CPA Archives | Page 3 of 15

Creativity and the Business of Cretans

I grew up in the 1960’s. What a world. JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, Watts riots, Man landing on the moon, anti war protests, nuclear proliferation, Beatles; Hendricks, Dylan,Andy Warhol, bell bottoms, and psychadelic drugs.

Yet through all of this culture-changing events and people, we were lectured about watching “The boob tube.”

I recall when the color TV came out,how cool. But, we still only had a handful of channels to watch in LA: channels 2, 4,and 7 were CBS, NBC, and the new-comer ABC. Outside of those were the rerun channels, 5, 9, 11, and 13. We hardly looked at UHF because nobody could adjust the circle antenae sticking out of the back of the TV for good reception.

Mathew Ingram’s Is modern technology creating a culture of distraction? discusses studies which paint our society as prolificating false online relationships, and short attention spans. Raising four children, I can see that argument, but don’t agree that modern technology is the culpret.

Creative business people will blossum regardless of the era. Fifty years ago, non-creative business people were just doing what was done by those before them. They would not necessarily fail, but would not prospher like their competitor who used technology or personal resources to advance their strategic goals.

This is the same for today, except that technology has identified the business cretan. If you choose to just do what those did before you, then your business will not surpass what they accomplished. The fast moving technology will amplify and accelerate your demise.

Is this new technology turning business creators into cretans? I would think not. The creative business person will leverage technology and not usually succomb to the temptation of cretanism. I have worked with many business owners and executives that cannot see the cretan mentality. They only want to know about two things about their businesses: 1) What are their sales; 2) Do they have enough cash to make payroll.

This buisiness mindset must be broken. The E-myth book is a good start. If you find that you are not normally creative, find someone who is, but participate in the business creative process, don’t ignore it.

CPA Fraud Alert: The Day the FAKE Giorgio Armani “Rep” Tried to Rip Me Off

I slipped the money from the ATM into my wallet as I hurried to my car. “Hey, excuse’!” I stopped. A young man yelled out his car window in the parking lot. “Can you a tell me to aeroporto?”

I answered using what broken Italian I knew. He was very grateful, and I told him my family was Calabresi. “Hey, me a too! My name is a Gianni!” He said. Gianni pulled his car over and told me he wanted to give me a present. He gave me his business card which read Giorgio Armani in big letters. Then he opened up his back door and showed my three “Giorgio Reportage Armani” leather jackets.

“I a give a to you. They are a worth $500 each. I don’t want to pay the taxes on them when I leave the country to fly back to Italy right now. ” He yelled. (I thought, why would HE pay any excise taxes for Giorgio Armani?)

He put a handled paper bag in my hand and folded the three coats in them. I started to laugh. Then my phone rang. It was my oldest son. “Sorry Brandon, I can’t talk right now, I am busy being swindled, ” I laughed.

I waited for the punch line, still smiling broadly.

“Hey, you a my friend. Take them as my gift.” Then he paused. “Oh, tomorrow is my son’s birthday and I would like to give him a present. Can you give me whatever cash you can?”

I doubled over laughing, still holding the bag. That was the worst con I heard in a long time. I opened the car door and stuck the bag in the back seat.

“Ciao,” I said getting into my car, still laughing.

So, what precautions should you take when approached by someone like this:

