Personalized Financial Guidance for Individuals and Businesses
Mark: (703) 573-2733
Tax Prep & Planning
While a computer software program may help find deductions, there’s no substitute for the quality of service and advice you’ll receive from an experienced tax professional.
Here are a few of the benefits you’ll reap when using my service:
Preparing all of the appropriate forms and record all figures and calculations accurately.
Making sure that you receive all of the deductions and credits to which you are entitled.
Filing your return electronically to speed delivery of refunds.
Working with you to adjust your payroll withholding to make sure you send the right amount to each tax authority (no more, no less).
Showing you how to adjust your finances to take advantage of tax benefits on future returns.
Are you a sole proprietor? Have you been so focused on your business that you haven’t paid close attention to your books? I will tidy things up and prepare your Schedule C as part of your personal income tax return. I will then you set up an easy system to keep your books current going forward.
Strategies
Splitting income among several family members or legal entities to take advantage of lower income tax brackets
Shifting income or expenses from one year to another when it can yield a lower tax rate
Deferring or eliminating tax liability through use of tax-advantaged investment vehicles
Tracking all expenses eligible for itemized deduction
Taking advantage of tax credits
- Adjustment of payroll withholding
Tax Problems
Even if you have not been targeted for an IRS Audit, you may be aware of problems that will catch up with you eventually. Common examples include:
Missed tax filings for one or more years
Insufficient funds to pay the tax liability when due
Failure to remit payroll taxes
I’ll work with you to review your prior tax years and make sure that all of your tax filings have been submitted accurately. If you don’t know what’s included in your tax record, I’ll help you get copies from the tax authorities without raising any "red flags." I'll assess your tax liability and the associated interest and penalties. Then, I’ll work with you on an approach to negotiation.
It is far better to face your problems than to wait for them to land on your doorstep. I'm here to help in any way I can.
Resolution Strategies
Settle your tax debt for less than the full amount owed if the tax authority deems your offer to be the most they might collect within a reasonable time period.
Payment Plan to resolve debt. This approach protects you from asset seizure to settle your obligations.
The IRS provides Innocent Spouse Relief when for an aggrieved party when his or her spouse or former spouse failed to report income, reported income improperly, or claimed improper deductions or credit.
- If circumstances do not lend themselves to a negotiated settlement, then it may be necessary to seek protection through a Bankruptcy filing.
Small Business Accounting
Businesses of all shapes and sizes depend on accurate, insightful financial information to manage their day-to-day operations, capitalize on opportunities, and sustain profitability. I will lend my expert support to meet your accounting needs so that you can focus your time and energy on building a strong business.
I’ll create and maintain a chart of accounts to capture all of your financial transactions, provide the right information to manage your business, and prepare federal, state, and local tax returns.
While a clean set of books is a key objective for every accountant, it’s also important to match the accounting records with the monthly bank statements. My bank reconciliation services ensure that every deposit and withdrawal aligns with entries into your accounting records. This assessment enables me to identify lost deposits, lost checks, unauthorized transactions, and inappropriate bank fees. It triggers investigation into any fraudulent activity (identity theft, forgery, embezzlement, etc.), and expedites restitution. And it gives you a clearer picture of your cash position for addressing planned outlays and investments.
I can prepare a complete set of financial statements to help you assess the health of your business. This package includes:
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A Balance Sheet that gives you a snapshot of your overall financial condition at month, quarter, and/or year end
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An Income Statement (a.k.a. Profit and Loss Statement) that summarizes revenues, expenses, and net profits so you can assess the operating performance of your business
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A Comparison of Actual Performance to Budget so you can identify trouble spots in your revenue stream or spending patterns
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A Cash Flow Statement that shows how changes in your Balance Sheet and Income Statement affect your available cash
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Estimated tax liabilities
My analysis of your financial statements helps you frame strategic initiatives (e.g., business expansion, acquisition) as well as tactical plans (e.g., accounts receivable and accounts payable management). Professionally prepared financial statements are also an essential resource when dealing with creditors (e.g., vendors, banks) and investors.
