Accounting News and Notes

Gwinnett CPA on Marketing to Gwinnett Business Owners: Networking Times Two 

Networking to Gain Exposure for Your Gwinnett Based Business 

Marketing is for the faint hearted or for those who are ready to stay the course. Whether you are brand new in your business or have been in business for decades, those who chose to not focus or strategic marketing efforts are doomed to fail Below is a recent note I received to explore co-marketing efforts.

Thanks for the email. A colleague of mine and I are planning a major push into the small businesses of the Gwinnett Chamber Business’s for 2010 as we both have experiences and relationships with the chamber staff and businesses. We are both very experienced in retirement plans for small businesses and are planning to leverage this as a major theme. To that end we have been meeting this fall with the various retirement plan providers in the industry and some active money managers. We have secured a list of small businesses with retirement plans in the county. Do you see any way your services and ours can be combined to pursue these small businesses in this county and would you be interested in working with us if you have some ideas? Let me know.  

I have found the Internet to be a sound ally and friend in penetrating the marketplace. For example I just did a search on the Internet using the key words “Atlanta IRS Representation.” Of the thirteen top listings His CPA PC was all but four of them. By using the power of computers and their willingness to work around the clock, you can look to options to leverage your efforts locally, in the U.S. , and throughout the world. However often “pressing the flesh” as they say and being active in the community might be a better or perhaps an additional way to promote integrity into the business community where you both work and live. It was to this end that I drafted the below response to the above inquiry received.

If I were to suggest my inclusion to would be an add on to what you are presently looking to do. I would be more than willing to offer a free on obligation evaluation to business owners whom I believe would find the insight informative, thought provoking, and tax saving. Too frequently I see returns where tax preparers did the return rather than someone who strives to evaluate a return from an owner’s perspective while addressing both short and the long-term goals of investing and retirement planning. 

Running a business is not for the meek or heart or ill advised and having a CPA who is well versed as a Chief Financial Officer and do much to influence operating results, assist in job costing, standardized reporting, hiring, compensation agreements for key personnel and substantive advice for business owners on the wide host of business issues facing them daily.  

John Dillard is an Christian Speaker/Author and Certified Public Accountant in Duluth, GA. To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ and for his latest book Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s: Job’s Journey and a Voice of One: Nehemiah’s Prayer visit http://www.john-dillard.com/ or call John Dillard CPA today at 770.814.9304 (All Rights Reserved) Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!  

 We advise clients on: IRS representation, Offer in Compromise, Tax Problems, Incorporation in Georgia, Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Part-time CFO, Virtual Controller, Business Planning, Offer in Compromise, Back Taxes, Bookkeeping.

Serving Atlanta, Duluth, Gwinnett, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, Atlanta GA, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, Cherokee County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Smyrna, Marietta, Cumming, Grayson, Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Decatur. Sandy Springs, Peachtree City, Douglasville, Newnan, Griffin, Woodstock, Carrollton, Forest Park, Canton, College Park, Cartersville, McDonough, Riverdale, Fayetteville, Covington, Stockbridge, Conyers, Clarkston, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta, Dawson, and Douglas.

Business Checklist to Ensure That Your Internal Books are Correct 

Below is a list of items you might use to critique to your internal books. Each and every company should prepare one that is specifically designed to their business to ensure that their financial results are carefully monitored and operating integrity retained. Serving as an Atlanta CPA for over thirty years, I have learned that both having and referring to a “well-kept” set of internal books is a sign of all successful entrepreneurs. The attached checklist will be a good start to ensuring that your own company’s books are correct:

-Having  bank reconciliations and statements agreeing/reconciling all cash balances.

-Do Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable totals agree to open reports/detail per the system.

-How much of Accounts Receivable is over sixty days.

-Do you expect to collect all of the Accounts Receivable balance. If not how much do you expect to have difficulty collecting. How does this amount compare to your Allowance for Doubtful accounts.

-Review your Fixed Asset Records detail on a book basis against your cost, accumulated depreciation, and depreciation expense amounts listed.

-Review your Fixed Asset Records detail on a tax basis against your cost, accumulated depreciation, and depreciation expense amounts.

-Determine what the net increase/decrease will be when calculating tax depreciation vs. book depreciation. To this end please be sure to consider and reflect what fixed assets you plan to buy by year end.

-Ensuring that Shareholder Distributions reflect those only of the current year and that all applicable estimated payments to the IRS and Georgia have been paid.

-Confirm if you Prepaid are correct.

-Confirm if your Accrued Vacation account is correct and applied on a consistent basis from prior years.

-Confirm that your Accounts Payable Other and Other Accrued Expenses are correct.

-Confirm if your Note Payable Accounts, Capitalized Leases, and all Financial Debts are correct.

-Confirm if Customer Deposits account is correct.

-Ensure that the 2008 Shareholder Distributions account as of 12-31-08 is closed to Retained Earnings as of that date.

-Ensure that after you do the above that your internal books equals the retained earnings as of last year’s books.