If it is too good to be true, it probably is: As a CPA, I have conducted fraud investigations, or exposed deficiencies in internal control. So, I am skeptical in any bargain. You should always start from a skeptical frame of mind and make the other party earn your confidence. Start with “the smell test.” If your intuition is tells you “no,” go with it and don’t look back.
Don’t venture outside of your expertise: The one thing that Gianni didn’t factor was that I don’t buy clothes. My wardrobe consists of birthday and Christmas presents. My wife buys things for me from time to time. But, I hate shopping, especially clothes. When my wife takes me to a mall, I bring a book and carry her packages. So, if you don’t know anything about an item, don’t buy it.
Don’t let anyone pressure you: Gianna spoke very fast and tried to increase the tempo of the transaction in order to cloud my thinking. Most people will say, “I have another offer.” Or, ” This deal will not last.” Take a breath and step back. If the person continues to talk, shut him down.
Look at all available data: If I had time, I could have looked closer at his card. Here is what I discovered after I left:
1. He did not have an Armani email address. His email address is Armanirep@yahoo.it. It bounced when I tried it later.
2. His address read Milano, but the phone number is in an American format 335-565-3504. The number was no good. An Italian number would have looked like +39 02 7602 1743.
3. I found a number of scams on the Internet selling the same fraudulent brand. https://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Spot-a-Fake-Armani-Men-apos-s-Leather-Jacket?ugid=10000000002354776
4. Here is a similar incident to one who caved in. https://www.ripoffreport.com/organized-crime/rga-giorgio-armani-r/rga-giorgio-armani-reportage-l-2d487.htm
Don’t be afraid to say no to a “great” deal: “Once in a lifetime chances” usually come by all of the time. As I said to my son who could not close a deal with his first car, “Good deals come by all of the time. If you miss one, look for the next. But, bad deals will hurt you a long time, financially and emotionally.”

As a CPA. I have seen many shady dealings in the last 30 years. I guess part of my CPA training help me become a financial skeptic. Don’t be afraid to look at something from many different angles. You can also call on your CPA or financial professional to help you.

Check Out The Podcast! Click Link Below!
Episode #2 The Story Of ThePhony Giorgio Armani Salesperson Scam Artist & HowTo Avoid Rip-off artists

Personal Wealth Decrease and a CPA’s Art of Working with Sand

I have always lived in the Los Angeles area . One thing I learned in my countless trips to the beach was how to dig in the sand. In LA, the sand grains are usually large and light robbing anything you do with structure. If you dig a hole, it keeps falling in. If you build a sculpture, it keeps collapsing. The obvious solution is to add seawater to make mud, but that only has a limited life as the sand dries.

Such is the way with the 2007 housing bubble. Prior to that, as a CPA, I had seen people using their homes as piggy banks to buy cars, expensive toys, and other homes. However, by 2010 according to the federal reserve board, their net worth had decreased between 40 to 47%. Just like building in sand, individuals tried to prop up their net worth using water (their equity lines), but that eventually dried up leaving many insolvent.

So what do you do if your net worth has catastrophically decreased?

Do Nothing. Depending on your current financial status, you may want to ride it out. We CPAs call this a conservative approach. If you still have a steady income and are not planning on making a move, the loss may only be “on paper.” In other words, if you didn’t read the news, you may not have known that your net worth decreased by 40%. This does not mean that you should take more risk, or spend wildly, but you can plan conservatively and baton down the hatches. Much of corporate America has done because they are sitting on trillions of dollars of cash.
Reinvent yourself. If you have one steady income and are not insolvent, this may be a good opportunity to invest in yourself into a new direction. As a CPA, I had see many businesses with high overheads downsize, running for cover. This could open up some opportunities in market places for young upstarts, like yourself. Or, if you are a small company, this can help you gain market share.
Plan by looking at each step and the horizon. As a CPA, I have prepared business plans and strategic plans. I have found that the visionaries may trip over their feet in trying to make progress each day. That is because they are always looking at the horizon and not considering what is happening in the short-term. Likewise, the managers do not look at the horizon but only at what is needed today. They may wander without the knowing where they want to be 5 years from now.
Know the tax implications of your decisions: If you plan to choose foreclosure or short sale, work with your CPA on a good tax projection. Know the tax ramifications BEFORE you make a decision, not after. If you are short selling a rental as opposed to a personal residence, know the tax issues because they may be different.
Don’t play in sand anymore. Once you have decided what you are about to do, don’t repeat any bad decisions like running up debt, or investing in too much real estate. Discipline yourself to live within your means. As a CPA, I have seen clients increase their spending as their income increases. This type of behavior strangles resources that you may need in the future for other opportunities.

Speaking as a CPA who has seen more than 30 years of personal financial situations, I always tell people to plan. Each of your plans may have variations, and you also may have a handful of plans instead of focusing on one. The Internet will open up a world of information to you as you decide which direction you are to take.

Frivolous Constitutional Claims Against Taxes

Thirty years ago, I lived around the corner from the San Fernando Valley Main Post Office in Van Nuys. My CPA tax filing season ended on April 14, so I was home on the night of April 15. I used to walk my dog down to the Post Office that night and watch the people depositing their tax returns at 10:00 pm. Cars were lined up Sherman Way onto the freeway offramp conjesting the slow lane for about a quarter of a mile.

