- Image via Wikipedia
“Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich.”
Henry Ford
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=07e261a3-c2c5-4c6b-9cbd-acfc79df6dc2)
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2009.
Here are three great links on how the latest talk on health care will impact small businesses (from the Small Business Labs blog):
1. Here’s a comparison tool on the health care proposals floating around capitol hill from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation – GoSee
2. Very informative Business Week article – GoSee
3. Another great summary from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council on the Democratic health care plan – GoSee
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
- Image via Wikipedia
Our firm tries to stay progressive and on the cutting edge of using technology to make our client’s lives better. This means continual training for the staff, and brain washin’ sessions from me.
We’re doing it again…
We’re enabling “cloud computing” for our clients now, and for some, allowing our clients to totally go paperless in their own office. First, what is cloud computing? Here is a good quote from a recent article I read:
Netbooks [computers made for cloud computing] might carry few applications because many small and mid-sized businesses are moving towards “cloud computing,” which allows online employees to securely access programs and files on a remote server, as opposed to physically carrying sensitive data on the road. This trend is on the rise thanks to ubiquitous Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. In addition, more devices are available — such as netbooks and smartphones — with limited local memory. Much of the software is Web-based, too, therefore not requiring one particular operating system over another.
Basically, a trend seems to be moving towards “renting” or leasing software online instead of you buying software one time, having it delivered to your office, installing it and maintaining it over time (and continually updating it every time a new release comes out). Now, you can access your software from anywhere in the world through the Internet. And we can help you do it if you use the PC version of Intuit’s QuickBooks Desktop Edition.
If you see the value in having your accounting software available to you from anywhere at anytime, then this option may just be for you. And it’s not the QuickBooks Online Version of the software, which has NOT been highly received by our clients. And it’s not the Mac version of Intuit’s QuickBooks software (which is not heavily-laden with all the tools and abilities of the PC version). Nor is it platform specific. That is, you can access the PC version of Intuit’s QuickBooks Desktop Edition on a Dell or a MacBook Pro (my staff uses Dell, and I use a Mac).
Here is what you do, and some of the benefits available:
1. Allow our firm to sign you up for an online account to your “desktop in the sky.”
2. It costs a one-time fee of $179, and is $50 per month after that (which we draft from your account on the 1st of each month).
3. You have to have a 2009 QuickBooks Pro license to do it (you can get it for $99 if you don’t already have it).
4. When Intuit releases new versions of QuickBooks each year, you will always be upgraded to the latest version automatically for no additional fees.
5. Since our firm signed you up, we have access to your file, and you have access AT THE SAME TIME. This is pretty cool. We can both be in QuickBooks at the same time doing the work we need to do.
6. You no longer need your computer near you when you want to do your work now. And if you travel, you don’t need to have your desktop with you. Everything is online and all you need is an Internet connection.
7. No more passing backups back and forth, or remoting into client’s computers.
8. The client is given a “drive H” on their “desktop in the sky,” where they can store any private or proprietary information (our firm can’t see data on the client’s H drive).
9. The client is also given a “drive I” on their “desktop in the sky,” which is the shared drive. Anything the client or the firm puts on the I drive can be viewed by both parties, and is accessible by anyone with a login. This is one way to pass things back and forth between client and CPA.
10. The login information is data encrypted with the latest technology, always keeping your data safe.
11. Backups are made every night by the company Right Networks, where we host the QuickBooks through. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about nightly or weekly backups anymore.
12. The company we host through also has multiple server farms and runs their programs on one set of redundant servers, and keeps the client’s data on a separate set of redundant servers.
There are many more benefits, and you’ll realize some benefits that are particular just to your company. You can also combine this service with an innovative online bill pay function and you’ll only touch your invoices one time. With this service, you can designate who approves the invoices (multiple approvers if necessary). Your bills will be paid for you without using your own bank account (electronically – no more stamps). Your invoices will be entered into QuickBooks for you. And a history of your paid invoices will be stored indefinitely online in a pdf format, and synched directly with the exact related transaction in QuickBooks.
