Apparently our country is finally coming into the 21st century as far as credit card fraud is concerned. U.S. banks are implementing the chip and signature system (new here, but over ten years old everywhere else.) Accounting Today gives details with a post from Warner Johnston from the ACCA US (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) on new card replacement: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/liability-insurance/credit-card-companies-change-technology-to-fight-fraud-71828-1.html With the banks and credit card companies having to foot identity fraud liabilities (the US is apparently the credit card fraud capital of the world because of older fraud protections), they have suddenly decided to update things (one of my credit cards just updated – so one down, four to go.) Now the discussion is leaning toward chip and pin numbers, the next stage in the security cycle, which we don’t do yet. (great.) For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
CPA Business Musings: Are You a Brand or a Business?
So the million dollar question – Are you a brand or a business? You are both. The problem is that you might not think of yourself as a “Brand”. You think brands are Apple, Facebook, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. Wikipedia says a brand is a… “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” I underline the word “distinct” because I believe that’s the key to a good brand. So what’s distinct about you? Are you the BEST bookkeeper on the north side of Atlanta? The small business EXPERT in the western suburbs of Chicago? The LEADING firm for Accounting and Cloud Computing in Las Vegas? If you haven’t thought about this, or haven’t thought about this recently, you should. In this Social Media age, you need to establish yourself as something. Give your clients and prospects a way to distinguish you from all others that may offer a similar (but lesser) service. Your website, newsletter, Social Media and Blog have a lot to do with your brand. These outlets can establish you as a thought leader. They give you the opportunity to make your case. Your well [...]
Burbank CPA Tax Musings: Remember Your Auto Mileage Log or You May Regret it Later
If you are self employed or if you have a job where you drive a lot and don’t get reimbursed for mileage by your employer, make sure you keep a log of your automobile mileage each year. You need to calculate your business miles as a percentage of total miles annually, then use either the business miles at 56 cents a mile in 2014 or use the percentage to calculate your actual auto expense. If you get audited, your auto log (complete with beginning and ending odometer readings and the purpose of all the business travel daily) is the only piece of taxpayer prepared information that the IRS auditor is supposed to accept (but it doesn’t hurt to give the auditor a couple of auto repair bills that tie the odeometer readings that are in the log). I have been involved in many IRS audits where the automobile expenses were looked at by the auditor and I am pleased to say that to date I have never had a change to taxpayer auto expenses because of the mileage percentages (once we had a problem with some of the actual auto expense documentation, but if the taxpayer took the standard mileage [...]