My favorite pasttime were the people picketing on the sidewalk telling people not to fiile tax returns because it was a violation of the Constitution. I didn’t let on I was a CPA, but wanted to know their reasoning.

There are piles of case law that has rejected Congress’s right to tax. Here are a few from: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf

Contention: Taxpayers do not have to file returns or provide financial information because of the protection against self-incrimination found in the Fifth Amendment.

There is no constitutional right to refuse to file an income tax return on the ground that it violates the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. As the Supreme Court has stated, a taxpayer cannot “draw a conjurer’s circle around the whole matter by his own declaration that to write any word upon the government blank would bring him into danger of the law.” (So, don’t take the 5th, it may land you in 3 to 5 in a penitentiary.)

2. Contention: Compelled compliance with the federal income tax laws is a form of servitude in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.

“If the requirements of the tax laws were to be classed as servitude, they would not be the kind of involuntary servitude referred to in the Thirteenth Amendment.” (It may feel like slavery, but not the kind imagined in the 13th Amendment.)

3. MY FAVORITE, Contention: Federal Reserve Notes are not income.

Proponents of this contention assert that Federal Reserve Notes currently used in the United States are not valid currency and cannot be taxed because Federal Reserve Notes are not gold or silver and may not be exchanged for gold or silver.

The Court has completely obliterated this contention, so don’t try it.

As a CPA, we don’t really consider any basic contention to taxes constitutionality. Don’t get convinced by a protester, or it can cost you your freedom. Speak to your CPA or tax advisor before you do anything in the tax arena.

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IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this e-mail (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and may not be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or state tax authority, or (b) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Toughing it Out in Business Without Being a Jerk

Have you ever had a “screamer” boss? I did when I started my CPA career over 30 years ago. Every day I would come to the CPA office on edge, trying to please the tyrant before he yelled at me, or anyone else in the office. I left after one year, vowing never to be a tyrant boss.

What tyrant bosses don’t realize is that they suck out employees’ self esteem. When you rip out an employee’s self esteem, you rob them of performing to their highest ability and creativity. This can also happen with customers. Some customers are tyrants and scream for attention.

These moments of self-doubt create difficult business situations. It could be a tough boss, or a tough customer, or a tough event, but to operate successful, you must keep your head. Barry Moltz discusses some solutions in Improve Your Mental Toughness in 2 Minutes in his interview with Dr. Jason Selk. He lists five points:

1. Focus on solutions. This was a very interesting suggestion, because the bigger the emergency, the harder it is to get back on a positive track. Even in a CPA practice, panic can set in. I have found that if I look at the worst case scenario, and accept its possibility, it helps me to move back to the positive. For example, a mistake could cost me a maximum of $1,000. Once I accept that, I would look for solutions to minimize the damage, many times reducing it down to a meaningless number, if any. If I just focused on the possible $1,000, then I rob myself of creatively fixing the problem.

2. Seek to control only what you can. Sometimes, we make the same mistakes again. So, in a crises, use that anxiety to motivate yourself to fix the system or procedures. This way, you are taking a bad business event and turning it into a future positive result. As a CPA consultant, I have seen business owners bury their heads in the sand. The problem not only does not go away, it gets worse.

3. Find one thing you can do differently to make the situation better. This comment is similar to the one preceding it, but if you can make just one adjustment, you are better off than yesterday. For example, as a CPA, I get tons of documents. If I miss something that is buried on my desk, it motivates me to completely clean off my desk, and to deal with little projects.

