Year end planning: Retirement plan

Small business owners usually have a long list of items on their to-do lists. If contributing to your retirement plan was on your agenda this year, there may still be time to add more to your nest egg and reap the rewards on your 2015 return. You’re allowed to make contributions to an established retirement plan up until your tax filing deadline, or potentially as late as April 15 of next year (or later if you file an extension). You get two benefits: More money in the bank waiting for you when you retire and a tax deduction for 2015. These tax benefits can be especially helpful when you have a strategic tax plan in place to lower your total tax bill.

 

There are a number of tax-advantaged retirement plan options open to those who run their own businesses, with different choices for those who have employees and those who don’t. If you are self-employed, for example, you may qualify for retirement plan options that include the SEP (Self-Employed Pension) IRA or the individual 401(k). If you’d like to learn more, or if you have any questions about your retirement plan options, please contact our office.

Yes, You Can Appeal an IRS Decision!

If you disagree with an IRS decision also known as an IRS determination letter about your taxes, rest assured that you’re not alone. The IRS has an Office of Appeals that works with more than 100,000 taxpayers every year to address their IRS appeal. If you’re facing a tax dispute over an IRS letter, the first step we recommend is that you call our office. We can help you evaluate your claim, review your options and work with you throughout any IRS appeal. Often we can obtain the same result, without having to go through the lengthy IRS appeals process!

 

There is no charge for filing an IRS appeal with the federal government, and the process is designed to arrive at an objective resolution to your dispute with the IRS. If you decide to file an appeal with the IRS, it would involve an in-person or phone conference or thorough correspondence with an employee of the independent appeals organization “with the IRS”. We can help you prepare your appeal and participate in an appeals conference with you. Usually, you do not have a second chance to file an appeal with the IRS, so it is very important to get your facts correct and organized before the appeal has been filed.We offer knowledgeable advice on all your tax concerns, so be sure to contact us with all your questions.

IRS notices: How to deal with the IRS

In this article we are going to address how to deal with the IRS. We are also going to go over some information you should have if you receive an IRS notice.

Let’s assume for a moment that you are a good taxpaying citizen and have filed your tax returns for the last few years. You have filed them timely, and paid your taxes with Uncle Sam.

Then it comes. That day; when you receive the letter from the IRS. For most taxpayers, the IRS letter you will receive will be a CP2000 notice. These are automated notices that the IRS sends out which tell you the information you filed does not match with the records the IRS has on file. There are a couple of very important facts about this notice:

  • The IRS does screw up! You may owe less than the notice states, or nothing at all, but…
  • You cannot ignore this notice even if you believe you do not owe any money (we will cover this at length in a minute)
  • Take a minute to make sure that you owe taxes with this notice, and that the notice includes only known income sources.
  • Take out your tax return and compare it to the notice you received. Obviously you will be looking for differences between the summary information in the IRS letter, and your filing.
  • It takes time for the IRS to process information. Often it can take more than 90 days for the IRS to process one form. For this reason, the IRS is often dealing with old information.

The next step is usually to call us! We offer complimentary reviews of these notices to our clients, and in many cases can resolve the issue with the IRS without charging you for the service. There are a few reasons why we help taxpayers to fight these IRS letters:

  • The information on the IRS notice is inaccurate
  • There are additional credits that are available due to the adjusted income
  • There are additional expenses that can be applied to income before assessing tax that the IRS either did not know about, or did not process correctly
  • The IRS is understaffed and often unavailable. Tax professionals have tools available to deal with the IRS directly, that are not available to the general public
  • We know how to deal with the IRS, and know how to work within their systems to get results

If you decide not to consult an professional on the matter, it is important that you know a few facts. An IRS CP2000 notice becomes final and accepted as an adjustment to your return, if you do nothing 30 days after the notice issuance date. So, you only have a limited amount of time to ask that the IRS change the information contained on this notice. Once the IRS has adjusted your return for a CP2000 notice, you will usually receive a bill from the IRS. Even after the IRS has billed you, there are still things you can do to eliminate or minimize this tax bill, especially if you believe you do not owe the taxes due.

If you have not filed your returns and paid taxes over the last few years, we should also talk, but that is not the focus of today’s article. IRS notices are very important and timely pieces of information. For this reason, it is important to understand what the notices mean. If you have received IRS notices and are concerned about what will happen to you or your business. Contact us 

More than tax advice…

Are you launching a business or product line? You may have relied on us for years for timely and personalized tax advice, but you may not be aware that we help business owners start and expand their companies every day with several types of services. In fact, we frequently serve as a business coach or mentor for owners seeking help in their strategic planning, setting up payroll or other systems or selecting the best accounting software, among other projects. Due to our extensive contacts in the community, we can also recommend attorneys and bankers to work with your business.

