July, 2016

We took some time off, but we're back:

The president of Viser accepted a position with a non-profit organization in September, 2014, so most product development was put on hold while he focused on that opportunity. During our absence, we noticed Viser's free tools were being used by thousands, and we're happy so many small business owners found the tools helpful.

1st release of SBPFS 1.0 will be for Non-profit Organizations:

We perceive non-profits as an under-served market, so we're going to focus on building a user-friendly, useful product for them. Pricing is still under consideration. Our goal is to set pricing in a way that it won't be a factor in the purchasing decision. This product will be very helpful to the non-profit community, and we'd like to get it into as many hands as possible.

App of the Month:

We highlighting a different business tool each month. We often focus on new, updated, or more popular tools:
Body-fat % Calculator:
This is a frightening tool created for SportsFitnessTips.com. Its a great Wellness tool though, because body-fat % is a much better measurement, than the scale, of progress in the gym. This tool has been found to be more accurate than many hand-held censors.

August, 2014

We're making progress on SBPFS 1.0:

'SBPFS 1.0' is a working title: We'll get a marketing dude to come up with a better name soon; maybe. For now, the name points out that we now own 'SBPFS.com', aka
Small Business Projected Financial Statements .com.
We're happy to have this tiny URL, which will be pointed to our beta product very soon!

We're making great progress on the development of our projection software. We hope to be in beta before the end of the year: In fact, we're launching a KickStarter Campaign to help make that happen. The KickStarter will allow you to pre-order our software at a huge discount! We'll post the link as soon as the campaign goes live.
Our Newsletter has more details about the beta product and the KickStarter. E-mail us you'd like to receive the newsletter. Subscribers get development details and inside information that's not shared on Facebook or anywhere else.

App of the Month:

We highlighting a different business tool each month. We often focus on new, updated, or more popular tools:
Financial Ratios and Indicators:
We recently updated our Financial Ratios page in anticipation of SBPFS 1.0. Most of these ratios will be included in the projection app, to help with financial analysis.
FYI: These apps will remain free to use online, even after the release of our financial modeling software (SBPFS 1.0). We are committed to providing excellent business tools for the small business community - Some that are free, and some that are extremely affordable.

Viser's menu is getting upgraded:

I don't like the way our menu looks on phones and small devices, so we're going to fix it. The new menu should be ready by the middle of August; it will also make room for an endorsement that was promised on our KickStarter Program.

March, 2014

Viser gets a 'facelift':

Please join me in welcoming Viser's web-site to the year 2012! Great job guys!! Now let's finish the projection software!
(We plan to have an announcement about development progress very soon.)

Tool of the Month:

We're going to start highlighting a different tool each month, till we run out of tools. Hint: We may never run out bacause we add new tools quite often.
Expense Report:
This is a simple and useful form with a twist; it also drafts a proposed journal entry for you! The proposed journal entry also accounts for credit card receipts and cash advances, if they are disclosed on the report.
Feel free to use it online anytime!

December, 2013

There are some new tools on our 'Free Tools' menu:

We added several new tools to our web-site, and updated several others. Here are a couple favorites, though they are not technically business tools: We were recently hired to build a music sheet transposition algorithm (in Java), and that inspired us to build these HTML-based tools.
The transposition wheel is our favorite because it serves as a quick guide as well as a great teaching tool. We hope you find both tools useful!

September, 2013

401kTest.com partners with NH Hicks to provide more comprehensive Tech Support:

401kTest was developed by Viser Business Tools, so we like to keep tabs on them.
NH Hicks, a national TPA firm headquartered in CA, is under-writing 401kTest.com’s interim testing service beginning Monday, September 16th. They also agreed to provide assistance with testing and strategic planning at a reasonable hourly rate.

"401kTest had been searching for a good TPA since August, 2010, and we're happy the search is over. NH Hicks was an easy choice to make because they had everything we were looking for on behalf of our clients: We're looking forward to working with NH Hicks, and we’d strongly recommend them to anyone who needs a great TPA."

Contact NH Hicks at 800.310.4975 for more information about their services, fees, or their commitment to the small business community.
Contact 401kTest.com at info@401ktest.com for information about how this relationship will affect their testing service.

October, 2012

Our tax tools have been updated for 2012.

The 2011 tax preparation season is coming to a close, and tax planning season is almost upon us; so most of our tax tools have now been updated for 2012.
The personal tax preparation tool hasn't been updated yet, but we're planning to update it after the extended deadline for the 2011 filing season.
Be advised, however, that tax law changes more often than it used to; and changes are more often made retroactive. This trend makes tax planning more difficult and less accurate than it used to be.

Add our tools to your web-site free of charge!

Our online tools can be seamlessly added to your site at no charge. Just check above or below your favorite tools for a Hyperlink: When you hover over the link, a text-box appears: Simply copy the code from this text-box and paste it anywhere on your web-site. The tool will then appear on your site - it becomes available to your audience.
You can still purchase (most of our tools as a separate web-page, or as a spreadsheet), but this give you an alternative that is free and extremely easy.

August, 2012

The release of our projection software has been postponed:

We've been talking about the beta product release for some time now, but I'm sorry to report that we're abandoning that project and starting from scratch.
Ultimately; the look, feel, and functionality of (the program and the platform) didn't 'make the grade'.

The business man in me knows this product would attract a big audience and make money; but the developer in me refuses to release the code till it exceeds our minimal expectations.

Ultimately; we're going to produce one of the best projection and planning products on the market, and we're going to price it so the small business community can easily afford it.

We'll keep you up to date on our progress. Stay tuned!

February, 2012

Our Projection Software will be released 'soon'!

We've been testing our software internally since October; and we're almost ready to release it to the general public!
Here’s the proposed release schedule and some highlights: Viser has the best financial projection/analysis software available, and we’re pricing it so anyone can afford it.

Check out this article about marketing opportunities in Social Media.

The guys at University of Notre Dame wrote a guest post for visitors of our web-site:

The 4 T's of a Successful Social Media Strategy.

Let us know if you find the article informative and helpful. We ask them to write more.

October, 2011

We need Beta Testers!

Please contact us if you would like to test our software and receive referrals from your area.
Test whatever functions you would like. All feedback is encouraged - positive and negative.
We'll provide the following benefits for each tester: We would like your feedback regarding ease of use, accuracy, efficiency, and/or analytical value. Feel free to compare us to Excel, Sageworks, Oracle, solutions provided by accounting packages, or whatever budgeting/financial solution you are familiar with. We have a number of great endorsements already, based on our alpha product.

Our beta product will be online within days. Please contact us if you would like us to notify you when it's ready.

Our mission is to provide sophisticated tools to the small business community at a price that anyone can afford.


