Tag Archives: money

YOUR CPA MAY BE COSTING YOU MORE THAN YOU THINK: CHOOSE WISELY

22 Jul

Most of us like to spend as little time as possible with our CPA.  Our once a year meeting is plenty and we try to keep it as short as possible. Who really likes to talk about how much money the government is going to take from us this year?

Proactive or Reactive?

Your choice of CPA can have a huge financial impact, and I’m not speaking of the fees that your CPA charges you for doing your taxes each year.  Many CPAs operate reactively, simply accepting the documentation you send to them and preparing your taxes.  But by the time you have put together your receipts, donations, W2s, and 1099s together for the year, you have likely missed out on many great ways to minimize your tax liability and preserve your wealth.  You need to check your attitude toward working with your CPA, and both of you must take a proactive approach to your strategy.

The effectiveness of any CPA depends immensely on approach, timing and expertise when it comes to your taxes.  It is vital for you to know what to look for when you are choosing a CPA.  Failure to carefully choose will cause you to overpay your taxes, sometimes by a massive amount.  The optimal CPA, using the correct resources, can potentially save you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Finding a CPA

When you look for a CPA, here is what you need to look for.  The best CPA for you and your business will:

  • Be in regular contact with you regarding your standings and developments.
  • Consistently review your tax liability and manage it the best way possible within the tax code.
  • Have trusted advisors that can handle niche tax benefits and beyond.
  • Have a full knowledge of the IRS and be able to best represent you to them in case of an audit.
  • Be proactive in his or her approach, looking at all areas of your business to determine the best way to avoid unnecessary tax burdens.

For example, let’s say that you did your own accounting for last year and end up paying $25,000 in federal and state income taxes.  If you had a CPA who simply accepts your information at the end of the year and files your taxes, he might charge you $1,000 and bring your tax liability down to about $22,000.  Good deal, right?  Hold on … maybe not such a good deal.

The US Tax Code

The good news and the bad news are the same.  Our tax system in the United States is immense.  It is almost 75,000 pages and growing all the time.  As a result, there are thousands of intricacies, exceptions, rules and loopholes.  It is far more than the average person could ever fully understand, and they are constantly in motion.  

My Best Example

My dad was a CPA, and he always told me that “in order to be a CPA in today’s world, you need to be ‘ten miles wide and a foot deep’.  What he meant was, you need to know a little bit about a lot of things, and you need to know people who understand, and can help you with, the things you don’t fully understand.  He had a group of trusted advisors that could help him, and his clients, do the things that he couldn’t do well, and he used them.  My father was one of the best CPAs I have ever known.  His style was was not only proactive; he was relentlessly proactive.  He also always told me that “Tax evasion is a crime, but tax avoidance is mandatory.”  

It’s Not About The Fee

Your CPAs level of dedication is the crucial element.  A CPA cannot possibly understand and execute on the complexities of the tax code. Anyone can have a long list of clients, a beautiful office, and a great personality.  The long and short of the matter is the amount of time and effort that your CPA is willing to invest in ensuring that your wealth is managed in the best possible way. The fees that are charged by CPAs vary widely.  There are some cases where you get what you pay for, but that isn’t always true.  

What Makes The Difference?

A great CPA will bring in those who specialize in things like cost segregation studies for their clients who own, or renovate, commercial or investment property, or to identify R&D tax credits, retraining or other innovative tax credits for which you may qualify.  There are unique little-known tax strategies that cover all different markets, so to expect that your CPA will know how to use them for all industries is just not realistic.  But if you have a CPA you know who is willing to utilize all the methods at his disposal, you can rest easy knowing that your wealth is in good hands.

With the help of a solid CPA you could, possibly, get that original $25,000 in taxes down to somewhere closer to $10,000 plus a few thousand or so to free yourself of the stress of managing your own taxes.  THAT’Sa good deal!!

What you can do

If you don’t feel that your CPA is doing EVERYTHING possible to help you save on taxes, chances are very good that he or she is not.  If someone is overseeing your finances, you should feel comfortable, informed, and confident in that relationship.  Your taxes, your money, and your future is at stake.