4. Keep a success log. I really don’t have the time to do this, but it does remind me of a study done on athletic superstars. Someone studied the likes of Michael Jordan and others on what makes them perform at the most stressful times. What came back was that they knew they could make the clutch shot, or hit the clut hit. The reason was because they did it so many times before. This self-esteem trick is what successful people use by nature. When my oldest son was in the 2nd grade, the teacher had a book report contest where kids got stickers on a board next to their name for reading books. My son originally did not blossom as a great reader, but got into the contest. By the middle of the year, he was leading everyone reading books a couple of years beyond the class reading level. By the end of the year, he had blown the competition out of the water reading middle and high school novels. I made a big deal of it by asking the teacher if we could take the poster home after the school year. I photographed him with it and treated him like he had won an Olympic gold medal. That summer, he read The Hobbit. By time he was in the 4th grade, he had read the three books of The Lord of the Rings. Today, he is in graduate school for creative writing, specializing in comedy poetry. The moral of the story is that he had the ability but needed to stack up victories to get him to the next level. In business, you need to rack up your victories and remember them in tough times.

5. Practice the 100-second mental workout. Whatever works.

Many businesses fail because the owners think that successful businesses don’t struggle. Read the book, Copy This about the origin of Kinkos to put business in perspective. The road to success is always a bumpy one. People hire us as CPA business consultants and expect us to help them with their businesses. But the real solutions are not from the CPA, but the owner who can deal with day to day problems.

Groupon or Deals May Not Help You if You Are Just Another Commodity

As a CPA business consultant, almost any business risks becoming a commodity. Now, when you think of commodity, you may think of oil, gold, or pork bellies. However, when we prepare business and/or strategic plans as CPA business consultants, we brand a company’s product (or service) as a commodity if they can be distinguished by price only. In other words, if your competitor can steal your customers by lowering the price of their service/product, then you are a commodity.

In reading A Smart Guide to Using Daily Deals by Denise Lee Yohn, I found her well-meaning advice missing the target. Ms Yohn states the following when a business offers a deal:

Design promotions to make your brand meaningful.
Differentiate your brand through creative promotions.
Promote value beyond a specific product or offering
Use deals as the first step to customer relationships

This advice is relatively good. As CPA business consultants, we like to project profits in our business plans based on such aggressive marketing strategies. However, one sentence in the article says a lot. “But if designed incorrectly, daily deals and other price-centered promotions can hurt your brand more than help it.”

The author described what we call a “red ocean” according to the Blue Ocean Strategy. In other words, when you differentiate your brand based on price, you are in an ocean with sharks.

The article is correct in that you can “train” your customers to buy from you based on price. In fact, it touches on Blue Ocean Strategy attributes without embracing them when the article states that customers do not look at price alone. They look at their specific needs, guarantees, free service, and quality. However, two of these still have to do with the money that will leave the customer’s pocket.

The main secret is to focus on the industry. What is the customer not getting that they need? What is the customer getting (and paying for) that can be eliminated.

Take this article for example. As CPA business consultants, we distribute this article in attempt to meet the needs of the business reader. Second, we are not a commodity because we don’t charge for the article, so price is irrelevant. Lastly, we display our expertise in the field we are writing about. Our business consulting fees may be cheaper or a little more expensive, but that is not a concern if we have displayed our value to the reader whose needs we may satisfy. In other words, if there was an additional cost to our service, we would argue that it would be greatly negated by the huge increase in value of what we are advising.

The Yohn article professes some sound advice, but as CPA business consultants, we see businesses a living creatures that can take on a life of their own, if you unleash them.

S.W.O.T those Dreams! The Art of Engaging Opportunities

The other week, our youngest son (of 15 years), Austin, got the opportunity to sing
to a live audience at the Los Angeles Convention Center in front of foreign dignitaries. The song was Land of Dreams written by Rosemary Cash (Johnny’s daughter) for the Discover America project. Austin, with a handful of Mira Costa High School chorus students sang to a recording of the song. Their school received a nice donation.

Of the four elements, (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of the well known strategy SWOT analysis, opportunities seem to be the hardest to define. Most companies can tell you their strengths. That’s not hard, if you just look at your successes. Weaknesses can be illuminated if you are honest with yourself. And threats surface from business paranoia. All you have to do is list the things that keep you up at night.

Opportunities are different from the other three. There are good opportunities and bad opportunities. Some opportunities are scams, others are half-baked dreams. I have prepared a number of business plans and strategic plans that flushed out half-baked ideas. I remember these group of musicians that wanted to start a music company and sign artists to perform the songs written by one of the principles. I replied, “What happens if he dies? Your whole business model is based on him living and writing.”

They didn’t hire me,(In face, I think the inspiring songwriter showed me to the door.)