If you've followed Viser's progress, you’ve probably figured this out already:
We are believers. We're fanatics!
Our goal is to help the small business community on a national scale: The individual businesses, plus the CPAs and consultants who serve them. Our new product will give them excellent predictive and analytical tools at a price they are willing to pay; and that will improve their profitability and their chances of success!

We're days away from testing the beta version of our cloud-based projection / financial analysis solution. Viser is a very exciting place to work right now, and we're eager to get this product in your hands!

Stay tuned!

September, 2011

Our Projection/Financial Analysis Software is coming soon!

We should be in beta by the middle of October! We were hoping to be finished in September, but in late August we chose to add additional features to this release. At that point we became more focused on quality and less concerned with the deadline, and I started telling prospective investors we might not be finished till November; but thanks to the tireless efforts of Stratus Innovations, we're only a couple weeks behind schedule!

We've been using a design-build process to make improvements and build the cloud-based architecture. Design-build can be frustrating but, with the right team, the creative synergies can harvest unimaginable results. That was our experience with 401kTest.com, and we're getting the similar results now!

BeyondSoftware.com customers will soon have access to the best budgeting software available - Ours!
We finished setting up the interface with their accounting software in early September.
We will create import and export functions for a number of accounting software packages. We’ll publish a list of compatible software companies after our projection has been released. If your software isn't on our list, try using the procedures for QuickBooks or PeachTree. Many packages use the same conventions, since (QB & PT) represent such a large segment of the small business market.


DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS:
Our final product bares almost no resemblance to the projection we started with 20 years ago. Since that first experiment with predictive algorithms, we added 20 years of work; and we now have a product that rivals all others at any price!

Here are some of the features included in this release of our projection/analysis software: There is no better projection/analysis tool at any price! and we’re proud to bring it to the small business community.

July, 2011

Tax Updates and Summer Projects.

We just wanted to update you on a few tax items, and let you know what we’ve been up to since April 15th.

Company News. We’ve been busy!

We are creating an affordable suite of services for the small business community. Here are a couple projects we’ve been working on:

We now have a great 401k for businesses with 2 to 200 employees.
Our 401k is as inexpensive as an SEP or a Simple!
The administration cost is only $400 per year! and investment costs are also very low. We’re using TD Ameritrade as our custodian and we provide almost unlimited investment options: You can even invest in stock if you want!
You can also use your current investment advisor if you want. We’ll work with almost anyone, and we fully disclose all fees (even though congress doesn’t require fee disclosure yet).
Here’s the bottom line: We spent 2 years interviewing providers and exploring all 401k design options available.
If your company wants a 401k; we truly have the best product available, and we’d be glad to help you. Contact us at your convenience and we'll set everything up for you.

Our online projection software will be released in weeks!
We‘ received the funding needed to finish our projection template, so we’ll be working hard to complete this project by the end of the summer...... The last day of summer is in October or November, right?
We’ve done a few presentations with the Alpha version of our projection template, and everyone has been impressed.
Please contact us if you would like a demonstration of our projection tool.
The 4-year projection includes cash-flow forecasting, ratio analysis, and comparison to industry averages by NAISC code. You’d have to spend $20,000 to get a better analysis tool, and our starting price is going to be less than $500!

Tax Updates:

The Standard Mileage rate was increased.
Effective July 1st, the Business mileage deduction is 55.5 cents a mile - 4.5 cents a mile higher than in January thru June. So if you deduct travel expenses using mileage, You should keep track of total miles incurred before and after July 1st.
Click this link to see the mileage table for more than 10 years: Standard Mileage for the last 10 years or so.

Energy Credits are still with us.
As I type this, homeowners will still get up to a 30% tax credit for “qualifying improvements” like windows, heating, a/c, insulation, etc.. You will receive a manufacturer’s certificate if an item qualifies. The maximum credit is $1,500. A word of caution: Major last-minute changes in the tax code were made retroactive last year. With this precedent in mind, we have to wait till tax season to provide definative guidance about certain deductions and credits.

Tax notices are on the increase, unfortunately.
Federal, State and local governments have dramatically increased the number of tax notices generated each year.
If you get a notice; please keep these tips in mind:
If you have a problem with any government agency, we’re happy to help! If an issue becomes a matter that must be settled in court (or thru an offer-in-compromise), we’ll help you find a representative that can efficiently walk you thru the process.

April, 2011

As the tax season comes to a close, we’re turning our attention toward 2011.
Here are a few items to think about, including a couple deductions that are often missed:

• Taxes have been ‘raised’ & withholdings were lowered; so you should consider lowering your exemptions: Most of you will be affected by the elimination of the ‘Making work pay credit’ in 2011: This was a refundable credit of up to $400 for individuals and $800 for families. The credit affected everyone who made less than $95,000 per person. That’s most of us, right? But that’s not all!
  Federal payroll withholdings were lowered. These two changes could affect your federal tax position by $1,500 or more depending on your situation.
  If you want to bring up your withholdings, I’d suggest the following course of action:
  • Compare a check stub from last year to this year, assuming they are about the same rate of pay. Note the difference in Federal taxes withheld.
  • Add $10 to $30 to that difference. This is the amount you may want to add to your federal withholdings this year.
  • Keep in mind that we are already in the 4th month of the year, so you may want to increase the difference by 25%.
  • This paycheck calculation tool will help you decide what to claim on your W-4. Paycheck Calculator This paycheck calculator is accurate to the penny in the state of Ohio. Those outside Ohio can use the Federal withholding status as a guideline.
• Keep track of your charitable mileage and un-reimbursed expenses:
  Whether it’s teaching a bible study, visiting a homeless shelter, or joining a big brother program, you can deduct mileage and expenses as a charitable deduction.
• License renewals have become more expensive in Ohio, and part of the cost is tax deductible:
  Please take note of all taxes paid on your license renewals for cars, boats, motorcycles, etc.. These expenses could be deductible and they could save you as much as 35 cents on the dollar in 2011. Every little bit helps, after all.

February, 2011

Bartering (instead of exchanging cash) doesn't reduce your tax liability:
Tax accountants often take the role of (bearer of bad news). This message from our tax department is a perfect example.
Here are some highlights about the taxable nature of bartering: Excessive bartering as a means to avoid income tax can actually create additional reporting requirements, which can be time-consuming. In addition; Failure to comply with those reporting requirements will create the opportunity for failure to file penalties.

January, 2011

1099 repeal finally in sight!
In an 81-17 vote, the U.S. Senate soundly approved an amendment to remove the 1099 requirement from the health care reform law that would place an overly burdensome requirement on businesses beginning in 2012.
Published by the OSCPA....


January 3, 2011:
Viser Developed an HCE Refund Calculator for customers of 401ktest.com

We are pleased to announce that our HCE Refund Calculator is accurate, fast, & more user-friendly than we hoped! This new tool was developed exclusively for the clients of 401ktest.com.
The HCE Refund calculator will save customers a great deal of time and it will eliminate spreadsheet formula errors.

