Formitize Announces Powerful Two-Way Integration with Xero, will change the future of field based reporting – making paperwork paperless.

The creators of mobile forms solution Formitize have teamed up with online accounting software Xero in a powerful 2-way integration that will revolutionize the future of field-based reporting.

The creators of Formitize – an amazing paperless App used by many businesses worldwide – have unveiled wonderful news for organizations with a mobile workforce everywhere. Formitize is the first mobile forms solution in the world to team up withXero in a powerful two-way integration that will change the future of field based reporting – making paperwork paperless.

Two Amazing Software Solutions

Xero is an easy-to-use online accounting software that’s designed specifically for small businesses. Xero has everything business owners need to run their business – including invoicing, paying bills, sales tax returns, reporting, and much more.

Formitize leads the world in smart, paperless mobile forms App and field data collection solutions with clients across every continent in more than eighty industries from single, sole traders through to some of the world’s largest corporations.

And now there is a full two-way integration between these two amazing software solutions. Formitize’s feature rich mobile forms, automated reporting, and field data collection solutions integrate seamlessly withXero – a match made in heaven.

Formitize convert old paper forms and documents into a smart-phone or tablet based App. Work orders, invoices, inspections, audits, sales records, risk assessments, reports, and so much more can be converted to Formitize. Once the information is collected, the relevant financial details integrate beautifully into Xero to update records or create Invoices, expense claims, purchase orders, new contacts, and more.

How the Two-way Integration Works

To illustrate, here is an example of the power of the two-way integration between Formitize and Xero. Field technicians can now receive a Job dispatched from the Formitize Management Portal, together with job details and route guidance to the job location. Once on site, the technician completes their job card, work order, or inspection. The old paper form is dramatically improved with GPS integration, time and date stamping, before and after photos of the job collected and tagged with the job number together with integrated client signatures. A risk assessment and quality check process has also been incorporated into the new mobile forms to ensure safety and compliance is adhered to throughout the work process.

On completion, the technician submits the digital forms from the mobile device and the magic happens. The customer receives an instant, perfectly completed work order report incorporating data from the form together with terms and conditions, photos, and signatures, along with a completely integrated invoice. All relevant financial information uploads instantly into Xero adding the invoice details to accounts receivable. All completed in seconds and not a piece of paper in sight.

On the Formitize App side, existing customers’ names and contact fields together with product and pricing details can auto-fill the form instantly using contact information and data directly from Xero. So much time saved with instant linking, no mistakes, and all so simple. The result – a completely paperless end-to-end solution incorporating existing mobile forms and paperless reports with the financial and contact elements integrating into Xero. Paperless and perfect!

Discover more ways to maximize the benefits from Formitize’s powerful two-way integration with Xero.

About Formitize

Formitize is automating the processes of some of the world's largest companies and lots of small businesses too. Formitize paperless forms are designed to complement every company's enterprise mobility needs and increase the efficiency and productivity of their mobile workforce.

Marcum Accountants And Advisors Forms Joint Venture With Tony Robbins to Deliver CFO Services to Small Business

The collaboration of financial experts provides high level turn-key CFO services system for small to mid-sized businesses

An affiliate of Marcum LLP, the nation’s 15th largest accounting and advisory services firm, announced the formation of a joint venture with Tony Robbins, the nation’s premier peak performance, life, and business turn-around expert.

        The collaboration between the two leading financial specialists will provide a turn-key system of accounting, tax and advisory services to small and mid-sized companies under the brand name myPowerCFO.     

        The myPowerCFO system is being offered exclusively to participants of Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery seminars in the United States. The annual subscription-based program combines a proprietary financial analysis tool with business advisory services from Marcum LLP to guide business owners and CEOs in identifying operating weaknesses, retaining more earnings, and improving profitability.     

        Mr. Robbins explains: “The myPowerCFO system offers a distinct solution to the glaring truism that 96% of all businesses fail within their first ten years of operation. While entrepreneurs at large serve as artistic visionaries effectively providing extraordinary services and innovating cutting-edge products that they passionately bring to market, the challenge has always been successfully converting the accounting behind their innovation into financial intelligence and sustainable profits. What’s missing is often the information in real-time that would allow entrepreneurs to make the perceptive decisions that direct them precisely to the right tactic at the right time.”     

