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Finding the Right Accountant to Successfully Guide You Through the Tax Maze

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accountant talking with clientsChoosing an Accountant Who Puts Your Goals First

There is an endless supply of do-it-yourself tax preparation tools and websites, and the sheer volume of options can lead you to believe the process of filing your returns is simple.

However, a DIY approach only works if you are satisfied with paying more than necessary. Tax preparation software handles all of the basics, importing income and considering common tax deductions. Unfortunately, when it comes to careful application of less-common tax-reduction techniques, these programs simply can’t compete with a skilled tax professional.

The Amazon Best Selling book, The Great Tax Escape, walks you through the process of choosing an accountant. Specifically, you will learn what to look for – and what to avoid – if you want a tax specialist who will help you keep your tax bill low.

Five Reasons to Hire a Highly-Qualified Accountant

As you know from your experience in business settings, companies that focus on their core mission are more successful. Devoting internal resources to creating excellent products and services, while outsourcing peripheral functions like IT and HR, makes it possible to innovate and deliver best-in-class solutions.

Focusing on your core mission is just as critical when it comes to tax preparation. The time you would spend trying to track down tax information is better applied elsewhere, and you are likely to pay more in the end anyway. These are five ways your accountant will free up resources for you to use in ways that will further your personal mission:

  • The tax code is constantly changing, and deductions that were available last year may not be appropriate today. Conversely, expenses you couldn’t deduct in previous returns may now be permitted. A skilled accountant stays on top of these changes and applies them to your situation, so you don’t have to complete extensive research.
  • Much of the tax code is spelled out and clarified based on specific cases. Unless you are following industry developments day in and day out, you are likely to miss all but the most significant decisions. Your accountant has years of experience with filing returns, and continuing education is required in every state. You can be sure that these professionals understand what works – and what doesn’t.
  • Experience also helps when it comes to developing your long-term tax savings strategy. Accountants have watched businesses grow and change, and they know how to get results. Their expertise in complex decisions like choosing a business entity or whether to consider cost segregation can be invaluable.
  • Different types of income are taxed at varying rates, and do-it-yourself filers often assume there is nothing that can be done to change their circumstances. Talented accountants know better. With the help of a skilled professional, it may be possible to move income from high-tax categories to low-tax categories, which can mean significant savings. .
  • Finally, timing is always important in the financial world, and that holds true when it comes to your tax strategy. Accountants have a deep understanding of the economy’s ebb and flow, and they notice patterns that have played out over the course of their careers. They use this experience to advise on when and how to apply tax strategies for maximum savings.

Learn more about why and how to choose the right accountant for all of your tax preparation needs. Contact us today by calling 801-553-1120 or request your free consultation online now. As a thank you for scheduling your consultation, we’ll provide a free tax planning book, The Great Tax Escape.

Are Entertainment Deductions History?

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Sorenson & Company - Certified Tax CoachIt’s no secret that many a sale has been closed over a three-martini lunch. Client entertainment is a given in most industries and most salespeople carry a company credit card for just such transactions.

It’s also no secret that more than a little commingling goes on between personal entertainment expenditures and those that qualify as business expenditures. That is no longer an issue; at least for now. Here’s why….

Under the new tax reform, the veil separating business expenses and pleasure has come crashing down with the elimination of entertainment deductions.

Not good news for business owners who counted on this deduction to defray tax bills at the end of the year. Even the limited deduction of 50% is no longer valid for dinners or cocktails with prospective clients or service providers and similar entertainment expenses.

What could be worse?

Well, how about this: sales related entertaining such as:

  • Sporting events—nixed,
  • Boating and Golfing—nixed.
  • Theater and other shows, box seats at stadiums—yes, those too.

What Does This Mean for Tax Planners?

Will they still be able to work their magic? Their expertise as tax planners is founded in creative workarounds and alternatives. The old saying, when one door closes, another opens applies in the tax world too.

What are The Options?

Well, there’s always Internal Revenue Code Section 274(e).

Despite reforming entertainment-related expenses, this will allow some expenses to be deducted, albeit under different circumstances.

