The Independent Contractor Test

The Texas Workforce Commission uses a 20 factor test that was formerly used by the IRS to determine whether an employee is an indepedent contractor or an employee. Click this link http://www.texasworkforce.org/ui/tax/forms/c8.pdf to see the 20 steps.

Your Financial Statements - the Roadmap to Your Success

Monthly financial statements are critical to the success of your business. Are you getting the information you need and using it effectively?

Business owners have to make deicisons on a daily basis that will impact their business positively or negatively. The most critical pieces of information they have to guide those decisions are their company balance sheet and profit and loss statement.

In order for financial statements to be effective, they must be:

• Timely - received by the 10th of the month for the previous month


• Accurate - all bank and credit card accounts reconciled


• Comparative - show current month, year to date, and budget comparisons as well as a rolling 12 months for trend analysis


• Segmented - to show profitability by division or line of business as well as a consolidated total

Your profit and loss or income statement shows you what happened and how much money you made in a certain period of time. Questions you should ask when reviewing your profit and loss statement:

• Is your profit margin as expected and is it consistent with previous months?


• Is your overhead holding steady or is it creeping up?


• Are your net income and profit margin in line with industry standards?


• Are you on target with your forecast or projections for the year?

Your balance sheet shows what you own and wht you owe. Questions you should ask when reviewing your balance sheet:

• How has it changed from the previous period?


• Are things classified correctly?

You should review your financial statements each month to se if your business is performing as expected and make changes as necessary. Accurate financial statements are the key to creating budgets, obtaining loans and financing, and directing your business to a profitable course.

If time and resources are an issue, our qualified staff can help!

Call today for a complimentary consultation!

Carolyn Murray

972-378-7787

carolyn@jones-square.com

Mitigate the Risk of Theft in Your Small Business

One of the biggest challenges for any small business is appropriately separating financial duties due to the small number of employees. Frequently in a small office, one employee might be responsible for most of the accounting activities including:

• Invoicing


• Paying bills


• Making deposits


• Reconciling the bank statements


• Entering, paying, and reconciling credit cards


• Preparing monthly financial reports

This gives that one employee tremendous control and opens the door for theft and embezzlement. Often, that employee's activities can be difficult to detect until much has been stolen. We recommend at a minimum that the following duties are separated:

• The person paying the bills is not the one signing checks.


• Bank statements are reconciled by a separate person or an outside resource from the individual handling the bills and books.

For many of our clients, we reconcile the bank and credit card statements to provide the necessary oversight function. This allows us to spot problems as well as ensure that the books accurately reflect the bank and credit card activity. Another option is to have an outside review or audit of the bank reconciliations completed by an internal employee. Additionally, some clients choose to outsource their bill payment function to us to separate that duty from their employees. For questions or a complimentary consultation, please contact: Carolyn Murray at 972-378-7787 or carolyn@jones-square.com

How QuickBooks Enterprise Can Help You Run Your Business

QuickBooks Enterprise 11.0 has some great new features to increase productivity and help your business grow:

• Work in two company files at one time
• Restrict user access to individual reports, bank accounts, and activities
• Track inventory in multiple locations
• More custom fields to track data unique to your business
• Enhanced custom reporting
• Get QuickBooks data on your mobile with QuickBooks Connect

If you are currently on a lower version of QuickBooks and have 150MB or more of data, you can increase your performance significantly with Enterprise.

As an Intuit Solution Provider and with 5 QuickBooks ProAdvisors on staff, we have the expertise you need to update your QuickBooks or convert from another software. We can help with data migration, installation and training.

Call Carolyn Murray at 972-378-7787 or carolyn@jones-square.com for help.

QuickBooks Tip of the Day - Multiple Files Open

New in QuickBooks Enterprise 2011, you can have multiple company files open at the same time. There are some limitations to what can be done in the secondary file that is open, but overall this is a huge improvement for companies with multiple entities.

For help with your QuickBooks Enterprise, call us today at 972-378-7787!

Changes in 1099 Rules

Beginning in 2011, most recipients of rental income will be required to file 1099's to report payments they make to third parties for repairs and similar expenses.

In 2012, corporations must be included in those receiving 1099's.

What you Need to Know About 1099's

January 31st is the deadline for issuing and filing 1099's. Here's what you need to know:

2010 Rules:

File form 1099-MISC to each person to whom you have paid during the year:

• At least $10 in royalties
• At least $600 in rents, services, or other income payments to an individual, partnership, or estate
• Corporations do not require a 1099
• Gross proceeds to an attorney