        One of the single largest challenges for entrepreneurs is the fact that most companies in infancy operate without a CFO due to the financial impracticality of hiring a full-time chief financial executive. The myPowerCFO system allows small and medium-sized businesses to access best-in-class expert counsel in a virtual space for less than two percent of the annual salary cost of an in-house CFO.     

        Said Tony Robbins, “The myPowerCFO system assesses and reveals cash leaks and inefficiencies within your business. It will allow you to understand your cash position and cash burn, and give you critical optics and immediate steps in taking control of your money NOW. The myPowerCFO system will show you where you’re leaving money on the table, and Marcum, as our CFO power analyst, will provide the ongoing expertise to advise you on how to grow your business with exponential profitability and sustainability.”     

        “Marcum’s new partnership with Tony Robbins is a marriage of two organizations on a mission to help clients achieve business success,” said Jeffrey M. Weiner, Marcum’s Managing Partner. “Tony’s reach into the entrepreneurial community and Marcum’s expertise in 360 degree accounting services are the perfect combination for companies in need of the value a CFO can provide without having to staff the full-time function.”     

        “Marcum’s joint venture with Tony Robbins will provide added value to clients by combining traditional tax and advisory services with the teachings and tools of Tony’s world-class Business Mastery curriculum,” said Leonard S. Gordon, an Assurance Partner in Marcum’s Los Angeles office who spearheaded the joint venture relationship with Tony Robbins. “Much of the consulting will be provided via internet using a sophisticated business optics software package. Entrepreneurs will be able to track their businesses with key indicators and instantly create what if scenarios with the support of their virtual CFO from myPowerCFO.”    

        For more information, visit www.tonyrobbins.com/mypowercfo/.

The collaboration of financial experts provides high level turn-key CFO services system for small to mid-sized businesses
An affiliate of Marcum LLP, the nation’s 15th largest accounting and advisory services firm, announced the formation of a joint venture with Tony Robbins, the nation’s premier peak performance, life, and business turn-around expert.
The collaboration between the two leading financial specialists will provide a turn-key system of accounting, tax and advisory services to small and mid-sized companies under the brand name myPowerCFO.
The myPowerCFO system is being offered exclusively to participants of Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery seminars in the United States. The annual subscription-based program combines a proprietary financial analysis tool with business advisory services from Marcum LLP to guide business owners and CEOs in identifying operating weaknesses, retaining more earnings, and improving profitability.
Mr. Robbins explains: “The myPowerCFO system offers a distinct solution to the glaring truism that 96% of all businesses fail within their first ten years of operation. While entrepreneurs at large serve as artistic visionaries effectively providing extraordinary services and innovating cutting-edge products that they passionately bring to market, the challenge has always been successfully converting the accounting behind their innovation into financial intelligence and sustainable profits. What’s missing is often the information in real-time that would allow entrepreneurs to make the perceptive decisions that direct them precisely to the right tactic at the right time.”
One of the single largest challenges for entrepreneurs is the fact that most companies in infancy operate without a CFO due to the financial impracticality of hiring a full-time chief financial executive. The myPowerCFO system allows small and medium-sized businesses to access best-in-class expert counsel in a virtual space for less than two percent of the annual salary cost of an in-house CFO.
Said Tony Robbins, “The myPowerCFO system assesses and reveals cash leaks and inefficiencies within your business. It will allow you to understand your cash position and cash burn, and give you critical optics and immediate steps in taking control of your money NOW. The myPowerCFO system will show you where you’re leaving money on the table, and Marcum, as our CFO power analyst, will provide the ongoing expertise to advise you on how to grow your business with exponential profitability and sustainability.”
“Marcum’s new partnership with Tony Robbins is a marriage of two organizations on a mission to help clients achieve business success,” said Jeffrey M. Weiner, Marcum’s Managing Partner. “Tony’s reach into the entrepreneurial community and Marcum’s expertise in 360 degree accounting services are the perfect combination for companies in need of the value a CFO can provide without having to staff the full-time function.”
“Marcum’s joint venture with Tony Robbins will provide added value to clients by combining traditional tax and advisory services with the teachings and tools of Tony’s world-class Business Mastery curriculum,” said Leonard S. Gordon, an Assurance Partner in Marcum’s Los Angeles office who spearheaded the joint venture relationship with Tony Robbins. “Much of the consulting will be provided via internet using a sophisticated business optics software package. Entrepreneurs will be able to track their businesses with key indicators and instantly create what if scenarios with the support of their virtual CFO from myPowerCFO.”
For more information, visit www.tonyrobbins.com/mypowercfo/.
About Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the United States. Ranked #15 nationally, Marcum LLP offers the resources of 1,300 professionals, including over 160 partners, in 23 offices throughout the U.S., Grand Cayman and China. Headquartered in New York City, the Firm's presence runs deep, with full-service offices strategically located in major business markets. Marcum is a member of the Marcum Group, an organization providing a comprehensive range of professional services spanning accounting and advisory, technology solutions, wealth management, and executive and professional recruiting. The Marcum Group companies include Marcum LLP; Marcum Technology LLC; Marcum Search LLC; Marcum Financial Services LLC; Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP; and MarcumBuchanan Associates LLC. For more information, visit www.marcumllp.com.
- See more at: http://newyork.citybizlist.com/article/203404/marcum-accountants-and-advisors-forms-joint-venture-with-tony-robbins#sthash.zLSr7xq9.dpuf

