Initial Results from Intuit’s 2013 Average Billing Rates Survey

Michelle L. Long writes: As an international trainer for Intuit®, I get to meet accounting professionals from across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom … and I’ve discovered we have a lot in common. It seems a lot of us face challenges in finding and retaining clients in this difficult economy. In addition, we are usually so busy that we overlook the importance of good client service – which is important to cultivating and maintaining client loyalty and our trusted advisor relationship.  

Do you take time to talk with clients about their needs, challenges or pain points? Do they ask you questions or do they seek answers from others or online communities? Keep in mind that good clients are concerned with quality work, customer service and the benefits we provide, but their primary concern is not our billing rate or fees! Clients and prospects whose primary concern is finding someone with the lowest billing rate are not good clients and we should not accept them as clients. 

Thanks to many of you, we had the most replies for the Billing Rate Survey ever! I’m thrilled to share the initial results with you. Average rates and fees for standard accounting services (bookkeeping) tasks down slightly this year compared to our last survey conducted in 2011 (see disclaimer below). Remember, the results below represent just the tip of the iceberg. We will have more analysis and exciting results for you soon, but here is your first look at the final results.

Results Compared to 2011 Survey

Let’s look at a few specific services compared to 2011 and 2009.

Accounting Services (Bookkeeping) Rate

Some practitioners look to accounting services or bookkeeping rates as the single best barometer, so we’ll start here. Rates were essentially flat compared to prior years.

Response	2013	2011	2009
Average	$64	$68	$64
Mode	$50	$50	$50

General Business Consulting Rate

Rates were similar to those in 2009, and down from 2011.

Response	2013	2011	2009
Average	$98	$118	$95
Mode	$75	$150	$75

Installation and Setup Fee (New User)

The average rate was down from prior years.

Response	2013	2011	2009
Average	$263	$391	$327
Mode	$500	$250	$500

Hourly Rates in 2013

We’re showing the average rate (mean), mode (the most frequently used amount) and median (the middle value).

The majority of practitioners charge hourly rates (Some also have services offered for set fees; see below).

Response	Tax Preparation Services	Accounting Services	Payroll Services	Auditing	Personal Financial Planning	QuickBooks Consulting	Business Consulting
Average	$110	$64	$62	$108	$116	$80	$98
Mode	$75	$50	$50	$150	$50	$75	$75
Median	$100	$55	$50	$100	$100	$75	$80

Fixed Fees in 2013 Survey

A sizable group of practitioners charge for services by fixed fees. Most of these respondents (but not all) also offer services on an hourly basis.

Response	Tax Preparation Services	Accounting Services	Payroll Services	Auditing	Personal Financial Planning
Average	$513	$499	$140	$3,234	$329
Mode	$250	$300	$100	$10,000	$500
Median	$200	$250	$75	$350	$130

Response	QuickBooks Consulting (training)	QuickBooks Consulting (troubleshooting)	QuickBooks Consulting (setup)	Business Consulting
Average	$364	$193	$263	$863
Mode	$75	$75	$500	$75
Median	$100	$85	$125	$125

Stay Tuned – More Data to Come

These rates are overall national averages (with about 10% from Canada, United Kingdom and other countries) and include a wide range of practitioners. Soon, we will publish breakdowns as to rates charged by population density (practitioners in rural and high density areas tend to charge less) and title (CPAs and QuickBooks ProAdvisors^®tend to charge more).

Year-End Tax-Saving Strategies / With the 2013 tax year winding down, readers swap tactics for lessening the tax pain.

Christine Benz for MorningStar writes: With the stock market up nearly 30% so far in 2013 and up 18% on an annualized basis during the past five years, it would be hard to blame investors for feeling some trepidation about the upcoming tax-filing season. Funds could distribute taxable capital gains between now and year-end, and offsetting tax-loss candidates tend to be few and far between in most portfolios. Moreover, the 2013 tax year brings with it a new income tax bracket that's higher than all others, a 20% capital gains rate, and a new Medicare surtax for the highest-income earners.

