If you are a small business owner you have probably just recovered from filing your 2011 tax returns. The last thing you want to think about now is receipts, mileage logs or keeping track of deductions for the 2012 tax year! Now is the perfect time to get a grip on all the paperwork and records for your business so next April you can spend less time with your accountant and more time enjoying Spring! 
Here are a few tax deductions that you can begin tracking now so that your small business can reap the benefits when you file next year.
Auto Expenses
- Keep a mileage tracker in your car to log actual business related miles. Whether you are going to the post office or meeting a prospective client, these miles can add up. At 55.5 cents per mile your deduction could be substantial.
- Parking fees and tolls are deductible for all business related travel as well.
Start Up Expenses
- Any costs relating to getting your business started are deductible. You can deduct $5000 off your first year and then offset the balance of the expenses against profits over the next 15 years.
Legal & Professional Expenses
- Hiring a professional to help with legal and accounting issues is not only smart, but the advice and services you receive are a tax deduction as well.
Bad Debts
- If you sell a product and your client fails to pay you for it you may deduct the cost of the goods that you weren’t paid for. Unfortunately this only applies to physical products and there is not deduction for services rendered without payment.
Business Entertaining
- 50% of all meals and entertainment can be deducted if you are conducting business with present or prospective clients. Make sure to note each receipt as to who attended the event and what type of business was discussed.
Travel Expenses
- Expenses such as airfare, hotels, meals & rental cars can be deducted when traveling for business. You may also be able to combine business and pleasure on a trip as long as the primary purpose of the travel is business related.
Interest Payments
- When using credit to finance business expenses all interest and carrying charges are tax deductible. Having a separate business credit card or loan will make it easier to determine which purchases are business related. Be sure to keep all those reciepts for documentation purposes!
*Photo compliments of freedigitalphotos.net
Congratulations to our clients who have won the My East & West Canton 2012 My Community Favorites for their category! 
The winners include:
Citrusolution of North Cherokee/Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner Website: Citrusolution
Live Clean, Inc. / Cleaning Service Website: Live Clean
Jey Willis, State Farm/ Insurance Agent Website: Jey Willis
AAMCO Transmission & Total Car Care/ Auto Repair Website: AAMCO
Fun Finds & Designs/ Furniture & Home Decor Website: Fun Finds
Congratulations on a job well done! We are proud to have you as clients and friends.
While you are driving all over town this year growing your business, don’t forget to track your mileage. This often overlooked deduction can add up to big bucks if documented properly. Check out the 2012 Standard Mileage Rates.
Business Miles …………55.5 cents per mile
Medical Miles…………….23 cents per mile
Charity related Miles……14 cents per mile
Be sure to keep a written account of all miles driven and give them to your tax professional at the end of the year.
Trying to untangle Georgia’s new vehicle title tax from the sales tax & the ad valorem tax, has been, well, taxing! The bottom line that everyone wants to know is, “Will I pay less or more to own my car in the future?”
For those people buying a car in 2012 and beyond, this seems to be a good deal. Prior to the new tax, at the time of purchase you would pay the sales tax (6-7% depending on county) and the 1st year’s ad valorem tax which is about 1.25% of the fair market value of the car. On each subsequent birthday, you will also have to pay the ad valorem tax on the current fair market value of the car. So you pay tax every year that you own the car.
Under the new “title tax”, at the time of purchase you would pay a one-time only tax of 7% of the fair market value of the car. The “birthday tax”, as it is called, would no longer apply to you.
However, for those of us who have cars that were purchased prior to the new tax, we will continue to get a birthday gift from our local tax assessor every year in the form of the annual ad valorem tax. This tax will continue on these cars until they are sold or traded.
As far as tax write offs go, the new title tax will not be allowed as a tax deduction. For those still paying the birthday tax, we can continue to enjoy the tax deduction. Only time will tell if the legislature’s decision to abandon the ad valorem tax will prove to be a benefit to the residents and the counties of Georgia.
Don’t forget to renew your Corporate filings with the State of Georgia by the April 1, 2012 deadline. You can do this online. This will take you directly to the Secretary of State’s website where you can renew and pay at the same time.
For our clients in sunny Florida, your deadline is May 1st and you can log onto the Sunbiz Website to file your annual report.
If you have questions, or need assistance with this, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 404-771-6407.
Because of the Illegal Immigration Reform Act signed by Governor Nathan Deal earlier this year, there is a new program that all business owners must participate in for employees.
The new program is called E-Verify. It is free and run by the Department of Homeland Security.