Avaza Software has launched the world's first online software suite for professional services (Project Management & Accounting) fully optimized for mobile phones / smartphones.

Built for small to medium size businesses, Avaza.com has modules for project management & collaboration, timesheets, expense management & invoicing.  Each of these modules can be used together or independently to suit a wide range of businesses.

"Avaza is the easy software that helps you get work done, and get paid from anywhere." says co-founder Tim Kremer. "Freelancers, consultants and professional services organizations today typically mix and match a variety of software from different companies to help run their business. Unfortunately these products suffer from weak integrations, leading to data duplication, manual data entry and poor reporting across business processes."

 

Avaza's suite solves these problems and provides a single integrated view of clients and projects, allowing businesses to make better decisions and free up time to focus on what they do best says Mr. Kremer. 

"Avaza brings new functionality to smaller businesses usually only found in large enterprise software and unaffordable to most companies. 

For example, reporting on KPI's such as customer profitability & employee utilization is invaluable for improving the profitability of consulting companies."  Built in the cloud, and embracing modern technologies, all of Avaza's functionality is designed to be accessible from desktops, tablets & mobiles.

Cloud Accounting features include multicurrency expense tracking, invoice delivery & online payments.  Innovations in the project management space include the merging of project management & collaboration functionality.

 

"So many client interactions today are still via email. Email is fantastic for crossing organizational boundaries, however a lot of valuable knowledge often gets lost & forgotten in individual inboxes," says fellow co-founder Behram Khan.

Addressing these issues, every task in Avaza includes email-enabled discussions. Team members and clients are alerted via email when tasks are assigned or discussed. Users can reply directly to emails and add attachments. Responses are centrally tracked against tasks and searchable.

Automatic reminders on overdue tasks help keep engagements on track and are a diplomatic approach when following up on information requests.

"Many consulting industries we surveyed, such as accountants, spend up to 15% of their time following up with clients on information requests. With Avaza's automatic reminders, projects are delivered sooner and clients are happier." says Mr. Khan.

Avaza's target customers include professional services companies such as Accountants, Lawyers, Architects, Management Consultants, Web Agencies, Designers, Software consultants & Freelancers.

Avaza is now available worldwide, with both free & paid plans. Businesses are invited to create their free account at Avaza.com

H & R Block Inc (HRB) Earnings Report: What Should Investors Expect? INTU & TAX The Q1 2015 earnings report for tax preparer stock H & R Block Inc (HRB), a potential peer or competitor of Intuit Inc (INTU) and Liberty Tax Inc (TAX), is scheduled for after the market closes on Wednesday (September 3rd).