All this change is allowing our clients to work smarter, more efficiently and more profitably. I’m eating it up.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer, CPA
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c4dc5c55-6c15-40de-b3e2-a2bd120f38fe)
- Image by gynti_46 via Flickr
Owning rental property (hopefully not the property in the pic) can be great… sometimes. If you know what you are doing, you can actually realize monthly cash flow and still show a loss on your tax return. And if you are NOT a real estate professional (you have to basically spend all of your time on real estate to be considered a real estate professional), then the IRS lets you claim up to $25k in losses on your tax return! Pretty cool: if you own real estate, and manage it properly, you could generate $25k in losses to eat up some of the other income on your tax return. But beware…
If you’ve got marriage problems, this could come back and bite you later on… consult your tax advisor if you’ve got marriage problems (and then we’ll tell you to go see your preacher). We had one client that was “separated” from his wife, but she lived in the next bedroom. And at tax time he thought he was going to be able to deduct his $25k as losses. Well, at a minimum, you can deduct half of those losses, or $12,500 if you’re married filing separately, so watch out for that so you don’t get bitten in the bottom. The spouse gets to deduct the other half.
But then we found out she was still living with him. Uh oh! The reduced $12,500 in losses actually became zero because the IRS requires that you live SEPARATE from your spouse the entire year if you are to be able to claim those losses on a married filing separate return. Read it here on page 3 if you don’t believe me.
Now go tell all of your real estate friends with bad marriages to beware… (and come read this post). Got any scary tax stories? Let us know in the comments.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ffdbc861-7710-4967-a69b-6ee98a07b084)
“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”
Author unknown
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f7afe83c-a139-42a6-81be-284e8defef00)
Saw some cool articles/resources on www.startupstudent.com recently and thought I would pass them along.
1. learnhub is a plethora of info on preparing for the GMAT, studying abroad, or finding a higher education option for your next degree – GoSee
2. I listen to Stanford’s Entrepreneurship podcast a lot, and it continually offers great content and challenges to it’s students and the public. Here’s their website with a lot of videos and podcasts to download – GoSee
3. Tons of resources on the “Y Combinator” site, like “How to Start a Startup“, “You Weren’t Meant to Have a Boss“, and “A Student’s Guide to Startups” – GoSee
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=16c639cf-8161-42fd-83f1-56324642e517)
This chapter concerned the companies being studied in this book, and their counterpart examples, and whether they confronted the brutal solemn facts of their existence before their transition into great companies. Some did, and some did not…
This chapter was also about how the great companies continually refined their definition and mission of greatness with the brutal facts of reality. Look the facts squarely in the face and deal with what you see.
The greatest impact this chapter had on me was found in the discussion of Building a Climate Where the Truth is Heard:
1. As the leader, you are to lead with questions, not answers. Just because you are the chief executive, or even if you own the business, doesn’t mean you have all of the answers. Your employees already know that, now you just have to admit it. Good to Great leaders start meetings with questions, creating a culture where people have tremendous opportunity to be heard and, ultimately, for the truth to be heard. If you have the right people on the bus, leading with questions won’t be power-grabs by your subordinates to rise to the top, but great opportunities to hear feedback that will turn your good company into a great one.
2. Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion. Debate if you must, and do it with intensity, but don’t ever make your management meetings times to air your grievances with the results of the last quarter. Enter into the intense research needed to change a company from good to great, but don’t make it a platform to coerce the results.
3. Conduct autopsies, without blame. Search for the reasons behind bad decisions, and faulty reasoning, but don’t do it with the goal of placing blame. And if you are the executive, you should probably step up and assume the blame for the poor results in your company anyway, since you were the one most likely to be able to make the change toward success. At least, that’s Jim Collins point and conclusion.
