September, 2020

article thumbnail

Why small business owners need to own marketing instead of renting it

DuctTapeMarketing

Why small business owners need to own marketing instead of renting it written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Odds are this question has crossed your mind at one point in time if you’re a small business owner: “Should I hire someone in-house for marketing or continue to seek outside help?”. So many small business owners are afraid to hire marketing people internally.

Start-ups 314
article thumbnail

Earn $20 per Book Promoting My Tax Preparer Book from Home in Your Spare Time

AdviceForTaxpreparers

Advice for Tax Preparers Making tax preparers lives easier one blog at a time HOME. ABOUT. CONTACT. BOOK. Earn $20 per Book Promoting My Tax Preparer Book from Home in Your Spare Time. by Bill Meador, CPA, JD. My name is Bill Meador and I am writing a book to help tax staff succeed in a public accounting firm tax department. Since I do not plan to sell this book through a publishing company, I need another way to market the book to the public.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

COVID Surcharges and Sales Tax

TaxConnex

Lost sales, expenses for cleaning, more time and money for employee protection and training are just some of the reasons for businesses to claim they now have to charge extra to pay for responding to the pandemic (aka, “COVID surcharges”). In many places and for many industries these charges have become commonplace. Dentists’ offices were among the first reopening to charge such fees, followed by hair salons and other businesses that necessitate personal contact.

article thumbnail

PayPal, Mastercard Add 5 EU Countries To Debit Card Offering

PYMNTS

PayPal and Mastercard are bringing the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard to more businesses in Europe. The companies said in a Wednesday (Sept. 23) announcement that the card is now available in France, Austria, Italy, Ireland and Spain beyond its current availability in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. Small businesses can have immediate access to their PayPal funds and unlimited 0.5 percent cash back on all of their eligible spending with the debit card.

Retail 145
article thumbnail

Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

article thumbnail

Paid Sick Leave Laws by State: The Chart, Map, & Accrual Info You Need

Patriot Software

Typically, employers get to choose whether they want to offer types of paid time off, like sick leave, to employees. But depending on your business location, you might not have a choice. Little by little, paid sick leave laws by state are on the rise. If your employees work in a state with mandatory sick […] READ MORE.

payroll 127
article thumbnail

Xero Accounting and Taxes for eCommerce Companies

FusionCPA

As your e-commerce business grows it becomes increasingly complicated and you may be looking at all-in-one solutions like Xero accounting and Xero taxes. Staying current and organized when it comes to your bookkeeping starts to demand more and more time. You and your CFO may be looking for ways to simplify your bookkeeping. On the other hand, you may need to take a more in-depth look into your numbers but don’t have the time to sort through all the data and don’t know where to start to create a

More Trending

article thumbnail

Deferring Employee Payroll Taxes 

CapataCPA

Deferring Employee Payroll Taxes The U.S. Treasury and IRS have released the initial guidance, Notice 2020-25, to put into operation the President’s Executive Order, which allows employers to defer employee payroll taxes beginning on September 1, 2020. It’s important to note that this relief is intended for the employer, not the employee. The employer is the “affected taxpayer” in this Executive Order.

article thumbnail

5 Steps to Put Your Business on the Right Track to Maintain Sales Tax Compliance

TaxConnex

It has been two years since the US Supreme Court passed the Wayfair decision which paved the way for states to enact economic nexus rules. At this point, the majority of finance professionals understand the need to maintain sales & use tax compliance. Most businesses have some type of process in place although it may not be comprehensive enough.

Sales 246
article thumbnail

European Central Banks Demand Strict Cryptocurrency Regulations

PYMNTS

Europe's biggest banks have called on the European Commission to implement tough regulations for cryptocurrencies, such as stablecoins, that would protect consumers and preserve state sovereignty in monetary policy, Reuters reported. In a joint statement Friday (Sept. 11), the finance ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands said they asked the executive branch of the European Union (EU), the agency responsible for managing the day-to-day business of the EU’s 27 nations, to

Finance 145
article thumbnail

Get Ready to Mark Your Calendar! Here’s What Happens If Payday Falls on a Bank Holiday

Patriot Software

Between 50% – 78% of workers live paycheck to paycheck. These employees (and likely all employees) count on receiving their wages on their scheduled pay date. But, bank holidays might pose a slight hiccup. What happens if payday falls on a bank holiday? What happens if payday falls on a bank holiday—or around it? Although […] READ MORE.

payroll 99
article thumbnail

Avoiding Lease Accounting Pitfalls in 2025: Lessons Learned from Spreadsheet Errors

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

article thumbnail

PPP Update: Owner Compensation, Payroll Costs, and Self-Rental Costs

Katz,Sapper&Miller

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) officially opened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness application portal to lenders on Aug. 10, 2020. Some banks are accepting applications and borrowers are beginning to prepare loan forgiveness applications. Recent guidance provides significant clarifications regarding owner-compensation limitations, payroll costs, and self-rental costs.

payroll 96
article thumbnail

Taxes in the Telecom World: Misconceptions and Advice

TaxConnex

This article was written for the Atlanta Business Chronicle Leadership Trust. To see the original post, click here. Taxes are an integral part of the telecom world. Taxes, fees and government surcharges on telecommunications services increased from 19.1% to 21.7% in 2019 (even as average monthly bills for consumers actually dropped). In talking with countless telecommunications service providers about their various tax and regulatory requirements, there are some recurring themes I hear that can

Tax 246
article thumbnail

Latest Developments in State and Local Sales Tax

TaxConnex

In Alabama , rising pandemic-related online shopping has been a “life saver” for the state’s municipal governments and a “financial vaccine for Alabama’s counties,” the state said. The state’s SSUT has taken in more than $309 million overall during the current fiscal year – almost double the tax generated during all of fiscal 2018-19. The number of online retailers in the program has also grown from fewer than 200 in 2017 to more than 2,900 today.