I work with a large network of proactive CPAs across the United States.  I am confident in the ways they deal with their clients and the taxes they pay.  I’d be happy to introduce you to one or more of these great people to help you.  Just give me a call or email me.  I’m happy to help.

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Best Practices for Collecting Debt from Millennials in 2019

29 Apr

Millennials, those youthful consumers born after 1980, are about to overtake Baby Boomers as the largest living adult population in the U.S., with more than 74 million of them working and accruing debt. Speaking of debt, there is a lot of it; CNBC says the average student loan debt is around $33,000  – and yet that isn’t even the main source of debt for the older millennial.

That’s why the chances are good that your business will often be conducting debt collection from the millennial population. What are some special considerations related to this age group? Are there any communication best practices to follow?

Facts About Millennials and The Debt They Accrue

According to CNBC, Millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 have around $42,000 in debt. The highest level of debt is from credit cards. But CNBC says these young professionals also have other stressors that prior generations didn’t have, such as higher education expenses and student loans as well as the high cost of housing. Almost one-half of Millennials are 90-days past due on at least one bill. In fact, Americans owe more than $1 trillion in debt from student loans. It’s possible that other debts will suffer as these people spend more money on college debt.

While debt is increasing across all age brackets in the United States, these trends are particularly troubling for an age group that is just getting started on a career path. CNBC says that Generation Z, the age bracket that comes behind the Millennials is following in their footsteps with an average debt of $4,343.

Given the high debt ratio for these young people, are there any considerations for handling collecting debt that might be different from older populations?

Best Practices for Collecting Debt from Millennials

Collecting debt from Millennials is actually different from GenX or the Baby Boomers. First, it might be more difficult to reach these young consumers, because most of them have given up a landline for a personal smartphone.

Pursuing debt collection from this youthful population requires a few tricks in order to accommodate their personal preferences and styles:

  • Use technology to reach Millennials. They are one of the first generations to grow up with the immediacy of the internet and a host of software tools. Debt collection must mine this tech-familiarity to reach these consumers.
    Tip: Try setting up a web portal so these customers can explore easy online payment.
  • Make connections with Millennials and use the power of relationships to pursue debt collections.
    Tip: A compassionate and diplomatic approach to debt collection can go a long way when it comes to collecting what’s owed.

Debt collection for the Millennial population requires some flexibility to handle the special needs of this population. Contact me today at 770-224-8504 for more information.

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Businesses and Cash Flow

22 Apr

Business and Cash Flow

The first rule of business is to stay in business, and businesses need cash to operate. Every successful business keeps a close eye on cash flow for this reason. There are many tax-saving advantages for those who own or have improved commercial properties through tax law. If you own or lease commercial or income producing property and you are not taking advantage of all that US Tax Code has to offer, you are actually diminishing cash flow.

Let’s look at how your business can easily increase its cash flow by using the cost segregation method of depreciating your building.

Cost segregation is a way for commercial property owners to accelerate their building’s depreciation, saving significantly on income taxes. Within the first five years of building ownership, an owner can save up to $100,000 for every $1 million in building costs. To maximize cash flow, an owner or lessee who has paid for improvements can have a cost segregation study performed.

At CSSI, we perform an engineering-based study to ensure you comply with US Tax Code rules and regulations. Our team of specialists will segregate parts of your building that are deemed non-structural. Non-structural items include carpeting, flooring, cabinets, specialty lighting and electrical, etc. These and other non-structural items are placed in accelerated tax lives. After the analysis, your CPA will adjust your depreciation schedule from the conventional 27.5-/39-year schedule to a 5-, 7-, 15-, and 27.5-/39-year schedule.
A cost segregation study reduces your taxable income and results in lower taxes paid. Using this cash surplus to reinvest in your business or pay down debt is a great way of maximizing the time value of money.

At CSSI, our tax experts will help your business generate more cash flow through an engineering-based study. In some cases, the calculations from our study can be necessary to realize benefits from the 2014 Repair Regulations and the 2017 TCJA. Contact us today, and we can provide you with a no-cost preliminary analysis, and we can facilitate a discussion with you and your CPA or tax professional.

