Much of what I’m been writing over the summer has felt pretty positive as I have focused more on general business concepts that can make one both happy and profitable – and who doesn’t feel positive about those things? Maybe this positivity means I have been enjoying the season, or maybe there was just a need to get out of the tax morass it felt like we were in for more than half a year as tax reform was hammered out and then we worked on hammering out its ramifications.

I think it is now impossible to keep these two things separate, though.

I know I am not giving any breaking news updates here, as I am sure that most reading this know that both Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen have been found guilty of various crimes. I will not regurgitate the stories here, but suffice to say that both situations are an entangled mess of politics and finance. I will also not take any political stand or guess what this could mean for any politician’s future, but it is now indisputable that people close to the current president were involved in financial dealings that were not on the up and up.

And have we not talked this summer about how, if you have not been taking a fully honest look at your financial numbers, there is only so much you can do with them until they catch up to you? Move things around for a time and all can still look good, but they’re not actually good.

These situations also show that keeping an eye on the culture and vision of your business is necessary. The stories show that somewhere along the way, people lost their way. After all, when ostrich jackets and porn stars play large roles, things have gotten messy. And messy is clearly not leading to any positive outcomes for anyone.

I also always write about how there are no secret ways to find financial loopholes or secret rules that the rich get to live by. Everyone should take advantage of all they are allowed within the law, but the key is to stay within the law. If you have to get real creative, chances are you are falling out of that realm.

Now at the same time, we also are hearing encomiums about former Senator John McCain following his passing. Those tales come from the opposite end of the spectrum, as he was a man who seems to have been almost universally respected. There is a lesson in there about living one’s life with honor, With honor, even if you disagree with someone, you will still earn their respect.

So let these little political reminders reinforce some of those points we have discussed in the past couple of months. After all, examples can come from both ends, the good and the bad. Pick the right people to emulate, push yourself in that direction, and you will not have to worry about things catching up to you in the long run – no matter who you are, who you know, or what position you hold.

Word is that Amazon is in the considering buying Landmark Theaters. This leads one to wonder if there is anything that company doesn’t want to do.

Over the summer, I have written a good deal about business theories that can lead to success. When looking for such lessons, it is always good to look at those that have had success and currently there are not many companies in a tier with Amazon when it comes to growing and thriving.

It’s a little humbling/disheartening to think it is possible people could read this who do not realize that Amazon began as an online bookseller before it was an adjective preceding Prime, Music, Video, Kindle and Alexa. One could have a long talk about whether this is a good or bad thing, but Amazon even sold books so well that it precipitated the demise of bookstores both big and small. One cannot, however, debate how good the company was at what it did.

The first lesson there then is that even if you want to work within a long-established industry, make what you do new and different than what everyone else does. If you do that, you ensure there is still room for you. I mean, I can’t imagine that 25 years ago there were many people who would have predicted that a giant business empire could begin by selling books. The space to do that, however, clearly did exist.

If Amazon only ever sold books, though, it may have remained successful, even to a high degree, but it would not be the company it is today. That higher level of success came from not being idle. So Amazon went from changing how we bought books to changing how we read books and was at the forefront of delivering e-readers.

The second lesson here then is to not be afraid to change. If you only ever do one thing, you will get left behind. Just ask those bookstores that no longer exist.

And as you keep having more success in more areas, you can keep trying to have more success in other areas. Who would have thought such a company would then be revolutionary with new shipping policies, then go off and create award-winning entertainment, too. Now, Amazon could be trying to change brick-and-mortar grocery stores by removing checkouts, and who knows what their movie theaters would look like.

So at the start, businesses should have a vision for what they want to do, and remain committed to doing it very well and different than everyone else. That gives people a reason to keep returning to you. Doing it really well in the right way can then sure you’re profitable enough to give you the means to do new things.

Knowing what you’re doing well and where you’re succeeding helps you put your efforts in the right places and continue growing. So think both small and big, but do it mindfully so that you can keep track of what’s working and what’s not. We love nothing more than seeing our clients grow and prosper, so if you need help tracking just how well you are doing, let us know and we will help you get to where to you want to be.

For the past few weeks, tax talk has died down in this space. You may think that’s because in the middle of the summer there isn’t much tax stuff to talk about. You would be wrong, though, as I will prove in this summer tax highlights blog.

The first thing worth mentioning here is that if you have filed for an extension, keep an eye on the calendar. You only have about two months left to file. That six months that you gained with the extension sounded like a long time back in April, didn’t it? And two months probably still sound like a long time, but they mean you haven’t filed in eight months, so you might want to get a move on.

And why wouldn’t you get a move on? If you’re set to get a refund, get that money into your pocket (or account) so that you can do things with it instead of the government. If you’re set to have to have to pay, figuring out exactly how much and getting it handled could help you stave off potential penalties and interest.