The beta product is located here:
http://www.401ktest.com/images/401kref/401kref.htm
It will be re-located to its final destination this Friday afternoon.

Please provide 401kTest.com with any comments or testimonials before Friday, January 7th. They plan to publish some testimonials on their home-page, so please also provide your company name and URL. Please feel free to contact them at info @ 401test.com if you need any more information.

Comments from earlier testers have been very positive. One TPA said he's not aware of another functional HCE refund tool in the country, though many have tried to get it right. We feel fortunate that we found a way to develop this extremely important tool for the small business community.

December, 2010

Tax Compromise Good For The Economy
Congress finally came through for American businesses and families last week when it voted to extend current tax rates for two years. By doing so, lawmakers did their part to prevent one of the largest tax increases in our nation’s history and significantly decreased the likelihood that the country would experience a double-dip recession. This is also a major step toward eliminating the uncertainty that is preventing our employers from hiring, investing, and growing their businesses.

Among the most noteworthy provisions of the bill is an extension of current income tax rates. If signed into law, businesses and families alike would be able to enter the New Year without a massive tax hike. Successful small businesses would have been hit especially hard—approximately half of the business income likely to be reported in 2011 would fall into one of the top two tax brackets, both of which were set to increase. Low- and middle-income families would likewise have felt the sting of rising taxes, which would have further depressed consumer spending.

This package also includes a number of other important components that would encourage investment and drive economic growth. Tax rates for long-term capital gains and dividends would be extended, helping businesses that need capital, as well as the millions of Americans who have invested for their retirement. The death tax would be modified to include a $5 million exemption and a reduced rate, helping to ensure that family businesses can be passed along to the next generation. Finally, the bill includes certain business tax extenders, such as the R&D tax credit and an expensing provision.

While this tax bill is far from perfect—the Chamber would prefer a permanent extension of current tax rates—it would nevertheless bolster our economy. The Chamber hopes that Congress uses the next two years to have a serious discussion about the need for a simpler, fairer, and less burdensome tax system that rewards savings and investment. A reformed tax code would make the United States more competitive in the global economy, make compliance easier, and save Americans from the billions of hours they spend each year preparing their taxes.

President Obama and those members of Congress who supported this bill are to be applauded for letting economic common sense prevail. Let’s hope that this is the first of many bipartisan agreements that can move our economy—and our country—forward.
http://www.uschambermagazine.com/article/tax-compromise-good-for-the-economy?n=w

November, 2010

We upgraded many of our tools and added a half dozen more.
Most of our attention was spent on the Entity Planning Tool. Plus; we made this tool available online for the first time. I hope you find it helpful; but keep in mind that enitty planning is extremely subjective to annual tax law changes. IE: This tool will need to be updated again when the dust settles in early 2011.

Take a look at all our Free online tools and calculators at your convenience. They are accurate, helpful, and they will save you a ton of time!

October, 2010

We added a couple tools to our inventory!
There are more to come, especially when we focus our attention on updating our tax tools; but we wanted to share our newest tools with you:

Savings Planning Guide:
Use this to help you decide how much to save for any kind of need in the future: College Tuition, Retirement, a Wedding, a downpayment on your first house, etc..

Our Paycheck Calculator has been updated to the new browser format!
Use this to calculate the net effect of a raise, see the effect of a 401k withholding, to calculate a severence pay, or any number of other things. This tool is accurate to the penny in the State of Ohio, and it's very accurate for anyone in the US!

September, 2010

What tool would you like us to develop next?
We try to be very deliberate about the tools we develop. We're not interested in creating something that is not going to be used, so we appreciate your input.

Take a look at the our current inventory of tools, and then let us know what else you'd like to see. Here are a few things we're thinking about adding, based on input from clients and online users: Please contact us with your ideas. Whether you are a client or a free-online user, we still appreciate your input.

August, 2010

I just read a Salesman’s Description of Oracle’s Projection Software,
and he Could Have Been Describing our Product!
Our software is much more user-friendly, though.

I occasionally check blogs and business networking sites to see what other business software companies are doing. An Oracle rep. was listing the features of their product and talking about how infinitely more stable it is than internally developed excel spreadsheets.
I'm sure Oracle is more comprehensive than our product: After all, Oracle's solution can cost $250,000. But I was surprised at the similarities regarding the way each of our products calculate and present projected financial information. Based on what I read, Oracle sounds like a good solution for $100mm businesses.


Progress on the Effort to Re-tool our Product Delivery Architecture:
Last May we announced that our production tools will be made available as an online service, rather than a product download. We are still on track to have a beta product ready well before the end of the year, but we don't yet have a solid completion date.

We're very excited to bring this product to the market-place, and we're committed to keeping the price at a level that everyone can afford, but we don't want to release it till it's ready.
Please check back for progress updates.
Please also let us know if you'd like to be a beta tester. Beta testers will get receive a 6-month license at a drastic reduction. The license will then be extended by 12 months when we get your feedback in writing: We'll need a brief testimonial and a detailed report regarding what you liked and, more importantly, what improvements or changes you'd like to see.

Click here if you'd like to read about our feature-rich projection software.

July, 2010

Sbpfs.com now provides business tools that can be placed on your web-site! We've been providing free online tools to consultants and business owners since we started business in 2008; but now we've taken our commitment to the small business community a step further:

Most of our tools can now be purchased as a .html web-page and added to your company's web-site!

Our tools provide a great way to improve your web-sites visibility, provide a value added service to your clients, increase your web traffic, and improve your professional image.

Sbpfs.com is dedicated to providing relevant cost and time saving tools at a price that's affordable to everyone who serves the Small Business Community.
Please click here to purchase a web-tool online.


The US Chamber of Commerce Cautions Against Government Regulation:
Click this link to see the full article: Us Chamber Article

May , 2010:

Click any of the following hyperlinks to see details on each topic listed:

Our projection tools have been taken off the market temporarily.
Our online tools have been converted to a more secure platform!
Taxes are getting more complicated.
Highlights from the new Health Care Reform Act

This is the first Newsletter we've published since the end of tax season, so we published more information than usual. We hope you find this newsletter useful. Please contact if you need any more information, or if we can be of service to you or your company.


Our projection templates have been taken off the market temporarily:
We're changing the delivery method of our Projection software; but till the new platform is ready, we adjusted the price of our Templates to reflect the value of a multi-user license to a strategic buyer: The updated price of each projection also reflects the value as appraised by an independent business consultant.
Please contact us if you need a Projection. We do dozens of business plans every year, so please visit our Projections Page if you need a budget, a business plan, or a projection. There you will find instructions regarding what information we would need to prepare a projection for you.
We would be happy to help you with your project.

