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June 2011

June 29, 2011

Steve Proctor: President and CEO of Presbyterian Senior Living

Servant-leadership Bookstores are filled with books sharing the “secrets” of success in the business world, many praising strategy as the key factor. Steve Proctor argues otherwise. He claims a healthy culture molded by great leadership will overpower strategy every time and why he is next in a long line of Servant Leaders to be profiled on this blog. 

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Steve, President and CEO of Presbyterian Senior Living (PSL) of Camp Hill, PA. He was elected to the position in 1995 after joining the organization in 1971. 

Although the organization has had a strong culture of leadership for many years, it wasn’t until about seven years ago when the organization went through a merger that it had to define its culture on paper. PSL didn’t want to force new employees to simply soak up the culture through osmosis. 

The same principle applies for new hires today. Each quarter the organization conducts a leader orientation over the course of a few days. The first few hours are dedicated to leadership culture.  New leaders in the organization understand that they will be held to this standard by those around them. If their behavior does not measure up to the expectations articulated in the organization’s culture, it will stick out like a sore thumb. 

Continue reading "Steve Proctor: President and CEO of Presbyterian Senior Living" »

Posted at 09:00 AM in Servant Leaders | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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June 27, 2011

Register Now for McKonly & Asbury’s LEAN Webinar

Blocks McKonly & Asbury is continuing its summer webinar series with a webinar focused on LEAN accounting practices. 

LEAN teaches a systematic approach to eliminating wastes and creating flow throughout the enterprise. We will be discussing the 5S concept of establishing a standard process and sustaining that process to create efficiency in any environment to help you reduce their internal cost of operations and overhead. 

This free, hour-long seminar will take place on Thursday, July 21 at 2:00 p.m. EST, and CPE credit is available. 

Reserve your webinar seat now by clicking here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/790384456. 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. 

For more information, please contact us at [email protected].

Posted at 04:01 PM in Management, Manufacturing & Distribution | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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June 23, 2011

IRS Increases Mileage Rate to 55.5 Cents per Mile

2011-mileage-rate In a move that many expected, the IRS announced today an increase in the mileage rate effective July 1st.

This is an increase of 4.5 cents from the 51 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2011. 

The medical and moving rate will also increase to 23.5 cents. 

The IRS normally updates mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year, but with recent increases in fuel prices decided to make this mid-year adjustment. 

The announcement can be found at this link on the IRS website.

Posted at 01:24 PM in Economy/Stimulus, Tax | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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June 22, 2011

The Power of We (Especially with Start-Ups)

Co-founder Every entrepreneur that starts a business has visions on making it big, achieving success, and making profits. However, so few actually attain success that a recent study conducted by Ron Conway’s firm, SV Angel, attempted to predict entrepreneurial success. 

Mr. Conway’s firm which invests relatively small amounts in early stage companies, gathered responses from 300 founders to try to discover which start up businesses will make it. It’s not an exact science, but it seems young co-founders doing their second startup tend to produce better results than older, sole founders starting their first company. 

The research showed three interesting points: 

1.    Repeat founders tend to achieve greater success the second time doing a startup. This makes sense, because we often learn from our mistakes (or at least we should). 

2.    Younger entrepreneurs (under 30) tend to have greater success than older ones. This would support the idea that risk taking is required to be a successful entrepreneur and younger business owners have a greater tolerance for risk (or have less to lose and tend to be more aggressive). 

3.    Co-founders have greater success than sole founders. This is probably the most significant piece of information. The results are astounding. Co-founders tend to have a success rate that is over ten times that of sole founders. This would strongly support the importance that two heads are better than one. 

Continue reading "The Power of We (Especially with Start-Ups)" »

Posted at 11:09 AM in Leadership, Management, My Thoughts | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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June 19, 2011

June 30th Deadline Looms for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

FBAR If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Internal Revenue Service by filing Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). 

The form must be submitted by U.S. persons with signature authority over or a financial interest in a financial account outside of the U.S. 

The FBAR form for 2010 must be received by the Treasury Dept by June 30, 2011. There are no extensions. 

It may be complicated to determine whether you are required to file this form. The form instructions do not address many questions that have arisen in particular situations. 

The good folks over at Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches, LLP (friends of our firm) have provided a flowchart indicating the major decision points you need to review to determine if there is a need to report your accounts. 

Please click here to view flowchart 

The penalties for not complying are very severe and you can read more about them on the IRS website. 

Late last week the IRS provided a short extension for anyone required to file for year 2009 and earlier, but the 2010 year is still required to be filed by June 30th. 

If you believe that you may need to file, please contact us for further assistance. 

Posted at 09:15 AM in Tax | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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June 16, 2011

Pennsylvania Act 32: What Employers Need to Know

Penn_Act32 Beginning January 1, 2012, Pennsylvania Act 32 becomes mandatory for employers. Is your business ready? 