Contact me directly at 770-224-8504, or schedule a conversation with me by clicking here, to see how much you can add to your cash flow this year. There is, as always, no cost or obligation.

It’s Your Money . . . Keep More of It!

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The Cost Segregation Estate Planning Strategy

12 Oct

estate-planning

If someone dies owning commercial or rental residential real estate, a highly effective tool for reducing the tax burden on the estate might be a cost segregation study.

When a property owner dies. their heirs receive a step up in tax basis to the current fair market value of the property.  Any recapture that the decedent would have been required to pay upon the sale of the property is forgiven.  Using an engineering-based cost segregation study to accelerate the depreciation on the  pre-stepped up cost basis provides a windfall of immediate tax deductions that are never recaptured on the sale.  The estate must, however, act very quickly to take advantage of this benefit.  The study must be conducted and implemented before the due date of the decedent’s final income tax return.

Commercial buildings are normally depreciated over a 39 year period, and residential property is depreciated over a 27.5 year period, straight line.  An engineering based cost segregation study uses accounting and engineering principles to identify non-structural building components that can be depreciated over a much shorter time period (5,7 or 15 years)

The studies do not generally increase the amount of deductions over the life of the property.  By accelerating the depreciation, they generate net-present-value savings.

When this type of study is used in an estate-planning context, a cost segregation study can substantially reduce or eliminate taxes owed on the decedent’s final federal income tax return.  It also avoids a potential disadvantage, namely recapture.

Timing is everything

It is not necessary to perform the cost segregation study before a building owner’s death, but it is vital to complete and implement it before the decedent’s final tax return is filed.  If the deadline is missed, the opportunity is lost, as the benefits of a study cannot generally be claimed on an amended return.

To preserve and maximize the benefits of this strategy, it is vital to identify the opportunity early and to work with a reputable, experienced cost segregation firm that has the experience in implementing this type of strategy.

CSSI – Cost Segregation Services Inc. is the premier cost segregation company in the US.  With over 20,000 studies performed and not one IRS audit caused by our studies, we can help you in all ways to maximize the benefits of an engineering-based cost segregation study.

Contact me today for further information.

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3 Debt Collection Agency Myths

8 Oct

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The facts show third-party debt collections provide a needed service for businesses of any size.

How much do you really know about collection agencies and how they work? Unless you’ve partnered with a debt collection agency, there’s a good chance that you’ve been misled about how the debt collection process works and the impact it will have on your business.

Here are some common myths about the debt collection industry:

  1. Debt collection agents are a rough-around-the-edges crew that bullies people. TSI’s interactions with customers are always diplomatic. We work WITH your customers to get them back on track.
  1. Debt collectors will try anything to get money. Debt collection is a strictly regulated industry. Professional debt collection agencies stay current with all applicable laws. TSI’s commitment to compliance means customers are always treated with the utmost respect, while your brand is protected from costly compliance violations.
  1. It’s better to take the tax write-off; hiring a debt collection agency is too expensive, even for large companies. Partnering with a professional debt recovery company is an affordable option. Writing off an unpaid invoice may be helpful, but collecting on the debt is even better. Although collection agencies charge for their services, the amount collected and returned to you will likely be more than the taxes saved if you write-off the debt. TSI offers affordable fixed-fee pricing on early-stage delinquent accounts and contingency-based fees for your more challenging or older accounts.

Debt Collection: Take a Closer Look

If your company has been handling collections in-house, you already know that debt collection is governed by a variety of local, state, and federal rules that prohibit and regulate how customers are approached for past due balances. In fact, debt collection is one of the most regulated industries in the United States. These rules prohibit collectors from behaving aggressively or inappropriately with consumers; they even govern when a debt collection agency can contact the past due client.

According to Inside ARM, the debt collection agency industry is a valuable asset to improve the bottom line for businesses in any industry. Their report shows that the industry regularly returns around $39 billion annually to companies that offer consumer credit.

