The Exuberant Accountant - Scott Heintzelman

Most people that know me know how much I love to read.  I think reading can change your life.  Charlie “Tremendous” Jones had a great quote that I have shared on this blog before.  He often said, “You are today what you will be five years from now, except for the people you meet and the books you read.”  There is a direct correlation between the books you read and the success you achieve. The more you learn, the more opportunities you will have to earn. 

One of the most frequent questions that I get is, “What are you reading?”  I happen to love that question and really enjoy sharing those books that are impacting me.  I try to keep my Shelfari website up to date and you can check it out any time.  But if you want my one book to read this summer that will impact your life, I suggest you read The Go-Giver.

Entrepreneur Magazine recently highlighted four “Accounting Blogs” that “can help you gain a better understanding of your business finances,” and this blog made that very short list.  When I told my wife about getting a little recognition from Entrepreneur, she of course was excited.  Then indicated that she would tell her Mom.  This made me laugh as I thought of the wonderful quote, “That behind every great man…is a surprised mother-in-law.”

In all seriousness, my wife, family, and my partners have been very supportive of this blog and the extra time I spend to produce the content.  Any accolades are the result of this team effort and I want to thank them.  Also, thanks to many of you who correspond with me in support of the topics I have written about or to suggest other ideas you would like me to discuss.

The mission of this blog is to educate business leaders and if you know of others, who would benefit from this content, encourage them to subscribe to this complimentary blog and never miss an update.

Like most states, Pennsylvania is looking at a huge deficit as it prepares its budget for the new fiscal year.  Most estimates put this number around $3 billion.  That is not a small amount of money to make up and to date many proposed solutions are floating around.

The Senate Republicans have put forth a budget that includes no tax increases but does include a large decrease in spending.  The House Democrats have proposed a tax increase to make up the shortfall.  What appears to be a compromise that is gaining momentum and supported by Governor Ed Rendell is a temporary 10% increase to the personal income tax rate to 3.37% for three years.  There is precedent for this type of one-time increase, as we did a very similar increase in 1983 and 1991.