Cranmere Accounting & Tax Services
Small Business Saturday is on Saturday November 26, 2011. It is a day dedicated to small businesses that are the back bone of our economy.
Our contribution to the day is to offer you the chance to win one of six coupons worth up to $100 off the price of preparing your 2011 individual tax return.
Go to our Contest page to see more details and to enter.
Best of luck and remember to support your small businesses on November 26, 2011.
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Posted in Tax Tips
Tagged 2011 tax return, Coupon contest, Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday is on Saturday November 26, 2011. It is a day dedicated to small businesses that are the back bone of our economy.
Our contribution to the day is to offer you the chance to win one of two coupons worth $100 off the price of a QuickBooks® Tune Up.
Go to our Contest page to see more details and to enter.
Best of luck and remember to support your small businesses on November 26, 2011.
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Posted in Accounting Tips
Tagged Coupon contest, QuickBooks tune up, Small Business Saturday
With the 2012 release QuickBooks® Pro and above improves the integration with Excel so that a spreadsheet can be refreshed with new data without losing the spreadsheet formatting. In previous versions data could be exported to Excel but the spreadsheet would need to be re-formatted every time.
This enhancement will save time and will be useful where the same QuickBooks® reports are being regularly exported to Excel. One example would be the preparation of monthly management accounts or sales reports.
This feature can be accessed from within QuickBooks® or to update a previously exported report from within Excel. In Excel a QuickBooks® tab is added.
Excel QuickBooks Tab
When you have the spreadsheet open that you want to update just click the update report button.
To access the feature in QuickBooks® generate a report and then you will see the Excel button. Click on that button and you have two choices. Create a new Excel worksheet or update an existing worksheet.
Clicking on the create a new Excel report brings up a dialog giving you various choices on how to create the new worksheet and also gives you another chance to update an existing worksheet. The advanced button gives you extra options to control what is exported and how it is exported.
When you click the export button the report will be generated in Excel. You can then change the formatting, fonts, title descriptions and even add formulas. Once the spreadsheet is saved you can update it with new data from QuickBooks® without losing the formatting.
One useful feature is that QuickBooks® adds an Export Tips sheet to the spreadsheet to remind you of what can and cannot be done with the exporting. Also when you update the data it adds a copy of the sheet with the new data so that you don’t lose the original sheet if the update does not work as expected. In the event that QuickBooks® cannot work out how to update the data it will also give you an Alert and Log sheet to highlight how it resolved the issue.
A few issues to be aware of with this feature are:-
As you can see there are some gotchas to be aware of when using this feature. Our experience of using it has shown that you need to carefully follow the Tips worksheet and don’t be too ambitious about what you can change on the exported spreadsheet.
With care this will save time when you need to regularly update reports in Excel.
If you would like to set up Excel integration with your QuickBooks® system then give us a call on (480) 363-4808 or email us.
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Tagged Excel, Export to Excel, QuickBooks 2012, QuickBooks reports
UPDATE – Until December 31, 2011 we are offering up to 4 hours of tune up for a flat rate of $99. Call for an appointment.
With the end of the tax year getting close for a lot of businesses now is a good time to consider getting a QuickBooks® tune up. Your Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor® or accountant have some tools available in their version of QuickBooks® which will help identify and resolve any problems in your QuickBooks® accounting system.
Doing a tune up now will help identify any problems before the rush of getting all your information together for your tax return. For those businesses with a December 31 year end doing the tune up now will also enable any adjustments to be done before the year end so that their effect on your tax position can be reviewed before it is too late to make any changes.
The tasks that your Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor® or accountant can do include:-
There a lot of benefits to having a QuickBooks® tune up done at least once a year and even more so when done before the tax year end as part of your year end tax planning.
If you would like a QuickBooks® tune up please call us on (480) 363-4808 or email us.
If you are a US green card holder needing to file a UK tax return then be aware that the paper filing deadline is not far away.
The deadline for paper filing your 2010-11 UK Tax Return is midnight on October 31, 2011. Unlike the US system the UK tax return must be with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by midnight on the deadline date not just posted by that date.
New for this year are increased penalties for late filing. If the return is filed late there will be a minimum penalty of £100 even if you have no tax to pay or pay your tax by the payment date of January 31, 2012. There are further penalties if the return is three, six or 12 months late which in total could add up to £1,600 or more.
If you wish to file electronically to take advantage of the January 31, 2012 e-filing deadline be aware that you cannot use the HMRC on-line Self Assessment return preparation as it does not support non-resident returns. To e-file you will need to use third party software or an accountant with e-file software.
One final thought, make sure that you take advantage of any of the provisions of the US/UK Tax Treaty to make sure that certain types of income do not get taxed twice.
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Tagged Green Card, tax deadline, UK tax return
If last April you filed an extension to file your income tax return you had better get your skates on. The filing deadline for your 2010 return is Monday October 17, 2011.
Any return filed after that date will be subject to a late filing penalty starting at 5% of any tax due for each month the return is late up to a maximum of 25% of the tax due. Also, remember that the filing extension did not extend the time to pay the tax due for 2010. If there is any unpaid tax after April 17, 2011 then there will be a late filing penalty of 1/2% of the unpaid tax.
