Accounting News and Notes

Now that April 15th has come and gone, it is time to dig deep down and pull all of your personal information together.  If you are among the millions who extended the due date of filing their return legally from April 15 to October 15th, you should be in no less of a rush to file and pay all 2007 taxes because:

• A delay to file is not a delay to pay as both the IRS and individual states access a late payment fee/penalty and interest for all monies paid after April 15th
• Now is the time to see what you can begin to do to legally lower your 2008 tax bill rather than being past oriented.  There’s a reason for many success’s of business owners and that is their ability to think and plan ahead.  A good steward is always contemplating what comes next and how to always be prepared.

Tax planning is not for the meek or ill prepared so be sure to get all past filings done today so that you can focus on the success’s and planning for 2008 and beyond.

I believe that in information in the hands of a wise business owner is a wonderful thing. However, that information has to be both timely, informative, and useful. Absent these three factors being fully satisfied then I would suggest changes should be in order.

First: I believe financial should be issue on longer that the fourth workday after the close of a month. Absent their timely relevance, financial’s should not be distributed as much of the cause of their need would have lapsed.

Secondly: I believe that financials should be clear and concise and not uduly culletered with unnecessary accoutns will little or no monies in them or even subaccounts. If an account is not substantive enough to stand on its own merits then it should not exist at all.

Thirdly: And equally as important is that all financials should tell a story but often the subleties and interpetations of their significance can only be adequately expalined or clarified by narratives or substantiating statistics and infromation.

Providing timely and usefuly information is a financial departments primary and most important task and must be achieved in order for the business to both survive and thrive.

You’ve done the hard part…got all your info to the CPA, listened to the barrage of questions that they had about this expense and that, got your return finished, signed off on it and put it in the mail well before the 15th of April…shouldn’t it be time to cash that refund check and take a vacation?  You could if you HAD that refund check, right?  If you are spending your days, waiting patiently/anxiously for that little orange envelope to show up with your tax refund, wait no more.  You can find out the status of your tax refund simply by going to the IRS website by following the link:  https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp or simply www.irs.gov and click on the “Where’s my refund?” section.  Regardless of whether you split your refund into several accounts, opted for direct deposit or asked that your check be mailed directly to you, you can track your refund.  To maintain confidentiality, you will be required to provide them with some information before getting your status.  You will need:  your social security number, filing status (married, head of household, etc.), and exact amount of your refund.

If, after 28 days of the IRS mail date, you haven’t received your refund check, you should start a refund trace.  If your address is incorrect, you can change it online but always be sure and check that before you mail your return into the IRS to avoid any delays in getting your refund. 

 DON’T FALL FOR E-MAIL SCAMS ABOUT YOUR REFUND!!!!  The IRS never initiates e-mails about your refund and never give out your social security number!!!  Have a great “refund” vacation!!