Top five most overlooked tax deductions

 Brett Sholtis for YDR.com writes:   Tax season is upon us, and though it may seem far away now, that April 15 deadline will be here soon.  Whether you have a trusted tax accountant or you process your own taxes, it's always possible that you're not getting the most out of your annual return.  Claire Weaver, a shareholder at the accounting firm SF & Company, highlighted five deductions that she said many people don't know about. While not everyone has a child in college or investments in a brokerage company,...

Investors, Don't Make These Tax Blunders / Mistimed sales, Roth-conversion mistakes, and failing to plan for unforeseen events top readers' lists.

Adam Zoll for Morningstar.com writes: It's often said that one shouldn't let the tax tail wag the investment dog, which is just a cute way of saying that tax considerations should not dominate one's investment decision-making process. However, that doesn't mean one should ignore taxes altogether, as tax-smart investing can pad investors' aftertax returns while tax-ignorant investing can erode them.  Morningstar.com readers on our Personal Finance discussion board were asked last week to recall some of their worst investment-related...

Xero shares climb 24% in a week as seller leaves the market

Suze Metherell for NBR.co.nz writes: Shares of Xero [NZX: XRO], the cloud-based accounting software firm, have jumped 24 percent over the past week, amid market speculation a large seller has left the market. The stock climbed as much as $4 to an intraday high of $20.40, the highest since October, from last Monday's closing price of $16.40. The stock recently traded at $20.00. The Wellington-based firm's stock came under selling pressure last year, falling from a high of $45.99 in March to as low as $15 last October as investors...

Tax Software vs Professional Accountants

McRuer CPAs writes:  As we enter into the peak of tax preparation season, we are often asked about the difference between using tax preparation software and using the services of a professional accountant.  Today there are dozens of preparation software options online and in software packages that can help a taxpayer complete their tax return.  This as today's tax liabilities and concerns are growing more complicated than they've ever been.  A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed as taxpayers try out new tax...

Tax deductions for Self-Employed and Freelancers

Ron Friedman for RiverJournal.com writes: Taxes for the self-employed and freelance worker can get pretty complicated. For those in this segment of the economy often combine their personal and business lives and, as a result, reporting to Uncle Sam can get pretty complicated. Freelancers usually work out of their own home, use their own car to get to and from sales calls and don’t have a separate bank account to conduct their business affairs. Whether you prepare your own taxes or have someone prepare them for you, it’s still a good idea...

5 Robust Accounting Software Systems Fit For Your Business / Quickbooks, WorkFlowMax, Financial Force, FreeAgent, Kashflow

Finances Online writes: Small businesses usually start with manual accounting systems and then add programs such as QuickBooks or Microsoft Excel as their business expenses become harder to monitor. However, it is always best to plan ahead of time. Your organization’s accounting software system must be able to handle your current needs and quickly adapt to future growth.   Look for a robust system that can quickly grow along with your...

QuickBooks Online Alternatives: Why SMBs Should Embrace Cloud ERP Accounting

Marie Alonso for CompuData writes:  If you are looking for QuickBooks online alternatives and think the best direction for your business may be Cloud ERP, you just may be right. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions that deliver cloud-based functionality are ideal for small to mid-sized businesses looking to better automate and organize management processes – including financial management. In fact, cloud-based ERP is an escalating trend. According to Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company,...

Six Audit Red Flags and How to Avoid Them

Who is Bench?  "We’re a laid back group of people working hard on a tough problem. Bookkeeping is a universal point of pain for entrepreneurs, and we’re changing that." - Bench, visit Bench by clicking here. Lindsay Angus for Bench writes: Being the subject of an IRS audit can be stressful, time-consuming, and potentially very expensive. While there is no foolproof way to avoid an audit, there are measures you can take to drastically reduce your chances of showing up on the IRS radar. Here are six measures that you can...

vTiger (CRM) and Xero on Maestrano is a winning combination for your business....

Maestrano  is an advanced cloud computing service that brings together the best software solutions for small to medium business, at very low cost and carefully selected for quality and ease of use.   Maestrano features unique technology that enables different software applications to share information, to connect different clouds and to bring desktop or "offline" software into the cloud. Over at the Maestrano blog we read the following: ...