Our online tools have been converted to a more stable platform:
We have completed phase I of a very aggressive development schedule! Our online tools are now presented in a platform that can be viewed and used by most browsers. This project took a considerable amount of time, money and planning; and it brings us closer to developing the new platform for our Projection tools.
We're very excited about making these tools affordable and accessible. I hope you find them as useful we do!

Taxes are getting even more complicated:
Tax season was unusual this year due to added complexity in the IRS code. This complexity is unfortunate for many reasons:

• It takes longer to prepare a typical tax return.
• In many cases, the complexity has no clear purpose.
• Additionally, the tax code often creates unusual, unintended, and blatantly unfair consequences.
  Families (making $75,000 or less) often get back more money than they paid in to the IRS (aka Welfare). This happens because of the growing number of “refundable credits” like the Child Care Credit, the Making Work Pay Credit, the Earned Income Credit, Education Credit, and more! These refundable credits put many Americans in an awkward and embarrassing position. IE: I think most people would like to pay something toward the operation and defense of their country; just not too much!
  
  There’s also a HUD credit which makes it cheap and easy for almost anyone to buy a new home. The program makes some homes eligible for a 30% credit on interest paid for the life of the loan: Thanks to this tax credit, a home that was taken from a family in foreclosure can be (sold at auction for pennies on the dollar) to a kid working at McDonalds: A person making minimum wage could afford to buy a home by taking advantage of this HUD Credit.

I’m not sure what will encourage Washington to simplify the tax code and lift the administrative burden off its citizens. Perhaps it would shake things up if America voted to replace every congressman in Washington; but that might never happen. Without true reform (or rather, a revival of moral character), things will not get better in Washington. In fact, the newly passed Health-care reform bill is another example of tax legislation gone awry.

Health Care Reform Highlights:
While attempting to understand the new Health Care legislation, I focused on changes taking effect in the current year, or next year in some cases. I believe much of the 'reforms' that are effective in 2018, etc. will not take place; so I don't want to spend much time worrying about them yet.
You may be surprised to learn that all the changes effective in 2010 are tax changes. Most of the tax changes do not directly relate to health care, but some of the tax changes will raise the price of health care:

• Small Business Health Insurance Credit:
  If you have 25 employees or less, you could be eligible for a tax credit of up to 35% of employer-paid premiums! We attached a worksheet HERE to help you find out if you are eligible for the health insurance credit.
  Please note; we don't recommend altering business practices just to maximize tax savings. In fact; costly mistakes can be made when you start chasing after tax deductions.
  Conduct your business with integrity; in a way that serves the best interest of your clients, employees, shareholders and your community.
  This is the only key to success in business.
• Non-profit Hospitals Can No Longer Count Bad-Debt Write-offs as a Charitable Operation!
  Each year, a non-profit organization must file a form demonstrating how much of their operations went toward charitable causes. till now, a hospital could write a bill off for a patient and count that as a charitable function. As hard as it might be to believe, this is no longer the case. According to the new reforms, once a bill is sent, the care provided to that patient can not be listed as charitable, even if the Hospital writes off the debt later. Hospitals must now determine their charity cases ahead of time.
  I don't know if this legislation will usher in the death of all not-for-profit hospitals, but it certainly makes it expensive and difficult for a non-profit hospital to defend its non-profit status. If the non-profit hospitals do survive, the additional overhead expense will be passed on the consumer - IE: Medical Costs will increase.
  You can no longer buy over-the-counter medicine thru your HSA:
  This change (which takes effect in 2011) will encourage more people to use prescription medication, which will raise the price of prescriptions. Higher prescription costs will mean higher insurance cost and higher health care costs in general.

December, 2009:

We're adding a subscription option for our Projection Tools!
Our Financial modeling are going to be available as an online service. This way, you won't have to buy the product as a single user license any longer. You can just buy access to the program for a period of time.
The Spreadsheets are still avialable as a single-user license, but please note! The single user license does not give you the right to redistribute, repackage or resell our software in any way, shape or form! If anyone attempts to resell any portion of our software as their own, we will impose a royalty of 60% on the gross proceeds of such a sale. It took us 1,000s of hours to develop our projections. Many of our copyrights date back to the late 80s.

November, 2009:

Taxes are Getting More Complicated:
There have been number of proposed changes for the 2009 tax year – Tax credits, a tax surcharge, and reductions in itemized deductions have been proposed; but few things are certain right now:

• Tax notices are on the increase, and the IRS is less likely to abate penalties and interest. A number of colleagues have complained about the increase in tax notices this year.
• Energy credits are back! I think there will be further changes; but for now I understand that (purchases qualifying for an energy credit) have to be certified as eligible. IE: an energy-efficient window doesn’t count unless you get a certificate of eligibility. Some also speculate that the credit for a refrigerator purchase will be taken away if you don’t turn your old refrigerator in.
• The 2009 standard mileage rate is still 55 cents per mile. Please refer to our chart for a complete listing of mileage rates for 2009 and many previous years as well. www.projectedfinancialstatements.com/pages/mileage.asp

Tax planning:
Attention Business Owners in Central Ohio:
Tax planning should be done before the end of the year. If you made significantly more (or less) than last year, if you have a C-Corporation, or if you are unsure about your 4th quarter estimate; then please contact us to schedule an appointment. We’ll be scheduling tax plans to start in the second week of November.

New Tools and Features Added this Summer & Fall:
We’ve been very busy developing new business tools and adding new features to our existing tools:

• The expense report was improved. Just enter odometer readings and mileage cost is calculated for you. The report also writes a proposed journal entry to help you enter information in your accounting system.
  
  
• A loan refinancing analysis tool was added to one of the Loan Schedules. Get an objective look at whether a refinance deal is going to save money for your unique situation.
  
  
• A Sample Chart of accounts was added. This chart is designed for a Corporation. We plan to add templates for LLCs and S-Corps before the end of the year.
  
  
• Some changes were made to the entity planning guide.
  
  
• Tax planning tools were added. Single-owner companies can now do their own tax planning and tax estimate calculations using our tools available online. (The same tools we use to prepare tax plans for S-Corps, C-Corps, and LLCs) have been developed into a user-friendly format and made available for a very low fee.
  
  
• We added a Sales Tax Calculation Tool! The simple sales tax calculation is available, but we also included a second category with an algorithm that segregates gross collections into two categories: Gross Sales and Sales Tax Collected. Some vendors don’t collect sales tax separately on their taxable sales – especially at trade shows, etc.. The sales tax tool will be very helpful in cases like this!
  
  
• We added a few helpful features to our Projection Software!
  I won’t elaborate on the details, but we haven’t made this many changes to our Projections since our first attempt to re-tool them as a do-it-yourself product! Feel free to check out our August Announcements if you would like more details. I may be biased, but I don’t think you’ll find a better financial modeling template anywhere!

