Changing & Taxes

Business tips for week of January 25, 2010

“We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine.” H.L. Mencken

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Change the World
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Maybe you have seen:
“Please consider the environment before printing out this email” at the bottom of emails. I just started noticing it late last year and some very quick research lead me to a book printed in 2004 called “Change the World for a Fiver”. Lots of great tips mostly for the home and individual and this is classic LEAN – eliminating waste. Eliminating waste one tiny step at a time is a never-ending project with huge impact for business by reducing cost to your organization.

Even though Kermit the Frog says “It Ain’t easy being Green”, when you start small, it can be quite infectious. Where to start?

1. Turn off equipment when it's not being used.
2. Encourage communications by email, and read email messages.
3. Turn out lights when you leave a room.
4. Produce double-sided documents whenever possible.
5. Do not leave taps dripping (Okay, this is old – my older sister won a science fair project on the leaky faucet in 1964!)
6. Print drafts on the backside of scrap paper.
7. Find a supply of paper with maximum available recycled content.
8. Choose suppliers who take back packaging for reuse.
9. Take your own bags everywhere.
10. Recycle. Just about everything has a second or third life.

Next week: an interview with my favorite recyclers!

Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
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Cell Phone and Taxes
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If you have teenagers at home, you've probably marveled at how they can sit for hours with their cell phones, texting away in a language that looks like it was designed specifically to shut you out. Kids these days (and some adults, too) have built their lives around cell phones and text messaging. It's fast becoming a cliché of the times. In fact, in the recent George Clooney film Up in the Air, one character's live-in boyfriend breaks up with her by text-message while she's flying around the country with Clooney.

But now, there's finally a cell phone application for grownups. It's for taxes -- and it's here just in time for the stack of W2s, 1099s, and 1098s that are about to start hitting your mailbox. Imagine if filing your taxes were as easy as this:

1. Snap a picture of your W2 with your iPhone camera.
2. Answer some questions about interest and unemployment income, and the like.
3. Review your information and e-file directly from your phone.

Of course, there are a couple of catches. (Aren't there always when it comes to taxes?)

1. You have to have an iPhone. The app's optical character recognition software works best on newer "3GS" iPhones with more sensitive camera lenses.
2. You have to live in California. The manufacturer considers this year's rollout to be a "beta test" and plans to make more states available next year.
3. Most important, you have to file a 1040-EZ -- the very simplest form available.

That third "catch" is the real killer. Like it or not, complexity is what creates tax-saving opportunities. No "smart phone" is smart enough to keep up with new and ever-changing tax breaks for buying new cars or new homes, financing your children's college tuition, or building your business. Sometimes the strong lure of technology is not always the answer to planning your businesses future.
Tim Pinkelman, CPA
Accounting Center & Tax Services, Inc.
Two Locations – Temperance MI & Maumee OH
419-882-9255 or 734-847-0400
http://www.accounting-centers.com/