Monthly Archives: August 2010

Accounting, Taxes, Payroll

Posted on by
Reply

Common Tax Deductions Missed

Today, I would like to mention a few of the common tax deductions missed by tax payers. So when you file this year you have a better chance at deducting these things.

1. Do you have someone prepare your own taxes? Accounting Fees for Tax Preparation. You are entitled as the Tax Payer to deduct fees you pay a professional accountant to do your taxes. Make sure if you are having someone prepare you taxes, to ask them about deducting the fees they charge you on your tax return. If not, then you better find a new tax preparer. Also if you prepare your own taxes you are allowed to deduct the cost of software you paid as well as any e-filing services that you paid to. Have a question on where to put this on the 1040 form? Email me and I will tell you.

2. Do you pay union dues? These are deductible on your tax return. Dues, Initiation fees for memberships, etc. Sometimes people for get that. Have a question on where to claim this deduction on the 1040? Email me and I will tell.

3. Did you refinanced your home? With mortgage interest rates low now, I am sure a lot of people have refinanced or somewhat. You are allowed to deduct points paid on the mortgage as well as certain costs on the refinance itself. Have a question on this? Email me and I will tell you more about it.

4. Do you gamble? Or have gambling losses? You can deduct the gambling looses up to the extent of the winnings of course? Not sure where to put this on the return? Email me and I will tell you where.

5. Did you have a casualty or theft loss? You as the taxpayer are allowed this deduction as well. Have a questions as to where to put this, email today.

6. Do you wear glasses? Contacts? You are allowed to deduct these as well. This of course would go on the Schedule A as long as you are itemizing things. Another good one to this as well is prescription medicines and insurance premiums paid by you. You can deduct these as well. Have questions as where to put these? Email me and I would be happy to tell you.

This is a preview of Accounting, Taxes, Payroll. Read the full post (562 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Looking for Livestock for Sale?

Posted on by
Reply

It used to be that if you were looking to purchase anything for your farm, that you’d need to rely on word of mouth, field days and networks. Now, with the internet you can find anything you need, including livestock for sale. This is particularly good if you are looking to start a herd or want to increase your stock, because you can have the opportunity to browse your options until you find exactly what you want.

There are several things you do need to be aware of however when planning to increase the amount of animals you plan to have on your land. It’s important first that you go through a broker company that has experience in this type of transaction. It’s to their benefit that both sides are happy, as word of mouth is still the best way to grow a business in this sector. They can help talk you through the process. Even though the pictures and information are online, there is nothing to stop you calling one of the brokers and finding out some more background.

It’s important that you have an idea of which breeds you are looking at. This will depend on a range of things such as whether you are growing for beef or dairy, whether you’ve got a lifestyle operation or a fully functioning farm, and what type of land you have. You may also just have personal preference and that’s also important to be aware of. Some breeds will do better in colder type weather patterns, and most cattle, for instance prefer the flat, but on some farms have happily adapted to treks up and down hills each day. Some breeds can be less edgy or aggressive than others, so ask about this if you are an inexperienced farmer.

It’s important to look at the condition. This is not something you can check over in a photograph, though that’s a good start. If looking at livestock for sale, you (or someone you trust) needs to be able to run an eye over them before final settlement is made. They need to be lean, but not thin and look settled and well looked after. They should be calm, but alert, with bright eyes and their coat should be in a good condition.

It’s a good idea to select animals that are all around the same size fully grown. This helps you to maintain a more cohesive herd.

This is a preview of Looking for Livestock for Sale?. Read the full post (433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Why Team Building Is Essential

Posted on by
Reply

In this article I would like to demonstrate that approximately ninety percent of the frequent issues that arise amongst organizations are particularly easily recognisable and within the short-term can be quite simply taken care of. For example, weak communication skills is a frequent issue. There is often a lack of communication skills and with that there can be a lack of understanding of just about every team member.

Another example that is also a frequent occurrence and related to communication skills is disagreement, or how conflicts are resolved within an organisation. If one really does not have very good communication capabilities, how are disagreements to be resolved? And how does one share the goals of a company, or even create the objectives of a company, if one does not have good communication skills?

Good communication does not necessarily mean having the ability to get up on stage and convey a message to an audience; good communication means being able to promote a message which is heard, acquired, understood and appreciated. People often say communication is a two-way thing, communication is not just whatever message is being given, it is also very much what is being heard or even the way a person audibly hear and interprets the original message. Even people at the top levels do not necessarily have excellent communication skills.

Another example of an issue that is also widespread within organisations is lack of leadership. If one considers just how difficult it is to be a leader, what then are the characteristics of an effective leader? From the leader’s perspective, the characteristics of an effective leader might be to be generally be powerful, be directive, be controlling to a certain extent and also to have confidence. But then considered from the perspective of the team, what are their needs and what do they define as the characteristics of an effective leader? It could be that the team may require hardly anything from their leader, i.e. supply me a number of suggestions and then leave me alone. So in many ways it can be said that a leader has to try to be a multitude of things to numerous persons. Another alternative would be for the leader to surround him or herself with individuals that can assist the leader so that the challenge is met by the team rather than just the individual leader. A clever leader has the capacity to make it happen and never loses his or her focus.

Permanent link to this post (413 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Selling From the Stage

Posted on by
Reply

So, picture this scenario. You’ve just finished an outstanding presentation to an audience and you’ve made your continuing education offer. You’re feeling really good about how things went and are expecting big sales in the back of the room. Yeah, tonight’s gonna be a good night. Tonight’s gonna be a good good night.

But wait, just as you finish your presentation the event emcee (who is usually the promoter) grabs the microphone and says to the crowd “Sit down and close your eyes. I want you to picture yourself sitting on a sunny beach with a cool drink in your hand.” Yes, he literally tries to put the audience into a state of relaxed meditation at the critical time when they should be heading back to the sales table to buy your offer.

Son of a beach. Yeah, you heard me. Talk about a momentum killer. There goes that nice sales rush you were expecting because the promoter got in the way of his own sales. Think it couldn’t happen? Think again. I’ve seen it happen first hand. And it was disastrous for the speaker.

So how do you prevent this from happening to you? With all kudos to my good friend Armand Morin, the secret is to “close yourself out.” After you’ve finished your presentation tell the audience very specifically what you want them to do. Something to the effect of “We’re going to a 15 minute break and I’ll meet you in the back of the room right now.”

Make it known to the event promoter ahead of time that you’ll close yourself out. Make sure they understand that they don’t need to take the microphone from you when you’ve finished. You’ll direct the audience what to do next. Don’t allow them to unwittingly steal your momentum and potentially cost you sales at an event.

Momentum is a funny thing. It doesn’t take very much to kill it and a request for relaxed meditation is definitely a momentum killer. So keep control of the situation as a speaker to the best of your abilities if you want to maximize your back-of-the-room sales.

Permanent link to this post (356 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)