Debt collections activities help replenish the bottom line of businesses that struggle with a high volume of bad debt. Quite simply, the collections industry reduces the risk for businesses offering consumer credit, something that is imperative for keeping the economy going. Companies that seek a healthier bottom line use debt collection companies to recover some of the most difficult past due balances, which frees up internal teams to focus on the job at hand.

The types of debt collected impacts companies of all sizes in the following industry sectors:

  • Healthcare
  • Financial services
  • Student loans
  • Government
  • Retail
  • Telecom
  • Utility
  • Auto
  • Small- to mid-sized business

When debt is collected businesses can keep a positive cash flow which not only means they can keep prices low, it also helps ensure the overall success of the organization.

How Could a Debt Collection Agency Help your Business?

A reputable debt collection agency like TSI can deliver outstanding results. Our sophisticated collection activities use a data-driven, client-centric approach. Beyond a basic debt collection agency, TSI can also provide end-to-end strategic accounts receivable management.

TSI can maximize recoveries and boost cash flow, streamline your accounts receivable management processes, and reduce internal expenses and administrative responsibilities. And because TSI keeps a focus on the customer experience, our services will not damage your organization’s reputation.

A quality debt collection service like TSI helps improve the bottom line of the businesses we serve. TSI clients recognize this impact, and we’re proud of these partnerships that are a win/win. Contact TSI today to learn more about our services and the value they can offer your business. For more information, contact me today!  Always ready to help!

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Taming Your Cash Flow Before It Eats You Alive

23 Apr
Source – TSI  http://tsico.com

There are no shortage of “beasts” your business needs to tame in order to thrive in the marketplace.

Some might read that and think of scaling to meet the needs of a growing client base or managing difficult employees, but cash flow can be one of the biggest monetary monsters you can encounter as a business owner. This far-to-often overlooked financial factor can be contained as easily as it can go out of control. Take a look at these four simple, yet sound, principles for taming cash flow in order to make it your business’ best friend rather than an arch enemy.

Let’s discuss how to keep the cash coming in rather than rolling out.

1. Increasing Incentives to Deter Debt Collection

This might seem like a simple psychological trick, but it is an easy way to tame the cash flow beast. Adding incentives for clients who consistently pay on time (or, even better, early) and/or having consequences for clients who are tardy with the amount due will help you keep your cash flow steady and on time. Another way to ensure cash flow is to offer incentives to clients who decide to pay in full rather than installment payments. You can rest assured you get all the cash you need with only a minor deduction of a discount, or whatever incentive you choose. A small discount now is better than having to pay for debt collection later to support cash flow.

2. Cash Flow Cognizance: Being Present & Aware of Cash Flow

It’s your business, livelihood, and financial future. So, why wouldn’t you want to be as aware of and up-to-date with all of your cash flow details? Analyzing your monthly cash flow and keeping a more frequent check on accounts receivable will help you stay on top of delinquent payments from clients and reel in any out-of-control outgoing cash on your part. Knowledge is truly power, as it can be easy to overlook cash flow issues. Awareness equals accountability for you and for your accounts receivable.

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Being keyed into your cash flow is the best way to continue saving money instead of burning up revenue.

3. Be Crafty With Credit Cards

Utilizing credit cards in the right way is another simple way to tame your cash flow. Not only do credit cards provide you more time to make payments as it can take 1-2 months for money to be deducted from your company account, but you can increase your credit score over time to gain access to even more benefits from your credit cards. The number one thing to remember for this tip to be successful is that you must always pay the balance in full and on time to avoid even more cash out with extra interest fees or penalties.

4. Consider Your Taxes

Taxes are, unfortunately, unavoidable. You have to factor them in when analyzing cash flow. If you are not taking the cost of taxes into consideration, then you are not properly projecting your cash flow and will be doing yourself a disservice. Automatically set aside the taxes that you will need to pay out and don’t even factor this money into anything you could utilize as cash out for your business. Try to even save extra just to have a cash buffer. In tough times, a little buffer can go a long way. You can also check into any tax discounts and creditsthat could be applicable to your business, because who doesn’t like a little help from time to time?