So, where can you find opportunities?

Bill Birnbaum in his book, Strategic Thinking, A Four Piece Puzzle, lists some advice on finding opportunities.

Macro-environment factors: First look to the macro-environment. This is the big, broad place that is not specific to your company, or even your industry. These issues include the economic conditions, government regulations, consumer attitudes, and demographic data. In other words, SPEELT (Societal, political, economic, environmental, legal, and technology.) An example would be Cique du soleil considering the movies, the opera, or Chinese acrobats when making their decision the change the nature of the circus. These segments are outside their industry, but these segments lack aspects of entertainment that the cirque provides. So, the cirque saw an opportunity of competing against these other markets for the same audience.
Micro-environment factors: The micro-environment includes your customers, suppliers, etc. interact. It is the world you customers belong. A competitors weakness translates into an opportunity. This is not a strategy. An opportunity is a favorable external circumstance that you may pursue, where a strategy is not external and is part of your organization’s big picture quest.

Check out these factors when confronted with opportunities. Dreams are just dreams. Good opportunities are well-thought out choices that may transform your business.

Business and the Artist: The Butterflies of our Society

You’ve probably heard of the story about an old man and the cocoon. He watched the cocoon for days, and then it started to move. The butterfly struggled, so the old man slit the cocoon to let the butterfly out. The butterfly emerged underdeveloped with weak wings. The reason was that the butterfly needed to forcefully squeeze through a small whole to open circulation to its wings. The man deprived it of this process. The struggle for life gave it life.

I have worked as an entertainment business manager since 1985. For the last 15 years I have helped artists strategically position themselves in new business ventures. What I have found is those who do not start out with easy financing (parents for example), tend to have a better chance of success. From a CPA business manager prospective, the adage, “easy come, easy go” has somewhat predicted the ventures. Even though our firm works as consultants, I usually take an emotional stake in my projects because I want to see them succeed. Most entertainment CPA business managers don’t do what we do, but come in after the business is funded. We have found that entering after the initial planning stage is too late.

From an entertainment CPA business manager point of view, here are some steps I suggest you take before opening up your next venture:

Research your proposed industry thoroughly: You should start by speaking to people in the industry that you trust. Don’t be afraid to ask the difficult questions, and don’t bury your head in the sand. Try to find statistics or news of your competitors and the industry you are venturing in. Most important, speak to your target market. Find out what the industry is not providing to them, and what the industry is providing to them that is unnecessary.
Find people in areas you lack expertise: If you have areas that are outside your expertise, bring in people who can fill those weaknesses. They may sign on and be a major stakeholder for you once you get started.
Develop a strategic plan with a long range vision: Start 20 years or more from now and describe a vision that is more than making money. Are you out to change communication and entertainment by putting it in the palms of every person like Steve Jobs? Once your vision and horizon is set, work backwards and set milestones. You should end on your first day of business.
Consolidate a team: If there are others that will help you, line them up and get them on board. It will show your investors that this business is more than you.
Build a business plan: A business plan is not a strategy, but a management tool. It starts today and works forward for five years. It is essential that you include the cash flow of the first twelve months. This is when businesses struggle to stay afloat. Make sure your business plan milestones correspond to your strategic milestones. Insert your team bios along with your bio.
Present the package: Now you can go to your money people. Practice your dog and pony show. A video or slide show can help bring the message across.

Like moving from a worm to a butterfly, artists must go through the “pain” before the doors open. The more pain you endure, then better informed you will be when you meet your investors and launch the enterprise.

As CPA entertainments business managers, we have seen failed ventures that did not take these steps. By engaging in this practice, it does not guaranty success, but will at least give you the wings to soar a little higher.

The Strategy of Looking Backwards

Have you ever driven a car towing a trailer and then tried to back up? Your senses got jumbled. Even though your mind told you to steer left, you had to steer right to move the back end of the trailer in the direction you wanted to go.

Recently, the Association for Strategic Planning, Los Angeles chapter, hosted two excellent strategist who spoke from the future. Ivan Rosenberg and Daniel Feiman discussed strategic planning by looking at the future and working backwards. Both speakers contributed to The Book on Business from A to Z, the 260 Most Important Answers You Need to Know. The book is nominated for E-book of the year.

