why recreate the wheel year after year?

The key to an efficient audit is PREPARATION. Making sure the organization is prepared for the audit by doing the 5 things listed above can and will result in a smoother and more efficient audit. Just remember, if you prepare, an audit does not have to hit you like a bolt of lightning! Contact Blackman & Sloop if you would like more tips on how to have a more efficient audit or to discuss your auditing needs.

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

The credit is equal to 6.2% of the wages paid during the 52 week period, up to a maximum credit of  $1,000 for each employee.   The credit for employees earning less than $16,129 is determined by using the wages paid and a rate of 6.2%.  Therefore the credit for an employee earning $15,000 would be $930 ($15,000 x .062). 

A qualified worker needs to meet the following requirements when hired.

1.       The new employee needs to have been unemployed or employed for less than 40 hours during the 60-day period prior to being hired.   Form W-11 (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act Employee Affidavit) should be obtained from each employee.  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw11.pdf

2.       The employee needs to be employed for a period of at least 52 consecutive weeks.

3.       The employee’s wages during the last 26 weeks of employment must be at least 80% of the wages paid during the first 26 weeks of employment.

4.       The employee needs to be hired after February 3, 2010 and before December 31, 2010.

As with all general business tax credits the amount you can use in any one year is limited.  Your total general business credit for the year cannot exceed your net income tax, minus the greater of (1) your tentative minimum tax, or (2) 25 percent of your net regular tax liability that is more than $25,000 ($12,500 for married filing separately).  Your net income tax is your net regular tax liability plus your alternative minimum tax.

For example, ABC’s general business credit for the year is $30,000. Their net income tax is $27,500 and the tentative minimum tax, figured on Form 6251, is $18,487. The amount of general business credit ABC can take for the year is $9,013. This is the net income tax of $27,500 minus the larger of the tentative minimum tax, $18,487, or 25 percent of the net regular tax liability that is more than $25,000 (25% of $2,500 = $625). Since $18,487 is larger than $625, ABC subtracts $18,487 from $27,500 to arrive at $9,013.

Unlike certain other general business tax credit’s the Retention Credit cannot be carried back, but can be carried forward for 20 years.

One last thing to note, the Retention Credit and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit can be claimed for the same employee. 

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

Blackman & Sloop associates will be at the Durham Bulls vs. Charlotte Knights game on July 15th for an evening of baseball and family fun!

For more information about the Durham Bulls, visit http://www.dbulls.com

Reimbursements of medical expenses under an employer-provided health plan for children under 27 are tax-free.  This applies even if the child is not a dependent of the employee, and includes the value of health insurance coverage.  Such reimbursement and coverage is excludable from income for children who have not reached age 27 as of the end of the employee’s tax year.  A child includes a son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter (including legally adopted children). 

Individuals may include the cost of health insurance premiums for children under 27 in the self-employed health insurance deduction on page 1 of Form 1040.  Such premiums are deductible for children who have not reached age 27 as of the end of the tax year.

The Act also provides that group health plans, that include coverage for dependent children, make dependent coverage available to children under age 26.  (This is not a typo.  This provision has a different age limitation than do the others.)  This provision is effective for plan years after September 30, 2010.

If you are interested in obtaining more information on the provisions of the Health Care Act, feel free to contact us.

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

Intuit has integrated several web-based features into QuickBooks, including remote access capabilities, remote payroll assistance and outsourcing, electronic payment functions, online banking and reconciliation, and improved e-mail functionality through Microsoft Outlook. For the 2008 and later versions, the company added the ability to import from Excel spreadsheets, and additional time tracking options along with improved Help functions. An improved accountant’s copy feature is also in place which allows for changes made by your accountant to be uploaded to the file.

We currently have on staff four CPAs that are certified QuickBooks Proadvisors that can help you get started and be an ongoing support.  We can customize your QuickBooks set-up and training to meet your specific business needs.  We encourage you to call our office and ask to speak to a QuickBooks Proadvisor if you have questions so we can set up a meeting to discuss your accounting needs and make sure you are getting the most out of your accounting software.

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

 
Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

1: Don’t leave your phone unattended.  Leaving your smartphone exposed in a public place screams “take me!” Phones are easy to swipe and thieves know they hold just as much information as your laptop, purse, or wallet, if not more, and are much easier to access.  If you lose your phone or you believe it has been stolen, call your service provider to have the service disconnected to the phone, and ask if the provider has the ability to remotely “wipe” the phone (which will clear all of the data off of the phone and prevent anyone who obtains the phone from accessing your information stored on the device).

2: Use a password on your phone.  All smartphones and most cell phones have security capabilities that allow the phone to be manually or automatically locked which require a password to unlock and gain access to the device.  Be sure to create a unique password like you would for access to your laptop, email account, or software, not a password that could be easily guessed (like “1, 2, 3, 4.”)  Enabling a password on your phone is the simplest way to safeguard the information on your phone.