When you use my professional accounting services, you get more than a collection of records and reports. You get the benefit of my skills, experience, and expertise. I am happy to invest the time to make sure that you understand and utilize all of the information we provide. Call me whenever you have a question or concern.
Managing the employee payroll is not a simple matter of calculating the amounts due, writing checks, and handing them out. There’s a host of government reporting and recording keeping requirements that comes with the job. And there are adverse consequences if you get it wrong.
There are 5 good reasons for outsourcing this function:
You’ll save money by letting the experts attend to the task efficiency and accurately.
You’ll avoid penalties associated with payroll tax calculation errors or missed filing deadlines.
I’ll handle employee questions and concerns, and research any issues they uncover.
You’ll receive comprehensive reporting to help manage your business and attend to any special requirements.
You’ll gain valuable time to focus on running your business.
I offer two payroll service options to meet the needs of different business owners and non-profit clients. These services include:
Vacation, sick, and personal day accruals and tracking
IRS and State tax reporting plus Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) deposits
Monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports
New hire file creation and reporting
W-2, W-3, and 1099 preparation
The service option you choose defines how payments are processed:
After-the-Fact Payroll Service: You process all of the payments, and I post your payroll records and information into our data system and handle all of the other payroll functions.
Online Payroll Processing: I provide access to our payroll system to enable you to enter employee hours and earnings. You print the payroll checks on your printer, and I process the direct deposits.
I can also provide ad hoc services, such as:
Worker's Compensation Audits
Unemployment Claims
Social Security Audits
Child Support Audits
Federal and State registration
Virtual CFO
As your business prospers, a part-time Chief Financial Officer can help you develop financial plans to support business strategy, provide oversight of your accounting and administrative functions, and establish safeguards to mitigate risk. I will work to fulfill your needs at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.
Your Virtual CFO translates your business strategy and operating plans into detailed financial forecasts (Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Cash Flow Statements, Department Budgets) by month over the planning horizon. These forecasts expose capital, staffing, facilities, and equipment requirements for which actions plans must be developed. They also contemplate tax strategies to minimize liabilities while making provisions for quarterly payments. Once plans are set, your Virtual CFO helps you establish performance benchmarks and provides the means to track progress (actuals vs. forecast). Expert counsel helps you minimize the impact of variances as well as initiate corrective action. Moreover, profitability analysis by service or product line can suggest opportunities to refocus sales effort or highlight the need to improve margins through repricing and/or cost containment.
Your Virtual CFO has the ability to provide oversight of all aspects of your company’s financial affairs. This includes:
- Establishing strong internal controls to ensure accurate transaction processing while minimizing exposure to fraud and theft
- Training and managing the accounting and payroll staff – whether in-house, through our firm, or via a third party service
- Providing financial reports and performance benchmarks within 15 days of month end closing
- Identifying sources to meet capital and operating requirements and taking the lead to negotiate favorable terms
- Building a cash reserve appropriate to your business model, anticipated growth, and market outlook
- Maximizing the return on invested funds by identifying appropriate investment opportunities and managing relationships within the investment community
- Reviewing and approve all tax filings with federal, state, and local agencies as well as any required Securities and Exchange Commission filings
Your Virtual CFO can be responsible for understanding and mitigating key elements of your company’s risk profile. In addition to developing internal controls, this function includes, but is not limited to:
- Ensuring the company complies with all legal and regulatory requirements
- Establishing recordkeeping policies and procedures that meet the requirements of financial institutions, auditors, and government agencies
- Maintaining appropriate insurance coverage
- Monitoring open legal issues affecting the company
- Managing relations with external auditors and investigating their findings and recommendations
QuickBooks
Set-Up & Conversion
Although QuickBooks is very easy to use, it takes a bit of expertise and foresight to design the system for maximum benefit and effective control. Moreover, a new system set-up or conversion presents the opportunity to address long-standing gaps, inefficiencies, and annoyances. You don’t do it often, so you might as well do it right!