If you need any assistance to complete your 2010 tax return or the accounting records to prepare the return then please call us on (480) 363-4808 or email us.
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QuickBooks® 2012 is now available for purchase.
Intuit has continued their incremental improvements to the software and have added some useful new features. If you are using a QuickBooks® version older than 2009 then you may wish to consider upgrading to the 2012 version to take advantage of the features that have been added over the last couple of years.
Some of the new features and improvements are:-
QuickBooks® Pro, Premier and Enterprise Solutions
QuickBooks® Premier and Enterprise Solutions
QuickBooks® Enterprise Solutions
QuickBooks® Online Pro
Mac QuickBooks® Desktop
Over the next few weeks we will go into more detail about some of these changes and how they may help you run your business.
In the mean time if you would like to discuss how QuickBooks® 2012 may help you then call us on (480) 363-4808 or email us.
As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor® we are able to offer you a discount on QuickBooks® software bought through us.
Have you not filed your Arizona tax returns for previous years and have back taxes?
If so the Arizona Department of Revenue (AZDOR) may have some relief for you.
From September 1, 2011 to October 1, 2011 AZDOR has a program called Arizona Tax Recovery. Under this program they will allow you to file and pay back taxes and a reduced rate of interest for late payment. In addition they will waive or abate any civil penalties that have or could be charged for the period and not take any action against you for the period.
You do give up some rights agreeing to take part in the program. These include a waive of the right to any refund or credit for the period covered by the program. AZDOR will also still be able to audit the returns you file.
Returns covered by the program are income tax returns for years starting on or after January 1, 2004 and ending before January 1, 2010. For taxes like sales tax it is for tax periods starting on or after January 1, 2005 and ending before January 1, 2010.
The program covers the full range of taxes including Individual and Corporate income taxes, Sales and Use tax, Withholding, Partnership taxes and Tobacco and Liquor taxes. City taxes are not included. 2010 Returns are also not included.
Some taxpayers cannot participate in the program including those with any existing liability for the period, received a notice or bill from AZDOR, has had a final audit for the period, or are party to any criminal investigation.
To submit an application for the program you need to complete form 10747 and mail it with all filed returns and other supporting information by October 1, 2011.
Given that if you decide to participate in the program you give up some rights it is important to get professional advice before you submit your application.
More information about the program is available at the following links.
AZDOR Tax Recovery Page
Form 10747 (pdf)
Form 10747 Instructions (pdf)
If you need any assistance or advice about participating in Arizona Tax Recovery call us on (480) 363-4808 or email us.
The Undeposited Funds Account is one of the most useful accounts in QuickBooks®. If used properly it will save you a lot of hair pulling and tears when you come to reconcile your bank account. It is also a useful control tool to monitor the business cash accounts.
The Undeposited Funds Account is set up automatically when you first post a payment for a sales invoice or sales receipt. It acts as a holding account until the cash, checks or credit card payments are actually deposited into the bank account. Think of it as the representation of your petty cash tin or safe in QuickBooks®.
To make sure that all customer payments are posted to the Undeposited Funds Account you will want to set one of the preferences. This is found at Edit|Preferences|Payments|Tick the “Use Undeposited Funds as a default deposit account”.
When you have deposited the customer payments in to the bank account you can enter this deposit in QuickBooks® by going to Banking|Make Deposits. That will bring up the following screen showing all the customer payments that are in the Undeposited Funds Account.
Put a tick next to the customer payments you are depositing then click OK.
If you held some of the cash back from the deposit the details for this can be entered in the highlighted area above. When you are happy with the deposit click Save & Close and the deposit will be posted to the bank account.
To get the best use out of the Undeposited Funds Account remember the following:-
If you need help setting up or using your Undeposited Funds Account please call (480) 363-4808.
For a number of taxpayers September 15 is a key deadline.
Individuals
Your third installment of federal estimated taxes for 2011 is due by September 15.
You may be subject to federal estimated taxes if you do not have enough federal withholding deducted from your income. This can happen if the bulk of your income is from self-employment, investment income including capital gains or sundry income such as gambling winnings.
If you do not pay sufficient estimated tax during the year you will be charged an estimated tax penalty on your next federal tax return.
Depending on your state tax rules you may also have state estimated taxes to pay.
Partnership 1065 Returns
If your partnership has a calendar tax year and you filed an extension back in April then you need to file the 2010 1065 Return of Partnership Income by September 15. To complete the return you will need to finalize your accounting records for the 2010 calendar year.
Filing of the 1065 after September 15 will lead to a late filing penalty of $195 per month the return is late times the number of partners. This will be charged for up to 12 months so late filing can get expensive very quickly.
Corporation 1120 or 1120S Returns
If your corporation has a calendar tax year and you filed an extension back in March then you need to file the 2010 1120 Corporation Tax Return or 2010 1120S Income Tax Return for an S Corporation by September 15. To complete either return you will need to finalize your accounting records for the 2010 calender year.
Filing of the 1120S return after September 15 will lead to a late filing penalty of $195 per month the return is late times the number of shareholders. To this is added 5% of any outstanding tax up to a maximum of 25%. The form 1120 is only subject to the 5% tax related penalty.
LLCs
The rules above for partnerships and corporations also apply to LLCs if they have elected to be taxed as one of those entities or are taxed by default as one.
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