-Ensure that this year’s Net Income shows as a separate line item on the Balance Sheet.

-Please take a look at your Profit & Loss accounts are correct and verify their financial integrity as all the year to date  totals are higher/dramatically different than one would anticipate based upon prior year operating results, trends, changes in number of personnel, etc. 

John Dillard is an Christian Speaker/Author and Certified Public Accountant. To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ and for his latest book Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s: Job’s Journey visit http://www.john-dillard.com/ or all John Dillard CPA today at 770.814.9304

 Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!  

We advise clients on: IRS representation, Offer in Compromise, Tax Problems, Incorporation in Georgia, Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Part-time CFO, Virtual Controller, Business Planning, Offer in Compromise, Back Taxes, Bookkeeping. 

Serving Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, Atlanta GA, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, Cherokee County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Smyrna, Marietta, Cumming, Grayson, Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Decatur. Sandy Springs, Peachtree City, Douglasville, Newnan, Griffin, Woodstock, Carrollton, Forest Park, Canton, College Park, Cartersville, McDonough, Riverdale, Fayetteville, Covington, Stockbridge, Conyers, Clarkston, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder and Woodstock

Atlanta CPA Teaches Professional Marketing on the Internet

There’s Face Book for social networking for those wanting to meet those with similar interest. For professionals who are looking to network with those in business to whom they may network, find lost business acquaintances and to spread your area of experience and broaden you networking horizon there is LinkedIn. There on your site you may list information about your past experiences, network with others, present information and ways of people to contact you. I have found the site personally very easy to use and a great way to get re-acquainted with those to who you might not have spoken to for decades. LinkedIn can be viewed at www.LinkedIn.com and allows users to provide links to viewers of your business’s web site or blog as well as to write and review articles about a host of varied business issues.

At present business owners and those in the business world are allowed a free listing in their network for which I have already personally seen the capacity to increase networking exposure both locally, nationally, and abroad. Professional services, for example, have historically been an industry which has been most often served by those within your home town or geographic area. However, as the Internet and technologically continue to shrink our world networking tools such as Linked In can help all business’s increase their marketing visibility nation and world-wide. Check out LinkedIn today and feel free to visit my own site there at  http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?goback=%2Ehom                         to get a feel of the information you may be inclined to include. 

John Dillard is an author and Certified Public Accountant (All Rights Reserved). To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ (a Christian CPA firm) and for his latest book Overcoming Life’s 9/11’s: Job’s Journey visit http://www.john-dillard.com/ ”Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!” 

Preparing the S Corporation Income Tax Return K-1 A Guide How to Guide to Prepare a K-1  

We advise clients on: IRS representation, Offer in Compromise, Tax Problems, Incorporation in Georgia, Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Part-time CFO, Virtual Controller, Business Planning, Payroll Administration, Bookkeeping.  

Serving Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta,  Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Walton, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Henry, Newton, Bartow, Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, Spalding, Coweta, Dawson, Douglas, Fayette, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, Walton, Henry, Paulding, Douglas, Coweta, Canton, Covington, Douglasville, Druid Hills, East Point, Forest Park, Griffin, Lithonia, Mableton, McDonough, Milton, Mountain Park, Newnan, Powder Springs, Stockbridge, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock,  Smyrna, Sandy Springs, Marietta, East Point, Gainesville, Snellville, Buckhead, Buford, Peachtree City, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Decatur, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Gwinnett County, North Fulton County, DeKalb County, Hall County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Forsyth County, Hart County, Jefferson County, Duluth, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Milton, Norcross, Snellville, Roswell, Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Lake Hartwell, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Loganville, Lilburn, Dunwoody, Gainesville, Decatur, and Beyond. 

Starting ones business in a recession. Buying a second home during a housing downturn and investing in the stock market for the five years after 9/11 though the market had consistently bad news. Good decisions are always good decisions regardless of what is happening around you. A good investment will remain a good investment (of course, that is relative to other investments) regardless of whether the market is up or down. Going out on your own and starting your new business is never out of style. Sure it is easier when the market is up and the economy is strong but regardless of ones environment the “cream will always rise to the top”. Trued and tried marketing techniques may be more difficult to successfully implement than in a down market but a wise and ardent business owner’s savvy will always serve one well. One thing I have learned is that we all cannot do it alone. To learn more about selling in a down economy I suggest visiting http://www.gwinnettnetwork.com/ArticleSellingInADownEconomy.htm there you will become aware/reminded of what to do and how to never give up. Though we should always be aware when our efforts are futile, many times our very success lies just beyond our reach waiting for our very best efforts to reach the awaiting prize.

As well as learning how to sell in a down economy is to learn the art of sales itself. Selling is a lot like a game of golf, it is one that you can never master and what works in one place or situation is bound and even likely not to work in another. One of the best recaps of the many varied tips of learning how to grow your business can be found at

http://www.gwinnettnetwork.com/Archived%20Articles.htm Honing up on your sales skill will help you survive and even thrive in any economy.