October, 2009:

Featured Link - Outright Bookkeeping Software
Outright offers a concise, organized and user-friendly system for compiling and tracking revenue and expenses for contractors and sole-proprietors. There are a number of other tools designed to help make bookkeeping and tax compliance less time-consuming.
For a limited time, Outright offers the following:
Free Bookkeeping; Free Web Address; and a Free Business Web Page!

We updated our Free Tools and Projections page:
The Free Tools page was made more user-friendly for frequent users. The main menu was condensed so it displays on a single frame. Hyperlinks were added to each menu item: The links take you directly to the specific tool you need. Some tools are not available to use free online: Those hyperlinks will take you to a demonstration or marketing page.

The Projections page was also updated to provide more information in the first frame. Hyperlinks take you to demo files or to more details about any items of interest.

Is it time to move to another State?
The link below shows you the tax rates of each state in this great country of ours!
Find out how your state compares with others.
State tax rates

IRS announced 2010 limits for retirement plans:
The new limits have been posted on 401ktest.com, but I can save you some time: The 2010 limits are the same as 2009. There wasn't much inflation in 2009, so the limits were not adjusted.

September, 2009:

We'll keep providing our free business tools as long as you keep using them!
Many of the tools we use in-house are available online at no charge. Feel free to use these tools as often as you like. If you find them useful, please also tell your associates about them. We recieve revenue from the ads along the outside columns, and Advertising revenue has been climbing steadily, so thank you!
Ad revenue is sufficient to keep our current tools available and free online! If popularity and revenue keeps increasing, we'll devote more time to development and improvement of these tools for your convenience.
Not all our tools are free, but they are all affordable! Please visit our Free Tools Page for a list of tools and tables provided as a service to the small business community.



Federal Quarterly Estimates are Due September 15th!
For those who pay quarterly estimates, I just wanted to alert you that an important deadline is looming. September 15th is the federal deadline for 3rd quarter estimates. State and City estimates may be a little later, depending on where you live.

We have a very affordable tool available to help you calculate estimates yourself. Here’s the link:
http://www.projectedfinancialstatements.com/pages/freetools.asp Click on ‘Tax Tools’ (or scroll down).

Details:
If you are a sole proprietor or a shareholder in an S-Corp or an LLC, you may have to pay quarterly estimates. You could also be required to pay estimates under a number of other circumstances:

If you have investment activity – other than a retirement account.

Do you make money as a contractor? IE: No tax was withheld.

If you have rental property, or you rent rooms in your primary residence.

This is not an exhaustive list!
Quarterly estimates are required for anyone who doesn’t have enough withheld from their paycheck, no matter what the reason. Federal, State and City governments would like you pay income taxes ‘as you go’, rather than at the end of the year. If you wait till the end of the year to pay your taxes, you could be penalized.

The underpayment penalty is generally assessed if you pay less than 100% of the previous year’s tax bill, or 80% of the current year’s taxes, whichever is greater! The government assumes your taxable income was earned evenly throughout the year. This assumption could work in your favor; but if it doesn’t, we can file a form to reduce or eliminate penalties based on actual activity (Form 2210 – Underpayment of estimated tax by Individuals, Estates and Trusts).

The estimate tools available online are the same tools we use in-house. We spent a great deal of time to make them user-friendly enough to be used by anyone.

Most CPAs prepare estimates for their clients at the beginning of the year. These estimates are based on the previous year's tax return and will likely serve to (minimize or eliminate) the underpayment penalty.

Please contact us us if you need any more information or assistance preparing your federal quarterly estimates.

August, 2009:

We added a few helpful features to our Projection Software!
We made some changes in an effort to make the Projections even more user-friendly and interactive!

• A 'Cash-Basis' option was added to the Revenue Collection Formula!
  You've always had the option of changing the collections formula to match your company's expected collections activity. Now you can over-ride the formula and treat collections as if they were Cash-Basis. This is helpful for certain industries, and for small companies who don't extend credit terms to their customers.
• We added an "I" to all page tabs that contain input cells.
  Input page tabs have always been shaded yellow (input cells are also shaded yellow for convenience). We have recently become aware that some spreadsheet programs don't allow their page tabs to be shaded, so we added the (I) as further indication of where input cells are located. This should make the program that much easier to use, especially for those who are not using Excel.
• Depreciation and Interest Expense is rounded to the nearest thousands for years 2 and 3.
  We had been rounding Interest and Depreciation up 4 decimal places in the second and third year, but we moved it down to 3. Our goal is to be accurate without reflecting an misleading level of precision.

Please visit the ProjectedFinancialStatements.com Web-page to view the template or to get more details about how our projections can help your business with budgeting, financing, financial decision-making, etc.
You won't find a better financial modeling template anywhere!


Featured Link - House of the Rock Martial Arts Training Center

We feature a sponsor from our links page each month. We only endorse sponsors with a good reputation in the business community. Please let us know if you have a bad experience with any sponsors. We will investigate your concerns and consider revoking our endorsement.

House of the Rock Martial Arts Training Center
Family-oriented atmosphere. They teach discipline, coordination, and self defense.
The original Shotokan forms are taught to promote superior coordination skills,
and to honor the tradition of the art. Success in a martial arts program looks
very good on a resume and on college entrance applications. It's also a great
way to reduce stress.

June, 24 2009 - More growing pains!

Our credit card processing site was down for an hour this afternoon, but it's back up and running fine!.
While adding a Projected Income Statement to our product list, we found a problem with the "Projected Financial Statements" product: The online ordering page wasn't allowing customers to buy this product. We appologize for this problem, and would like to make it up to you:
Please contact us if you purchased a more expensive projection because you couldn't buy the basic one for $199. We want to give you a Tax Planning/Estimate tool, and a Loan Payment Schedule free of charge!
Don't forget! You can use the discount code 'summer' to get a 25% discount on all our products till August 31st!

June, 2009.

Our web-site was down for almost 2 hours Friday night, May 29th (from 8PM to 10:00PM). We had a 500% increase in activity over the previous week, and it challenged the limits of our servers! We increased the server capacity and will monitor activity more closely to try and make sure this doesn't happen again. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Keep in mind that you can purchase these tools and download them to your PC as a single-user license (not for re-sale). Most of the tools are priced very low, so anyone can afford them. This way your access to these tools won't be dependant on the internet or my servers. The tools can be yours to use or alter at your liesure!

By the way: Why are you working so late on a Friday night anyway?
Actually; I've noticed that no one works harder than the small business community. You guys give me hope for the future!


We just updated our expense report template.
A client asked me to alter the expense report to calculate mileage based on beginning and ending odometer readings. I like the suggestion so I decided to update the report available online also. It's a simple update, but it also saves time! At $4.00, this might be the best deal on the internet!