Sales 245
article thumbnail

6 (Not So) Simple Steps to Sales Tax Compliance

TaxConnex

Sales tax is complicated. Many sales tax companies will tell you it’s simple with their solution, but when you take a look at all that goes in to compliance – you will understand that no technology can fully automate or manage sales tax without a good bit of project management from your side. In this blog , we’ll take a look at the 6 steps to compliance and some of the complexities that go with them.

Sales 244
article thumbnail

Back to Basics with Reconciliations

Join us in this webinar, where we share best practices on how to think about the reconciliation work each month, when best to do reconciliations, how they should be prepared, and some common pitfalls to avoid. Learning Objectives: This course objective is to understand how to properly prepare and review balance sheet reconciliations and its impact on the financial statements.

article thumbnail

Deloitte Becomes First Of Big Four To Break Up Business

PYMNTS

Deloitte will be the first of the “Big Four” auditors to break up its business after selecting a new auditing board to undertake the task, according to a report from The Telegraph. The company, along with fellow Big Four members EY , KPMG and PwC , had been warned by watchdogs that their businesses needed to break off their profitable consultancy arms from audit divisions.

auditor 145
article thumbnail

Visa: Real-Time Settlement, Online Marketplaces Help Put SMBs Back On The Road To Recovery

PYMNTS

Online marketplaces are the digital storefronts helping small to mid-sized businesses survive — but adding real-time settlement into the mix can help them thrive. To that end, joint research between PYMNTS and Visa , in a study titled Marketplaces as Retail’s New Front Door , found that 60 percent of surveyed businesses that are not currently using online marketplaces would like to do so.

Sales 141
article thumbnail

‘What Did You Change?’ 34 Payments Execs Weigh In On Payments, The Pandemic And New Possibilities

PYMNTS

The end of the third quarter of 2020 offers a moment to look back — and ahead — as a year unlike any other is (a bit more) than three quarters finished. It may be hard to remember, but when 2020 dawned, unemployment was near historic lows, at about 3.6 percent. GDP was growing at a healthy clip, and most companies — large and small — saw the trends of top-line and bottom-line growth as set. to continue.

Maine 141
article thumbnail

Amazon One Lets Consumers Pay With Their Hand

PYMNTS

“Talk to the hand” will take on new meaning starting Tuesday (Sept. 29). CNN reports Amazon has introduced the latest touchless way to pay at checkout. Dubbed Amazon One, the method allows users to pay with the palm of their hand at some of its stores. The giant eCommerce website can now connect a stored credit card with a palm print. Here’s how it works: place the palm of your hand above a sensor and purchase products at checkout-free Amazon Go stores.

Missouri 139
article thumbnail

Usage-Based Monetization Musts: A Roadmap for Sustainable Revenue Growth

Speaker: David Warren and Kevin O’Neill Stoll

Transitioning to a usage-based business model offers powerful growth opportunities but comes with unique challenges. How do you validate strategies, reduce risks, and ensure alignment with customer value? Join us for a deep dive into designing effective pilots that test the waters and drive success in usage-based revenue. Discover how to develop a pilot that captures real customer feedback, aligns internal teams with usage metrics, and rethinks sales incentives to prioritize lasting customer eng

article thumbnail

Banks Push Back On Possible Banking Charters For Big Techs Like Amazon And Facebook

PYMNTS

A U.S. House committee this week began reviewing the idea of allowing the likes of Amazon or Facebook to receive charters to operate as banks — an idea that’s already gotten plenty of pushback from traditional financial institutions (FIs). The House committee held a hearing on the idea after Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks in July proposed a new special purpose national banking charter for payments companies.

article thumbnail

SWIFT To Create New Cross-Border Real-Time Rails

PYMNTS

SWIFT , a global provider of secure financial messaging services, announced Wednesday (Sept. 16) that its cross-border platform will be retooled to enable financial institutions to deliver instant transactions. Over the next two years, the Belgium-based cooperative said the initiative will provide transaction management services. The new approach promises to create new value-added services to support business growth.

article thumbnail

FinCEN Files Show Banks’ ‘Whack-a-Mole’ Battle Against KYC/AML

PYMNTS

Gross negligence – or evidence of a battle waged by banks that requires new, high-tech weaponry? To that end, and as reported by BuzzFeed , documents submitted by banks to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) show that several of the largest global banks moved money on behalf of scores of individuals and enterprises involved in criminal financial activity.

