Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Happy Tax Season: 3 Ways Intuit Turns Customer Experience Into Business Impact

Krystal Barghelame for Medallia.com writes: Which is worse: a) waiting on hold for two hours, or b) doing your taxes? Neither! It’s c) BOTH at the same time.
Sounds terrible, right? Well, it actually happens to some people. Let me explain.
Each tax season, accountants and tax professionals must begin the infamous “tax crunch,” which requires tireless, caffeine-powered hours until the last client’s return is submitted by the Day of Reckoning. I know this because my mom is an accountant. And each year she tells elaborate tales about the nail-biting performances required by her firm to meet those dramatic deadlines.
Yet surprisingly, the largest irritant for my mom during the bi-annual taxfest is not the labor-intensive work itself. Instead, it’s having to sit on hold on the phone for sometimes 1.5 to 2 hours at a time, waiting to connect with the support team of her accounting software (*Ahem* not Intuit). If an accountant needs help with difficult or unclear software functionality—say learning how to enter international estate information or complex tax codes for government officials—a phone call to support is often the only way to get that help. I never would’ve guessed that an accountant’s biggest frustration was not working, but waiting.
And for accountants, time is quite literally money. Time spent on hold with support can translate to hundreds of unbillable hours, directly impacting a firm’s productivity and bottom-line. For smaller tax firms, unbillable hours impact the company’s life-blood. We’re not just talking lost profits, we’re talking going out of business. 
Award after Award: What Intuit’s doing right.
Unlike this unnamed software company, Intuit’s Professional Tax Group (PTG)—the company’s B2B division that sells to accountants and firms like my mom’s—knows its customers inside and out. Through customer feedback, Intuit rigorously and proactively takes action to make accountants’ lives less stressful and their work more efficient. This enables tax firms to grow their business. The result? These folks continue to renew their licenses with Intuit. In fact, Intuit’s superior customer experience practices have earned the company recognition as an industry leader, winning Gartner’s CRM Excellence Award in 2013 and Temkin’s 2014 CEM Excellence Award.
Here are three trailblazing ways Intuit uses feedback to improve experiences and create business impact at the same time:
1) Proactive outreach for onboarding new customers
Intuit not only fields incoming support calls—they actually created an outbound team that proactively calls new customers. This practice was initiated through customer feedback: Intuit found that new customers—accountants that had been using the product for less than one year—renewed at a lower rate than customers who’d made it past the one-year mark. Digging deeper, the company confirmed that learning a new accounting software system could be a stressful experience, especially during the dreaded tax season.
The New Client Services team reaches out to new customers, teaches them key functionality, and points out possible service channels. The results of the program have been staggering: renewal rates for customers participating in onboarding are 49% higher than renewal rates for the customer population as a whole. Higher renewals equal more revenue—almost 50% more for 2nd year customer revenue!
2) Predictive NPS Modeling
Not satisfied with simply reacting to key feedback insights, Intuit conducts a series of sophisticated predictive NPS calculations and loyalty driver analytics to actually forecast its future NPS performance. They do this because they’ve seen that NPS directly impacts its bottom lines: Over a customer’s lifetime, promoters spend 2.5X more and renew 17% more than detractors. To keep more customers promoting, cross-functional teams review predictive NPS analytics together, size up the gap, scope the necessary scale of the projects needed to address the gap, and lead plans to improve NPS and meet desired NPS levels. Ensuring that NPS levels remain stable in this way means the company meets its quarterly revenue numbers.
3) Empower Employees to Drive CX innovation
To drive CX engagement and ownership across the organization, Intuit has instituted a cross-functional CX management program. The company has about 200 employees who are called Innovation Catalysts. They come from all roles within the company and have special customer expertise related to their particular functions, and are tasked with both representing the voice of the customer in team meetings as well as driving key customer innovations into the business. As custodians and promoters of customer-centricity, Innovation Catalysts proactively gather comprehensive customer understanding through processes like in-depth interviews and on-site observations to uncover inventive ways to make offerings and interactions productive, helpful, and delightful.
These proactive steps to manage and improve customer experience aren’t just winning awards for Intuit. They are winning the market—along with the hearts of customers and non-customers alike. Take my mom, for example. Want to know what the expression on her face was when I told her about Intuit? Go find your nearest tax professional and tell them about their approach. And step back. Or else their jaw might land on your shoes.
You can learn more about Krystal Barghelame here.  You can connect with Krystal Barghelame  @ here LinkedIn Page here.
Posted on 3:39 PM | Categories:

Has anyone tried using Xero for their accounting?