Against that backdrop, several Morningstar.com readers said they were getting busy to keep their tax bills down--not just for 2013 but in future years, as well. In response to my query about year-end tax strategies, which I posted in the Portfolio Design/Management section of Morningstar.com's Discuss forums, readers said they were honing their taxable portfolios for greater tax efficiency, converting traditional IRAs to Roth, and strategizing about deductions in an effort to stay in the lowest possible tax bracket. To read about some of the most popular tax-management strategies or share your own plan, click here.

'I Couldn't Imagine the Problem That Many of Us Now Confront'Of the recently strong market conditions, posters were unequivocal: It's getting harder to limit taxable capital gains because it's difficult to find losing positions to offset them.

That's a high-class problem to have, noted EFHutton: "Coming out of the 2000-02 bear market, I couldn't imagine the problem that many of us now confront; namely the 'problem' of too much investment success and a tax issue. Not surprisingly many funds have had success in the wake of the 2008-09 bear market and have substantial taxable distributions planned for December. It is a trap of sorts. To get out, one incurs substantial tax cost."

A handful of posters said they still have unused tax losses that they could use to offset their winners. Yogibearbull wrote, "I still have loss-carryovers [that I booked aggressively with tax-swaps in 2008-09], so my taxable accounts are essentially tax-free for a while. But this may end soon."

Bnorthrop's tax-loss carryforwards are also ebbing away. "Alas, this will be the year that I use up my tax-loss carryforward from 2008-09. The only investment I plan to sell for a small additional tax loss is a high-yield municipal-bond fund that I calculate will help shield a bit of ordinary income. I plan to exchange it for a short-term muni fund."

For Mickeg, tax-loss carryforwards helped offset gains during much of the current bull market--until this year. "During the market meltdown from 2007 through early 2009, I was selling funds to harvest short-term capital losses before they became long-term losses," this poster wrote. "I was buying similar but sufficiently different types of funds to avoid the wash-sales rule. Thus, I accumulated a lot of short-term capital loss carryforwards. Tax years 2009 through 2013 I have been using up my short-term capital loss carryforwards, which has allowed me to buy and sell without being concerned about whether a gain was a short or long-term gain. But, I have run out of short-term capital loss carryforwards this year."

'I Need to Keep My Income Low'The fact that tax-loss carryforwards have dwindled has prompted several investors to make sure their taxable accounts are as tax-efficient as they can be.

For Dragonpat, that means getting mutual funds out of her taxable accounts and instead concentrating on more tax-efficient assets. "In 2012, I moved the last of my mutual funds to my Roths," this veteran poster wrote. "My taxable account consists only of exchange-traded funds and individual stocks because then I only pay taxes on dividends and not on year-end capital gains distributions from mutual funds."

Also convinced of the merits of indexing for tax efficiency is Alpha28, particularly now that qualifying for Affordable Care Act subsidies is a consideration. "I am retired and under 65. I need to keep my income low enough to get Affordable Care Act subsidy. I will be selling some active mutual funds and putting the money in index funds. This will lower the amount of taxes since index funds do less buying and selling than index funds and have much lower capital gains distributions. I'm also selling some bonds I have in my taxable account and buying some bonds for my tax-deferred account."

Artsdoc is also focusing on the asset-location question. "I sold out emerging markets in my taxable account (dividends are greater than 3% and only about 65% are qualified dividends) and bought them in a tax-sheltered account (the foreign tax credit doesn't make up for the taxes I would have had to pay)."

'The Best Amount to Convert Each Year'Several readers said that they're busily converting traditional IRA assets to Roth with an eye toward limiting taxable income in retirement. As they do so, respondents say they're trying to make sure the conversions don't bump them into a higher tax bracket.