Peter Graham for SmallCapNetwork.com writes: The Q1 2015 earnings report for tax preparer stock H & R Block Inc (NYSE: HRB), a potential peer or competitor of Intuit Inc (NASDAQ: INTU) and Liberty Tax Inc (NASDAQ: TAX), is scheduled for after the market closes on Wednesday (September 3rd). Aside from the H & R Block Inc earnings report, it should be said that Intuit Inc reported Q4 2014 earnings on August 21st (they reported a wider than expected loss and a tepid outlook) while Liberty Tax Inc reported Q1 2015 earnings on August 28th (revenues decreased by 2.8% to $7.8 million plus there was a net loss of $8.6 million verses $5.9 million). The last time H & R Block Inc reported earnings, shares hit a 3 month high on a strong fiscal year end earnings report.

What Should You Watch Out for With the H & R Block Inc Earnings Report?

First, here is a quick recap of H & R Block Inc’s recent earnings history along with EPS estimate trends from the Yahoo! Finance analyst estimates page:

Earnings History	Jul 13	Oct 13	Jan 14	Apr 14
EPS Est	-0.37	-0.37	-0.11	3.23
EPS Actual	-0.40	-0.42	-0.77	3.24
Difference	-0.03	-0.05	-0.66	0.01
Surprise %	-8.10%	-13.50%	-600.00%	0.30%

EPS Trends	Current Qtr. Jul 14	Next Qtr. Oct 14	Current Year Apr 15	Next Year Apr 16
Current Estimate	-0.40	-0.42	1.98	2.21
7 Days Ago	-0.40	-0.42	1.98	2.21
30 Days Ago	-0.40	-0.42	1.98	2.21
60 Days Ago	-0.40	-0.42	1.98	2.21
90 Days Ago	-0.40	-0.42	1.99	2.35

Back in early June, H & R Block Inc reported a 4.1% fiscal year revenue increase to $3.024 billion driven by improved return mix and changes to the company's pricing strategy in its retail locations, digital tax software product enhancements and monetization efforts, and increased Tax Plus financial services product revenues. Returns prepared by and through H & R Block Inc fell 2.6% to 24.2 million worldwide, primarily due to the company's decision to discontinue its US-based free federal 1040EZ promotion in virtually all markets. Fiscal 2014 net income came in at $500 million verses $465 million for fiscal year 2013 while for the fourth quarter, the company earned $3.29 per share, up 36% from a year ago, as revenue grew 16% to $2.56 billion. The President/CEO commented:

"We delivered a strong year of both revenue and earnings growth and lived up to our long-standing tradition of being the world's leading tax services provider. Though we anticipated an overall decline in return counts, our Tax Plus strategy is working, and we will continue to focus on enhancing the client experience and delivering best-in-class products and services to drive profitable growth. Our improving client satisfaction scores are a testament to the value we bring to our clients, positioning us well for 2015 and beyond.”

The CFO added:

"By executing on our Tax Plus objectives, we delivered exceptional results this year, growing both our top and bottom line. Our productivity initiatives enabled us to manage our costs more efficiently and drive margin expansion, while continuing to invest in our business, ultimately creating shareholder value."

The January-through-April period is critical for H & R Block Inc to achieve massive profits to offset losses in other quarters of the year. However, H & R Block Inc has reported larger losses than usual in recent quarters amid rising competition from do-it-yourself tax preparation programs such as Intuit's TurboTax and others. Last April, the company also agreed to sell its banking unit to exit Federal Reserve oversight and focus on tax preparation.

What do the H & R Block Inc Charts Say?

The latest technical chart for H & R Block Inc shows a summer surge after the last earnings report:

A long term performance chart shows that H & R Block Inc has put in a good performance for the past two years but Liberty Tax Inc has been an outperformer and Intuit Inc has been a more steady outperformer:

The latest technical chart for Intuit Inc shows a bouncy uptrend for the year while Liberty Tax Inc has given investors a smother upward rise:

What Should Be Your Next Move?

One thing investors will be watching for is what impact Obamacare may have on H & R Block Inc as many Americans remain in confusion as to how the law will impact them, their tax returns and their refunds. That confusion could help tax preparers earn more revenue at other times of the year. Beyond that, investors and traders alike probably should not expect to much excitement with the coming earnings report.    

Atlassian Founder Cannon-Brookes: The Cloud-Accounting War Is Going To Be An Epic Battle

Alex Heber for Business Insider Australia writes:  A war is being waged between cloud-based accounting providers MYOB, Intuit’s Quickbooks Online and upstart Xero as they race to secure small business market share.

