Category: Tips Finance

Merchant Accounts

Your business is successful, but now your ready to take it to the next level and begin accepting credit card transactions, or you have already taken this step but your feeling that your merchant account provider has high fees and your not sure what to do, or what other providers are out there?

You can save hundred’s even thousand’s of dollars per year by switching over to a new merchant. How is this so?

Just in transaction fees alone if one provider is charging you 35 cents per transaction and another Merchant account provider charges 25 cents you are already saving 10 cents per transaction.

If you process over 1000 transactions per month thats already $100 per month savings and over one year this amounts to $1,200.

Merchant Accounts can make or break your business, whether it is online, retail, phone, mail, or wireless. Every Merchant Account provider has fees that can affect your business in different ways.

We have compared the best merchant account providers currently in the business and we have detailed their fees so you know exactly how much you will be charged.

We’ve all dreamt about the day we can retire, the free time we’ll have to find a new hobby, travel to a new place, or simply, do nothing but sit and relax. But in order to enjoy the retirement years like you want to, you’ve got to plan ahead. In particular, you need to protect five financial freedoms. They are:

1. Guaranteed Income

Have you taken the steps today to secure your financial future: for yourself, your spouse and your family?

Remember when you retire, you won’t receive a regular paycheck. Not having that steady income may come as a shock. You may start to panic as you begin to dip into savings for daily expenses. You may need to live on a strict budget. You may end up needing to find a job. And, if you decide you need to return to work, it most likely won’t be in a full-time position with a full-time salary.

As you think about retirement, you need to realize this: the day you stop working is the day you surrender your guaranteed income. However, by developing a strategic plan now with your financial advisor you ensure that your financial situation is set up so that you can enjoy your retirement years worry free.

2. Travel

The number one thing most people want to do when they retire is travel. In fact, retirees are in the top 3 groups of travelers in the United States and spend about 20% of their retirement income just on travel.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that retirees are on the move. They have the freedom to take vacation whenever they want since the job isn’t tying them down anymore. However, the question that needs to be asked is that as retirees, while you may be able to pack up and go whenever you please, do you have the financial freedom to do so? How can you fulfill your dream of visiting new locales in America or around the globe if you live on a fixed income?

By working with your financial advisor, travel is possible. Together, you can create a retirement plan that includes travel in your financial future so that you don’t need to give up your desire to explore the country and even the world.

3. Legacy

As parents, your instinct is to take care of your children even when they become adults with kids of their own. One of the most important ways you can do this is by giving an inheritance to your kids once you’ve passed on.

While you have many years of making memories with your family, now is the time to make sure you’ve invested your money wisely. Making wise choices means considering the various tax benefits that different financial options have to offer. I know it can be confusing and frustrating to compare the options available to you, and that’s why it’s a good idea to turn to a financial advisor to counsel you on these important decisions. Your family’s well-being is at stake.

4. Autonomy

Life prepares us to be independent, doesn’t it? Sure, at first, we depend on our parents to care for us, to protect us. As we grow older, we build our independence. We start our own families. We become the providers.

However, during the retirement years doubt may begin to creep in about your ability to live autonomously. Without a steady stream of income, you start to wonder if you need to find a job or whether you can afford to live on your own. Talking with your financial advisor and planning for your future can alleviate these doubts and give you peace of mind knowing that you can continue to live the independent life you want.

5. Choice

When you think of retirement, a number of things come to mind, particularly a list of all the things you want to do and the age you want to retire. However, one vital piece of information that you may not have thought about is how much you’ll need to retire AND live comfortably. If this describes you, talk with your financial advisor today. Believe me, you don’t want to wait until you’re close to your targeted retirement age because you might discover that you’ll need more to live the retirement lifestyle you want. Your financial advisor will work with you to make sure you’re saving enough now so your dream lifestyle can be your retirement reality.

You can prepare a customized bill of sale in five minutes. Learn how to do it properly and how to avoid common pitfalls.

How to prepare a Bill of Sale and how to avoid common pitfalls

A bill of sale form is used to transfer the ownership from a seller to a buyer. The four main bill of sale forms are for: auto, boat, personal property and business.

The Internet made all these forms readily available at a reasonable price.

In five minutes or less, the user can prepare a bill of sale as follows:

Purchase the form and download the form.
Open the downloaded form and print.
Use a pen; fill in the blanks by following the instructions.
Done.

The common pitfalls and their repercussions:

Using a free form download from the Internet. Such forms almost always contain errors and are incomplete.
Using a handwritten bill of sale. Such forms almost always contain errors and are incomplete.
Failing to detail and describe what is being sold. It is important to have what is being sold detailed and described.

Avoiding the three pitfalls listed above can help both the seller and buyer avoid both headaches and expenses down the road. The following are few common examples:

In the event the buyer is unsatisfied with their purchase as they may deem that what they received was not as described. A proper bill of sale including the condition of the item being sold thus resolving such issues.

Using an improper form that does not detail important information. This causes that buyer issues down the road when attempting to resell what was bought. As an incomplete form may lack a vehicle VIN number or boat identification Hull number.

The seller also needs to protect themselves as exemplified here. When selling a car, it is important to include the “Odometer Disclosure Statement”. This provides the seller legal protection in case the buyer alters the odometer in the future when reselling to obtain a better price. In such a case, it is impossible to ascertain who changed the odometer reading. The seller by using a proper form protect themselves from dealing with such possibilities.

There are just few examples. There are many other scenarios.

Is a professionally prepared Bill of Sale a must?

Yes. For a small price, this provides legal protection for the both the seller and buyer and saves them costly expenses and headaches down the line.

Small business owners are an underserved group. Tax planning and tax preparation should not be the only skills offered by the business’ advisors. And to small business owners, don’t be so stubborn. Read carefully to understand this discussion. This just might save your life long dream from collapsing.

Construction, roofing, and custom manufacturing are all business types that will benefit from a discussion of direct and indirect expenses. Most already know that direct expenses for a given job or project have to be considered in the cost. Direct expenses include the labor and materials used. It is the indirect expense that is most often forgotten or mistakenly allocated to job cost. The indirect expense is a cost that relates to all jobs or projects and not to one job specifically.

Examples of indirect expenses include: depreciation on machinery and equipment in the production process, depreciation on plant facilities if owned by the small business, rent on the plant facilities, shop supplies, vehicle expenses, utilities, insurance, and the compensation of supervisors, plant managers, and owners of the business. And of course, don’t forget about payroll taxes. There could be other indirect expenses in a given business, but the aforementioned will serve to demonstrate my point. It is also important to mention here the compensation of the business owner or owners. If the owner participates in the production process, a portion of compensation (or all) should be treated as an indirect expense to be allocated to the job cost.

Now that there is a list of indirect expenses, how should they get allocated to the job cost? Typically, indirect expenses are allocated based on direct labor dollars, direct labor hours, or direct materials. My personal favorite method of allocation is based on direct labor hours. If there are 20 direct laborers in a given business, and each is projected to work 1,900 hours annually, there will be 38,000 hours of total direct labor in a given year. If the summation of indirect costs is $1,500,000, this business will have an indirect cost per direct labor hour of $39.47. If my average hourly wage for direct laborers is $25.00, then total cost per direct labor hour is $64.47. If this particular business desires an industry average gross margin of say, 36%, it will need to charge $100.73 per labor hour. This billing rate is determined by using the full absorption method of accounting. Full absorption accounting is a required “generally accepted accounting principle” and must be used in all external financial statements unless otherwise disclosed.