Although I tailor each engagement to each client’s needs, here is a list of QuickBooks Set-Up services that I offer:
- Enter transactions since the start date using tools to import multiple transaction types and large quantities of data
Assess accounting and reporting requirements
Establish hardware and software specifications
Install the accounting software
Design and implement the chart of accounts, loading balances as of the start date
Record outstanding accounts receivables and payables
Enter ending statement bank balances and outstanding checks, deposits
Compare trial balances from the old and new systems to ensure that all data was transferred correctly
Tune-up & Training
A QuickBooks Tune-Up is a great way to prepare for tax time, an important meeting, or a periodic review of your business strategy. In a few short hours, your QuickBooks professional can review transactions, clean up stray entries, balance the general ledger to subsidiary ledgers, and adjust the chart of accounts to reflect changes in your business model. A Tune-Up can help you make better decisions, minimize the ill-effects of undetected errors, and keep money flowing in the right direction,
Whether you’ve engaged me to help with your implementation or you simply need a refresher course on the system, I can provide training on using QuickBooks to manage your business. I conduct sessions at your location and adapt the course content to your set-up and business issues.[No need to spend time on capabilities that you won’t use!] I will spend as much or as little time as you need on each topic, and respond to any questions and concerns.
Advisory Services
I offer value added services that help you structure and manage your business to its best advantage. I can help new businesses get off the ground and provide objective assessments of existing ones. I can help you establish policies and procedures to protect vital assets and perform audits to ensure the integrity of your records. You reap the benefit of increased efficiency, control, and insight.
Are you thinking of joining the ranks of small business owners? Along with a great idea and strong sense of the market you’ll serve, you’ll need a business and financial advisor who can help your dream take flight while keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.
I can help you:
Develop or refine your business plan with the associated pro forma financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow) and budget
Select a business structure that suits your needs by considering tax advantages, legal exposure, ease of operation, and portability
Develop partnership agreements, as needed, to avoid financial and/or emotional trauma downstream
Prepare and file all required state and local licenses and permits.
Make application for your Federal Employer Identification Number.
Identify start-up capital needs and available resources to address them
Examine your borrowing power and provide coaching on how to cultivate a mutually beneficial banking relationship
Identify your business insurance needs
Select the right accounting software and establish the appropriate chart of accounts
Establish billing and collection procedures to maximize your cash flow
Establish procedures to monitor and control costs
Provide payroll and payroll tax filing when and if you hire employees
I am eager to get your business off to a good start.
I can help you establish appropriate internal controls to ensure proper handling of resources and guard against employee theft. Some best practices include:
Segregating duties across multiple individuals to minimize exposure to error and inappropriate behavior
Establishing lines of authority and the associated processes for transaction approval
Assigning responsibility for periodic review and reconciliation of financial records by someone who was not involved in executing transactions or preparing statements
Scheduling periodic manual counts of equipment, inventory, and other tangible property to ensure alignment with the accounting records
Documenting policies and procedures as guideposts for your employees’ day-to-day activities
Training employees on their respective job duties and establishing appropriate levels of ongoing supervision
Reviewing operations to ascertain whether results are consistent with established goals, objectives, and protocols
I offer three levels of assessment of your financial statements based on your company’s needs:
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A review is a limited investigation to provide some level of assurance that material modifications to the financial statements need not be applied. Testing primarily consists of high level examination, year-over-year comparison, inquiry, and analysis. It does not examine back-up data to substantiate the financial data. A review may suffice for selected outside interests.
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A compilation presents client-supplied data in financial statement format. No assurance is provided by the accountant as no testing, inquiry, or analytical procedures are performed. This service typically serves an internal audience.
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Preparation of financial statements are similar to compilations but do not require determination or disclosure of independence. They also do not require a report.
Contact me to discuss your needs for financial statement assessment.
About Me
My expertise ranges from basic tax management and accounting services to more in-depth services such as financial statements and tax planning.
My Mission
This requires open communication to reach an understanding of my clients' needs through research and sound analysis.
I am dedicated to meeting these goals with high standards of excellence and professionalism.