Tomas47 has been converting IRA assets to Roth to reduce required minimum distributions, which are inherently taxable. "I have been trying to balance minimization of current taxes against the pain I'll feel in five years when required minimum distributions kick in. Net, I convert enough traditional IRA to Roth IRA to stay in the 28% bracket and avoid the alternative minimum tax."

Darwinian hasn't been converting IRA assets to Roth but has been making annual Roth contributions using monies in taxable accounts. The net result? "My only unsheltered assets now are short-term muni bonds and bank accounts."

Carefully mulling the tax effects of conversions is Rule72, who wrote, "I created a spreadsheet when I retired five years ago that helps me determine the best amount to convert each year to minimize taxes long term for the wife and I and the kids. This spreadsheet needs to be updated to reflect the latest in income, deductions, and tax law changes if any."

For BobE315,  Intuit's (INTU) TurboTax product has helped him figure out the amount of traditional IRA assets he and his spouse can convert to Roth without bumping themselves into a higher tax bracket. "We determined the amount of the Roth conversion by entering in our 2013 state and property taxes and charitable contributions as well as an initial Roth conversion amount into TurboTax and then tweaking numbers as needed."

'Tis the Time of Year to Give'Other posters noted that they were taking care to maximize the value of their deductions.

Making charitable contributions was a frequently cited maneuver. BMWLover wrote, "'Tis the time of the year to give, and we'll be making donations of appreciated securities to our favorite charities. In that way we do not pay the capital gains and we get the charitable gift deduction!"

Tomas47 is using a donor-advised fund to obtain the same dual tax benefit. "My only tweaking opportunities will then be to make additional charitable contributions to my donor advised fund with low cost basis stock."

Beanclub is gifting highly appreciated securities to a child: Although this investor won't be able to obtain a tax deduction on the gift, as with a charitable contribution, the maneuver gets some highly appreciated securities out of the portfolio while aligning with the child's goals. "I've just gifted [my newly graduated daughter] some  MasterCard (MA) shares I purchased at IPO and asked her to sell them in December to take advantage of her reduced capital gains rate. She'll use the proceeds for spring tuition and to fully fund her Roth IRA. I'll gift her more MasterCard shares in 2014 to pay tuition, fund her IRA, and hike her 401(k) to hit her employer match. It's nice to have the tax regulations work in our favor for a change, and I'm fortunate to be in a position to take advantage."

Several posters said they've gotten savvy about "bunching" deductions--taking itemized deductions in certain years while claiming the standard deduction in others.

Texasboy wrote, "Last year in retirement we had started the every-other-year of doubling up on donations/taxes/medical expenses so we could increase total deductions."

Also using a "bunching" strategy is DouglasJohnson, who explained, "We paid our 2012 property taxes in January this year and will pay 2013's in December. We're busy making our charity contributions for next year by Dec. 31. Next year, we'll take the standard deduction."

TJBTJB notes that seniors can deduct their medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income, whereas a higher threshold pertains to filers under age 65--until 2016, at least. "The Internal Revenue Service offers an extension of the 7.5% of medical expense exclusion for seniors while moving to 10% for others. We piled up some elective, allowable expenses to take advantage of this."

Obamacare tax pitfalls: Two scenarios for those whose income changes

Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger writes:  Accountant William McDevitt, of East Brunswick-based firm Wilkin & Guttenplan, gives seminars about the Affordable Care Act to groups of attorneys and physicians. He crunched the numbers for two hypothetical scenarios of people who may apply for Obamacare and who have fluctuating income.

Q. Let’s say you’re a single, 27-year-old who works at a pizzeria. At the time you apply for Obamacare, you’re making $15,900 a year. Halfway through 2014, you land a job as a graphics artist that doesn’t have benefits, but you double your salary to $31,800. Thrilled by your change of fortune, you forget to update the federal insurance website. What financial impact will that have?

A. Someone who works half a year at $15,900 and half a year at $31,800 will end up with an annual income of $23,850.

His insurance would cost $3,125, for which the government would advance him a subsidy of $2,598.