For instance, if you pay for the use of club seating or a private box at a stadium, using this as compensation for your employees will still allow this expense to be deductible.

You need to meet two criteria to make this shift:

  • Ensure your employees attend these events.
  • Include the value of each event as taxable wages.

The “downside” for your team is additional tax that will be subject to withholding and is includable on their form W-2.

The “upside” is it will ensure you can still deduct the expense.

Are Business Meetings Still Covered?

Brace yourself for the GOOD NEWS … YES!

As always, events and entertainment expenses related to business meetings including board of directors and employee meetings continue to be deductible. Deductible expenses continue to include meals and beverages, subject to the 50% limitation, facility rental, décor, supplies, and ancillary costs.

Is There Any Other Way to Deduct Entertainment Expenses?

Again, yes. You can still provide entertainment to the public, your clients, or prospective customers by issuing an information tax statement to the recipient. The most common form to use would be the form 1099-Misc. The recipient will need to include it as income and it will be taxable, but your business will still benefit from the deduction.

Let’s get more creative.

You might consider charging for the event or experience. Sure the income will be taxable, but the cost of the activity will become deductible, transforming your expense from after tax to pre-tax dollars.

The new tax reform brings big changes but your tax planner will still be able to work with you and provide valuable advice. To find out more about how to navigate the tax laws both new and old, be sure to work with someone who is certified in tax planning. We’ll help you find the new ways to open doors to a lower tax bill!

Contact us today by calling 801-553-1120 or request your free consultation online now. As a thank you for scheduling your consultation, we’ll provide a free tax planning book, The Great Tax Escape.

 

5 Steps to the Successful Multi-Office Business

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Sorenson & Company Business TaxYour company is expanding — and that’s great! You’ve grown from one office to two, three, or even more. But you need to be able to manage all of them to continue to grow. Click through for some help in multi-office management.

Each new office seems deserving of all your time, but there are still your existing offices, whose need for attention hasn’t diminished. Building, disseminating and maintaining a cohesive business strategy across multiple sites is a challenge, but you need to get it right to continue to be successful.

Step one: Information needs to be shared.

This means that no one is behind on information, and you create a sense of community. Technology makes this happen because it allows immediate, widespread communication. You must ensure that there is one main method of digital communication — inconsistently used initiatives quickly become difficult to manage effectively. Use the one tool that works well and commit to communicating relatively frequently through it. You may want to send a brief weekly email newsletter to all staff. The tricky part is working across time zones, so if possible, send official communications when all offices are open.

Step two: Your leadership team is your greatest asset.

Employing an excellent senior management team to undertake communication on the company’s behalf is as important as digital communications. Have a senior management team member assist in running the firm, coordinating each office to provide local leadership. It’s wise to have a strong chain of command and a team that integrates as much as possible with each other to keep everyone informed about work across the company. Strong departmental management complements the businesswide strategic vision.

Step three: Timing is everything.

It’s essential to maintain a top-level presence across all offices and to be a recognizable face to all employees. If your company is based in one region, try to visit each office every month. If your firm is spread across the country, visit every two or three months. Time your visits within a week of each other and give a little more attention in your weekly email newsletter to any office that hasn’t been visited in a timely manner.

It makes sense to prioritize visits according to the size of the office, while maintaining a high level of inclusion in digital communications to show staff that they are highly valued.

Step four: Integrate wherever possible.

Encourage cross-office collaboration to develop a wider understanding of the business as a whole. It’s healthy to work with a number of different people and conducive to caring about the business beyond each office’s four walls. One means of doing this is to give staff opportunities to shape the company’s image, such as by participating in brand workshops or to be personally involved in company improvements.

Step five: Don’t be afraid to try something new.

Always try new things and commit to change. What suits one business may not suit another. Be prepared to innovate to find what works for you. That’s why building a personal relationship with as many employees as possible works — you’re giving people a chance to mix with others they would never normally work with.