The Basics

Pennsylvania Act 32 of 2008 provided for a restructuring of the Earned Income Tax (EIT) Collection System for Pennsylvania Local governments and school districts. The Act provides a three year implementation plan with full implementation to be mandatory beginning January 1st, 2012. 

The Act requires county wide participation for earned income tax collection including the establishment of new tax collection offices.   Requirements of PA ACT 32 were effective January 1st, 2011 but not mandatory until 2012. Making sure your business is registered completes half the battle.  

Getting Started

To register, you need to first identify your tax collection office (TCO) which is determined by your county. Once your TCO has been determined, complete the paperwork necessary to register yourself as an employer with that TCO. The paperwork includes your EIN (Employer Identification Number) and contact information and can easily be found on the TCO’s website. Once processed by the TCO, you will be assigned a local employer number.  

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Act 32: What Employers Need to Know" »

Posted at 09:32 AM | | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

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June 12, 2011

What Drives Business?

Biz success A few years ago I wrote a short (but very popular) blog post about what is the Profit Equation and the role that Risk plays in profitable business ventures. 

Today I wanted to change the focus to what drives a business forward. What makes one business more successful than another. 

I recently read an excellent article on this subject from the folks at the VeraSage Institute which presented the following formula: 

At a recent conference one of the speakers presented the following syllogism: 

  • What drives a company -> sales
  • What drives sales -> marketing
  • What drives marketing -> data

 The implication is clear, ultimately data drives a company.

 Unfortunately, this thinking is all too prevalent in the business world (perhaps, just the world, leave business out of it).

 It is also wrong. Actually, it is not just wrong, it is confusing cause with effect. Data is not the cause of company activity, it is the effect of it. 

Continue reading "What Drives Business?" »

Posted at 09:30 AM in Management, My Thoughts | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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June 07, 2011

Fact Check on the Auto Bailouts

Liar-liar-pants-on-fire Last week President Obama visited a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio and made the following statement, “Chrysler has paid back every dollar and more of the investment we made during my watch.” Oh really?

Now I do not mean to make this a political blog, but I must point out misleading statements by our elected officials when the truth can be easily proven.

My father always said, “Figures don’t lie, but liars do figure” and clearly President Obama is doing some fancy figuring!

Here is the basic math.

Chrysler received $14 billion in four separate loans:

  • January 2009: Chrysler receives $4 billion loan from TARP.
  • January 2009: Chrysler Financial receives $1.5 billion from the Treasury Department.
  • May 2009: Chrysler receives a $1.9 billion debtor in possession loan from the Treasury Department.
  • June 2009: Chrysler receives a $6.6 billion loan from the Treasury Department.

Total loaned to Chrysler: $14 billion.

Continue reading "Fact Check on the Auto Bailouts" »

Posted at 10:51 AM in My Thoughts | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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June 05, 2011

Today, You Have 100% of Your Life Left

Live like dying One of my favorite songs is Tim McGraw’s (Tug McGraw’s son for you old timers like me) Live Like You Were Dying. The song is about a man who has a friend that is diagnosed with a terminal disease and decides to live life to the fullest. The moral of the story, of course, being that we each should live our lives like each day matters. 

Recently, I received the “Phil Clemens Thought for the Month” and I wanted to share his thoughts about living. 

Tom Landry - “Today, you have 100% of your life left.” 

How can I have 100% left? Easy, every minute you are destined to live is still in front of you. The bigger question is: What will you do with it? 

The old saying, “Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow may never come” is absolutely true. So often we waste valuable time thinking about what has happened and how we might have done things differently. However, that is “water over the dam” and you can never bring it back. But, “you have 100% of your life left.” What will you do with it? 

But, “tomorrow may never come.” True, we have no guarantee that tomorrow will come. But, right now as you read this, you have 100% of your life left. What will you do with it? 

You have a choice – live it to the full, live like a fool, or something in between. Since you have 100% of your life left – make the most of it. I urge you to live it to the fullest. 

I like to ask leaders this question – if your doctor told you that you have one year to live, what would you do? It is amazing that many would do something very different from what they are currently doing. Landry reminds us that you “have 100% of your life left.” That might be a year, it might be a day, and it might be 50 years. Who Knows (God does!) – Make the most of it – Make your life count! 

Landry’s statement is so simple – but extremely profound – “100% of your life left!” Now do something about it – TODAY. What will you do with it?

Posted at 01:26 PM in My Thoughts | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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June 02, 2011

Fraud in the Workplace Webinar

Workplace fraud Good news for entrepreneurs, our firm (McKonly & Asbury) is kicking off our summer webinar series. The initial webinar will focus around fraud in the workplace and how the economy is playing a part in the increase of fraud activity. 

A few of the topics include: 

Fraud in the workplace.

Process improvements within your accounting department.

Managing your sales tax liability. 

This webinar will last one hour and will be held on Thursday, June 23 at 2:00 PM EST. CPE credit is available and there is no cost to participate. 

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: 

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/740157392 

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Posted at 11:42 AM in Fraud | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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