Over at Reddit we came across the following conversation, Has anyone tried using Xero for their accounting? (self.Entrepreneur)
submitted  ago by thinkingthought

I know nothing about accounting, other than a short 100 page book I just read that was a rather pleasant read (Accounting Made Simple).
Xero looks like a solution to a problem I'm going to have: keeping my books straight and not having a whole lot of knowledge, money, or time to spend on it. It looks like it syncs with your bank account and company credit card to keep your books in order, generate P&L reports and balance sheets, and keep track of state sales tax. It can even handle your payroll if you need it (I don't).
It costs $9/month, and then there are many 'advisors' that offer to do your bookkeeping using Xero for $99/month. I'm not really sure what the added value is to having someone else do it, though - it looks like they just do everything for you, which makes me think it might not be that hard.
Basically, I'd like to know if anyone is using this, how easy it truly is for a (fast-learning) amateur like me to use, or if you would recommend hiring one of their advisors for what looks to be about 10x more money.
all 11 comments
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[–]slurmz-mckenzie 8 points  ago
Use it every day in my job. It's probably the best accounting software I've ever used.
I've checked out other ones like saasu and wave accounting and xero is way better.
I did business at uni which included subjects on accounting but that was years ago. I found that xero was really easy to pick up and it spits out any reports you want. If you get the basics of book keeping down you could just hire a book keeper for end of year taxes etc.
If you've got any specific questions let me know
[–]smooviesmoove 2 points  ago
Thank you. Also interested in this. Anything that stands out in comparison to Wave, specifically. Also, looking for something that might let me 'tag' transactions - is that possible?
[–]sjc2154 1 point  ago
What about myob? Or is that used for something completely different?
[–]ElCapitanMarklar 5 points  ago
I use it, it's great and fairly cheap really.
Also my accountant can just jump in and do his thing which makes it super easy
[–]kiasyn 4 points  ago
I use xero for 4 or so businesses and it is fantastic
i also have a business advisor for assisting with the harder things
[–]Robertxo 4 points  ago
I've been given some great opportunities recently. One of these is a free subscription of Xero for as long as my company lasts.
I will be learning about the software on the 25th~ with an accountant, I'll tell you how I find using it! (My knowledge in accounting is 12th grade standard)
[–]zuccs 4 points  ago
Yep, use it daily. It's brilliant. Maybe an accountant can chip in to comment if it's suitable for a really complex setup, but otherwise I think it's great for most small to medium businesses.
[–]Jammb 2 points  ago
Another vote for Xero. I use it for my company and my wife is a book keeper and she uses it for all her clients. First thing she does when she gets a new one is migrate them off the turd that it MYOB which everyone uses for some reason!
[–]TheIdiotCEO 2 points  ago
I own one of the largest Canadian accounting and bookkeeping firms that uses Xero exclusively. It is undoubtedly the best small business accounting software on the market. Ignore the software itself - the real value lies in all the add-ons and integrations that can help streamline your various business processes.
Beyond the software, the people whom work there are absolutely incredible.
Fantastic company. Fantastic product. Enjoy.
[–]brimpton 2 points  ago
+1 for Xero. Used it for about 4 years. Found it very easy to use and it enabled me to take over the bookkeeping myself . My accountant just logs in to help with various tax returns and end of year accounts (I'm in the UK). My only gripe has been the credit card statement syncing not always working as expected (doubling up, or, on occasion, not working at all) but I think this was much more likely to be my CC company than Xero, and it was easily resolved.
[–]PriceZombie 1 point  ago
Accounting Made Simple: Accounting Explained in 100 Pages or Less
    Low  $7.79 Dec 12 2013
   High $13.09 Mar 09 2014
Current $12.69 Mar 18 2014
Posted on 3:39 PM | Categories:

Xero Survey Reveals Biggest Tax-Time Mistakes, Offers Financial Advice for Small Businesses / Outrageous Write-Offs, Overlooked Deductions and Out of Date Financials Top Missteps for SMBs

Xero, the global leader in online accounting software, today uncovered accounting trends, recommendations and questionable tactics in its third annual Tax Time survey. While tax season can bring angst to many small business (SMB) owners, the increasing adoption of accounting technology in the cloud is helping accounting professionals alleviate tax mistakes, such as attempting outrageous tax write offs like bail, face-lifts and personal robots. Notably, the survey found that more than 50 percent of accounting professionals are now using cloud technology to better serve their clients.
The Xero survey, conducted by Zogby Analytics, polled 400 accountants across the U.S.*, and found that the biggest mistake SMBs can make is only talking to their accountant during tax time, with 65 percent of accountants recommending more frequent collaboration throughout the year.
"Tax time is stressful for most of my clients. Keeping tabs on existing rules and regulations is complicated enough, and new legislation like the Affordable Care Act and changes in the tax code further muddies the waters," said Tom Compere, Xero XPAC Member and manager, RBZ Accounting. "In this time of ever-changing market conditions, it is imperative that financial data is up-to-date, easily accessible and comprehensive in order to be prepared for anything."
Some Top Tips from Xero's survey and additional findings include:
Tip #1: Communicate with Your Accountant Year-Round
Financial management should be a year-round activity rather than limited to the traditional tax season, according to more than half of the accountants surveyed. The biggest mistake nearly one-third of SMBs make is only communicating with their accountants during tax time: 44 percent of accounting professionals advise meeting once a month.

Tip #2: Maintain Updated, Comprehensive Financials
The vast majority of accountants (75 percent) believe that a comprehensive, real-time view of finances is essential for dispensing the best advice and saving money. However, one in five accountants state that their clients do not have real-time insight into their finances, and nearly 40 percent do not maintain up-to-date records. Cloud accounting tools like Xero automate much of the data reconciliation and allow customers (and their accountants) to receive an accurate read on their company's finances anytime, anywhere.

Tip #3: Don't Leave Money on the Table
With tricky tax laws, it is easy to leave money on the table. SMB accountants concur, placing the blame on overlooked deductions, including depreciation (30 percent); out-of-pocket expenses (29 percent); auto expenses (16 percent) and office improvements (10 percent). Xero can reduce oversights by enabling businesses to keep accurate records and enter receipts with just a few simple clicks.

Tip #4: Avoid Accounting Accidents that Lead to Audits
Nearly 75 percent of accountants blame faulty deductions for audits. Thirty-six percent cite excessive deductions as causing audits, with mixing personal and business deductions as a close second (35 percent). The third cause of deductions is misidentifying workforce members, with 14 percent. Xero's networking of accounting and ecosystem partners like TaxAct enables small businesses to avoid costly deduction errors by allowing Xero users to prepare, print and e-file their taxes directly through Xero's platform.

"By contributing more than 50 percent of America's GDP, SMBs are the backbone of this country. Xero's goal is to give these companies the tools and technology they need to make the best possible business decisions quickly and easily, from any device, anywhere in the world," said Peter Karpas, CEO, Xero U.S. "Given today's industry needs, it's no surprise that more accountants and SMBs are using cloud-based accounting solutions to better manage their finances. We're thrilled to help make life a little bit easier for accounting professionals and SMBs during this extremely busy time of their year."
Check out Xero's Tax Time infographic here: http://www.xero.com/infographic/small-business-tax-advice
Posted on 10:18 AM | Categories:

What do I need to know about the Health Care Law for my 2013 Tax Return?

For most people, the Affordable Care Act has no effect on their 2013 federal income tax return. For example, you will not report health care coverage under the individual shared responsibility provision or claim the premium tax credit until you file your 2014 return in 2015. 
However, for some people, a few provisions may affect your 2013 tax return, such as increases in the itemized medical deduction threshold, the additional Medicare tax and the net investment income tax.