Next up on the tax docket is urging everyone else to take a look at the calendar. When tax reform passed in December of last year, a lot still felt up in the air, and no one (tax professionals included) felt immediately confident on how it would affect everyone as a rule. More and more guidance has come since then, though, and now good guesses can be made.

Really good guesses can be made when you actually look at your situation from its individual perspective. Therefore, if you have not yet done so, you might want to take a look at the IRS’s withholding calculator. Answering a series of questions here will let you know what you should be having withheld from your paycheck to meet your tax obligation. Your tax picture isn’t going to look exactly the same as last year, so wouldn’t you like to know?

The IRS’s latest call for who might want to check their withholding went out to people with high incomes and complex returns. But the agency has told many different types of people that they might want to use it, though, so I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t benefit from the knowledge.

And remember that look at the calendar? Did you notice that we’re rapidly moving toward the end of the year? That means that if you want to make some changes, time is starting to run low for making them effective. Do it now while your moves have time to make a significant difference.

Finally, the IRS also recently put out a notice to remind people that tax reform extended the time limit to challenge a tax levy from nine months to two years. The change in law applies to levies made before, on or after December 22, 2017, as long as the previous nine-month period hadn’t yet expired. This is one of those things that may not affect a large percentage of people, but it is still worth putting out there, for it could be very valuable to those people.

Because after all, tax news never stops around here.

Sometimes I come across pieces written for accountants that I feel have more far-reaching lessons that should be taken beyond our world, and it is to one of those that I want to talk about this week. This article was featured in Accounting Today under the main title “Art of Accounting,” but with a subtitle of “Staff Who Take Ownership.” It is that latter part that I want to talk about here, and not just because I’m unsure how artistic accountants ever are.

The broad theme behind the article is that staff who take “ownership” over what they do are better, more conscientious workers. And I think this stands to reason, as we have all worked with people who only do the tasks required of them on a surface level, check off the box that is done, and let the ramifications of it be handled by others. Those who take ownership are more interested in how it plays out throughout the rest of the operation. More interest, more diligence, more follow-through, those are all traits that it’s easy to see as positives.

The article’s author speaks about teaching staff to take ownership, though, and I wonder how much that is something that can be taught. I believe that businesses should be set up in ways that allow employees to take interest in the endeavor beyond their immediate tasks, but I think that is more a part of workplace culture than something that can be taught. When it is encouraged as part of the culture, one can find people who naturally embrace that, find those who have the drive to do more than what is asked of them, and they will stand out as people who will be worth holding onto.

That is something that I try to embrace in my own work, to where it even goes beyond those who work directly with me. For in my business, it is necessary that I have a number of clients outside the immediate operation, as well, but the same dynamic works best there.

Because sure, there are clients who only need us to do a certain number of tasks, and that is as far as the relationship goes. We are confident that we can still do this very well, be a part of their operation they rely on, but things never go further than that.

There are other clients, however, where we get a little deeper. Since our work puts us in close contact with their financial data, there are many areas we could touch on. This can evolve into more detailed reporting, pointing out inconsistencies, or even becoming more of an advisor than just a reporter. This all depends on the type of company and what they are trying to do, but moving beyond has to start with a mindset that people shine when allowed to look beyond the tasks they are assigned.

So yes, we like to take ownership over the work we do, no matter what type of work it is, and the ability to do more is only something that ends up benefitting everyone involved. Take this chance then to think about the idea of ownership, and whether you have the ability to show initiative and do more in your job, or if you have the ability to enact a culture that will allow those types of workers to shine.

Spin seems to be ever more important with news stories these days. For example, word has come out over the last week New York state tax officials have opened an investigation into the Trump Foundation to determine whether the charity violated state law. That is the fact, but it can result in two different stories depending on the spin. Is this another arrow in the quiver to attack the president, just another piece of evidence about his sordid nature? Or is this another attempt to bring down the president by those who are ever against him, but can never fully prove anything and get something to stick?

The narrative one prefers to follow largely determines how the story looks. For the Foundation itself, though, things are going to be much more black and white. There are rules that it is required to follow in its operation. If it followed them, nothing will come of the investigation. If it did not, issues will arise. Our current political world may not be so clear, but any business should be run under strict parameters.

This is something we often see here when it comes to tax issues. There are stories about how certain people know how to use the tax system in mysterious ways that help them buck the system and leads to benefits that not everyone can either qualify for or know how to benefit from. And frankly, that’s just not true.

Sure, there are people – and this is often people with a lot of money – who have really good tax planning, know how to use the rules to their advantage, and maybe come out of it paying less in taxes than some believe they should. Now there are debates to be had on that last part about just what one’s obligation should be, but I do not believe that anyone can be faulted for working the established rules to their greatest advantage.

Those rules, though, are known. They are public. There are no secrets, and problems only arise when one tries to work against the rules or fudge something to get around them.

