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Sales and Use Tax Could Be Your Nemesis

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Tax sign

Sign of the times for buyers & sellers. Photo by 401(K) 2013

Sales and use tax is not logical and it can’t be ignored. It’s tough to understand, hard to follow, and frustrating at the least.

According to a recent Fred Pryor seminar, when you charge sales tax, you aren’t taxing the property or service itself, but the retailing of it. Use taxes are complimentary or supplemental to sales tax and are designed to help the state get all the taxes due for the storage, use or consumption of goods or services in a state. They are used to help prevent tax evasion by those who make out-of-state purchases, level the playing field between in-state and out of state sellers, and  to deal with transfers or sales  of property or used equipment between division or subsidiaries. Use taxes are usually remitted by the buyer. [Read more…]

What a CFO Can Do to Improve the Sales System

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Role-playing dice have nothing on the role-playing CFO when it comes to improving the sales system.Photo by cal-harding from flickr. Role-playing dice are like the role-playing CFO whose job includes improving the sales system. Photo by cal_harding from flickr.

Role-playing dice have nothing on the role-playing CFO when it comes to improving the sales system.Photo by cal-harding from flickr.

What can a CFO do to improve the company’s sales system? What do they even know about sales?  You’d be surprised.

If you’re the CFO and CEO, the following applies to you. If you’re both of these plus the Director of Sales and maybe even the Chief Salesperson, you still need to include the tasks below in order to improve the results of your sales system. [Read more…]

The True Value of 1st Quarter Financials

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Evaluate your 1st quarter financials to get higher profitability going forward. Image by Photosteve101 from flickr.com.

Evaluate your 1st quarter financials to get higher profitability going forward. Image by Photosteve101 from flickr.com.

The true value of 1st quarter financials goes way beyond just the raw numbers. Because of that, your monthly close out is more important and there are do’s and don’ts that are unique to this quarter.

Completing the prioritized tasks gives the owner or manager a perfect opportunity to refine their vision for the year. Using the resulting information can make the last three quarters more productive and more profitable. This will keep you out of the weeds and create the 40,000 foot owner/investor perspective you need to make a better future. [Read more…]

Working Successfully with a Virtual CFO

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Can a Virtual CFO give you all this? Maybe.

Can a Virtual CFO give you all this? Maybe.

Outsourcing your financial management to a Virtual Chief Financial Officer may make sense.

You may be tempted to be part of the virtual revolution: virtual office space, virtual secretary, virtual business? My partner, Jan Triplett, steps in as a Virtual Marketing Officer for our clients. She helps set up alliances, creates sales channels, runs trade shows, and recommends and implements sales strategy to find right prospects and keep the best platinum profile customers™.

Maybe you’re thinking about it because you…

  1. Hate doing books, dealing with collections, payroll, taxes, etc.
  2. Don’t understand financial management or are not good at numbers
  3. Are too busy to do the recordkeeping, stay up to date and stay in compliance [Read more…]

Texas Workforce Unemployment Claims Hearing Preparations

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About-the-Texas-Workforce-Commission-TWCTexas Workforce Hearing preparations can save your business and make you a better business.

Not only is a Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Unemployment Claims Hearing not something to fear but it’s something to expect  — even if you do everything right. If you have employees, you will get audited. It’s just a matter of time. In some ways that’s good because it says that someone is watching. [Read more…]