3: Don’t keep sensitive information stored on your smartphone, particularly confidential work or client data.  Make sure you have a backup copy of important data, emails, documents, or applications on a computer, server, or jump-drive.  Also beware of items on your phone that contain vulnerable personal information such as passwords, bank account information, credit card numbers, etc.  Remember if your phone is compromised you are at an increased risk of personal and corporate identity theft, so the less information you have exposed, the better protected you will be.

4: Use the Encryption option on your smartphone.  While available on some phone brands, currently the brand that offers the greatest full data encryption are Blackberry devices.  When enabled, the Blackberry encryption option scrambles the data selected for encryption so that it can’t be interpreted and read during transmission (for example, when you are sending an email, or using online banking on your phone).  This feature also prevents hackers from reading any information encrypted if unauthorized access is obtained (i.e. if they hack into your phone.)

5: Privacy filters.  Similar to the filters available for computer screens, these filters are thin plastic covers that can be placed on device screens (regular and touchscreen).  When viewed from the side or an angle, the filter shades the screen of your phone and prevents the people around you from being able to see and read your smartphone screen.  It may sound simple, but these inexpensive filters are an easy way to keep information confidential.

6: Do a little security research when purchasing a smartphone.  There are all kinds of smartphone devices available, and each provider, brand, model, and style has different security options and levels.  While you are researching which phone has the best applications and capabilities for you and/or your business, be sure to find out what security features are offered on the device and network.  For example, Blackberry offers businesses the “Blackberry Enterprise Server” an application that provides email encryption and security functions.

7: Consider implementing a company policy on smartphone security.  If your employees use company provided or personal smartphones to conduct company business, you should have security guidelines in place to protect the information that is being stored and transmitted on the device.  You can easily start your policy with these simple steps!

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

Thursday June 17 – Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours

Courtyard by Marriott (by the Friday Center) 5:30pm to 7:30pm. 

This event is free and open to anyone at Blackman and Sloop as well as anyone else who is a member of the Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.  For more information, go to: http://www.chambermaster.com/directory/jsp/events/EventPage.jsp?ccid=568&eventid=1235

As states’ budgets become stressed, many are looking for ways to collect these unpaid sales taxes, and North Carolina is leading the way with a recent audit request for Amazon. In an effort to collect unreported use tax, North Carolina has demanded that Amazon provide the NC Department of Revenue with the name and address of every North Carolina resident who has purchased anything from Amazon since 2003, in addition to records of what each customer purchased. In defense Amazon has asserted the privacy and First Amendment rights of its operations and consumers should be protected. Though the case is still ongoing in a U.S. District Court, it raises concern for those who failed to comply by voluntarily reporting and paying the use tax each year.

Placing the burden of compliance on consumers involves asking people to keep track of all their purchases during the year, how much tax they were charged for each item, and how much tax they should have been charged, which is why compliance has historically been low. The administrative expenses of processing all of the use tax forms by the state(s), and pursuing violators for minimal charges is also prohibitive. However, not all states are taking this approach. Despite the legal burden of payment resting with consumers, many other states’ collection efforts are focused on the retailers rather than consumers, and it seems to be the logical choice. By requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases, states can be assured that they will receive the tax revenue they have been missing out on, and consumers can focus on getting the rest of their tax data correct.

If you are interested in more information on use tax and it’s applications, feel free to contact us at Blackman & Sloop.

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established a subsidy, whereby eligible individuals, who were involuntarily terminated from employment between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010 might be eligible for a 65 percent subsidy of their COBRA premiums for a period of up to 15 months. The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, enacted on April.15, 2010 extended the period to May.31, 2010.

This is how the program works: eligible individuals pay 35 percent of the COBRA premium to the employer. The employer submits 100 percent of the premium and then is reimbursed for the remaining 65 percent by claiming a credit for the subsidy on their payroll tax return (IE:  Form 941, Form 944 or Form 943). 

In claiming the 65 percent credit, an employer can either reduce their payroll tax deposits during the quarter for which they have received the 35 percent premium payments from the eligible individuals or they can claim the subsidy as an overpayment and have the excess refunded to them. 

If you have not claimed the credit on the originally filed Form 941 for the quarter during which the COBRA subsidy was provided and in the quarter you reduced your payroll tax deposits, then you should file a Form 941-X for that quarter. If you have not filed the amended 941 and need our assistance, please give us a call at 919-942-8700.  Additional information including employer questions and answers regarding the COBRA Subsidy program can be found on the IRS website at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=222173,00.html and at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204709,00.html

About Blackman & Sloop CPAs, P.A.:

Blackman & Sloop is a full-service CPA firm headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is actively involved in auditing, taxation, management consulting, financial planning, and related services. The firm directs a large part of its services toward providing management with advice on budgeting, forecasts, projections, financing decisions, financial analysis, and tax developments. The firm also performs review and compilation services and prepares not-for-profit, corporate, individual, estate, retirement plan, and trust tax returns as well as technology consulting services regarding installation and training on QuickBooks. Blackman & Sloop provides services in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, RTP, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Charlotte, and the rest of North Carolina. To find out more please visit http://www.blackmansloop.com

Contact: CPA cpa@blackmansloop.com