DO YOU THINK YOUR BOSS EXPECTS TOO MUCH OF YOU?
No matter how well you perform, they will always ask for more. But it's not their fault!

Have you ever been frustrated because you feel like you're doing most the work in your office? You may feel this way because you are actually doing most of the work in your office! There are a number of highly productive employees out there who find themselves doing everything! They feel like they are the only one who cares! The only one who gets anything done!

And what do most over-achievers get for their hard work? Their boss just keeps piling on more work. This can create stress, especially if you feel you're not getting recognition for your efforts.

If you have any of these problems, you may want to read on:

Are you stressed out about work!

Do you worry about losing your job and feel you're the only one who really knows what they are doing?

Do you feel the need to get a new job every 2 years!

Do you have ulcers, indigestion, problems sleeping, (stress related illnesses).

Do you take any medication to help you sleep?
I consulted for a company a few years ago where the recurring topic of conversation was 'which is the best medication to help you sleep?'. Most of these employees were in their 20's! No one should have sleeping problems in their 20's! You should have plenty of natural melatonin to spare!

Why does your boss pick on you?
The bottom line is, your company has to get things done; and it's your boss's job to make sure that happens. If you do something quickly and accurately, you'll be given something else to do. That just makes sense, right?

This word problem may put this concept in perspective. This anecdote was passed around in the 90's, so you may recognize it:

There are 4 people on one side of a river at night. They have one flashlight, and they must get to the other side of the river within 20 minutes. To do this, they must cross a bridge that only supports 2 people at a time. The bridge is 600 yards long!

Bill can cross the bridge in 6 minutes. Jan can do it 2 minutes. It takes Todd 5 minutes, and Brian takes 4 minutes.
You are in charge. How do you get everyone across in 20 minutes or less?

The answer to this problem is un-fair, but it's the only answer that works! Jan has to do all the work. She must escort each person across the bridge with the flashlight.

She takes Bill across and goes back. 8 minutes.

She walks Todd over and returns. 7 minutes.

Finally, she walks Brian across. 4 minutes.
Everyone can cross the bridge with one minute to spare, but only if Jan does all the work! She'll be pretty tired when it's over because she will have traveled almost 2 miles in less than 20 minutes. And who knows what crisis will come up when this one is over!

Using this example, can you see how an office might find itself in a situation like this? Let's stay with this example and talk about possible long-term solutions and probable issues:

What's the long-term solution?
After this critical task is done, the boss should consider re-tooling the office, perhaps with Jan's help. Alternatively, Jan should go to her boss and openly discuss the fact that she is the only "go-to guy" in the office. She should offer help with getting office productivity under control.

They may need to buy a couple extra flashlights,

train Bill, Todd and Brian a little better, and

perhaps build a better bridge!
If nothing is done (as is often the case in the real world), Jan will find herself doing all the work the next time something comes up.

How did the office get in this situation?
There are several important possibilities to consider:

Poor communication among employees and/or with management.

Lack of adequate training.

Little or no re-tooling/reinvestment in the company. They may still be using the same bridge built in 1880 when the company was founded!

Jan may like things this way! She may get a sense of security out of being the only one in the office that can cross the bridge efficiently. Employees can often build an improper sense of security by setting themselves up as the only one in the office that does this or that. Such office practices are detrimental to the company in the long run.

Jan and/or the boss may lack the communication or teamwork skills to create a more efficient office.

The other guys may be truly crappy employees! This is almost never the case. Everyone wants to be good at something! Almost everyone! They just need the proper motivation.

The bottom line is; if you find that you are working too much, it's probably not your bosses fault. At some point you have to take responsibility for creating a more workable position for yourself, and a more healthy office for the company.

Just say no!
But do it nicely!
No one wants you to work yourself into the ground, but you are the only one who truly knows when you are being pushed too hard. So you have to develop two important skill sets. First; You have to communicate respectfully with everyone in the office - whether this takes the form of cross-training, giving work away, organizing your time and sharing your shedule with others, etc.. Secondly; you have to know when to say no.

Years ago; I had a real problem with this issue. Whether it was insecurity or whatever, I had a tough time saying no to my boss, and a tougher time deligating projects to others. Without going into too much detail, I finally realized I needed to take responsibility for my work-schedule. I also realized I would never be able to satisfy my boss. There would always be something else that needed to be done. IE: Ask any boss what they want from you and they will usually say "more". It's just the nature of things; as we discussed previously.

I finally started saying no to projects. The good news is, nothing bad happened. The boss noticed that things weren't flying off my desk like they used to and we discussed it. We delegated some of my responsibilities and things worked out very well for a while. I ended up working with the company for many years! This was the first job I ever worked for more than two years without quitting in frustration!

Years after my paradigm shift, I had an employee who was suffering with the same problems. I couldn’t have asked for a better worker, but she ended up quitting.

Her resume indicated that she changed jobs every 2 to 4 years. Our initial interview went something like this:

Why did you leave that earlier job? “They expected too much of me. I couldn’t keep up.”

And this one? “The job was great at first, but then it became too demanding!”

And the other? “I was working 70 hours a week! Sometimes more! My health was suffering!”

We hired her and she did more than we asked. She was eager to take on more responsibility and before long; she was doing 3 times the work performed by the previous employee. Then it hit me: She’s never going to say no! I’m going to become her future / former boss if I don’t help get her work life under control. I recognized her problem because I used to have it! She settled into a 45 hour work week and spent more time at home with her children. She was one of the best employees I ever had! We ended up working together for 3 years.

Ultimately; I left the position for “greener pastures”. But on my way out, I warned the new CFO that she would burn herself out if he let her. He did let her, and she quit within 6 months!

What was her problem (and mine)?
Insecurity, inability to say “no”, and poor communication skills.

Whether you are the boss who finds yourself taking advantage of this type of person, or whether you find yourself carrying the whole office on your shoulders, I hope these insights provided you with some practical steps for digging your way out of this trap. It may not feel like it, but you are more responsible for your work-schedule than your boss.


Quick tax tip:
If you have an S-Corporation, your Health Insurance Premiums should be FULLY TAX DEDUCTIBLE for FICA, Medicare and Income Taxes. This has been true since early 2008, but many accountants are still operating under the old rules. Please contact us if you need any more information.

March, 2009.

Traditional vs. Roth. Which is better?
We just published a tool to help you decide. And it's free online!

The new Roth v. Traditional tool is one of over a dozen free tools offered for your convenience. Most of these tools have been used by our in-house staff for years. The Roth v Traditional tool was created last fall to help demonstrate the difference between the pre-tax and after tax retirement options.
Feel free to use this tool as often as you like. You can also purchase a single-user license for next to nothing if you'd like to download it to your PC.