This is also something that comes up with business owners. No one in charge of such a venture wants to look at numbers that say they are not doing well. Looking like you are doing well can not only an advantage to one’s wallet, but also helps with any partners, looking for funding, etc.

If those numbers not only look good, but are not real and legitimate, then one should reap the benefits that can come with it. If numbers have been fudged to make things look better than they are, however, that just means you can’t justify yourself when it’s time to back them up.

When it comes to finances, spin is not something that should be used. We are dealing with numbers and laws in these situations, after all, which most often lead to definite answers. There are many things one can do to turn things to your advantage, but you should not seek advantage by trying to buck the system. Keep the difference between theory and reality in mind. Fight for what you want, but what you want to be is not always what is.

The IRS and its Security Summit partners are spearheading an awareness campaign for tax professionals in an effort to protect client data in its ongoing fight against various security threats. Although our clients’ security is something that we consider a high priority, many of the tips put out for professionals work on the personal level, as well. The best security takes place at many levels, so I wanted to pass along some of these tips to you this week.

First, have anti-malware and anti-virus security on all electronic devices. This can hold off many attacks that could expose your information without you ever knowing. A critical addendum to this, though, can be setting your software to automatically update. I know it can be annoying when your phone or some software programs keep telling you to download the latest version, but many times those updates include fixes that enhance security.

After that, keep passwords on everything that can have one. This includes password protecting wireless devices. After all, even if you don’t think you have critical personal information saved on the device, have you ever visited your banking website on its browser? Or checked a credit card balance? You may have information saved on the device that you are unaware of, and could be used against you if it fell into the wrong hands.

Then, of course, there are the passwords you use to access all those websites mentioned above – or any website really. For are you using the same password to get into your bank as you are your Netflix account? Once a password is found somewhere, it is easier to track down usernames, and if you’re using the same password everywhere, you’re making it easier to get at your information.

Not only should your passwords be different everywhere, but you also want to use different kinds of passwords. Sure, your kid’s name and birthday is easier to remember, but using special characters, random capitalizations, numbers, etc., all make it more difficult to figure out just what that password is.

If you are saving any sensitive information on your computer or in any cloud-based service, you want it to be protected by more than just a password, too. Ensure that these places are encrypting information. If they’re not, I promise that with only minimal research you can find a similar service for the same price that will do so and give you that extra level of safety.

Finally, if you do keep some of that information on a hard drive, remember that before you get rid of the device. This is easier to think about if you know it is still going to be used by someone else, but can be overlooked if you’re just trashing a device.  But if you are throwing it away, hey, destroying that hard drive can even be a little fun and help you take out some aggression (just think of every time technology has made you throw up your hands).

None of these tips will have you doing things the easiest way, but they are the safest way. And if you are ever in a situation where someone has information about you that you wish they didn’t, you will think that it would have been time well spent.

Every once in a while, things build up on us.  Hopefully this is not something you’re feeling in the middle of the summer, as ideally this is the time when you are pulling a little less onto your plate, and not just in an attempt to get that beach body. That hasn’t been the case for things that I thought I should mention in this space, though, so here are a few quick hits to get these off my plate.

The biggest one of these may be the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair that will let states and local jurisdictions impose sales tax on online sales. For many, online purchases have been most wonderful because of their ease and convenience, but sometimes they came with the bonus of not needing to pay sales tax, but those days seem to be over.

This is most important to note for those who run businesses online, where thinking about sales tax outside of where you are located had not been a concern. If you are in this position, I implore you to find a solution before it is too late, and there are online tools that will help with this.  It will take some initial setup, but this is the type of thing that eventually becomes a seamless part of your business. This initial outlay of time and effort will be better than getting into a situation where you are called upon to make sales tax payments when you never collected the money.

On the payroll side of things, the Department of Labor seems set to propose new overtime rules in October. We can speak about this a little more when/if it actually happens, but I thought it was worth mentioning it here to put it into business owners’ heads. Once you appropriately set up payroll, after all, much of making sure you’re in compliance takes care of itself, but the rules do sometimes change and require attention.

Finally, the AICPA (an accounting professional group) sent a letter to the IRS requesting guidance on some FAQs concerning how cryptocurrencies are taxed.  This does not mean that anything will necessarily not be taxed (rest assured, whenever there are things of value out there, the IRS is going to want to tax it), but just how it is taxed.

Without getting too deep into the weeds, this is mostly about how things are taxed, and possibly when they are taxed. And it could be that the IRS chooses not to react toward this and nothing changes.  If it does, however, there could be some tweaks you may want to make to put yourself in the most advantageous tax position. So if you are involved this world, this is something to keep tabs on.

And of course these aren’t the only things to have come across the radar that never get to see a full blog treatment. So as always, if you have any issues that you would like to discuss, we are always happy to hear from you and give you some more personal direction.