Once he got the better job and boosted his annual earnings, he’d no longer qualify for the $2,598 subsidy. Instead, he’d qualify for a subsidy of only $1,559.

So he ended up receiving an extra $1,039 in subsidy. (That is $2,598 minus $1,559.)

In this income range, anything up to $1,500 has to be paid back through the annual tax filing. Since his undeserved $1,039 fell below the cap, he’d have to pay it all back — either coming out of the refund (if it’s big enough) or through a check sent to the feds.

Q. Let’s say you’re a single, 27-year-old auto body mechanic who makes $30,000, with no insurance from your employer. Your boss has been talking about cutting everyone’s hours, so when you apply for Obamacare, you estimate your 2014 income will drop to $15,900. However, your boss never makes good on his threats, so your income stays at $30,000. How does that play out?

A. In this case, the income number you plugged into the application results in a subsidy of $2,598.

Come tax time, you have to tell the government you actually made nearly double that. As a consequence, it lowers the subsidy for which you qualified, dropping it to just $614.

That means you received $1,984 more in subsidies than you ultimately were entitled to.

However, there is that $1,500 cap on how much someone in your income range would have to pay back. So that $1,500 would come out of your refund, if it were large enough. If it weren’t, it would go on your tax bill.

Because of the cap, however, you end up getting $484 in undeserved subsidies that you don’t need to pay back.

Both scenarios show the financial consequences of not informing the government of any large swing in income.

McDevitt says recipients of Obamacare subsidies will fare best if they update their income quickly. "Otherwise, they’re going to have a rude surprise," he said.

3 Business Tax Moves to Make Now

Mary Ellen Biery, for Forbes writes: Some big-dollar tax deductions that affect businesses are set to expire in 2013, so now’s the time to make sure your company considers taking advantage of them for the current tax year. Doing so may allow you to buy more equipment, send less to the IRS, or both.

Senior Consultant Peter Brown of Sageworks, a financial information company, talks with accountants daily and said quite a few of these professionals are working on year-end planning right now, setting up client meetings and making calls. “Many accountants are trying to contact their clients and engage with them to help them identify and maximize deductions in order to save some money on their taxes,” Brown said. “They’re also encouraging clients to work with them now so they won’t have to file as many extensions.”

Michael Lortz, shareholder at Portland-based accounting firmGeffen Mesher, specializes in working with entrepreneurs and privately held businesses and said deductions related to equipment purchases and spending on research and development are among the things that could go away in 2014, assuming Congress doesn’t act to extend them.

Here’s a rundown on some moves to consider:

Section 179 deduction. “Under the Section 179 deduction, businesses can write off dollar-for-dollar their equipment purchases,” with certain limits, Lortz said. For example, a business could buy a new truck, new machinery, or new servers and deduct the first $500,000 in costs for the 2013 tax year.

Without an extension by Congress, the allowed first-year deduction drops to $25,000 in 2014. “That’s a pretty significant incentive to purchase and place into service any fixed assets or equipment,” Lortz said. He noted that making sure the equipment is placed in service by Dec. 31 is important. “So, for example, if you were to order some new servers and you ordered them December 30 and installed them after January 5, technically, they don’t qualify for the deduction in 2013,” he said. Purchases exceeding $2 million start to lose that first-year deduction of $500,000, too, he noted.

Real estate purchases aren’t covered by the Section 179 deduction, but if you’re a tenant and you’re making certain leasehold improvements, you might be able to write off up to $250,000 of those expenses, according to Lortz.

First-year bonus depreciation. Larger companies that spend more than $2 million on capital equipment should look into the “first-year bonus depreciation” allowed in 2013 but set to expire, Lortz said. Under that rule, brand new equipment can qualify for a write-off of 50 percent, with no limits, so $5 million of a $10 million purchase could be expensed.

