The term cloud computing is no longer exclusive to simple processes such as file sharing. Cloud security has improved so much that businesses are now bringing their ERP and accounting systems to the cloud.
With ERP in the cloud, accessing financial information is no longer limited by office walls.
NetSuite and Acumatica are both cloud-based ERP systems, accessible through a web browser. They differ in licensing, feature set and flexibility. All of these points will be addressed in BrainSell’s latest white paper.
Personally I put off accepting credit cards for years. Then incrementally I tried Pay Pal and Google invoice for those rare occasions that clients insisted on paying by credit card. Pay Pal and Google invoice, while helpful, didn’t provide the credibility for our business; as we’d experience problems with no one to call. So here’s what we’ve found since adding Sage Payment solutions with their virtual terminal.
1. We’ve lowered our days to collect; as many prefer to pay via credit card (reward points).
2. Sales have increased (allowing non bank financing for our products and services).
3. We’ve reduced our exposure to bad debt. A credit card on file for those accounts who might not have enough credit terms with your company allows the sale to move forward without risk.
Yes, accepting credit cards cost around 3% off your top line, however if your margins are really tight, add a credit card processing fee. You’ll be surprised how many people understand and accept the fee in order to use their credit card.
We’ve only been accepting credit cards with a true merchant account since the July. The volume of sales through the credit have been astounding.
BrainSell has once again earned Sage’s distinguished Million Dollar Club award.
The Sage Partner Advantage Award Series is a prestigious awards program that recognizes top partner performances. Partners are rewarded for their diligence in representing Sage and consistently going above and beyond to achieve excellence throughout the year.
BrainSell exceeded $1 million in annual sales of Sage products and services – earning the prestigious Million Dollar Club award. BrainSell has been in the Million Dollar Club and Sage President’s Circle for numerous years in it’s 15 year history.
Yesterday, the Senate voted down amendments to strip out IRS reporting requirement in the new health care law.
While both Republicans and Democrats agree that a new tax reporting requirement in the health care law should be scaled back, each party defeated the other side’s proposal to accomplish that goal.
Senators just voted 46-52 against an amendment by Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. that would have stripped out the provision, which requires businesses to report to the IRS transactions to anyone or any company that cost more than $600.
The Senate then defeated a similar amendment by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Nelson’s measure, which went down in a 61-37 vote, would have raised the reporting requirement to $5,000 and excluded businesses with fewer than 25 employees.
Seven Democrats voted for the Johanns proposal, which most Democrats and the Obama administration said went too far in rolling back a health care provision that was expected to raise about $17 billion to help pay for an expansion in health care coverage. Republicans for the most part refused to back the Democratic bill because they didn’t think it went far enough and did not like that it would be paid for with a $15 billion tax on oil companies.
The amendments were part of a small business tax bill the Senate is expected to vote on in the coming days. Unless the two parties can agree on a compromise, the tax reporting requirement that nobody seems to like is going to remain in the bill. The reporting requirements are set to begin in 2012
The Senate is reconsidering their harsh 1099 legislation with a vote tomorrow. Here’s a run down of what might change.
The Senate will vote Sept. 14 on giving small businesses relief from a new paperwork burden imposed by health care reform.
That law requires businesses, beginning in 2012, to file 1099 reports with the IRS any time it spends more than $600 a year with another business on goods and services. The provision was included as a way to help pay for health care reform – the theory is that third-party reporting of sales will make businesses less likely to hide income from the IRS.
Businesses currently have to file 1099 forms only for services supplied by unincorporated contractors. Health care reform’s significant expansion of the 1099 requirement has prompted howls of protest from small businesses, who fear they will be swamped by the additional paperwork.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has scheduled votes on Sept. 14 on two amendments to the Small Business Jobs Act that would address the 1099 requirement in different ways.
An amendment by Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., would repeal the requirement.
A competing amendment by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., would exempt businesses with fewer than 25 employees from the requirement and would raise the dollar threshold for reporting purchases from $600 to $5,000. Nelson’s amendment also would exempt credit card purchases from the 1099 requirement, something the Treasury Department already was planning to do.
Nelson’s amendment isn’t good enough for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
“We don’t need an alternative,” said Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of the NFIB. “We need full repeal.”
A few months ago, a key piece of legislation was uncovered in the 1000 + page health care bill. It states that businesses have to give 1099 tax forms to vendors for services and goods worth $600 or more. People are UP IN ARMS about this hidden measure. It will pay for a nice little chunk of health reform, $19 billion over 10 years. No wonder it was sandwiched in the middle, where it took months for people to find.
Business people have raised enough hell for legislatures to take a second (or first) look at the measure. They’re taking two positions on it. Get rid of it all together, or modify it. The modification raises the $600 reporting mark to $5000. Businesses with less than 25 employees would be exempt. And all credit card transactions would be exempt too.
The Senate will hold a vote on the amendment on September 14th.
For more detailed information on the amendment, take a look at the New York Times article by Robb Mandelbaum.
Amherst accountant James Kincaid prepares more financial statements for small-business clients now than he did two years ago.
The uptick, he says, stems from stricter lending practices. Many banks and other financial institutions want details – lots of them – before agreeing to extend financing packages to small businesses.
“It means more hours and more work, which frankly for accountants isn’t a bad thing,” said Kincaid, partner at Lougen Valenti Bookbinder & Weintraub LLP. “But it’s a huge effort for business owners.”
Banks that once accepted tax returns as proof of companies’ stability may now require full-blown financial statements, which means business owners must provide key details to accountants who, in turn, create the statements.
James Segarra, managing partner at Tronconi Segarra & Associates LLP, said he views the additional work as “helping clients become better prepared to borrow money” needed to run businesses.
“Lines (of credit) aren’t being pulled, but banks do want to see more information,” he said. “It’s a totally different system of keeping records. I don’t fault the banks, but these can be onerous things to comply with.”
QuickBooks holds 89% of the small business accounting market in the U.S. But we can’t forget about Sage’s small business product, Peachtree. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, so let’s dive right in…
Peachtree strengths:
Stronger inventory management
Job costing capabilities
Over 140 customizable reports
Work flow management
Scalability/multi-user performance
Through GAP checks for duplicates and suspicious activity
Can accommodate up to 40 users, 10 more than QB
QuickBooks Strengths:
Attractive and very easy adoption
Accountant Copy Capabilities
Multi-Currency
E-Store/E-Commerce Integration
Online SaaS option (QuickBooks Online)
Very nice Point of Sale option
More third party add ons
Conclusions: QuickBooks is great for service-oriented businesses; inventory control is where it falls short. Peachtree has the market on that. QuickBooks only works in average costing; Peachtree can manage inventory by LIFO, FIFO, serialized and average costing. Pricing for both products is very close. QuickBooks is overall more attractive and easier to use, and they have a Mac version. QB also has an online version that is VERY affordable, but limited and more appropriate for home finances. Both products are dependable and excellent.
The Federal Hire Act of 2010 has a few if’s and but’s. Here’s the new legislation in a nutshell…
Companies who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive. In effect, they will be exempt from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010.
This reduced tax withholding will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and employers would still need to withhold the employee’s 6.2-percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes. The employer and employee’s shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages.
In addition, for each worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim an additional general business tax credit, up to $1,000 per worker, when they file their 2011 income tax returns. For finer details, check out the Fed Site.
The two tax benefits are especially helpful to employers who are adding positions to their payrolls. New hires filling existing positions also qualify but only if the workers they are replacing left voluntarily or for cause. Family members and other relatives do not qualify.
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