Featured Link - ShareASale.com

We feature a sponsor from our links page each month. We only endorse sponsors with a good reputation in the business community. Please let us know if you have a bad experience with any sponsors. We will investigate your concerns and consider revoking our endorsement.

ShareaSale provides an objective sales tracking and commission payment service for web-sites that market their products online. There are over 2,500 merchants currently using ShareaSale to find affiliates and track commission for them. This service is free for affiliates and reasonable for merchants.
IE: You don't have to undergo an independent audit in order to ensure the accuracy of your commission tracking system. If this was the sole reason for your annual audit, then Merchants can save $20,000 a year by joining ShareaSale!
How much is it worth to give your affiliates 100% confidence that all commissions are being tracked and paid accurately?

February, 2009.

Our Payroll Calculation tool has been updated for changes made by the Econimic Stimulus bill! The Economic Stimulus package included a "Making Work Pay Credit", which essentially raises the income limits for the lower tax brackets. Our Payroll Calculator has been updated with the new withholding tables that reflect this new provision.
The Payroll calculation tool is available free as an online tool!
You can also for next to nothing if you'd like to download it to your PC.

We added a few more Financial Tools to our site!
In addition, most of the spreadsheet-based tools are now available for purchase as a single-user license! The prices are kept low enough to be affordable by anyone. IE: You don't have to go online to use the tool, and you can populate it with your data, alter it, study it.... whatever you want. Keep in mind; it's a single-user license, so you can't duplicate it and distribute it to others!
We are happy to make these tools available to the Small Business Community!
We're adding new tools to the site all the time.
Let us know if there's something you'd like us to add!


We are posting a few ads from an affiliate network called Project Wonderful.
Odd name, but a good marketing tool!
We have no control over the Project Wonderful Ads. We wanted to let you know this so you will understand that we can make no assurances regarding the companies listed via the Project Wonderful ads. We are able stipulate that "all ad content must be child-friendly", but this assurance is basically self-policed by the maker of the ad, so there is little comfort in this.

Why are we using Project Wonderful?
• We can target ads to thousands of customers - We're advertising on their site as well as allowing ad space on our sites.
• The ads are based on a daily auction, rather than pay-per-click. If someone really wants to advertize on a certain site (on a certain day), they only have to out-bid the competition.
• There is a large network of companies affiliated with them.
• There's no initiation fee or large deposit requirement to advertize with them. That make is easy on the budget!

January, 2009.

Featured Link - InkPlusToner.com

We feature a sponsor from our links page each month. We only endorse sponsors with a good reputation in the business community. Please let us know if you have a bad experience with any sponsors. We will investigate your concerns and consider revoking our endorsement.

InkPlusToner.com's prices are better than local brick and mortar stores.
If your office goes thru a lot of ink and toner (like ours), give them a try.


Excess 401k Distributions are no longer taxable in the previous year!
There's no need to (wait till 401k testing is done) to prepare your 1040!

In recent years, officers and directors have faced the possibility of amending prior year returns if their 401k failed anti-discrimination testing. Thanks to new provisions in PPA 2006, this has changed for the better!

Here is a brief summary of the new rules regarding excess distributions:

• Distributions are taxable in the year made. Distributions are now on the cash-basis like most taxpayers, which makes things simpler.
• If the plan fails and a company makes the correction prior to March 15th, there’s no penalty on the distribution! Plan failures are expensive enough due to the extra administrative work required to address them. The penalty has always been salt in the wound.
  Point of fact: The excess distribution penalty is paid by the company, not the employees. Premature distribution penalties are paid by employees.
• If your company has automatic enrollment / automatic contribution provisions, you have till June 30th to make the distributions without threat of a 10% penalty. This gives you additional time to re-test the plan! I’m not a big fan of Auto-enrollment plans, this new provision notwithstanding. Hopefully, this later deadline will apply to all 401k plans in the future.

Anyone interested in reading the legalese can refer to PPA section 902(e). It’s a page-turner!

Why the change? Sometimes it's best not to ask that question, but this law change may be helpful under the circumstances our country is in:
Many Companies have abandoned their safe-harbor provisions due to economic concerns, so the IRS is expecting a large number of plan failures this year and next year. This law change will stem the tide of amended 1040s that would have resulted from the plan failures.

December, 2008.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
Thank you for making 2008 a great year for ProjectedFinancialStatements.com! This was the first year we offered our financial modeling template for sale online, and it was very well received: Prior to 2008, we used it as a template for buisiness plans, Projections and Budgets for the small business community.
We are committed to serving the small business community for many years to come!

projectedfinancialstatements and Projected Financial Statements.com wish you all the best for 2009!


Should GM get a bailout?
We just can't keep our opinions to ourselves!
Here's an editorial about the bailout being contemplated by congress. The writer picked on GM, but the argument applies to the big 3 as a whole.

November, 2008.

Are times getting bad?
We wanted to share this editorial written by an associate at Gruber & Company.


The IRS released the standard mileage rates for 2009. The rumor is true - The standard rate went down!

Business use - 55 cents per mile.

Charitable Causes - 14 cents per mile.

Medical - 24 cents per mile.

Moving - 24 cents per mile.
We thought about publishing the mileage rates by year, but we ultimately decided the information wouldn't be useful enough to warrant the effort. Let us know if you'd like to have access to this information. If we get enough feedback we'll reconsider it. This web-site was created for you!


I found this antecdote on the internet this week (therefore it must be true, right?). It rings more true than the account I heard in high school and college:

The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving

William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first organized on a communal basis, as their financiers required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed communally, too, following the "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.

The results were disastrous…………. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was imminent.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste, laziness and inefficiency; and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively.

The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.
Unfortunately, William Bradford's diaries -- in which he recorded the failure of the collectivist system and the triumph of private enterprise -- were lost for many years. When Thanksgiving was later made a national holiday, the present November date was chosen. And the lesson the Pilgrims so painfully learned was, alas, not made a part of the holiday.
Happily, Bradford's diaries were later rediscovered. They're available today in paperback. They tell the real story of Thanksgiving -- how private property and individual initiative saved the Pilgrims.

This Thanksgiving season, one of the many things I'm thankful for is our free market system (imperfectly realized as it is). And I'm also grateful that there are increasing numbers of Americans who are learning the importance of free markets, and who are working to replace government coercion with marketplace cooperation here in America and around the world.

Paul Schmidt
www.freedomkeys.com

PS: A special thanks to long-time Advocate volunteer Cris Everett, who told us about this neglected bit of history several years ago........

If you have evidence that this is not the way things happened, I would very much like to know about it. I've done a little research (very little), and this seems to be the real scoop.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


A sponsor was taken off our site while we investigate claims made by users:
We had some credible complaints about one of our sponsers (Research Now), so their ad has been taken off our site while we investigate the claims.
The ad says a user “Gets paid up to $50 for their opinion”.
I’m told that users actually get credits, which can used to buy products sold on their site.
While this isn't the worst 'bait-and-switch scheme' in the world, I don’t want anything on our site that is even slightly misleading.

