10/19/10 - Tax Savings, Gratitude, Job Search Strategies, & Niche Marketing

Hosts: Leo Wisniewski, Lauren Milligan and Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz

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Leo Wisniewski

• Leo interviews Michelle Linton on "Tax Savings for Your Business"
• Michelle is the owner of MLA Accounting. She has practiced public accounting for over 25 years and decided to venture on her own around 7 years ago. She is an enrolled agent, compared to a CPA, she has had 11 hours of tax testing conducted by the IRS, compared to a 3 hour tax testing of a CPA so specialize more in just tax. She also has a masters in accounting an is part of the board for the National Association of Tax Professionals Illinois chapter.
• Up until this year, anybody who has decide to become a tax preparer could but created a lot of problems in the industry because they were not keeping up with the education they had to. So the IRS has enacted some new legislation that everyone needs to register and within a couple of years everyone will have to pass a test.
• If you are a business owner and do not have much knowledge about taxes, ask who ever is helping you about classes do they take to keep up with their continuing education since tax law is constantly changing. If they are a CPA or an enrolled agent, you can check online their license and see if they are in good standing.
• Tax saving tips - 1.)Be organized. Do not let your business take so much of your time that you don't stay organized because if all your expenses are not captured, you are not going to get all the deductions that you are entitled to. 2.) Do a tax check up with your accountant before the end of the year. You cannot do anything after 12/31 3.) Do not always think you are an expert, ask someone, or do research on the Internet, or consult a professional. Talk to someone who knows and who keeps up with it. 4.) Maximize your retirement contribution which is one of your best tax savings. Consult with you investment advisor because the market is not where it should be.
• Michelle is also heavily involved in getting more and more clients into Cloud computing. This system allows you to do all of your accounting, book keeping or any of your business functions over the Internet. This allows you to log in on any computer and check on your clients as opposed to being physically present with the PC where your business softwares are installed. It also helps reduce your software and hardware needs because you do not need to constantly upgrade to keep up.
• Michelle uses SendOutCards both for her professional and personal life. She became so busy that she doesn't have time t0 literally go to the store and pick out a card to get in touch with her clients. With SendOutCards, all she needs to do now is log on to the Internet and it only takes her 2 minutes to send out birthday cards, holiday cards, etc. It is a great way to advertise your business and a very inexpensive way of advertising instead of buying mailing pieces.
• You can get in touch with Michelle Linton by calling (630) 729-3138 or email her at ml@mla-accounting.com or go to the website http://www.mla-accounting.com/.
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Lauren Milligan

• Lauren took the day off to finish a rush resume. The good news? The job seeker got the interview!
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Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz

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