By Alice Williams

With the disappearance of green ledger pads comes the age of inexpensive accounting software.  There has been a huge boom in over-the-counter programs in the last few years.  QuickBooks (Intuit) is the most widely known, but there are other less known options like Peachtree (Sage).  There are also industry-specific packages such as PCLaw for attorney practices.  Whether you want to use it for home or office, it’s readily available at almost any store or online site.  And the banks are even catching onto the craze and offering use of the software packages through their websites.  So with all the choices out there, which one is right for you?  Well that depends on who you ask and on your needs (and hopefully the latter is taken into the equation when you ask).

QuickBooks is the most widely recognized software on the market. It’s owned by Intuit which also sells Quicken software. Peachtree is not as well known. Both have the capability to provide most of your accounting needs. If you’re familiar with computer software, you know that most software packages come in a variety of versions ranging in price from the affordable to the outrageously expensive. Don’t be sucked in by the salesperson or the advertising.

Bottom line – do your homework before you buy.  Whatever choice you make needs to be a benefit to your business and not a burden.  It would behoove you to discuss your options with your accountant to find out the best product to help you deal with your day-to-day accounting activity.  Taking your specific needs into account, they can suggest the most useful tool for you, not the most popular or most expensive.  And used properly, any of the choices out there will save you time and money in the office so that you can apply your time to making more money in your business.

By Teresa Adams:

Every year, business owners receive a Tangible Personal Property Schedule (TPPS) that must be completed and filed with their county Assessor’s Office. Personal property taxes are imposed on the business’s tangible personal property; which includes such items as: computers, office equipment, tools, furnishings, machinery, billboards, raw materials, supplies, and vehicles.

The Assessor’s Office calculates the tax based on the information previously disclosed to the assessor and reported on the TPPS form. These forms allow business owners to list any changes to their personal property. For example, new property that is acquired needs to be added to the form and old property that sold or retired should be removed. 

The Tangible Personal Property Schedule (TPPS) forms are mailed out at the beginning of each year and received by businesses around February 1^st. Business owners must complete the TPPS form on or before March 1^st and send them to the Assessor’s Office. If the deadline is missed, the Assessor will do a forced assessment on property owned by the business.

Important Things to Remember:

• Business owners should always keep records about property owned that is up-to-date and readily available to help with preparing these forms.
• After a business owner files the TPPS and later discovers a mistake on the form, they have until September 1^st of the following year to amend the schedule; however any business that has a force assessment is not allowed to amend the TPPS.

Any changes to personal property or business ownership should be reported immediately to the county’s Assessor’s Office.

By Sheila Emory

On February 22^nd, President Obama signed the payroll tax cut extension into law.  This extension affects nearly 160 million workers by continuing to keep the social security withholding rate at 4.2%, instead of the 6.2% in effect prior to 2011.  This extension is set to expire on December 31, 2012.

 Those who are self-employed will also see a reduction in their social security withholding from 12.4% to 10.4%, up to a threshold of $110,100 of wages and net self-employment income. 

 The new lower rate will have no effect on workers’ future social security benefits.

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