Category Archives: Business Reports

BY JEANNINE DUBIAC, FPC

For many business owners, payroll taxes can be confusing and overwhelming.

Payroll doesn’t stop with just issuing checks. Compliance with federal, state and local agencies can be a time-consuming responsibility, requiring detailed record keeping and up-to-date compliance with the ever changing tax laws.

Calculating the employees’ withholdings and determining the employer taxes is just one small piece that a payroll service offers to small businesses. The payroll service becomes the responsible party for maintaining all payroll tax requirements on a consistent basis.

Experienced payroll providers should ensure the job is done right, getting employees paid on time, correctly, every time and allowing the business owner to focus on running their core business.

Payroll services save businesses money by eliminating their tax liability and potential penalties. They provide detailed information regarding tax payments and employee wages to your CPA.

By Christopher W. Meyer President-elect Donald Trump recently observed that no computer is safe from hacking and that the only way to securely convey information is to deliver it by courier.  While experts agree that no computer system can be made 100 percent safe, they also have pointed out that “old fashioned” methods of...

By Rob Snell

Now that we are in the heart of the holiday season, you may be thinking about ways you can put your money where your heart is.

Specifically, you might be pondering which groups you should support with charitable gifts. And as long as you choose groups that meet the right criteria, your generosity can also be rewarding to you, in the form of tax benefits.

To begin with, you’ll want to make sure you are giving to a reputable charity. That means you’ll need to ask some questions.

by Michael Cruz

It’s all about habits. The way we eat is established by patterns or habits. So, after the diet we go back to our established patterns. And guess what? We gain back all, and sometimes more of the weight we lost.

The same is true when we try to change something in our business life. Did you know that it takes at least six months to change an established pattern or habit? And that is why we often fail to be consistent in new business habits.

Michael D. Billok is an attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King.

Courtesy Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC

By Michael D. Billok, Esq.

As a business owner or operator, there are always a half-dozen items that require your immediate attention, and then the dozens of other items on the “back burner” that you would like to get to when there is time–but there never seems to be time available.

Unless, of course, a back-burner item “blows up” and becomes a front-burner item, now requiring your immediate attention.

For small and mid-sized businesses, cybersecurity routinely is one such back-burner item, not getting the attention it deserves unless something does “blow up,” for example there is a hack, a data breach or some release of employee or customer personal information that now requires immediate attention. This is due to several common misconceptions about cybersecurity, such as:

• I’m small. I won’t be hacked or compromised. False.

Larger organizations have spent the past several years improving their cyber defenses to make it more difficult to access their data. As a result, hackers look to smaller organizations with less resources available to buttress their defenses as a jumping-off point to access larger organizations. Remember the national-news data breach at Target that occurred two years ago? Hackers didn’t directly “target” Target. They first hacked into an HVAC subcontractor’s network, and after compromising the subcontractor’s system they were then able to hack into Target utilizing the subcontractor’s access to Target’s network.

Craig Stephenson, administration, compliance manager, Tech II Business Services Inc.

Courtesy Tech II Business SErvices

By Craig Stephenson

Virtually every employee today has a smartphone. Many also have tablets, such as iPads and android devices. Most businesses are under utilizing these devices, because in most cases they belong to employees. These devices are BYOD, “bring your own device,” as they say.

Your hyper-connected employees are glued to their mobile devices, and savvy business owners and executives have realized the secret to higher employee productivity is embracing mobility and the BYOD trend. Find ways to help your staff work more, work smarter, and serve your clients better. The key is to empower the mobile experience of your staff, without compromising security and control of your corporate data.

Business-class file sync services can give you the best of both worlds however you need to be aware that all cloud services are not alike. One of the most popular cloud services has been hacked more than once and for those in the medical and financial industry, may find the compliance lacking. However Tech II Business services Cryodrive can allow your corporate data to be synced to employee mobile devices, without giving up control of your corporate data and remaining HIPAA compliant. Here’s how:

1. Sync to smartphones. Business-class cloud file sync services allow employees to sync their critical work files between their desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and the cloud.

Your staff becomes more nimble and productive when they have their files at their fingertips, no matter where they go. Whether it is iOS, android, or Windows Phone, business-class sync keeps users connected on the go.

Joan E. Taub is an associate broker with Berkshire Halthaway HomeServices, Blake.

Courtesy Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Blake

By Joan E. Taub

There have never been more choices in determining where one wants to live. When my grandparents retired they became snowbirds and traveled to Florida for the winter. Splitting time between two states was simply what people did.

The winters in the Northeast seemed too harsh for these “older” people in their 60s. At the time it seemed old and it seemed their only choice.

Now, in 2016 there are choices for the many who are still working, yet want to downsize now that their children have moved out; have retired and want to change their lifestyle; or those who anticipate health issues and fear they will not be able to navigate stairs in the future.

Each scenario has many possibilities.

For the working downsizer, I have noticed a lot of people moving away from the developments and moving into, or closer to, town. They no longer need to car-pool their children and enjoy living in a walkable, vital community where visits to the library, restaurants, stores and movies are so close. The in-town condos are appealing, as are homes in neighborhoods within a mile from downtown.

Many people set themselves up for downsizing years before they are actually ready. They purchase an in-town property with the intention of renting for a few years and, when ready, they move in themselves.