South Palm Beach SCORE - Saturday

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Using a Car for Business? Grab These Deductions

 

Whether you're self-employed or an employee, if you use a car for business, you get the benefit of tax deductions.

There are two choices for claiming deductions:

1. Deduct the actual business-related costs of gas, oil, lubrication, repairs, tires, supplies, parking, tolls, drivers' salaries, and depreciation.
2. Use the standard mileage deduction in 2013 and simply multiply 56.5 cents by the number of business miles traveled during the year. Your actual parking fees and tolls are deducted separately under this method. (In 2012 the standard rate for business miles driven was 55.5 cents.)

Which Method Is Better?

For some taxpayers, using the standard mileage rate produces a larger deduction. Others fare better tax-wise by deducting actual expenses.

Tip: The actual cost method allows you to claim accelerated depreciation on your car, subject to limits and restrictions not discussed here.

The standard mileage amount includes an allowance for depreciation. Opting for the standard mileage method allows you to bypass certain limits and restrictions and is simpler-- but it's often less advantageous in dollar terms.

Caution: The standard rate may understate your costs, especially if you use the car 100% for business, or close to that percentage.

Generally, the standard mileage method benefits taxpayers who have less expensive cars or who travel a large number of business miles.

Barry Eisenberg, SCORE Counselor, email: barrye003@aol.com

Visit us at www.scoresouthflorida.net

 

 

 

What is better than a Business Counselor, Teacher or Mentor?

 

The answer is TWO Counselors, Teachers or Mentors at the same time!

That is the norm at South Palm Beach SCORE.

 

With two counselors you get orders of magnitude of better advice

You get at least two views of an issue

You get more dialog about your issues

You get more choice

You get a better chance to WIN!

 

Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor

Visit us at: www.scoresouthflorida.net

 

 

Write Job Descriptions - Finding Employees

I DON’T NEED TO WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION! It’s my small business and I know every job very well.

I’VE BEEN IN MY BUSINESS FOR 20 YEARS AND I KNOW WHERE TO FIND GREAT EMPLOYEES! Famous last words!

Every business owner should know the particulars of every job within their company. But knowing the job and being able to effectively communicate that to new employees requires different skills.

As a standard practice some medium and most large companies will write some sort of a job description. In my experience writing job descriptions is a lost art for most small companies. It’s very common for the owner to handoff the new employee to one of the seasoned staff members to train. That’s all well and good, but a percentage of new employees don’t last more then 90 days. Why? There could be numerous reasons, but one common reason is the lack of a cohesive job description for a particular position.

 

The following is a sample process to write a cohesive job description:

 

n      Summary- write a short general paragraph that summarizes the job from qualifications to tasks.

n      Job Responsibilities- this section should explain what the employee will do on a day-to-day basis.

n      Reports to- list the title of person who this employee reports. Briefly describe the role of the supervisor.

n      Required Qualifications- this section explains the skills required to successfully complete the job tasks. This could include education, job experience, computer skills, interpersonal skills, etc.

 

HOW DO YOU FIND CAPABLE NEW EMPLOYEES?

Now that you have a comprehensive and cohesive job description the next step is to find great employees. How do you find them?

The following are some sources to find candidates:

 

n      Friends and Family- network with everybody you know to surface potential candidates.

n      Local Employment Office- make contact with his office. There will be people on unemployment who are looking for a job, including people who are receiving unemployment insurance.

n      Chamber of Commerce- Networking at the chamber monthly meeting can surface referrals from chamber members.

n      Online- Websites like Career Builder, Monster, Indeed, etc. are full of potential candidates. There’s a cost attached to these options.

 

HAPPY HUNTING!

 

Eric Mankuta - SCORE Counselor

visit us at www.scoresouthflorida.net

 

Fraud - is still here!

 

I just heard a story about a company getting bills from its suppliers for goods they did not order. The suppliers shipped products to “remote” locations as specified on the email orders that seemed normal. They weren’t.

During startup and tough times organizations often pay little attention to fraud until they are hit. 

 

So what should you do? Here are a few things to consider:

1. Perform background checks on prospective employees, and do not give them a reason to steal from your business.

2. Check bank accounts, cash, invoices and financials yourself, at least monthly.           Banks make mistakes too. I recovered hundred of dollars from a bank that made a mistake in its calculations.

3. Ask suppliers to run audits.

4. Protect computer systems with firewalls, anti-virus software. Watch for   “phishing” schemes, and use “secure” online banking.

5. Protect hard-copy records, and dispose of carefully with shredding.

6. Don’t forget insurance coverage.

7. Stay current about the new technologies in use by potential thieves.

 

What are you doing to fight Fraud?

 

Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor

Visit us at: www.scoreesouthflorida.net

The Ten Commandments of Exporting

I You MUST have a plan before starting your exporting effort. Target specific markets and be wary of unsolicited business from unfamiliar sources. The risk of non payment cannot be overemphasized.
II Check the tax situation overseas to he sure you are in compliance. Establishment of a local overseas entity will be permanently impacted by taxation.
III Protect your trademark, patent or copyright carefully so as not to lose your right of ownership.
IV Do not invest heavily in any one country too quickly. Instability of politics & economic conditions are uncontrollable.
V Obtain qualified export counseling thru associations specializing in Int'l. trade: ex: SCORE; Dept. of Commerce - and see below.
VI Be wary of joint ventures. Joint venture means local overseas guidance. The guide will influence you rather than you forge ahead independently.
VII Persevere. Longer lines of communication create delays. Market entry has a longer half life. Do not neglect export opportunities in favor of domestic.
VIII Exercise extreme care in selecting agents or distribution channels. Legal constraints can make separation difficult if not impossible. NEVER sign any contract in exchange for an order.
IX Payment options are limited in export. Know your customer. Check credit by requesting at least three other suppliers to the customer, preferably from the USA. Credit practices by foreign suppliers are totally different than ours.
X Completely change your collateral material to the language of the target market - make your offer comprehensible to your buyer. Caveat: communicate with your customer only in English to avoid misunderstanding due to language barriers.
ON LINE HELP FOR EXPORTERS:
www.export.gov useful info on exporting including regulations, industry & country reports
www.exportbis.doc.gov resource data: Dept. of Comm. Int'l. Trade Div.
www.buyusa.gov/home/fuse.html   listing of exporters' products for customers around the world.
YOU CAN LIST YOUR PRODUCT
 http://us.kompass.com directory of foreign firms. You can identify prospects and/or you can list yourself to reach prospects
www.export-u-com a site for training yourself on How to Export
www.webportglobal.comq you can communicate with other exporters for information sharing on markets, etc.
for more contact Hank Samuel; Certified SCORE counselor:
e-mail: hank.samuel2@gmail.com
visit us at: www.scoresouthflorida.net

Software as a Service (SaaS)

 

 

On the road to making computing a utility, much like power and phone service, Software as a Service (SaaS) is a method of delivering software applications, over the ubiquitous “Cloud” (read as “internet”).  With this approach small business can reduce the cost of up-front investment, and reduce the need for systems support. Advanced technology can be delivered at affordable prices for small business. SaaS provides the ability to access applications from multiple locations without duplicating all the applications at each site.

SaaS is a tool small business can use for backup and data security as well, as the data is stored remotely.

What value do you see with SaaS for your business?

 

Steve Koenig, SCORE Counselor

 

Visit us at: www.scoresouthflorida.net