We'll give you the results of our findings within a week.

Have a great weekend!


October 2008.

Featured Link - Em Trend Advisors
Technical analysis for institutional (and sophisticated individual) investors. We featured EMtrend recently, but I felt it was appropriate to bring them up again.

Guess who's clients MADE money in the last couple months? EMTrend's newsletters and daily market analysis have been very predictive, as they were last January when things were swinging up and down. Every serious investor should have a trend analyst on their team!

We feature a sponsor from our links page each month. We like to promote sponsors with a good reputation in the business community. Please let us know if you have a bad experience with any sponsors. We will investigate your concerns and consider revoking our endorsement.

Leonard Roman Joins Gruber & Company's CFO-4-hire team

We are happy to announce that Leonard Roman has joined our team of CFOs for hire. Mr. Roman is a retired CPA - He held licenses in CA and NY. He has over 30 years of experience as a CFO and CEO. He also worked with Price Waterhouse for 5 years after college.

Please click here if you are interested in reviewing Mr. Roman's background in more detail.

Vote for the other guy!

(An editorial reaction to HR 1424)
It may be time to fire your congressman!

The 'bailout bill' had 3 pages of so-called bailout provisions and 448 pages of pork, corporate welfare and unfunded mandates. Read the attached article to find out what the bailout bill was all about.

Almost everyone disapproves of the way congress does things, yet most people think their congressman is one of the 'good guys'. If your congressman voted for this bill, he/she is NOT one of the good guys. HR 1424 is a 451 page testament to ineptness and politics as usual.

Send a clear message to Washington.
If your representative voted for this bill, send them home.

September 15th, 2008.
Central Ohio was hit by a massive wind-storm Sunday, so my servers are down as I type this message. In addition, our community sent (most of our generators and utility workers) to Texas to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Ike: This means we'll be down longer than usual for an event like this. We have one generator here, which is enough to power a couple servers and PCs.
We apologize for the loss of service. I'm told we'll be up by Wednesday or Thursday.

For those who live in Central Ohio, I'm sure you'll remember (for some time) where you were when the storm hit. Personally, I was in the last place you'd want to be in a situation like this! I was mountain biking the phase II trail at Alum Creek State Park.
Some friends and I were 3 miles into the woods and had to ride out during the worst of the storm. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, we all made it out in one piece! but there were so many near misses, I felt like I was in a live version of the movie "Final Destination". I've never experienced such an odd storm. No rain or lightning, but massive winds!

I understand there were a number of deaths in Central Ohio as a result of the wind storm. My sympathy and prayers go to the families of those victims, as well as the families affected by the hurricane in Texas.

September 2008

Featured Link - 401ktest.com:
A Discrimination testing tool priced for the small business community. Use 401ktest.com to make sure your HCEs are not over-withholding by $1,000s, or under-withholding.
Over-withholding by a wide margin is expensive and frustrating. Under-withholding can also be a source of frustration for HCEs. Don't wait till after the end of the year to test your plan!

Projected Financial Statements.com gets an upgrade!
We made the following improvements to our Business Planning tool:

• The Income tax projection can accommodate C-Corps, S-corps and LLCs!
  • Adjustible income tax rate: If you are an LLC or S-corp, simply adjust your income tax rate down to 3% (or what you feel is appropriate).
  • Flexible provision for Systematic Shareholder Draws: Some (S-Corps and LLCs) make a distribution to cover personal taxes created by the company. This provision can now be setup systematically. Just enter a % in the yellow highlighted field!
• The Depreciation Schedule is more flexible! You can now choose a different useful life for each month of the first projected year.
• Detailed General and Administrative expenses are now included in the 2nd and 3rd Projection years.

We are extremely happy with this projection tool, and so are our clients! I think every small business should use this tool for budgeting, cash flow management, and business plan preparation.

Comming soon!
We are adding a couple more free tools:

Business plan narrative: If you need a formal business plan for an equity placement, we'll provide a tool that will walk you thru the process of creating this document. Yes; it will be free of charge!

Traditional v. Roth comparison template There are lots of variables when it comes to this decision. But the comparison process is systematic, so it can be quantified and measured. I'm not saying it's an easy decision! It's not, because many of the variables involve the future, which is quite unpredictable.

Update to the Income tax Planning Template - Just in time for tax planning season! the new template will more easily accommodate LLCs, S-Corps and States with a 'Value Added Tax'. I may start charging for the tax planning template; but in the mean-time, enjoy it!

August 2008

Featured Link - Em Trend Advisors
Technical Analysis for institutional (as well as sophisticated individual) investors.

We'll feature a sponsor from our links page each month.
We make an effort to endorse sponsors with a good reputation in the business community, so please let us know if you have a bad experience with any of our sponsors. We will investigate your concerns and consider revoking our endorsement.


Projected Financial Statements.com is having a Webinar!
Wednesday, August 13th at 11:00am Eastern Time.
We are holding a series of online demonstrations of our Projection Software. Join us and find out how user-friendly and feature-rich our projection template really is.

Please contact us ASAP if you are interested in joining us this Wednesday. Space is limited, but don't worry if you miss your chance to attend. We will schedule another session very soon.

Items needed for a typical loan request with the bank

If you are going after a business loan, there are a few things that all banks will want to see. This list is not exhaustive, but it is a great starting point. You can click many of the items listed to access valuable tools provided for your assistance. Your bank (or VC) should be very impressed if you prepare your loan package using our tools. We have been using these tools for many years with much success!

Personal Financial Statement (PFS):
The PFS will be required for every major shareholder of the business venture. You will basically list all your personal assets and liabilities. Banks usually accept your personal estimate for the value of specific assets. They sometimes ask for an appraisal. If they do, you should be able to get them to pay for it.

Projected Financial Statements:
In most cases, the bank would like to see 3 years of historical financial statements, and 1 to 3 years of projections. You should include an explanation of how you came up with the numbers used in the projection.

A Detailed Business Planning Narrative
If you are looking for $500,000 or more, you will be asked to include a detailed business plan with your projected financial statements. VCs (also Investment bankers, angel investors, etc.) almost always ask for a detailed business plan.
If you are not asked for this detail, you should not include it (in my opinion). However; every new business should go thru the steps of preparing a detailed business plan. You will learn things about your business, your industry and yourself that you would never have learned otherwise. Preparing the detailed plan will help you eliminate many variables to failure, improving your chances of success!

Previous Year's Tax Returns:
Lenders will likely require the company's returns for the previous 3 years, and the major shareholders' returns for the previous year.

I wish you all success as you endeavor to create or expand your business. Go make it happen!

Watch a Demo of our Projection Software