R&D tax credit. Another tax-related item set to expire in 2013 is the tax credit for research and development. It has been extended numerous times over the years, and it’s one that tends to get extended, sometimes retroactively, Lortz said. Despite the high-tech-sounding name, this credit is not for tech companies alone. “If you’re having to come up with new ways of doing things, new processes, you very well might qualify,” Lortz said. Check with your tax advisor on the specifics of your situation, he suggested.

“Many businesses that might qualify for this tax credit aren’t aware that they qualify,” Lortz said. “The key here is making sure they’re talking to their tax professionals, saying, ‘Is there anything we do that would qualify for the research and development tax credit?’”

Another planning issue that small businesses should be looking at if they haven’t already this year is their business structure, Lortz said. The impact of new taxes for 2013 that are part of the Affordable Care Act (including a 3.8 percent tax on net investment income, which can affect investors in a business, and a 0.9 percent tax on earned income) can be reduced if your business is structured as an S-Corp.

“Those new taxes just give businesses another reason to take another look at whether they’ve got a good entity,” Lortz said. “Businesses ought to have taken a look at this structure already, but a lot of folks were crossing their fingers that the law would get overturned on appeal. If they had put off planning, it’s time to start.”

2014 Tax Tips: 3 Ways to Boost Your Deductions

Dan Caplinger for the Fool.com writes:  With the end of the year approaching, now's the time to make smart moves to cut your tax bill next April. One key to paying less tax is making sure you get all the deductions you're entitled to. But to make the most of your deductions, it pays to know some hidden tips.

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, runs through three ways you can boost your deductions and pay less tax. Dan notes that the most popular deduction comes from contributing to an IRA, which gives you until April 15 to get a write-off on your 2013 tax return. In addition, Dan suggests other items such as making deductible donations to charity and prepaying other deductible items like taxes. Be sure to watch for tips that explain how Visa (NYSE: V  ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) can help make your tax planning easier, and listen as Dan goes through some traps concerning the alternative minimum tax that you need to know.

Section 179 Deduction: Rules & Limits (Section 179 is a federal rule that allows small businesses to recognize immediately the expense of certain fixed assets.)

Ryan Goodrich, BusinessNewsDaily writes: Section 179 is a federal rule that allows small businesses to recognize immediately the expense of certain fixed assets. Taking advantage of Section is very important because it can provide a great tax boon for small business owners.

Nearly every business has equipment and property that depreciates with time. Rather than being forced to deduct an asset’s value over the course of several years, Section 179 allows businesses to get the entire depreciation deduction in a single year, a practice known as first-year expensing.

How Section 179 works

If you were to purchase all-new desktop PCs for every employee, you’d be forced to deduct a portion of each computer’s cost over multiple years according to the regular depreciation rules. For the next five years, you’d only be able to deduct fractions of the overall expense. Section 179 allows for the immediate deduction of the entire expense in a single year instead of being forced to track depreciation for a computer that doesn’t typically offer a long useful lifetime. While this section of the tax code doesn’t increase the total amount you can deduct in a single year, it allows you to benefit from the deduction all at once.

The U.S. government created this incentive to ultimately encourage companies to invest in themselves and buy equipment to improve the services they can offer. In previous years, Section 179 was often referred to as the “SUV Tax Loophole” or “Hummer Deduction” due to how often the tax deduction was used in writing off the purchase of qualifying vehicles.

While the positive impact of Section 179 has been reduced severely for such vehicle write-offs, small businesses are in a better position to realize the value of deducting expenses in the same year for purchases of vehicles, machinery, software and other office equipment. Many business owners prefer to write off entire equipment purchases the year they buy it. In years past, many companies avoided purchasing new equipment because they’d have to wait several years to realize the tax write-off in its entirety.

Section 179 limits

All new and used equipment is eligible for deduction up to $500,000 for 2013. All companies that lease, finance or purchase business equipment valued at less than $2 million still qualify for the Section 179 deduction, though any amounts beyond that limit affect the deduction value of any expenses. In unprofitable years or years with no taxable income to use for a deduction, businesses can still use a 50 percent “Bonus Depreciation” and carry forward the remaining deduction to the next year.