The goal is to support a legal workforce in Georgia by doing a background check before hiring any new employees. Depending on the size of your small business, there are different mandatory times for you to begin using E-Verify:
- Businesses with 500+ Employees = January 1st, 2012
- Businesses with 100+ Employees = July 1st, 2012
- Businesses with 11+ Employees = January 1st, 2013
The number of employees does include Full time and Part Time Employees.
February 15th,2012
Small Business Info,
Tax News |
Comments Off
1.) Wanna Be on TV?
Staples is offering $50, 000 worth of free advertising on television for the business with the best 15 second youtube video for their business. The contest is based off of “likes” on the video.
Not interested in advertising? You’ll also get a $500 Staples giftcard. That could pay for the new printer or computer that you’ve been looking at investing in.
The submission deadline for this contest is March 14, 2012. For more information go to the lendio website or look at Staples’ Facebook page.
2.) Social Media Frenzy
Facebook is giving away $10,000 in free advertising for ten US based small businesses. The top ten entries with the most “likes” will be chosen for the $100,000 worth in prizes.
Not sure about that? There are smaller prizes as well. For example: 50 likes will represent $50 in free marketing.
The deadline is April 1st, 2012. For more information look at the Facebook app.
February 14th,2012
Saving Money Tip,
Small Business Info |
Comments Off
Due to recent IRS filing requirements, you may receive several 1099K Misc. forms from your payment processing or merchant services company.
How do I know if I should receive one?
If you accept credit card payments from your clients or customers you may receive this form.
Who sends these forms?
The most common payment processors are –
- MasterCard
- Visa
- Merchant Service Providers
- American Express
- PayPal
What should I do with it?
You may get several 1099K Misc, one from PayPal and one from your payment processing service. You should include them with the tax information that you provide to your tax preparer. When the regulation was first released, tax preparers were told that these forms needed to be listed separately on the tax return however on January 31, the IRS changed the reporting requirement and they no longer have to be reported individually.
You do need to make sure that you are reporting your gross credit card sales, not net of credit card fees.
For more information, visit the IRS Website
February 12th,2012
Small Business Info,
Tax News,
Tax Tip |
Comments Off
Do you use QuickBooks® accounting software?
Is your accountant a QuickBooks® Advanced Certifed ProAdvisor?
Why does that matter?
At Acclaim Professional Services, we have qualified accountants that have the most advanced training available on QuickBooks® software. Wendy Corlett, EA, ATA, ATP, Owner of Acclaim Professional Services inc., recently received her QuickBooks® Advanced Certification. This is highest level of training available from Intuit the publisher of QuickBooks®. Here is what Intuit says, ”the ProAdvisor Advanced Certification is designed to deepen the expertise of ProAdvisors who are already knowledgeable in QuickBooks, and distinguish these QuickBooks experts as highly proficient in this field.”
So what does that really mean?
This means we have the knowledge to show you ways to streamline your accounting tasks and do it accurately. This saves you both time and money.
Check out our client reviews posted on Intuit ProAdvisors Website. See why being Advanced Certified made a difference for them.
How can we help you? Contact us to request a free initial consultation.
Join our mailing list on 
QuickBooks® 2012 – What’s in it for me?
There are several new features in QuickBooks® Pro & Premere 2012 Software that came out two months ago. If you are deciding on whether or not to upgrade or are interested in becoming a new user, take a look at what QuickBooks 2012 has to offer.
Check out our October QuickBooks® Client Newsletter for more detailed information and screen shots. Below are a few of the new features and updates.
New Features:
- Document Center: A large change for Quickbooks is the no charge capability to attach documents locally from your computer system or Outlook messages.
- Global “To-Do” List: There is now more widespread accessibility within the program including obvious steps to create Quickbooks closer to be a mini-CRM product.
- “Lead” Center: This new center manages the contacts who are no yet clients; it includes an option to easily convert teir status to clients, if needed.
- Calender: This feature organizes your “To-Do’s,” invoices, transactions, and bills by their individual due date.
Many of the new features are exciting, but there are also some very needed updates.
Updates:
- Improved Excel Integration: This feature provides better integration with Microsoft Excel and QuickBooks. The new option is that you can update your already existing excel sheets inside of exporting information and creating an entirely new spreadsheet.
- Improved Help and Search:
- New Condense Date (formerly Clean Up Computer Data)
- Shipping Manager: This integrates USPS along with UPS and Fed-Ex into the Quickbooks Program.
For more information or to schedule a training session on QuickBooks®2012, give us a call.