We’ve seen the many kinds of challenges business owners face and we know how to implement the right solutions. And we’re business owners ourselves! If you are interested in advice that is more than tax advice, be sure to contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve business success.

Useful financial information (Part 1)

As I mentioned last week in my post titled: Accounting what does it mean to you? I mentioned that accounting is the business of information. Without useful financial information your business can falter, or experience stagnated growth.

Today, I will spend a little time talking about quality financial information, and the unintended consequences of having poor, or outdated, or useless accounting information/records.

If high quality, accurate and timely financial information is important for businesses to make accurate decisions about their businesses, then why do so few businesses invest in quality accounting and financial information, and what are some of the consequences of poor investments?

Why do so few businesses invest in quality accounting and financial information?

  • They believe this information is too expensive
  • They do not have the right type of training to use or analyze the information they have
  • They spend more time working in their business than working on their business
  • They have other problems that are more pressing

So what are some of the consequences of having poor financial and accounting information available?

  • Bills are not paid timely, and interest charges and penalties are incurred
  • Major decisions are made before taking the proper time to analyze how those decisions will affect things like client relations, cash flows, client acquisition/retention, capital improvements, employee needs…the list goes on and on…
  • Taxes- while not usually the driver of the bus, taxes are very important and most small businesses do not spend enough time forecasting how they will pay their bills, and the tax man
  • Funding sources/Investor relations- There are few things that will turn off an investor quicker than finding out that your reports are incomplete, inaccurate or non-existent.
  • Increased receivable balances- So you are working harder, but making less money…Usually the problem is in receivables. As businesses grow, they can no longer rely upon their old collection methods with clients.
  • Inaccurate break-even points for product or service analysis by type.

 

What does accounting mean to you?

Accounting is the business of information. Without useful financial information your business can falter, or experience stagnated growth.

This love of information and specifically financial information is what has always drawn me to the accounting industry. When I was new to the business, I always explained it as ” I love helping businesses and individuals”. I think as we grow, we have more time to analyze what things are really important. I have also found myself trying to define what that means.

Accounting to me is the conduit by which businesses and individuals can make informed decisions in their personal and professional life(s). If you think about it, it is very hard as a business to make a major decision without some financial component that surrounds or supports that decision.

Next week I will spend a little time talking about quality financial information, and the unintended consequences of having poor, or outdated, or useless accounting information/records.

We moved!

We have officially moved to the our new downtown Grand Rapids location, and are very excited about the move! We are conveniently located on East Fulton St, near the corner of Lafayette and Fulton streets (a map is included on our website). Come and check out the new digs!

While we have been providing excellent accounting services to businesses and individuals in and around the City of Grand Rapids, we felt it was time to make the move official. Hopefully you have a few minutes in the next few weeks to stop in and check out our new Grand Rapids location. kindle

 

Business capital

CPA secret for growing business success: acquiring more business capital could help get you ahead. Having more financial resources may feel like a good thing, since you can use it to invest in your business. But, if you don’t need it, or don’t use it strategically, it can be a major liability. We can help you decide if acquiring more business capital is right for you. See how Capstone CPA Group can help.

Five important questions to answer before starting your business (part 2)

So, this is part two of this post sequence. In part one, I talked about how not planning ahead for capitalization of your business can kill your dreams. Having a very distinct plan for cash and cash flow is very important for a new business. But, in part two we are going to focus more on the psychological change that you have to go through when starting your business.

But, surprisingly I agree with item #3 the most: Do you have the humility and willingness to do it all? This is one factor that I think most aspiring entrepreneurs take for granted. Can you operate your business effectively with limited/non-existent resources? While at the same time being able to envision goals for you and your business? While blocking out all the noise that surrounds your business/personal life?

So I ask you, what question do you agree with on this list? Or what question do you wish you had asked yourself before starting your business?

Check out the full article here.

Five important questions to answer before starting your business (part 1)

Sometimes, other people come up with great articles that really make you think. I just read an article titled: Five questions to ask yourself before starting your business. I find that items number two and three are very true. Having enough business capital is very important (big surprise that the CPA feels this way).

It is very hard to plan your exit strategy (presumably from a former job) and new business strategy in such a way as to have enough money/credit available to start your business. While trying to keep your own personal finances in order. While there are a lot of rules of thumb out there. What strategy did you use when starting your new business, regarding business capital?

Also, what important questions did you answer before starting your own business?

 

Check out the full article here.