Assets eligible for deduction include anything from off-the-shelf software to business-use vehicles. Even some property types are eligible, provided the property meets a specific set of requirements set by the IRS. Any equipment declared for the Section 179 deduction must be put into service during the year it is declared on tax forms.

Companies with more than $2 million in purchased equipment won’t benefit as greatly from Section 179. Expenses over that maximum amount begin to decrease on a dollar-for-dollar deduction scale, effectively gearing this tax code toward small and medium-sized businesses.

Businesses are likewise limited in their deductions and cannot declare more than their net taxable business income. Net taxable income is best calculated by removing all deductions with the exception of Section 179, employment tax and net operating losses.

Changes in 2014

Every year, the IRS alters the benefits associated with Section 179. For example, the deduction limit, which was $500,000 in 2013, will be reduced to $25,000 in 2014. Also, the equipment purchase limit of $2 million will be cut to $200,000 after 2013. 

How to Supercharge Your Accounting Software / Free Bill.com Webinar: Tuesday, November 19 at 10am PT | 1pm ET

How to Supercharge Your Accounting Software
Webinar: Tuesday, November 19 at 10am PT | 1pm ET

Accounting software has made your life easier and your accounting processes faster, but could you be doing more?

The answer is yes, you can, by moving payables, receivables and cash flow management to the cloud. Join Michael Hsu, founder and CEO of DeepSky, and Bill.com to learn how.

Register now and see how you can supercharge your accounting software.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 – 10am PT | 1pm ET

To Register Click Here

How can the cloud supercharge your accounting software?

• By streamlining bill payment and approvals
• By speeding up invoicing and collections
• By simplifying cash flow projection and control

What does supercharging mean for your business?

Higher productivity
Your business can only move as fast as your information flows – automating payments, approvals, invoicing and cash flow projection will help accelerate and automate your accounting process.

Decreased costs
Eliminate time-consuming, paper-based processes, and save on materials and processes.

Mobility
With the cloud, you’re always close to the office – no matter how far life takes you, so you can access information from anywhere, anytime.

Protection against fraud and errors
Cloud storage is more secure than any file cabinet, with unlimited document storage and strict data access controls.

Who should attend?

QuickBooks users – double or triple the life of your software - avoid switching!

NetSuite users – save thousands on bill approval routing and electronic payments.

Intacct, Xero, Sage, and Microsoft Dynamics users - eliminate time-consuming, paper-based manual processes throughout your company.

Guest Speaker

W. Michael Hsu, CEO, DeepSky

W. Michael Hsu, founder and CEO of DeepSky, a “Remote Control” accounting services company, helps entrepreneurs build meaningful companies by enabling them to focus on the business at hand. Hsu, a heavy mobile-device user who has never written a paper check for his business, will only work with companies who are willing to move to a cloud-based, paperless environment.

Register now for "How to Supercharge Your Accounting Software" Webinar.

The webinar is free, but attendance is limited – register today.

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PaySimple and Intuit: Is There Room for Both?

The Motley Fool Staff writes: Eric Remer is the founder and CEO of PaySimple, a leading provider of small business merchant accounts, mobile and electronic payments, and ACH processing services. He also founded Conclave Group, a direct marketing services company, and cofounded I-Behavior, a leading behavioral targeting and database marketing organization. He began his career in the investment banking field, with Kidder, Peabody, & Company.

In this video segment, Remer offers an example of a typical customer, and why PaySimple is the right choice for him. He also discusses the payments space and why he's not afraid of being crushed by larger players such as Intuit  (NASDAQ: INTU  ) or MasterCard (NYSE:MA  ) . The full version of the interview can be seen here.

A full transcript follows the video.

Tom Gardner: Give an example of a PaySimple customer and why they're using it.