Here are some additional tips:

Filing Requirement: If you do not have a tax filing requirement, you do not need to file a 2013 federal tax return to establish eligibility or qualify for financial assistance, including advance payments of the premium tax credit to purchase health insurance coverage through a Health Insurance Marketplace. Learn more at HealthCare.gov.

W-2 Reporting of Employer Coverage: The value of health care coverage reported by your employer in box 12 and identified by Code DD on your Form W-2 is not taxable. Learn more.

Information available about other tax provisions in the health care law: More information is available on IRS.gov regarding the following tax provisions: Premium Rebate for Medical Loss Ratio, Health Flexible Spending Arrangements, and Health Saving Accounts.

More Information
Find out more tax-related provisions of the health care law at IRS.gov/aca. 
Find out more about the Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov.
Posted on 10:08 AM | Categories:

Early Retirement Plan Withdrawals and Your Taxes

Taking money out early from your retirement plan may trigger an additional tax. Here are seven things from the IRS that you should know about early withdrawals from retirement plans:

1. An early withdrawal normally means taking money from your plan before you reach age 59½.

2. If you made a withdrawal from a plan last year, you must report the amount you withdrew to the IRS. You may have to pay income tax as well as an additional 10 percent tax on the amount you withdrew.

3. The additional 10 percent tax does not apply to nontaxable withdrawals. Nontaxable withdrawals include withdrawals of your cost to participate in the plan. Your cost includes contributions that you paid tax on before you put them into the plan.

4. A rollover is a type of nontaxable withdrawal. Generally, a rollover is a distribution to you of cash or other assets from one retirement plan that you contribute to another retirement plan. You usually have 60 days to complete a rollover to make it tax-free.

5. There are many exceptions to the additional 10 percent tax. Some of the exceptions for retirement plans are different from the rules for IRAs.

6. If you make an early withdrawal, you may need to file Form 5329, Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans (Including IRAs) and Other Tax-Favored Accounts, with your federal tax return.

7. The rules for retirement plans can be complex. The fast, safe and free way to prepare and e-file your tax return is to use IRS Free File. Free File offers brand-name software or online fillable forms for free. Free File software will pick the right tax forms, do the math and help you get the tax benefits you’re due. No matter how you prepare your taxes, you should always file electronically with IRS e-file. More than 80 percent of taxpayers e-file for faster refunds or for easier electronic payment options.

More information on this topic is available on IRS.gov.

Additional IRS Resources:
Posted on 10:07 AM | Categories:

In Some States, New Benefits for 529 Savers / (an update of the state of the tax-advantaged investment vehicle for education )

Elaine S. Povich, for Stateline / Pew writes: Parents and grandparents often turn to state 529 savings plans to sock away money for a child’s future college costs. But many states recently have made changes to their programs, and with the tax filing deadline fast approaching, savers who don’t pay attention may miss out on the full benefits of such accounts.
Money contributed to a 529 (named for the section of the federal tax code which authorizes them) is not deductible from federal income taxes, but the investment grows tax-deferred. There are two types of 529s: 529 savings plans, which are similar to a 401(K) plan or Individual Retirement Account (IRA), in that a saver invests in mutual funds or similar investments; and prepaid plans, which allow savers to pre-pay all or part of the costs of an in-state public college education, to avoid future price increases.  In many cases, the money in a prepaid plan also may be used at private and out-of-state colleges.
The plans are operated by states or educational institutions. They are available in all states but Wyoming, and 30 states and the District of Columbia allow savers to take state income tax deductions for 529 contributions.
Some states have annual limits on how much you can deduct, ranging from $250 per individual tax filer in Maine to $10,000 in Illinois. Other states limit deductible contributions to a percentage of income, or set lifetime contribution limits. South Carolina allows savers to deduct the most in state income taxes over the lifetime of the beneficiary, a total of $370,000, according to Joe Hurley, founder of Saving for College and a leading expert on the accounts. Three states – Indiana, Utah, and Vermont – offer tax credits.
With college costs exploding, many states are trying to convince more people to make use of 529 plans. For example, earlier this month Maine announced that it would partner with the Portland-based Alfond Scholarship Foundation to open up 529s, with initial investments of $500 in each account, for each baby born in the state.  Colleen Quint, president and CEO of the foundation, said the $500, which will be invested in a mutual fund, might triple over 18 years.  The foundation, which has about $700 million in assets, expects to give the money to about 12,000 babies annually, Quint said.
Though $1,500 wouldn’t go very far in paying for a private four-year college, it would make a dent in community college or trade school costs (at least at current prices). In any case, Quint said, the broader goal of the initiative is to get families thinking about saving for college,
“It’s an opportunity for kids and their families to think about college in some very real ways and not some pie in the sky dream,” Quint said. “The $500 is seed money. It has practical as well as aspirational benefits.”
Before this month, the Alfond Foundation gave $500 to every family that opened a 529 account within the first year of the baby’s birth, but the family had to act first. A similar law in Rhode Island calls for the state to pony up $100 for every family that opens a 529 for a newborn.

