Tag: business tax accountant

Solving Tax Issues: Another Avenue

Rick_E_Norris_An_Accountancy_Corporation_Solving_Tax_issues_Another_AvenueProbably every year new clients appear who have tax issues from various tax agencies.  We usually acquire a power of attorney and step into the shoes of the taxpayer. There is a non-conventional way that taxpayers may get relief.  The Taxpayer advocate service or (TAS).  Here is what the IRS says about using that service:

1. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is your voice at the IRS.

2. TAS assistance is free and tailored to meet your needs.

3. You may be eligible for TAS help if you’ve tried to resolve your tax
problem through normal IRS channels and have gotten nowhere, or if you are
facing (or your business is facing) an immediate action from the IRS that will
adversely affect you.

4. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all!

5. TAS helps individual and business taxpayers whose tax problems are
causing financial difficulty, which could include the cost of hiring
professional representation, such as a tax attorney.

6. If you qualify for TAS help, you’ll be assigned one advocate who
will do everything possible to get your problem resolved.

7. There is at least one local Taxpayer Advocate office in every state,
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. You can obtain the number of your
local Taxpayer Advocate from your local phone book, in Pub. 1546, Taxpayer
Advocate Service – Your Voice at the IRS and on the IRS website at
IRS.gov/advocate. You can also call TAS toll-free at 1-877-777-4778.

8. As a taxpayer, you have rights that the IRS must abide by when
working with you. Our tax toolkit website at www.TaxpayerAdvocate.irs.gov
can help you understand these rights.

9. TAS also handles tax problems that may have a broad impact on more
than just one taxpayer. You can report these “systemic” issues to TAS
through the Systemic Advocacy Management System at IRS.gov/advocate.

10. You can get updates on hot tax topics
by visiting the TAS YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/TASNTA
and the TAS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YourVoiceAtIRS,
or by following TAS tweets at www.twitter.com/YourVoiceatIRS

Tax problems always create some level of anxiety.  It’s good to know that you have another arrow in your quill.

Source: IRS

Small Business People Need is a Strategist, Not a Marketer and That Person is You.

Rick_E_Norris,_An_Accountancy_Corporation_Small_Business_People_Need_is_A_Strategist_Not_A_Marketer_And_That_Person_Is_You

About five years ago, a partner and I were interviewing a tech guy for a position in our business intelligence software firm.  The prospect was pretty low key, and was not really very personable. At the fifteen minute point, he asked, “So, what role do you see me playing in the company?” I glanced to my partner, who allowed me to take the lead.  Scooting up in my chair, I peered into his eyes.  “Jim,” I said, “I think you would be a good fit dressed as a giant taco, twirling an arrow on Lincoln Blvd.”

Jim’s mouth dropped open as silence saturated the walls.  Then, my partner couldn’t hold it back any longer and burst into laughter.  The prospect had no sense of humor, we certainly couldn’t work together. We couldn’t afford a marketer, but  we needed our employees to fill  that gap with some positive communication skills.

Ivana Taylor touches on communication from a quantitative, as opposed to a qualitative point of view in 6 Reasons You Don’t Need a Full Time Marketing Person in AMEX’s Open Forum .  She pushes the concept of hiring an outside marketing person, (obviously promoting her skill set).

However, resist chastising her for self-promotion, and try to pull some pearls of wisdom from the article.

You see, I agree with her, but only to a point.  Frankly, there are so many resources on the web, that you can (as a small business owner on a budget) do your own marketing.  You don’t need an inside or outside marketer, you just need to hire an outside consultant to teach you for a limited time.

This consultant should be well-versed in SEO and social networking.  Once you understand these concepts, you should adjust your web page to leverage them.  Such things as blog articles and news releases are just two of the tools that should mastered.

But every one is doing that, right?  No.  The field is wide open.  Your marketing strategy should be to bring prospects to you.  How are you doing that now?  Word of mouth?  Well, you better hope people are doing a lot  of yacking.

This is not to say that you can carry it alone.  There will be a day where you will grow so fast, and so big, that you may have to re-evaluate whether to bring in your outside web marketer back in.  In fact, an annual meeting would be a nice “tune-up” once you bring your marketing plan.

In any event, as a small business owner, your strategy must always evolve with tactics that can be measured by some sort of metrics.  Don’t throw money at your SEO/ SE education without determining what you want to accomplish.  Then build the tactics to get there.