Don’t forget the value of old-fashioned face time among and across teams. By encouraging this, you will contribute to successful integration and a corporate culture across geographies. Local offices need to be held accountable for quality control, scheduling and improving systems, and such efficiencies may work companywide.

All of this can seem like a lot of hard work, but splitting time between offices and building a system of shared information is crucial to the overall success of multi-office businesses. By trying to achieve equilibrium, you create a happy workforce that delivers the best results.

Call Sorenson & Company, CPA at 801-553-1120 to schedule your free consultation today and learn how we can reduce your taxes.

Working with Downloaded Transactions in QuickBooks Online

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Sorenson & Company QuickBooksDownloading transactions into QBO is the easy part. You still have work to do once they’re on board.

Its ability to download financial transactions is one of the five best things about QuickBooks Online. Without it, you’d spend a lot of time on tedious data entry, verifying which checks and deposits had cleared and entering new ones.

Instead, you can easily connect to your bank and bring in all your activity from the previous hours or day. QuickBooks Online stores this neatly in a register and provides tools for you to further describe and classify each transaction.

Setting Up the Connection

Haven’t connected your financial institution to QuickBooks Online yet? It’s easy. Click the Banking link in the toolbar, then Add Account in the upper right. The Find your bank window opens. Start entering the name of your bank, credit card company, or service like PayPal in the blank field. A list of potential matches will drop down; you simply select the one you want. A window like this will open:

ll you need to do to start downloading transactions into QuickBooks Online is select your financial institution and enter the User ID and Password you use to connect directly to the site.

You will have to go through some security procedures, and then QuickBooks Online will download 90 days of transactions (you can shorten this if you’d like). You’ll also be asked which QBO account should receive the transactions. After a few minutes, the register for that account will appear, displaying the transactions you just downloaded.

Warning: The mechanics of connecting to your bank and downloading your first batch of transactions may sound easy, but if everything is not absolutely clear to you as you’re going through the process, please contact us sooner rather than later.

Working with Transactions

Once you’ve downloaded a set of transactions, you’ll want to look at them. Again, click the Banking link in the navigation toolbar. Your accounts will appear in small boxes at the top of the page, along with two balances: the one that came from the financial institution and the one in QuickBooks Online. Select the one you want by clicking on it, and its register will open.

Tip: QuickBooks Online generally updates your accounts once daily. If you want to launch a manual update at any time, click on Update in the upper right corner.

Let’s look at one downloaded transaction to see what you can do with it. Make sure the For Review column is highlighted above the register. Select a transaction by clicking on it. A window like this will open below it:

QuickBooks Online does more than simply download financial transactions: It lets you define them in greater detail.

There are several options here, including:

  • Add to register. If you’re satisfied with the information as is, just click the Add button to the right (not pictured here).
  • Split. If you want to split the amount/category (Supplies, Tools, etc.)/class of a transaction, click Split (also off to the right and not pictured). A window will open to let you specify that.
  • Assign categories. QuickBooks Online may automatically make assignments to obvious categories, which you can change if incorrect. You can also click the down arrow to the right of that field and select your own from the list.
  • Bill an expense to a customer. Did you purchase something that needs to be billed to a customer? Click in the box under Billable and select the correct one from the drop-down list that opens.
  • Find matches. This can get complicated, and we recommend you let us work with you on it. Let’s say you entered an invoice in QuickBooks Online, and an income item for that exact amount gets downloaded from your bank. QBO will assume that those two “match,” and display them in the In QuickBooks column. You can click Undo if this is incorrect. But you can also click Find match in the transaction window, and QBO will open a list of possibilities.

As you can see from browsing the lists of downloaded transactions, there’s a lot to learn here. We’d be happy to get together and walk you through your first explorations of these powerful features. Call us today at 801-553-1120 to schedule your free consultation. As a thank you gift for scheduling your consultation, we’ll provide a free book, The Great Tax Escape.

Above-the-Line Deductions: Can You Benefit?