4. The Collins team noted that the studied companies and the comparison companies both had access to extreme amounts of information… but the great companies turned that information into information that cannot be ignored. They did this by building “red flag” mechanisms. These are mechanisms where you receive real-time customer/client feedback (instead of waiting for the year-end surveys that you explain away anyway). Some companies gave the client full discretion to deduct invoice lines from the invoices they disputed. The client didn’t ask for permission, they just deducted the amount and paid the balance. This alerted the company to real-time dissatisfaction, and they immediately handled the problem. Likewise, in one of Collins’ university classes he was teaching, he gave a red sheet of paper to every student and allowed them to “throw the flag” once during the semester. They could challenge the professor, another student, make any observation whatsoever to improve the direction of the class. This red flag could only be used once, and was not transferable to another student, but it offered immediate correction to the class if it was headed in the wrong direction. You could build any type of red flag mechanism into your company maybe allowing your employees to confront you without retribution in a monthly meeting, or offer clients a one time reprieve form invoicing if they disagreed with how you were serving them. Either way, allowing a real-time “red flag” input system will get your immediate attention and halt the continued dysfunction of your poor service through the end of the year.
One thing about books like this is that they challenge us as business owners to be bold in our methods of service, improving ourselves and leading our staff onto the limbs of crazy customer service. I repeat our motto at work often, and now the staff repeats it too: “We ain’t scared.” You must take courage when improving yourself or your business. You won’t always succeed, but you’ll better yourself just for trying.
The journey along the way is often the benefit we receive from trying… not the ultimate goal of profit for profit’s sake at the end of a task. I hope you enjoyed this post. Do you want to throw a red flag? Did I miss an important point? Let me have in the comments, dang it! I ain’t scared!
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
Related articles by Zemanta
- What makes a good CEO? (myleadingleads.blogspot.com)
- Lessons Learned from “How the Mighty Fall” (jwikert.typepad.com)
- How Jim Collins Tracks His Workday (and Pillow Time) (smarterware.org)
- The Stockdale Paradox for entrepreneurs (vator.tv)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0a099cc4-41ed-42d9-9a05-6f371e6f2319)
July’s highlight this month is of our firm’s technology/IT contractor. M2 Technologies, Inc. has also been a client of our firm since their inception, and their abilities to fix or handle any computer-related problem is unmatched by any other contractor we’ve seen. They quickly handle all of our computer repair requests, the problems with synching all of our tech toys to our network and, lately, how to implement new Apple products into our PC world.
l to r: Matt Marks, Jason M. Blumer and Dan Guerrant (of note: we all have large foreheads to hold our extremely large brains)
Matt Marks sells middle to high end accounting software called VisionCore and NetSuite and supports his clients from his Greenville office, while Dan Guerrant handles all tech and computer related requests for their clients.
M2 Technologies, Inc. has been an outstanding support to our firm, and is always available when we need them.
As with all client highlights, we asked M2 to answer four questions for our readers:
1. What have you or your organization done to remain competitive and successful?
Personal customer service has been our strength over the years. Our customers have access to us via cell phone, email, and office line. We do our best to respond as quickly as possible and our customers know that and appreciate it.
2. What do you or your organization foresee as the greatest business obstacle in the near future?
I believe the biggest threat to our small business is the burden of government. The tax burden on small and medium size businesses is constantly increasing and as obtrusive legislation like cap and trade becomes law, the trickle-down effect from larger businesses will definitely impact us and our customers negatively.
3. What do you enjoy most about your work?
Two things that we enjoy about M2 Technologies are the line of work we are in and the friendship we have established with our customers.
4. What has the Blumer firm done to assist you in furthering your business and its operations?
When we started M2 Technologies back in 2003, Jason and Marc were there to advise and strategize with us on everything from incorporation to payroll and tax planning. At the end of every fiscal year, we have been able to sit down with them and go over our books. This has helped us see where we’ve been successful and where we need to focus for the future.
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer, CPA
We're all giggles.
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I wrote a post recently on the government’s cash for clunkers program. Seems it was pretty popular… the government ran out of cash to fund the program.
Here are a couple of good articles highlighting the underfunded program:
Should the government even be involved in this program? What do you think?
By the way, Donate Car USA, sent me a message letting me know that if the Cash for Clunkers Program didn’t work for you to try out their program. Click here for more info. Thanks Donate Car USA!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6adffb66-e041-48e2-90fa-8fe9a9657f87)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=cb4899f2-b9d6-46e7-af48-54a5cdf7446d)
Our Podcast is on Stitcher!
Listed: Top Accounting Blogs!
Stuff People Said Recently…