It’s time to call your CPA

As year end approaches, it’s time to get your business financials to your CPA for last-minute planning. It’s best to do this right about now, in case you have some major changes in your tax position. Your CPA can help you plan what you might have to pay at year end.

For our bookkeeping clients, we automatically send this information over to their CPA automatically so the client knows where they sit at year end.

I generally recommend that you send the financials over, then follow up with your CPA by phone a week or so later (so they could have some time to look at the numbers.

Until later,
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Electronic banking made easier?

One of my gripes about electronic banking is downloading the transactions into your software. My experience with the most banks and credit card companies is that it’s not easy or fun with any of them. In fact, they usually name the transactions something roaringly stupid like POINT OF SALE TRANSACTION then the name of the place you bought something from. So when you download it, each transaction just barely identified who the transaction was for.

Like we didn’t know it was a POINT OF SALE TRANSACTION. Frankly, bank board, we don’t care. Make it easy for us, like POS NAME OF COMPANY we bought something from. Wow, would that save time and energy for all of us.

That’s why I personally love the useage we’ve gotten recently from our new bank, The Business Bank, in Minnetonka. They use the Jack Henry software. Wow, is that nice. You are not limited to two month’s prior transactions like with most banks. And when you download the transactions, the software assumes you’re smart enough to know you made a transaction electronically. No dumb entries.

As the electronic age begins to mature, we have to demand what we need. Please call your bank this week and ask them to FIX the electronic download so it no longer gives us a bunch of garbage, but in fact the COMPANY OF THE TRANSACTION then type, THE DATE, THE AMOUNT, and that’s it. Also, all the banks could afford to fix the problem with the & key. Every one of them always puts in & for &. Isn’t your software trainable?

Until later,
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Annual Meeting Disclosures from Outside Companies

Today, my corporation, like most small Minnesotan corporations, received a notice in the mail. It looks ***very*** official. In fact, it has a Document Return Request Date of next week and has the formatting of a legal document that you would file with the State of Minnesota. It looks very urgent.

Don’t be taken in by this document. It costs you $150 for them to essentially write your annual meeting minutes, something that might take you a half hour and yours will be more accurate.

If you aren’t already doing this yourself (which, if you are a corporation, you should be), it’s very simple. We have the formatting you need here at Resources. If you are an LLC, this isn’t a requirement in MN (but might be in other states), but is suggested as a great business practice.

To be a legal corporation in Minnesota (and this IS true of most states), you have to have an annual meeting of your Board of Directors – even if it’s just you! This set of minutes needs to be kept in a Corporate Book (manila folders also work). Also, whereever you have this meeting, that meeting is tax deductible. So you could have this meeting in Phoenix or Paris, for instance. Short of funds? Your meeting could be at your kitchen table.

One thing this marketing piece (that looks legal) does bring up is the fact that if you do not have these minutes on file, in the event of an audit, supoena or lawsuit, your corporate veil could be broken and you would be treated as a sole proprietor with all the liabilities THAT status brings. So it is important to do this legal work once per year for yourself.

If you set up your corporation yourself, you might not be in compliance with the annual meeting rules, so do call me at Resources (763-476-4227), and we can talk to you about your situation to see what needs to be done.

Until later,
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

The importance of good training

You realize the importance of your work on the clients you serve. You know your work can be pivotal in their businesses.

We understand this as well. In fact, this is one of the reasons we highly recommend leveraging your time and resources with training. In the many years of our experience, we’ve discovered that the shortcut to learning is to have good training backed with good hands-on experience. We find utilizing good training actually saves you money and time, freeing you up to become more productive at your business.

Our training methods account for learning styles as well. Many trainers can only train the way they like to learn or using certain techniques. At Resources, we know that different people have different styles of learning and use adaptive techniques. We train people from all different areas of business, from creatives to machinists, from doctors and lawyers to scientists. We also train large groups and have adaptive coursework for any particular group.

Ask us about our training capabilities for your company. Call us at 763-476-4227.

Until later,
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Streamlining your business with a Mac

You probably have an iPod. Maybe you have an iPhone (or have been drooling over one). But, you might not have thought about using your Mac for business.

At Resources, we specialize in using the Mac in business, and for good reason.
- very little exposure to viruses;
- easy to set up and network;
- look really cool in your office;
- very competitive in pricing when you compare all the features and hardware included.

At Resources, we pride ourselves in providing solutions for the life cycle and business process you have. In fact, we can streamline your business using the Mac and several different software packages. Some examples of how different packages can integrate that Resources provides include:

For the Retailer
- Checkout POS to AccountEdge or QuickBooks. Also can include SurePayroll to AccountEdge or QuickBooks. This takes care of your inventory, accounting and payroll.

- LightSpeed web store (hooked to your web site) to LightSpeed POS (integrated with Daylite) to AccountEdge or QuickBooks. Also can include SurePayroll to AccountEdge or Quickbooks. This takes care of your contact management inventory, accounting and payroll.