Other States Act

Other states are also moving to enhance their 529 plans, including:
  • Arizona, which last year increased the maximum deduction for 529 contributions from $750 to $2,000 for individual filers and from $1,500 to $4,000 for joint filers, effective for the year ending Dec. 31, 2013.
  • Nebraska, which increased the deduction from $5,000 to $10,000 for individuals and married couples filing jointly, and from $1,500 to $5,000 for married people filing separately, beginning in 2014;
  • Oregon, which in 2013 removed a restriction prohibiting accounts with the same owner and beneficiary from participating in both of Oregon's 529 college savings plans, one sold directly by the state and another sold by brokers.
  • Wisconsin, where the legislature approved a bill which would let taxpayers carry a tax deduction into the next tax year. The state limits deductions to $3,000 annually, so if a contributor put in $4,000 into the 529 account, then $1,000 of that deduction could be used in the next tax year. Republican Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign the bill.
  • Montana, where Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock signed a bill last year that made taxpayers’ contributions to a non-Montana 529 plan eligible for a state income tax deduction. The change was effective for all of 2013. Montana joins Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Missouri and Pennsylvania in allowing taxpayers to take a deduction no matter where they open a 529 account.
“It’s a competitive marketplace, so you don’t have to use your own state’s plan,” Hurley said. “Feel free to shop around. It won’t make a difference where your child goes to college.”
Betty Lochner, director of Washington state’s Guaranteed Education Tuition program, said “the general rule of thumb that we give to people when they are starting their planning is to start with their home state plans and see what the plans are.” Lochner also chairs the College Savings Plan Network, an affiliate of the National Association of State Treasurers, which monitors and tracks 529 plans in all the states.
“Every state has different reasons for changes,” she added. “Sometimes they are trying to add more flexibility or increase (citizens’) exposure to the plans in some way. Sometimes it comes down to state revenue and they are concerned about the cost of providing those expensive tax breaks as their use is increasing.”

North Carolina an Exception

North Carolina used to offer a tax deduction for deposits into the state’s 529 plans, but scrapped the deduction last year as part of a broad-based tax reform plan. Savers in North Carolina can deduct 529 contributions on their 2013 taxes, but not on their 2014 taxes or thereafter.
The broad tax overhaul increased the standard deduction for most individual filers, and that more than made up for the elimination of the 529 tax break used by only some filers, according to Republican state Rep. David R. Lewis,  who sponsored the tax reform bill.
“While the deduction for the 529 plan was eliminated, the standard deduction that all taxpayers can claim was increased by 240 percent,” said Lewis in an interview.  “So all taxpayers benefit, instead of the very, very small percentage that were taking advantage of the North Carolina 529.”
Yet the number of 529 accounts opened in North Carolina dropped dramatically in the first two months 2014, according to Shera Hube, vice president for marketing for the College Foundation, Inc., North Carolina’s 529 plan.
New accounts established in January and February of 2013, the last year the deduction was in place, totaled 2,475, Hube said, while the 2014 total for the same two months was just 1,517. And last year, “rollouts,” or people taking their money out of 529s and rolling them into other kinds of college savings plans was 161 in January and February of 2013, but rose to 412 for the first two months of this year.
You can follow the author Elaine S Povich on Twitter Here
Posted on 7:57 AM | Categories:
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