Of the seven points they discussed about “seeing the future” to plan the strategy of today, the one that interested me the most was the “vision.” The speakers not only explained that a vision should be inspiring, but should be much broader and much, much farther in the future than a standard business plan.

Now, most strategist know that a business plan is a management document, not a strategy document. However, this “vision” approach helps look between the lines of the business plan in promoting to the world what the business believes in, not just what it sells.

As our speakers said, if you start from the future, and that is 20+ years, you can design the strategy and tactics necessary to get there, today. Jim Collins describes this as his Big Hairy Audacious Goals in his book, Built to Last. As Jim quoted Teddy Roosevelt, ” Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, not defeat.”

When designing a business plan, think strategically. When implementing strategy, build a business plan. Normally, business plans look forward starting at a current place in time. However, if you start a business plan by strategizing from the future, you create a new dimension of striving for a vision that surpasses the limited confines of a normal business plan.

Most small and medium-sized businesses find this concept foreign because businesses usually only want to know two things: 1) What are my sales? And 2) Do I have enough money to make payroll?

When these businesses focus on only the ground in front of them, they fail to see the direction they are travelling until they drive off a cliff. And then it is too late.

CPA Tips: Tax Extensions and Payment Options

CPAs work hard this time of year, but for those of you who do not (or cannot) get your taxes done in time, here are some options that are listed on the IRS site. But don’t wait, the post office will be a mess if you decide to mail something in.

If you need more time to file your return, you can get an automatic
six-month extension of time to file from the IRS. You must file for an
extension by the April deadline. An extension will give you extra time
to get your paperwork to the IRS, but it does not extend the time you have to
pay any tax due. You will owe interest on any amount not paid by the deadline,
plus you may owe penalties. To get an extension:

• IRS Free File – Traditional Free File and Free File
Fillable Forms can both be used to file an extension for FREE. Access the
Free File page at www.irs.gov.

• IRS e-file – Use IRS e-file to request an extension by
using tax preparation software on your own computer or by going to a tax
preparer.

• Form to File – Mail in IRS Form 4868, Application for
Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. It must
be postmarked by April 15, 2013. A CPA can create this for you with your authorization. Just provide your name, address, and social security numbers.

Taxpayers that are ready to file their returns and those that have already
filed and need to pay a tax bill have payment options:

• E-file – File electronically and authorize an electronic
funds withdrawal via tax preparation software or a tax professional. Your CPA can explain the situations when the State of California require mandatory electronic payments.

• Phone – Pay by phone or online using a credit card.

• Mail – Pay by check or money order made payable to the
“United States Treasury.” Be sure to include your name, address, Social
Security number listed first on the tax form, daytime telephone number, tax
year and form number. Complete and include Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher, when
mailing your payment to the IRS.

If you owe tax with your federal tax return, but can’t afford to pay it all
when you file, the IRS has options to help you keep interest and penalties to a
minimum. File your return on time and pay as much as you can with the return,
then:

• Request an installment agreement – Use the Online Payment
Agreement application at www.irs.gov
or by file Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request with your return. The IRS
charges a user fee to set up your payment agreement. Your CPA can represent you on setting this up, but you need to provide a Power of Attorney.

• Additional time to pay – You may request a short
additional time to pay your tax in full using the Online Payment Agreement
application on www.irs.gov.
Taxpayers who request and are granted an additional 120 days to pay the tax in
full generally will pay less in penalties and interest than if the debt were
repaid through an installment agreement over a greater period of time. There is
no fee for this short extension of time to pay.

• Extension of time to pay – Qualifying individuals may
request an extension of time to pay and have late payment penalties waived as
part of the IRS Fresh Start initiative. To see if you qualify visit www.irs.gov
and get Form 1127-A, Application for Extension of Time for Payment. This
application must be filed by April 15, 2013.

CPA’s are always trying to get client’s to plan ahead whether they have businesses, or not. If you are running late this year, this would be a good opportunity to start preparing for 2013. You can accumulate receipts in envelopes and start EXCEL spreadsheets to keep track of them. The reward will not only be your peace of mind, but also you may save more money in taxes next year.

All situations are different, so discuss this with a tax professional before making any decisions.

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