For the Manufacturer
- Daylite to AccountEdge to Enstore. Also can include SurePayroll to AccountEdge. This takes care of your CRM, inventory, accounting and payroll.

For the Consultant
- Daylite to AccountEdge. Also can include Enstore if you sell product besides your time, and SurePayroll to AccountEdge. This takes care of your CRM, inventory, accounting and payroll.

For the Designer
- Billings to Daylite to AccountEdge. Also can include SurePayroll to AccountEdge. This takes care of beautiful invoicing and time tracking (which AccountEdge also can do), accounting and payroll.

For the Salon or MediSpa
- STX to AccountEdge or QuickBooks. Also can include SurePayroll to AccountEdge. It’s important for the salon to be able to do great scheduling, point of sale and accurate tracking of clients and employee time. The accounting and payroll is super-easy when it’s set up this way.

For Everyone
All of these packages work with or integrate directly to Microsoft Office, so importing, exporting, reporting and more can be taken care of seamlessly. Another benefit is so many of these applications play well with AccountEdge or Microsoft, or are web-based, working with those who own PCs is a nominal to non-existent problem. You can also have a virtual private network (VPN) set up so you can login to your machine remotely.

These are but some examples of how the Mac can serve your small business. Many of these apps also work with your iPhone, so the coolness just goes on and on.

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

The Importance of Your Administrative Assistant

Yes, it’s Administrative Assistant week, with Administrative Assistant day being Wednesday, April 21. Last year, I discussed the history of how this day came to be. Nope, it’s not a Hallmark Holiday. The purpose of the day is really to express our appreciation to the person(s) who are often the backbone of our businesses.

Should you express your appreciation?
Frankly, if you don’t think so, you probably don’t have the right person sitting in the Admin chair, or you don’t know what that person does for your business. Most business owners, however, do have a great Admin. It’s really key to express appreciation because they will not remind you to do so.

Suggestions for your Admin
Depending on the amount of time and money you have, the following suggestions can help you figure out what to do for your Admin.

- A card that thanks the Admin for his/her work (minimum);
- Flowers or candy;
- A nice lunch with you;
- An afternoon at the spa;
- An afternoon at the ballgame;
- A gift card for a restaurant;
- A Visa/Mastercard gift card (lets them use it for whatever).

If you aren’t taking your Admin out for lunch, be sure to leave the gift on his/her desk the morning of Admin Assistant Day. Finally, in a larger business, be sure you recognize all of your Admins publicly and proudly. Remember, these folks are the most important support people in your business, and often feel under-appreciated.

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Paying Taxes and Other Fun

Yes, here it is, Tax Day! Another April 15. So how well were you prepared?

If you got a big refund, your tax planning wasn’t very good. If you had to pay in a large chunk of change, the same is true.

This time of year, it becomes obvious if you had your tax planning meeting with your CPA during the first quarter of the year. This important meeting is after your taxes have been completed, and your CPA can help you plan for your tax strategy for the year. Things like how much you should withhold in taxes, what kind of equipment you plan to purchase, any major changes in your business and other important details should be covered. Later in the year, you should also send copies of your Balance Sheet and P&L over to your CPA for verification that your strategy is working.

If you are not a business owner and you got a big refund, make sure you change your W4 so that you take less taxes out of your check. You don’t want to use the IRS as a savings account because you do get taxed on your refund the next year. It makes more sense to put that money in your own savings account over the year. You collect the interest on top of keeping your money.

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Sexism in the Workplace (yes, still)

I almost cannot believe I’m writing this blog – Sexism in the workplace. Yet, the amount of sexism in the workplace is still surprising, at least to me.

It’s important for employers to really come to grips with the downsides of sexism in the workplace while we identify the different types of sexism that we commonly see. Hopefully, none of these are you.

The first is exclusion of the opposite sex in the management team. I see this both in male owned businesses (usually with one token women) and female owned businesses (with a token man). Most typically, in the male owned businesses, the token woman usually has a high amount of responsibility and little influence in business decisions. Less often, we see the token male in women owned businesses have the same influence issues.

In most cases where we see the token staffer, the loss to the business owners is utilization of the data and knowledge the token staffer has, because they’re busy ignoring that staffer. In fact, if the business owners would actually incorporate the information that person has, in my observation, the productivity and net profit for the business would improve.

The next issue we commonly see, which still surprises me, is with business owners who presume the man in the business is the decision maker. Women business owners are as guilty as male business owners in this area. I have actually experienced this personally. An example is when I was at a computer store making a purchase, and the salesperson who came over to help us asked Steve what we would like. Steve said, “she’s your customer,” and really tried to not be involved. The salesperson continued to address Steve as if I didn’t exist. Obviously, the salesperson made zero dollars from me that day, because I didn’t get my questions answered.