Eric Remer: It could be a landscaper. A landscaper has got 60, maybe 100 weekly mows he's doing. He does spring cleanings. He does other types of stuff. Instead of sending that invoice that he did historically and waiting two, three, four weeks -- but he's still got to pay his guys who are delivering the things -- he sets you up on recurrent billing.

On a weekly basis he's pulling money out of your account, gives you email invoices that have notes on other things that he can promote. It allows him not only to collect his payments effectively, in real time, but it allows him to manage his customers. He can send upsell, he can send promotions, and all of that sits under one environment.

Gardner: Got it. Is this, in any way, replicated by something Intuit's doing? Or is Intuit ultimately going to go "PaySimple, we love you guys. Here's our offer. We want to acquire you"?

Remer: That's ultimately up to them, but we know those guys very well -- when this ends I can tell you a bit ... no, I'm teasing. They are a great company, and I think culturally, value-based, there's a lot of overlap with what we're doing. There's also a lot of complementary activities with what we're doing.

We're actually in the process right now of doing some deep integrations with them. I would say there's probably a 20% to 30% functional overlap -- so basic invoicing, some other things they do is overlap -- but there's a lot of really complementary things that we provide that they don't provide.

Almost 70% of our customers actually use QuickBooks. So, in a good way, they are coming to us for products and services they can't get from them, and, in a good way, we believe their integrations into them are critical for our customers -- so a really good partner for PaySimple.

Gardner: Just a couple of questions about how the business started and what you think, working back from where we are right now.

Do you go to work and meet with Intuit and think, "These guys are potential competitors, too"? Or do you think, "You know what? This is a great relationship, and we know our slot is over here, and they've got this whole business over here"? How do you navigate that?

Remer: It's a great question, because we raised a lot of venture capital, and it was asked quite a bit -- "Well, Intuit's just going to crush you, right?" They're co-opetition, and I think the entire payments space is ...

Look, MasterCard's competing with Intuit somewhat. They're competing with PayPal(NASDAQ: EBAY  ) . PayPal I think represents -- I'm making the number up now -- but a big portion of AmEx volume goes through PayPal customers. Are they a competitor, or are they a revenue generator and customer? They're kind of both.

I think in our general space that happens quite a bit. As a much smaller player in the ecosystem, I'm not necessarily concerned because I know that if our value prop -- and we do a really good job with that -- we have our niche of the world that we can provide.

Gardner: It's a huge market.

Remer: It's a huge marketplace.

A Year-End Tax Trap for Fund Investors Beware Investing Just Before a Distribution

Tom Herman for the Wall St. Journal writes: With stock prices up sharply this year, many investors may be thinking about pouring more money into stock mutual funds.

Be careful. Before investing large amounts for a taxable account over the next few weeks, consider doing some research to make sure you don't get caught in a classic year-end tax trap that often surprises mutual-fund investors.

Mutual funds typically announce capital-gains distributions in late November and December.

If you're investing for a taxable account, check to see whether the fund you're interested in is planning to make a distribution in coming weeks—and, if so, how large and when. Many funds post this information on their website.

Keep in mind that those distributions typically are taxable. If you invest now and get a hefty distribution before year's end, those capital gains are "partly a return of your investment that you nonetheless owe taxes on for this year," says Greg Hinkle, treasurer of the T. Rowe Price Funds.

If that payout would result in a significant tax hit, consider delaying your investment in that fund until after the date to qualify for the distribution. Or check to see if there are similar funds that aren't planning large taxable payouts.

But don't allow tax issues to replace investment considerations, investment advisers say. Investors should remember that tax considerations "should not play a more prominent role than their strategic plan," says Stuart Ritter, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. "Also, the timing the market (e.g., waiting to invest—and potentially missing out on gains) has not proven to be an effective long-term strategy."

Moreover, Mr. Ritter notes, "your cost basis is adjusted for whatever payout you receive now—lowering your tax liability in the future."