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Stay educated on business taxation to continue to tame cash flow.

Keeping these cash flow tips and tricks in mind will help your business position itself for the most potential profit and the least unnecessary loss. There’s a lot more of these principles to be taught and we can help you learn more about how to optimize your revenue today! content?Action=tp&cid=45676

Call me directly at 888-780-1333 or email me at david.wiener@cashflowstrategies.us for more information.

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Money For Your Business, When The Bank Says, “No!”

29 Mar

money

Traditional bank loans can be sluggish and an increasing number of deserving small and medium sized businesses get turned down.  Businesses need funding for renovations, expansion, additional inventory, upgrading equipment, launching a new advertising campaign, or any one of many other reasons.  What can a business owner do when the bank won’t budge?

Merchant funding provides a great alternative to banks for all of these necessities.  Approval is not dependent on your credit score.  Unlike banks, no formal business plan is required, and neither is collateral.

If you can answer “yes” to the following questions, you are eligible to receive between $10,000 and $1,000,000 in less than 1 week!

  • Do you have bank statements for the last 4 months?
  • Have you been in business for at least 1 year?
  • Do you have at least $10,000 per month in gross sales?

In just minutes, you could be on your way to a renovated facility, state-of-the-art technology, and sophisticated marketing campaigns that make your business stand out and keep customers coming through your door.

Get cash in your bank account in as little as 48 hours!

For more information on this and other ways to improve your business cash flow, contact me, David Wiener, at 888-780-1333.

To find out how much money your business could qualify for, click here.

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Not all Debtors are created equal!

27 Feb
After being in the ARM (accounts receivable management) industry now for many years, I can honestly say I’ve heard almost every story in the book from CEOs, CFOs, healthcare administrators, doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, billing managers to janitors as the reasoning or excuses from clients as to why their outstanding balance had not been paid.
Here are some common excuses:
  • They have been traveling.
  • They just lost their job.
  • They just moved and were not getting the invoices.
  • They came across financial hardships and needed some extra time.
  • They just had surgery and have been in the hospital so needed some time to get their things organized.
  • They weren’t satisfied with the service or product so didn’t feel the need to pay for it.
  • They were used to paying all their vendors after 60 or 90 days.
Here are some off-the-wall responses:
  • They said they were going to get their checkbook from their car and never returned.
  • They didn’t remember ever ordering that product or service.
  • They’re going through a divorce and to call the soon to be ex-spouse who is responsible for the balance, not them.
  • They were wondering if their creditor would be willing to barter instead.
It might seem odd to hear even the common excuses listed above if you aren’t in a business that extends credit or if you are in general a good paying consumer.
It may even seem like an episode from a spin off series of the Twilight Zone where customers walk into Costco, load their shopping carts full of items, walk past the cash registers, give the friendly greeters their mailing address to send them a bill and walk right out.  Luckily for Costco, it isn’t the case as they don’t extend credit (only through a 3rd party financing credit card partner).  Unfortunately for millions of other businesses around the world that essentially happens every day.
In my opinion the most vital thing to understand if you are in a business that extends credit or carries an accounts receivable is:
NOT ALL DEBTORS ARE CREATED EQUAL
I explain to my clients that they’re only going to have to deal with 4 types of payers.  I laughed the other day when a client told me that 4 payers is 3 more than he’d care to deal with.  Can you blame him?
Here are the 4 Payer Types:
  1. Dutiful  (Always pays their bills on time, probably has an 800 or higher credit score.)
  2. Distracted (That busy working professional who is good for the money but hasn’t yet gotten to all 10-12 monthly bills on their kitchen table.  They simply need a reminder text, email, phone call, letter and they’ll pay up.)
  3. Disrespectful (Has disregarded and ignored at least 2 billing cycles from the same creditor and hasn’t called to explain or apologize about non-payment.  Are paying some bills more timely, but they have chosen which bills to put off that don’t seem so urgent.)
  4. Deliberate (Have expressed to their creditor verbally that they will not pay the balance owed or expressed through non verbal cues of long periods of silence, mail returns and disconnected phone lines.  These are the most high risk debtors.)
Now be honest with yourself, which category do you fall under?
I want to note that, in my experience, these 4 payers types are found in all socio-economic income levels, meaning some wealthy people fall into the category of Deliberate high risk debtors while people from low income levels can be in the category of Dutiful payers.
I won’t get to into details about the psychology of why these 4 types of payers/debtors respond, react or do nothing in this article.  What I can tell you is by simply understanding that there are 4 payer types and that not all debtors are created equal puts you FAR ahead of the game and your competition.
The BILLION DOLLAR question is how do I efficiently and professionally address each of the 4 payer types to recover my past due balances? (That is if you’re in a business that extends credit, if you don’t have to worry about this then lucky you!!)
I would love to hear your comments, create some dialogue around the 4 payer types and hear your ideas on how your business effectively maximizes your accounts receivable in-house.

