Changes to the (8)a Rules Will Affect How you do Biz with the Government
December 16, 2011 | 
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On March 14, 2011, the government made some significant changes to the rules for becoming 8(a) certified and maintaining that certification. These rules affect a lot of people who currently do business with the government or who want to. Glass Jacobson’s resident government contracting expert, Steve Cho, weighs in on this very informative webinar hosted by our friends at isiFederal.
Check out the webinar below to answer big questions like:
- how do I qualify and maintain 8(a) certification under the new rules?
- when do I want to transition out of the 8(a) program?
- how do I find primary decision makers in the government?
- how do I work with “influence clusters” to win government contracts?
Questions for Steve? steve.cho@glassjacobson.com
Questions for Dave Lowe at isiFederal? dlowe@isiFederal.com
Year End Tax Planning Clinic
December 2, 2011 | Subscribe to our RSS Feed
“Are you ready for some taxes”?
Glass Jacobson tax specialist Jeff Cohen will talk to small businesses about what they need to know to close out the year in a smart way, and get 2012 off on the right foot.
Tax topics will include depreciation, tax credits, deductions, planning tips…….. There are many tax laws about to expire, are you prepared?
Join us on December 8th to hear these and other timely topics to plan for 2011 as it comes to a close and be prepared for 2012. Click here for information on Year End Urgency for Small Companies.
To rsvp, email Jeff Cohen.
Business 101- 3 Ways to Protect Yourself, Your Business & Your Health
November 21, 2011 | Subscribe to our RSS Feed
The second seminar in the Protect Yourself Series, Business 101 was fantastic! Thank you to all who joined us, and mark your calendars for Business 201 on March 20, 2012.
Here are three KEY TAKEAWAYS from each presenter on protecting yourself, your new business and your health:
From Lauren B. Ades, Esq, Hodes, Pessin & Katz, P.A.~
Incorporating your business entity is a priority. However, choosing an entity type is not black and white. There are pros and cons to LLCs, S Corporations, partnerships and all the others. You should not view your entity type as set in stone. As your business grows and changes, so might your entity type.
Download Lauren’s Business Question Check List. If you have started a business, or are planning to, you need to make sure you can check the “yes” box to all these questions.
Questions on how to make sure your new business is protected? Contact Lauren.
From Tammy Schneider, CPA, Director of Women in Business Practice, Glass Jacobson~
Know the difference between an employee and a contractor. If you dictate a “contractor’s” hours, provide them with equipment, outline their job duties. . . your contractor is probably an employee! The IRS is vigilantly looking for these “oversights.”
Check out other ways to practice safe tax in Tammy’s presentation:
Questions about setting up your business’s finances? Contact Tammy.
From Lynn Brick, RN, President & Founder of Lynn Brick’s Fitness and Brick Bodies~
First, you can do push ups in a suit and high heels. At least Lynn can. And the rest of us are now inspired to be able to as well.
Second, starting a business can cause stress. But, not all stress is bad:
Strength train at least 2 times per week
Take time for yourself every hour
Restore and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul with yoga, tai chi or spa treatments
Exercise your heart every day
Stretch your body
Surround yourself with positively positive people
This stress is good. Prolonged emotional, psychological or physical stress from extrinsic or intrinsic forces becomes chronic, which can be detrimental to your health.
Visit Lynn Brick’s Fit Tips to find out how you can better incorporate the good stress into your life to manage the bad.
10 Signs an Employee May be Stealing from Your Business
November 7, 2011 | Subscribe to our RSS Feed
In this second post about “PREVENTING AND DETECTING FRAUD,” we are going to look closely at some of the telltale characteristics of an employee that might be stealing from you. In Part 1, we discussed 8 measures you can take as a business owner to prevent fraud in your business.
Unfortunately, many of the characteristics that make a good employee are some of the same characteristics that are the earmark of the employee who’s committing fraud in your business. Here are just a few.
- Employee wants additional hours
- Employee wants to work alone and will not delegate tasks
- Employee is very loyal
- Employee resents your lifestyle or apparent income
- Employee works late or comes in early
- Employee takes work home
- Employee refuses to take vacation
- Employee with lots of discretionary income. Get suspicious if your single employee making $25,000 per year is driving a brand new Mercedes and has a five bedroom house with a pool and tennis court and does not have a large trust fund.
- Employee is a long-term employee. Why would they want to leave your dental practice since you are their personal ATM machine?
- Employee does not want overtime
So what are you supposed to do now? Do you instantly start suspecting each and every one of your employees of being a clandestine thief? Of course not! However, armed with the information from this and the previous post you should realize that you cannot just be a passive observer in your business. You need to get involved in many of the business aspects of your company that you may have previously ignored. YOUR money is at stake! As we near the close of the year, look closely at your books with your CPA for anything suspicious. If you suspect fraud in your practice, or want to set up preventative measures, contact us. Glass Jacobson’s fraud prevention team can help.
Questions?
larry.goldberg@glassjacobson.com
8 Steps to Prevent Small Business Fraud
October 31, 2011 | Subscribe to our RSS Feed
In 2010, 42.1% of small businesses fell victim to some sort of fraud. Now that you are thinking about closing out the year, you and your CPA should be scrutinizing your books. Look for anything suspicious.
But, it is better to be safe than sorry. If you have not taken any preventative measures, contact our fraud experts for help. In Part 1 of this 2 part series, “PREVENTING AND DETECTING FRAUD,” we discuss steps you can take to prevent fraud and embezzlement in your business.
As the owner of a small business with few employees there is just no way you can have the separation of duties needed to more easily prevent embezzlement. You must get involved! Here are 8 recommendations:
- Know your office software
- Know your vendors
- Look at invoices that are being paid
- Check your credit card statement each month
- Have your bank statements mailed to your home not your office
- Look at the cleared checks or, in this day and age, the copies of the cleared checks
- Compare the day sheet to the schedule
- Watch your employees at work every so often. You don’t have to know exactly what they are doing, but just your presence can act as a deterrent.
Do not think you are immune to having one of your employees embezzle money or goods from your company! I know getting involved in some of the more mundane aspects of your business can be hard, but if you don’t, you are just asking for trouble.
In the next post, we discuss ways to recognize fraud that may be happening.
Questions?
larry.goldberg@glassjacobson.com