By Paul Adams

January is the month for small businesses to have their employee forms W-2 prepared either by their office staff or their accountant. Not only are forms W-2 prepared but a Form 1099 is prepared on behalf of the small business for payments made to individuals (non-employees) or (non-corporate) entities for services provided to that particular small business during the previous year. A good way to save time in processing these forms would be to have a Form W-9 completed by the parties performing the services on behalf of your business.

A Form W-9 is a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. This form provides your small business with the name, address, tax payer identification number and tax classification of the individuals or entities you are planning on paying in the upcoming year for services provided. It would be a great benefit for you to have one of these forms filled out and in your records even before you pay an individual or entity to do work that you will need performed in 2012. These forms are easy to acquire, just ask your accountant for one, or visit the IRS website for Form W-9 here, then download the form to your business computer and print out. The Form W-9s can become your best friend when it comes to the processing time needed to prepare the forms 1099 in the future. In all businesses, time is money, so to reduce the amount of money needed to have forms 1099 prepared in the future, have forms W-9 completed and on file at your small business.

By Sheila Emory

In our last newsletter, we told you that the E-VERIFY Program was mandatory for all businesses over 500 employees as of January 1, 2012 (The dates for compliance for businesses over 200 employees are July 1, 2012 and January 1, 2013 for 6 or more). However, the State of Tennessee just passed a bill at the close of 2011 giving you an option.

The Tennessee Legislature passed Public Chapter 436 which gives Tennessee employers an alternative to the federal law that requires all employers to use the E-VERIFY Program. Tennessee employers may request and maintain a copy of any one document listed in PC436 in lieu of enrollment in E-VERIFY Program. This alternative does not apply if the Tennessee employer has already enrolled in E-VERIFY Program.

The documents listed as acceptable to retain in place of enrollment in E-VERIFY are:

• A valid Driver’s License or Photo ID issued by Tennessee
• A valid Driver’s License or Photo ID issued by a state with issuance requirements at least as strict as Tennessee, which will be posted on the TN Department of Safety’s website
• An official birth certificate issued by a US state, jurisdiction, territory or the federal government
• A valid, unexpired US passport
• A US certificate of birth abroad
• A report of birth abroad of a citizen of the US
• A certificate of citizenship
• A certificate of naturalization
• A US citizen ID card
• Valid alien registration documents or other proof of current immigration registration recognized by the US Department of Homeland Security

By Brenda Petersen 

1.  Complete the organizer.

If you are a tax client of BCS, you should have received your individual organizer.  If you did not, please click here to find an electronic version, or call the office at 282-4511 to request one.

The organizer helps you by making sure you have all your ducks in a row.  You will find questions regarding your personal information; dependents; purchases, sales and debt; itemized deductions; possible tax credits and other miscellaneous information.

To ensure a flawless tax return, check the names, birthdays, and social security numbers of you, your spouse, and your dependents.

Please be sure to provide updated contact information.

2. Send us all W-2s, 1099s, etc.

In addition to W-2s and 1099s, we also need any of the following to minimize tax liability:

-  Medical expenses

-  Property taxes paid

-  Charitable contributions

-  Child care expenses

-  Mortgage interest statements

-  Student loan statements or tuition paid

3. Don’t opt out of e-file.

We recommend all of our eligible clients e-file their return.  Some returns cannot be e-filed due to attachments, etc., but if at all possible, you should have your return e-filed.  E-filing is a safer and faster way than paper mail to get your return to the IRS.  Once your e-filed return or extension is accepted, we get a confirmation from the IRS. 

The IRS has mandated that all individual and trust returns be e-filed.  If you still choose not to e-file your return, you must sign an opt-out form.

4. The earlier your information is in, the better.

Our returns are prepared on a first-in, first-out basis, so get your information to us as soon as you can.  The only way we can guarantee your return will be done before the deadline, is to make certain your complete information is to us by April 1^st.   If you wait until after April 1^st, we might have to extend your return. 

5. Start organizing now for next year.

January is a great place to start organizing for next year.  We recommend filing all your information by month, and keeping a separate file for tax-related statements.  This will ensure a stress-free tax season for you next year! 

By Chad Kisner



It’s just barely a new year, not even a month has passed upon 2012, and I’m sure it’s safe to say many of us have quickly returned to a busy schedule of work, family, activities, etc. Oh, how quickly life seems to return to “normal” when the holidays are over and things turn, well, back to “normal.” So, how’s this “normal” January going for you as you prepare for your annual audit (or for some on a fiscal year, consider this your mid-year check-up)? Are you more prepared for this audit than the last, or have you closed your year in just the “normal” way you’ve always done it? Have you looked for possible improvements you can make to help your audit go more smoothly? Have you called or e-mailed your audit team to let them know of something very different in this year’s books?


The audit process is always based upon risk, and there is a lot of risk out there within a client’s books and situations. So, as a result, auditors are always asking about controls, more specifically internal controls, and if the auditor is asking the right questions, they’re probably asking about the internal controls over those risky areas.


You want your audit to go smoothly – you know, no adjustments and not a single comment to report to the board, right?


If you answered yes, then begin the process by doing a little reflection on your books for the past year and think about all the things that are different than in the past. More than you probably thought, right? Now, once you’ve made a good list, give your audit partner or manager a call and share with them all the things you’ve thought about and any concerns you have.


That’s pretty easy, but you would be surprised how much help you just provided! Since as I mentioned audits are based on risk, you just helped the auditor know where you see some risk, which makes their assessment just a little bit easier. Not only that, hopefully you were able to give them some insight into what you’ve done to make sure those risky things have been handled to the best of your ability (i.e., the exercise of internal controls). So, do a little reflection and see what you come up with – you may be surprised, but if you share that information, then your auditors won’t be.

By Gina Lemons

Have you noticed that the social security tax withheld from your employees’ pay checks is still less than the amount you have to match as an employer? That is due the Payroll Tax Cut Extension that Congress passed at the end on 2011. Employees pay in 4.2% toward Social Security while employers pay in 6.2% toward that same program. The two-month extension is set to expire February 29, 2012, unless Congress can agree to extend it through the end of 2012.

Employers who use computer software to prepare their payroll shouldn’t worry. Companies like Intuit, which owns QuickBooks, will issue updates via their internet links as soon as the law is passed. However, employers who are not connected to the internet may have to wait on CD updates. This delay may result in added time and cost to manually calculate the 1^st payroll in March. My advice is to update your QuickBooks (or other software) when prompted. If you are not connected to the Internet, get connected. It will save you a lot of frustration and time.