article thumbnail

Federal Banks, Savings Associations Win Approval For Some Crypto Activities

PYMNTS

The regulator of the nation’s banks has issued its first guidance on stablecoins , the cryptocurrency backed by traditional currency. . A letter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published on Monday (Sept. 21) clarified the authority for national banks and federal savings associations to hold reserves on behalf of customers who issue stablecoins.

article thumbnail

Harness the Potential of Your Enterprise Knowledge

The first Market Momentum Index: AI and Unstructured Data Management, conducted by Deep Analysis with support from AIIM and M-Files, surveyed 500 enterprises across various industries to assess their readiness to employ AI. The results reveal that AI is already far more embedded into organizations' operations than previously realized. These findings and more insights have been brought to you in the "Market Momentum Index: AI and Unstructured Data Management.

article thumbnail

Hilton Hotel In Times Square To Close

PYMNTS

The Hilton Times Square is the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic. In a filing with New York’s State Department of Labor Monday (Aug. 31) the managing director of the 44-story landmark said it will close permanently next month and 200 jobs will be lost. The iconic hotel on West 42nd Street was shuttered and furloughs began in mid-March as COVID-19 struck the city, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

New York 138
article thumbnail

Paytm President: Going From Mobile Payments To India’s Connected Commerce Ecosystem

PYMNTS

As India approaches the fourth anniversary of 2016’s demonetization, the landscape that has defined the country and economy is undergoing a radical shift. India has heretofore been a cash-based economy, where even consumers shopping online often paid in physical currency via cash on delivery (COD). But several years of a regulatory push have combined with the increasing presence of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and six months of COVID-19 to markedly reduce Indian consumers’ fondness f

Gambling 135
article thumbnail

The Three Things Every Digital-Card App Needs

PYMNTS

The wave of digitization that has picked up incredible speed in banking over the past half year isn’t strictly a new trend, Randy Piatt , head of product solutions for Ondot Systems , told PYMNTS. Long before the pandemic, consumers were trending toward digital in their financial services relationships — experimenting with mobile wallets, digital cards, self-service mobile banking and digital gifting.

Gaming 133
article thumbnail

Fed Sees Possible Path To ‘Direct Issuance’ Of Digital Dollars

PYMNTS

Digital dollars could make the leap from concept to reality, but there might be a few ways to get there. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said in a speech this week that a digital dollar could conceivably be a form of money transfer that would enable the Fed to disburse money to all individuals in America. Her speech, entitled “Payment and the Pandemic,” included a section on digital currencies.

article thumbnail

Solve Your Firm's Automation Complexities Once and For All

Speaker: Mark Stovel

When it comes to automating, many firms focus on finding the latest tech, believing that efficiency is something achieved through new tools. Yet true efficiency is achieved by delivering real value to clients, not merely by upgraded systems. Without a clear approach, no level of automation can overcome the complexities of serving every client’s needs.

article thumbnail

Mastercard Leads New Central Bank Digital Currency Test Platform

PYMNTS

Mastercard has announced a new virtual testing platform for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). In a Wednesday (Sept. 9) news release, Mastercard said a recent survey revealed 80 percent of central banks are engaged in some form of CBDCs, while 40 percent have moved from research to experimenting with concept and design, according to by the Bank for International Settlements.

article thumbnail

Using 5G To Build Tomorrow’s Smart Cities, Today

PYMNTS

Smart cities powered by 5G networks have long been forecast as coming soon to major metros all over the world. But actual progress has been limited by various regulatory and technological headwinds that have kept the connected smart city more a vision of the future than a concrete reality of the present. However, CEO Ian Aaron of Ubicquia , a smart cell and smart grid technologies company, told PYMNTS that the past half year has changed the outlook for smart cities.

article thumbnail

Jacksonville Jaguar Fans Can Now Pay Via QR Codes

PYMNTS

The Jacksonville Jaguars are now allowing QR-based mobile payments at retailers and concessions at the TIAA Bank Field Stadium through a mobile Jags Pay wallet in the official team app, according to a report from NFCW. Supporters have already been using the app to access tickets on game day to enter the stadium. Android and iOS mobile phone users can link credit or debit cards to the Jags Pay wallet through the Jags App, and make mobile payments at any of the points of sale at the stadium.

Gaming 130
article thumbnail

B2B Payments Drive Instant Payments, Crypto Innovation

PYMNTS

New payment rails are once again in the spotlight as real-time payments and cryptocurrency emerge as the top focuses for innovators. In this week’s look at payment rails innovation, the European Union begins paving the way for greater crypto adoption, while Mastercard expands its own crypto accelerator initiative. Separately, research finds B2B payments as the key driver behind surging instant payments volume in the years ahead.

B2B 129
article thumbnail

Travel and Expense Policy Success: Your Essential Checklist

Setting the stage for successful organizational change always begins with clear, thoughtful communication. When it comes to rolling out a new travel and expense (T&E) policy, establishing a well-structured communication plan is key to ensuring that all employees understand the changes and their impact. By following a step-by-step approach, you can guide your organization through the transition, fostering smooth adoption from the outset and improving compliance.