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Sorenson & Company, CPAAny deductible expense is useful because it reduces the amount of income subject to tax. But for individual taxpayers, deductions that can be claimed in arriving at adjusted gross income (AGI) — referred to as “above-the-line” deductions — are especially significant. By lowering AGI, above-the-line deductions increase your chances of qualifying for various other deductions and credits.

Alimony. Generally, payments are deductible if they were made in cash pursuant to a divorce or separation instrument. Other requirements may apply.

Traditional IRA contributions. Contributions of up to $5,500 ($6,500 for individuals age 50 or older) to a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) are potentially deductible on your 2015 return. AGI-based limitations apply if you (or your spouse) are an active participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Rental property/trade or business expenses. Expenses associated with property held for the production of rents are deductible above the line on Schedule E, whereas sole proprietors deduct their trade or business expenses above the line on Schedule C.

Student loan interest. Taxpayers may deduct up to $2,500 of interest expense on qualified higher education loans, though phaseouts apply to those at higher levels of modified AGI.

Moving expenses. Subject to certain requirements, a taxpayer who moves as a result of a change in his or her principal place of work may deduct certain costs of moving and traveling to the new residence.

Health savings account contributions. The 2015 deduction limits are $3,350 for those with self-only coverage under an eligible high-deductible health plan and $6,650 for those with family coverage. An additional $1,000 deduction is available to those 55 and older who are not enrolled in Medicare.

Self-employed taxpayers. The self-employed also may be able to deduct retirement plan contributions, qualified health insurance premiums, and a portion of their self-employment taxes.

For more help with individual or business taxes, connect with us today. Our team can help you with all your tax issues, large and small.

Request your free consultation today by calling Sorenson & Company, CPA at 801-553-1120. As a thank you gift for scheduling your consultation, we’ll provide a free book, The Great Tax Escape.

Tax Deductions when Paying for Your Child’s College Education

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Sorenson & Company, CPAAll those reports about the high cost of college can seem somewhat abstract until your child is ready to enroll. Then, paying for college becomes personal. If you currently have a college student (or prospective student) in your family, you’ll want to make use of all available tax breaks to help ease the financial burden.

Scholarships

Generally, scholarships are tax free as long as your child is a degree candidate at an accredited institution (certain other requirements apply) and the money is used for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for coursework.

In contrast, scholarships your child receives as payment for teaching, research, or other services are taxable. So are scholarships used to cover room and board, travel, or optional equipment-related expenses.

What happens if an award covers both tuition and room and board? In that case, the amount used for tuition will be tax free, while the amount used for room and board will be taxable income.

529 Plan Withdrawals

If savings in a Section 529 qualified tuition program are used to pay college expenses, the withdrawals may be fully or partially tax free. Taxability hinges on the account beneficiary’s “adjusted qualified education expenses” for the year. To arrive at this figure:

  • Add together the costs of tuition and related fees, equipment required for enrollment or attendance, room and board (if student carries at least half of a full-time course load), and books and supplies.
  • Subtract costs covered by tax-free educational assistance (e.g., scholarships, fellowships, and Pell grants) and costs used to claim the American Opportunity or Lifetime Learning tax credit.

Annual withdrawals are tax free provided they are no more than the student’s adjusted qualified education expenses. Otherwise, the portion of the withdrawn amount attributable to account earnings will be fully or partially taxable.

Education Credits

Two tax credits are available for the payment of qualifying higher education expenses, including tuition and certain related expenses such as books and other required course materials. The most generous of the two, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, is available for any of a student’s first four years of college. The credit can be as much as $2,500 per student. The second credit, called the Lifetime Learning Credit, is available for each year of post-secondary education, including graduate school and eligible job training. The maximum credit is $2,000 per taxpayer return. It’s not possible to claim both credits for the same student’s expenses for the year.

The education credits are reduced or unavailable if adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds specified limits. Ask us for the 2017 amounts.

Don’t deal with tax issues on your own. Call us right now to find out how we can provide you with the answers you need.

Request your free consultation today by calling Sorenson & Company, CPA at 801-553-1120. As a thank you gift for scheduling your consultation, we’ll provide a free book, The Great Tax Escape.