Last month Xero CEO Rod Drury poked the bears when he said: “It’s game on with Intuit in the US.” 

At Sydstart today, Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes weighed in saying while he’s a “huge Xero fan… they’ve got a massive fight there.”

“MYOB guys are not silly, they’ve got a huge install base and are coming back at them. Who wins that fight in the long term, it’s going to be a nice epic battle,” he said.

“But what’s interesting is I think people would’ve written off MYOB two years ago, one year ago and said they have no chance as the incumbent with an install base.”

Pointing to Microsoft’s sustained success as an example of what could be ahead he said “Having an install base of customers makes a big difference.”

With an estimated 70% of small and medium businesses using an accountancy software package, Australia’s small business market is substantial. IBISworld valued it at more than $1 billion. 

But the insights into the economy and small business market cloud-based accounting services have the potential to draw on highlights just how big the data play could be.

When Does it Make Sense for Married Taxpayers to File Separately?

Mike Piper The Oblivious Investor writes:   When Does it Make Sense for Married Taxpayers to File Separately?  A reader writes in, asking:

“Under what circumstances does it make sense for a married couple to file separate tax returns rather than file jointly?”

In most cases, it doesn’t make sense. That is, in most cases, a married couple will end up paying more total tax by filing separately than by filing jointly. There are, broadly speaking, two reasons for this.

Reasons Not to File Separately

First, by filing separately, you’re made ineligible for a number of tax breaks, including (but not limited to):

• The student loan interest deduction,
• The American Opportunity Credit,
• The Lifetime Learning Credit,
• The earned income credit,
• The premium tax credit (with a possible exception for victims of domestic abuse),
• The child and dependent care credit (with a possible exception for married people who live in separate homes), and
• The adoption credit (also with a possible exception for married people who live in separate homes).

The second reason has to do with tax brackets. For married couples in which one spouse earns significantly more than the other, filing jointly allows the income from that higher-earning spouse to stay in a lower tax bracket. Conversely, if the couple files separately, the low-tax-bracket space of the spouse with no/low earnings will go unused.

Reasons to File Separately

There are four general types of reasons for filing separately.
The first reason is simply that the couple is in fact separated (though still married) and filing jointly simply wouldn’t be feasible.

A second, less common reason for filing separately is that one of the spouses has to publicly disclose his/her tax returns for some reason, and the couple wants to keep as much information private as possible (by keeping it off the publicly-disclosed return).

A third reason for one spouse wanting to file separately is to avoid being made jointly liable for any amounts due on the other spouse’s return. (If this is a concern for you, you would do well to discuss the issue with a tax attorney.)

Finally, there are some uncommon cases in which filing separately can actually result in tax savings. These cases tend to be the result of the couple wanting to take better advantage of a particular deduction that is reduced by a certain percentage of their income. For example, the itemized deduction for medical expenses is reduced by 10% of your adjusted gross income (7.5% if you’re age 65 or over). As a result, if one spouse has a lot of medical expenses in a given year, it can sometimes make sense to file separately so that the amount by which the deduction is reduced is a smaller figure (because it’s based on just that spouse’s income rather than the couple’s combined income).

Other deductions that could provide a similar motivation to file separately would include:

• The itemized deduction for casualty losses, which is reduced by 10% of your adjusted gross income, and
• Miscellaneous itemized deductions that are (collectively) reduced by 2% of your adjusted gross income (e.g,. unreimbursed employee expenses and tax preparation fees).

Of note: If you’re claiming one of these itemized deductions, rather than simply filing separately, it’s important to do the math both ways (i.e., filing separately and jointly) to see which works better, as the disadvantages of separate filing that we discussed above often outweigh the additional savings you might get from being able to claim a larger itemized deduction.

Can You Claim a Business Tax Deduction for Gifts to Employees?

Kevin Hagen writes: When you give gifts in the course of your business, you can claim a tax deduction. But according to the IRS the deduction is limited to $25 for each person to whom you give a gift. So if you give gifts to your employees you could claim a tax deduction of up to $25 for each employee. If the individual gifts have a value of more than $25, your deduction is limited to $25 for each employee.

