In case you missed the Sunday Patriot News, they featured quotes by me and The Exuberant Accountant Blog in an article titled Tax-Saving Strategies and Information as 2010 Winds Down. Please feel free to click on the link to read the article by Sharon Smith for some last minute tax planning ideas.
Become a Fan
Pages
« November 2010 | Main | January 2011 »
December 2010
December 27, 2010
December 26, 2010
Why LEAN Really Matters
No this is not a blog post about losing weight or getting leaner, rather it is about LEAN Accounting. My colleagues over at the LEAN Accounting Blog recently published a great article on Why LEAN Really Matters. Many people do not understand LEAN Accounting and I believe if they did they would be more profitable.
The purpose of LEAN Accounting is to support LEAN practices as a business strategy. It seeks to move from traditional accounting methods to a system that measures and motivates excellent business practices in the LEAN environment. LEAN is a process that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for.
December 22, 2010
Pennsylvania Decennial Report of Association Continued Existence…Does it Apply to You?
As 2011 approaches, I wanted to make businesses aware of an additional filing requirement in Pennsylvania that occurs every ten years during years that end with the numeral “1” (e.g. 2011).
For businesses registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) prior to January 1, 2002, including domestic and foreign corporations (profit and nonprofit), LLC’s, LLP’s, LP’s, and business trusts, the DOS is in the process of mailing out thousands of notices.
The notices state that the business must file the “Decennial Report of Association Continued Existence” if they want to maintain exclusive use of their name. The business entity will still continue to exist regardless if it files the report, but another company could use their name. There is also a $70 fee due with the form. The DOS will begin processing the returned reports on January 1, 2011.
The DOS has listed a few exceptions to this filing requirement:
- If the business entity amends their DOS registration between December 31, 2002 and December 31, 2011.
- If the business entity is registered pursuant to 15 PA. C.S Section 4131 which requires annual renewal of their name.
- Corporations that had their officers updated with the Department of Revenue and forwarded to the DOS within the last 10 years.
It is important to note two things: the filing with the DOS is separate and distinct from the annual filing of tax returns with Pennsylvania’s Department of Revenue and there is no relief of this decennial filing requirement if the business does not receive the notice from the DOS, but is required to file.
If you have additional questions or comments on this decennial filing requirement, please contact me.
December 20, 2010
Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It
Often books have a cool title and grab your attention, but then once you read the book it disappoints. Well have no fear with Mojo, as it is filled with…well Mojo!! In life we may often feel we have lost our edge or that we may be stuck. How do we get “it” back and once back, how do we keep it? In his follow-up to the New York Times bestseller What Got You Here Won't Get You There, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith lays out the ways that we can get and keep our Mojo.
What is Mojo? Mojo is the moment when we do something that's purposeful, powerful, and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it. This book is about the moment—and how we can create it in our lives, maintain it, and recapture it when we need it.
The book offers an easy set of tools and questions to discover your Mojo. Marshall explores a number of effects of Mojo and negative Mojo or “Nojo” as he calls it. He explains that our professional and personal Mojo is impacted by four key factors:
Continue reading "Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It " »
December 17, 2010
Congress Passes Tax Deal
Late last night the House passed The Tax Relief Act with a surprisingly large bipartisan majority of 277-148. The bill has already passed the Senate and President Obama is expected to sign shortly.
More details of what is in the bill can be found on our McKonomics blog post from earlier this week. Please feel free to contact me or our firm to discuss year-end tax planning moves.
December 13, 2010
What Is the Economic Outlook for 2011?
Recently I attended the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce’s Economic and Market Outlook. During the presentation, Linda Duessel, who is senior vice president, senior portfolio manager and market strategist at Pittsburgh-based Federated Investors shared her economic outlook and brought forth what I thought was a fairly realistic view of where our economy is headed. During her presentation she explained why she is very bullish on the stock market in the short term.
She pointed out 3 recent events that are very positive for the stock market in the short term:
1. The election results – the Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives will result in split government and historically the stock market responds well to gridlock.
2. The QE2 (Quantitative Easing) – the recent announcement by the Federal Reserve to purchase $600 Billion of debt. (Not sure what QE2 is, click this link to watch my video blog post on the subject.)
December 11, 2010
A Compromise on the Bush Tax Cuts, But Will it Pass?
Obama and the Republicans have reached a compromise on the Bush Tax Cuts. However this deal has not been endorsed by the Democrats in the House and therefore it has not passed. It is expected that some form of the below bullet points will be passed before year end. However, many expect that a further compromise on the rate and/or the exemption threshold of the estate tax will need to be made in order to get the votes needed to pass.
The current plan extends Bush-era income tax rates for all taxpayers for two years, extends unemployment compensation for thirteen months, cuts payroll taxes for one year, sets new estate tax rates and fixes the alternative minimum tax. Here is a summary of the proposed plan:
Continue reading "A Compromise on the Bush Tax Cuts, But Will it Pass?" »
December 07, 2010
Sacrificial Leadership – National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
December 7th is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and is the day we remember and honor all those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941 is the date America was attacked marking the day America entered into WWII.
Last year I had the honor of visiting the USS Arizona Memorial and wrote a post about my thoughts. I decided to share that post again today.
Today I had the honor of visiting Pearl Harbor and seeing the USS Arizona Memorial. In leadership we often talk about servant leadership and sacrificing for others. When I stood on the sacred memorial, I gained an even greater appreciation for their sacrificial leadership, as 1,177 crew members of this vessel paid the ultimate price in serving this country.
Continue reading "Sacrificial Leadership – National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day" »
December 05, 2010
IRS Announces 2011 Standard Mileage Rates and Bush Tax Cuts
On Friday, the IRS published their standard mileage rates for 2011. These rates are used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
The 2011 rates are:
- 51 cents per mile for business miles driven
- 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
- 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
The business mileage rate is up 1 cent from 2010, the medical and moving rate is up 2.5 cents, and the charitable mileage rate has stayed the same.
On the business side, take the next few weeks to update your internal policies for items affected by these mileage rates i.e.:
- Travel billed to customers
- Reimbursement to employees
- Travel amounts charged to you by vendors
Many organizations I work with continue to reimburse an amount that is less than these standard rates. This may be something for you to consider.
Also, we continue to hear that congress is likely to pass some extension of the Bush tax cuts. On Friday, the Senate voted twice on measures to extend tax cuts and failed to pass either version. One version would have extended the tax cuts to families making less than $250,000. The other version would have extended the cuts to families making less than $1 million. Democrats supported both measures, but the Republicans did not (they still want tax cuts for all). Much of this was political posturing.
Behind the scenes, Democrats and Republicans are working on a compromise that is pointing to a short term fix (i.e. 1 or 3 year extension). It also appears that in this bill will be another extension of unemployment benefits and who knows what else will be thrown in. We are trying to follow the situation closely in order to give effective tax planning advice. Please stay tuned for updates.
December 01, 2010
Every Winner Has Scars
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones always said, “You are the same today as you will be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read.” One of the people that has blessed my life and helped make me a better person during the past five years is Phil Clemens. Many know Phil as the CEO of Clemens Family Corporation (i.e. Hatfield Meats), I know Phil as a friend and mentor. Each month Phil sends out an email containing his “thought for the month” and with his permission I am sharing the month of December.
Herbert Casson - “Every winner has scars.”
Are you a winner? If so, where are your scars?
All of us have scars – some of them are just more visible than others. Some scars are self inflicted; others are as a result of something that has happened to us. But, all scars have one thing in common – they remind us.