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GETTING MONEY FOR YOUR COMPANY OR MEDICAL/DENTAL PRACTICE HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER

9 Dec

Are you a small to mid-sized business or practice who needs fast cash to use as working capital?

Getting the money you need for your company has never been easier.  If you need $25,000 – $1,000,000, we can offer a high-quality alternative to banks.  Traditional bank loans can be sluggish, and often deserving small businesses get turned down.  That’s why we have set up a no-hassle application process to make access to working capital simple for business owners like you.

  • All credit histories considered (no minimum FICO score)
  • No complicated paperwork
  • Quick approval times (24-48 hours and even same-day)
  • Transparent Rates and Fees

Unlike banks, we don’t require a formal business plan or collateral.  If you answer yes to the following questions, you are eligible:

  1. Do you have bank statements for the past 6 months?
  2. Have you been in business for the last one year?
  3. Do you have $25,000 in gross sales per month?

In just a few easy steps, you can be on your way to a renovated facility, state-of-the-art technology, marketing and advertising campaigns that get the customers coming through your door, or any other business expense.

Don’t wait.  Call today at 770-783-9523 or 888-780-1333 to get your application started.

Cash Flow Strategies, Inc.

 

 

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INSURANCE MONEY WON’T PAY YOUR BILLS ANYMORE, DOC!

16 Jun

I was told today by a doctor that he refrains from pushing too hard to collect from a patient who owes him money, because of all the money he makes on the patient from insurance companies.  He is willing to write off patient balances, to keep making insurance money from the patient visits, and doesn’t want to offend the patient into leaving the practice by insisting he pay his bill.

This is the general attitude many doctors had 25-30 years ago.  It may have had some validity back them but times have changed!  Insurance money alone will not keep your doors open and your lights on any more doc.  You are putting your practice in jeopardy by not seeing what is happening around you!

High deductible health plans are the norm these days, and co-insurance is rising all the time.  Despite what the government tells us, there are more and more patients who do not have insurance, or have adequate insurance.  Self pay is now the highest payer in the medical world behind Medicare and Medicaid, and it is catching up fast.  According to recent statistics, patient balances now represent over 35% of a doctors income and soon, if major changes aren’t made, will be over 50%.

You can’t wish it away, or ignore it away.  You MUST find a way to motivate patients to pay you, and pay you faster than before.

Medicine, whether you like or not, or understand it or not, is a business.  You are trading a service for money, and the patient knows it.  They also know when you are leaving them alone about their bill so that you can continue to collect insurance money. Not only do they know, but guess who they tell?  EVERYBODY!!!  And guess what happens?  You get all the patients who don’t want to pay their bills.  Great!  Until, that is, until you watch your patient A/R go through the roof.  By the time you see this happen, you are already in trouble.

Don’t waste time.  There are automated tools to help your practice both maintain your good relationships with your patients, AND get them to pay you their portion of the bill sooner.  Call me today at 888-780-1333 and I will tell you about them.  Isn’t it worth 20-30 minutes of your time to keep the lights on in your practice over the long haul?

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