Business and Finance

A disturbing trend is emerging from the IRS– they are targeting more and more small businesses for examination (audits). According to a Syracuse University study, the IRS has increased audits on small businesses 41% since 2005. The IRS is getting bolder, more aggressive, and small businesses are losing. But did you know that good records can save your hide in an IRS audit, and sometimes even “pay” you back? This article explains how.

The worst part of all this is the IRS’ increasing use of the 6694 and 6695 penalties, which are applicable to professional preparers who the IRS has deemed as having “overstepped their bounds”. Even ethical preparers are afraid of getting hit with this penalty, so preparers are more and more reluctant to take deductions for their clients, even legitimate ones. These penalties apply even if a client doesn’t pay their bill– just the fact that a preparer intended to charge the client is enough.

The best remedy for this is just plain old good record keeping. Moving to a completely electronic method of bookkeeping is the key. Scanning receipts, entering transactions in Quickbooks, and keeping an adequate paper trail are the key to success in an IRS audit.

Continue reading ‘Make the Irs Pay Your Gas Bill With Good Recordkeeping!’ »

Changeable sign letters are an inexpensive, effective and easy-to-use way to promote your business. The benefits are more than worth considering as you look into ways to let the public know what specials you’re running or what message you have to broadcast to the market. Consider the following key aspects of changeable sign letters and what they can do for you.

1. Affordable
The best part of changeable sign letters: you only buy them once. Use them again and again for whatever message you want to send. It’s easy to change them at no cost, whenever it’s needed. Rather than buying a new sign every time your current promotion changes or paying for expensive print ads when you could spread your message to every passer-by, it’s as simple and inexpensive as finding a set of sign letters and picking your first message.

2. Customizable
Sign letters say whatever you want them to say, whenever you want to say it. It’s easy to change and rearrange your set of sign letters whenever the situation calls for it. Current specials your business is running, special events hosted by your company, even “shout out” messages to the community are all great ways to customize your sign. It’s up to you what the sign says and it’s easy for you to change the message yourself when you’re ready. Other lettering systems are permanent, hard to program or ineffective. Get your message out, whatever the message is.

Continue reading ‘The Benefits of Changeable Sign Letters’ »

Business owners, are your margins continually dropping due to your suppliers prices increasing?

* Are you sick of them making more money than you?
* Have you been hand making a product you want to outsource but are worried about quality?
* Don’t know who to trust, don’t speak the language, scared of losing all your hard earned cash to a foreign supplier?

Here at JOLT Consulting we work with you to discover the profits of importing to Australia … more profits, more sales, more time for you!

Importing to Australian is quickly becoming a major part of many local businesses’ success. Whether you are an inventor who needs a prototype or production run of your inventions, a fashion designer who want to lower the costs of their own designs to make them more profitable or acceptable in a price conscious market or you are wanting to import products into Australia to sell on eBay… We can help you do jus that!

Continue reading ‘How to Start Your Own Import Business Importing From China’ »

Good News for Small Businesses

An exciting new media service has recently launched, Jazel design. This web design company truly is different from the rest as it specialises in web design for small businesses. Their mission is plain and simple; they want to help small businesses grow by getting them online.

With the growing concerns over the credit crunch and the main government attention going to the big players in the world of commerce, it is essential that all small businesses support each other to survive this economic gloom. For those who acknowledge the impact the economic downturn can have Jazel Design may be the answer. They can take your business online and open up new business channels for you.

Traditional web design agencies have catered for all organisations large and small; however this web design agency understands that the requirements of a small business are substantially different from the requirements of a large organisation. With this in mind they provide a tailored service which accounts for small businesses budgets too.

Continue reading ‘New Discovery for Small Businesses’ »

Are you learning based?

Does the economic climate have you feeling threatened? With all of the changes brought on by the arrival of the information age, do you feel left behind? Most of us do feel uneasy and a little behind the eight ball. Sometimes it seems we have to run as hard as we can just to stay in one place! Everything is changing so fast that what we learned yesterday could very well be outdated tomorrow.

So how do we keep our competitive edge in our business?

The fundamental strategy of a high achiever is their focus on being learning-based. Being a learning-based person means that you take education, training, and self-development as the foundational piece of your plan to achieve your goals.

Maybe learning is key?

No matter what we do, no matter where we go, owner or employee, now more than ever before, we must stay sharp…continue to study, learn and remain curious. Everyone in our business, everyone, every day will stay engaged when we emphasize and encourage learning. Learning is the key to innovative, creative, out of the box solutions. It is not enough for us as leaders to stay abreast of our industry, attend training programs or read books. We need all of our employees playing at their very best to stay in the game of business.

Continue reading ‘Are You Learninig Based?’ »