Accounting News and Notes

Duluth/Gwinnett CPA: Advising Gwinnett Business Owners and Taxpayers to Avoid Identity Theft/Phishing

The Internal Revenue Service is working with taxpayers, consumer agencies, and other regulatory agencies to help stop identity theft. Recently scammers have begun to utilize the Internet to steal both your identity and your assets. Fraudulent use of the Internet to steal your identity is called phishing.

Suspicious e-mail is where a scammer uses messages luring potential victims into releasing their confidential personal information which can then be used to steal a victims’ identity. This fishing for information has gained wide popularity recently as fraudsters attempt to gain access to your bank account, credit card, and date of birth information that they can then use to gain access to your personal accounts and even apply for new loans in the victims’ name. The IRS has recently discovered an e-mail scheme whereby phony e-mails are sent pretending to be from the IRS luring the unsuspecting victim by stating they are due a tax refund. To discover sources/examples of items to help protect you from unscrupulous schemes visit:

• Sample of a suspicious/phishing e-mail
• Is it a phishing Web site?
• How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails or Phishing Schemes

Stopping Internet fraud of all types is something in which you can take an active role. By turning in Phishing Schemes to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. There you can follow the links to reporting suspicious e-mails which the IRS will then utilize to trace the hosting Web site and to help shut down fraudulent sites.

Identity Theft can occur through any myriad of ways by stealing of your personal mail, phone and fax records, and the stealing of your trash. Identity Theft is when a thief utilizes your personal data such as your Social Security number or name to commit financial fraud. Usually this type of theft results in a victims’ bank accounts being emptied, obtaining unauthorized credit cards, and even new loans in the victims name. Those who are unduly have their identity stolen often spend untold months striving to protect their credit and their good name. Often the wake of the crime itself leaves victims unable to get loans they would otherwise qualify for and to be harassed for actions they did not commit. You can call the TIGTA toll-free hot-line at 1-800-366-4484 or visiting the TIGTA Web site to report phishing schemes and to report fraudulent misuse of the IRS name and logo. Also you can learn more about what can be done by visiting:

• Identity Theft Companion Learning Guide , What Law Enforcement is Doing to Stop the Thieves
• Identity Theft and Your Tax Records
• Social Security announces public warning of identity theft e-mail scam

Stopping Identity Theft is something we can all do to help make the Internet as well as our families, homes, and financial future a safe place for us all.

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, Back Taxes, Business Acquisitions/Sales, Forensic Accounting, Business Valuations and Bookkeeping.

Duluth CPA: Advisers Entrepreneurs on QuickBooks & Bookkeeping for Your Gwinnett Business

Hire a Christian CPA as they will be committed to you and your business’s success. Finding someone who is looking out for your best interests are most apt to also refer other outside services such as a payroll company, which is most always a much faster and more economical option than either the CPA or the client preparing them. Also items such as preparing your internal financial statements can easily be taught to client personnel saving potential tens of thousands of dollars over a ten-year period.

Serving God while practicing the Golden Rule, who has some very specific advice as to a direction for your company, will share the information in the first meeting not waiting to be sure to have retained a client, desiring the best for a client rather than solely the service of their own needs and desires. A CPA will be able to offer insightful advice that clients have in turn taken back to their present CPA for compliance. This is certainly desirous in most all respects as we strive to serve, it fails to contemplate the reasons why advice was not forthcoming originally. As Christians we are exhorted to excellence in all things and it is to that end a hiring manager looking for a trusted CPA should spend adequate time and effort reviewing a CPA’s resume, credentials, and references. The below is a sample letter we might send a client to help them with the recording and tracking of their financial results while using QuickBooks for the internal bookkeeping and financial statements:

For the latest internal data you forwarded over I had the below critiques: 

Please go back into you books at the end of the prior year and ensure that they equal the page four of the last filed Form 1120S/Corporate Income Tax Return as they retained earnings you are showing at the end of the prior year does not equal the tax return. 

Please move the dollars listed as Miscellaneous Income and Other Income to Service Revenue. 

Please re-class the $2,000 you have in Miscellaneous Expenses to the correct general ledger account. 

Please move the Due to Shareholder account to an account called the same thing in the Current Liabilities section of the Balance Sheet. Please move the dollars in Owner’s Draw and the loan from you to the business to the Due to Shareholder account. 

I suggest you move all of the below accounts to Office Supplies (Bank Service Charges, Business Licenses, Dues and Subscriptions, Miscellaneous, Postage & Delivery and Printing & Reproduction). All of the dollars you have in these accounts are relatively small and insignificant. Accordingly I would not suggest tracking these in a separate account. 

I suggest moving the Internet Costs to Telephone and Fax and then to re-title this account Telephone & Utilities. 

After you make these changes then please resend your internal Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss.

Bookkeeping for Atlanta Small Business
Unleash the power of information by learning the ABC’s of accounting for the business and financial operations of your business. To learn the nuances of Small Business Bookkeeping http://www.hiscpa.com/keeping-books.html

Preparing and Reviewing Financial Statements for Atlanta Business Owners
As your financial results of your business are like a doctors chart of their patient, this will help enable you to understand financials and their use. To learn more visit http://www.hiscpa.com/financial-statements.html

A Christian CPA Firm: Never Underestimate the Long Term Benefits

 John Dillard, CPA of His CPA, PC (A Duluth CPA firm) 1940 Woods River Lane, Duluth, GA 30097  Phone 770-814-9304   http://www.hiscpa.com/    (All Rights Reserved) To retain John Dillard CPA (An Atlanta Christian Speaker/Author) for your business group or church congregation, you can contact him today at 770.814.9304. To discover John Dillard’s Published Books and their vision.