Another really important issue is in businesses where we see employers hire based on the looks, sex, weight or age of the prospective employee. In fact, if this is your tacit hiring practice, we highly recommend you check with your insurance agent to see if you need Employment Practices Liability Insurance. Often, insurance agents do recommend this insurance whether or not you have bad hiring practices. There are many downsides to the practice of hiring based on physical attributes rather than education or capability set:
- potential sexual harassment suit;
- ineffective employees;
- other staffers become disgruntled.

It’s somewhat easier to get away with this practice hiring subcontractors. Even so, smart subcontractors will quickly realize this is an issue and react in a couple of ways. Some will leave the company utilizing sexist hiring practices. Others take advantage of the less-than-aware business owner for everything they’re worth (it’s almost reverse discrimination – I recently witnessed a case, and it’s almost a weird “payback” to the owner). Another note about this type of business owner: They typically will also think about or actually ask employees out on dates. Don’t do this. Asking employees out is just begging for a sexual harassment suit. A business is not a dating service. Keep these activities separate.

Many businesses already have recognized the benefits of a balanced business in terms of number of men and women working for them, and hire skillsets rather than men or women. In this new century, instead of taking steps backwards to 1950′s-era views on women in the workplace, we should be embracing the views and work ethics of both sexes. Benefits include:
- more balance in viewpoints on your business;
- utilization of each individual’s skillsets and work ethics to benefit the business as a whole;
- improvement to your bottom line by incorporating all the data your staff has before making key decisions.

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Ensuring you have copies of your checks is very important

With the advent of Check 21, the set of federal regulations that electronicisized the banking industry, both business and personal banking accounts do not send your checks back.

I know “so what” just came to mind, but there is a very good reason for at least businesses to get their checks back. This is because they provide the ultimate proof of banking. There are three ways to ensure you get your checks back:
• The first is to make sure you get front and back copies with your bank statement. This usually costs around $5/month.
• The second is to get a monthly CD of all your checks from your bank. This service ranges in price from $25 to $35/month. Most banks provide this service.
• The third is to get a monthly DVD of all your checks from your bank. This service ranges in price from $25 to $35/month. Most banks provide this service.

Why is this so important?

I was just working recently with a client who had to supply checks to the IRS. They had to supply the IRS with front and back checks – about 100 of them. Their bank charges $2/check. Their bank statements only have front-of-check, which was NOT acceptable to the IRS. So, the client had to order all those checks – front AND back – for the IRS at $2/check – for a grand total of $400. Check 21 had rules about charging for this, and they have to charge a minimum per hour in order to copy all these checks. If the client had front-and-back service or monthly CDs, we would not have had to pay this high dollar amount for the check copies.

Sign up for my twitter, and when Amanda posts the banks and what they charge for this service, you’ll get notified. Then you can go to my web site and click on LINKS and get all the latest info on what small business banks, Wells, and US Bank are charging.

My Twitter is smallbizRSB

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources Inc

Credit card companies go wild

The number one complaint I have received this month has been about credit card companies. Nearly every person I have spoken to has stated that the rates on both their business and personal credit cards has risen from some low number to 30%. This is absolutely true on my own business and personal cards.

It truly doesn’t seem to matter what your credit rating is. This has happened to clients whose personal credit ratings are above 700. In fact, for those folks, they have told me that not only have they received the higher interest rate, they have also had credit lines cut, and further, there are fees for fees.

Here’s a sampling that Citibank has done for one of my cards:
They changed the rate to 29.9% (essentially $30)
• They now have a minimum finance charge of $2
• They have new late fees – $15 for balances under $100 (15%), 29 for balances up to $250 (12%) , and $39 (15.6% or less) on balances over $250.
• They now have a return payment fee of $39;
• They now have a cash convenince check fee of $39;
• Stop payment fees are $39;
• Their atm fees are 5% or $5, whichever is more;
• You authorize them to apply the payments in the most favorable way to them.
• They changed the arbitration agreement.

LOOK CAREFULLY FOR THE OPT OUT AREA. You have the right to opt out of this agreement. It is important that you do it in the way they instruct you in the instructions. They will then close your account, and you can pay that off in accordance with the old terms.

You also can call them and attempt to renegotiate the terms of this agreement. Usually, credit card companies are willing to renegotiate rates, so give this a try before you close your account.

The only way you can win using a credit card like this is to pay it early and for the full amount. You also need to take great care to not use the atm.

I noticed that the changes to their agreement are pretty common with what everyone else is doing. I will also tell you that the number one processor I get complaints about is Citibank. They process cards for bunches of companies, like Office Depot, Home Depot, Visa, Mastercard and more.

It seems like they are so used to making the maximum buck that they’re going to stick it to everyone in advance of the new laws that go into effect. So, we’re pre-paying for their usurious ways, it would appear. I hope they enjoy the part where I start closing cards and going to my bank.

I can’t comment on what might help you, but if you’re one of my clients, I may have an opinion about what you should do for your own situation. I can show you different options for you to select, and then you can pick the best one for you.

Until later
Terri Zeh Jacobson
Resources for Small Business