If you are married, you and your spouse are treated as one taxpayer for this deduction for gifts, even if you each operate a separate business. So if both of you gave separate gifts to the same person, you could deduct only $25 in total for the gifts to that person.

According to the IRS, if your business gives employees goods or merchandise of nominal value at holidays, you can deduct the cost as a non-wage business expense. Gifts other than cash, with a low market value, are considered de minimis benefits that can be excluded from the employees' wages. So for example if you give your employees a turkey for the holidays, you could deduct the cost as a business expense and the value of the gift would not be includible in the employees' income for tax purposes.

But the IRS points out that cash and cash equivalent fringe benefits, such as gift cards, charge cards or credit cards, are never excludable from employees' wages as de minimis benefits, regardless of the amount. So if you give your employees gift cards, the value of the cards would have to be included in the employees' wages as taxable compensation and reported on their W-2s.

Gift certificates would be includible in employees' taxable wages even if the certificates are redeemable only for merchandise that would otherwise be excludible as a de minimis benefit.
Deductions for de minimis gifts of food and drink are not subject to the 50% limit on deductions for business meals. So holiday parties at work would generally be a fully deductible expense for your business.

If you pay your employees a holiday bonus, the bonuses would be a tax-deductible business expense and would be taxable compensation for the employees. The bonus would be subject to FICA tax and federal income tax withholding, generally at a rate of 25% since a bonus is considered supplemental compensation.

Discounts you provide to your employees on goods or services that you offer customers in the ordinary course of your line of business are excludable from the employees' taxable wages up to certain limits. For services, a discount of up to 20% of the price you charge customers can be excluded from the employees' taxable wages. For merchandise, you can exclude a discount of up to the amount of your gross profit percentage on sales to customers.

How to Scale an Ecommerce Business in 2014

“How to Scale an Ecommerce Business in 2014″ is a free, 30-minute webinar. The presenter is Armando Roggio, contributing editor for Practical Ecommerce. The sponsor is Avalara, a leading platform for the computation, collection, and payment of Internet sales taxes.
The webinar will occur on Tuesday, September 16, at 2 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time, 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

Grow Revenue, Not Expense

Retailers often think about growth or cost savings in terms of strategies and actions, but sometimes the things that will help a business improve most are its qualities, its abilities, or, more precisely, its capabilities.
Business capabilities describe a company’s capacity to grow revenue without a corresponding increase in operational expense. While there are many important capabilities to scale an ecommerce business, there are three that may help ecommerce operations increase revenue and lower costs in 2014, and it is these three business capabilities that we will cover in this 30-minute webinar.

How to Scale on Ecommerce Business in 2014

• Ability to create content. Being able to produce, publish, and distribute useful, helpful, and entertaining content will not only attract visitors to your website from search engines and social shares, it will also help convert visitors to customers once they arrive.  We’ll review the state of content marketing in 2014 and explain why it’s essential to grow an ecommerce business.

• Superb fulfillment management. Shipping is becoming both more expensive and, in the free-shipping era, more of a competitive differentiator. Online sellers must be able to ship quickly and economically. We’ll offer suggestions for streamlining shipping and fulfillment, to remain competitive with even the largest online retailers.

• Integrate platforms, for efficient operations. To grow profits, an ecommerce business must be able to improve revenue without material increases in operational expense. That often requires syncing an ecommerce platform with other services — accounting, fulfillment, shipping, sales tax, email marketing — to eliminate double entry into standalone systems, thus saving personnel costs.  We’ll review common integrations that allow an ecommerce business to scale.

Q&A

Following his presentation, Roggio will answer questions from attendees.

FREE  REGISTER HERE

Date: September 16, 2014
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time
Length: 1/2 hour

About the Presenter

Armando Roggio is (a) contributing editor for Practical Ecommerce, (b) an independent ecommerce merchant, and (c) a seasoned web developer. He has written hundreds of articles at Practical Ecommerce, covering virtually all facets of running a successful online store. He holds a B.A. in English Writing and Journalism from The University of Pittsburgh.

About the Sponsor

Avalara provides fast, easy, accurate, and affordable sales tax compliance for businesses of all sizes. It integrates with virtually all ecommerce platforms, and automatically computes, collects, and remits sales taxes to hundreds of state and municipal taxing entities in the U.S.