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04/03/2020

It has been a very interesting, challenging week for all small businesses trying to understand the various pieces of legislation coming out of Washington that are all designed to help us survive this period. First there are announcements about Paid Sick Leave for employees, then the Economic Disaster Covid-19 loan from the SBA. And then the biggie- the Payroll Protection Program loan, also from the SBA, that is supposed to help a business survive for 3 months.

The Sick pay reimbursement is immediate because it reduces you payroll tax deposit requirements. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance program is supposed to take 3 weeks to disburse funds. The Payroll Protection Program loan is a regular SBA 7(a) loan and is applied for through a bank.

I have been reading every bulletin, newsletter, and posting on the IRS, Department of Labor and The Small Business Administration websites about these programs. Yesterday I started seeing that slight changes are being made to the various announcements. For instance, If you use the paid sick leave program and take the reimbursement from the payroll taxes, you cannot use the same wages in the calculation for the Payroll Protection Program Loan.

Another little change, if you apply for and get the Economic Disaster Covid-19 loan you cannot also get the Payroll Protection Program loan.

So every business owner or decision maker is going to have to think carefully about which program is best for you. If you have enough cash to survive about 6 - 8 weeks, then look seriously at the Payroll Protection Program loan (PPP). It has a provision to have repayment waived in 3 years if you have maintained your payroll expenses at the same rate as before this all started.

The SBA had announced that that banks would be able to start accepting applications for the PPP loans on April 3, 2020. But as of April 2nd Chase bank was saying they had not received enough information from SBA to begin accepting these applications.

Since the normal processing time for an SBA loan is 2-4 months, I am concerned that these loans will not be processed in less than 2 months. That is why, some businesses may not be able to take advantage of this program.

Regardless of which program is best for you, be prepared that this downturn will last until August. Now is the time to do a serious short term business plan. Ask yourself these questions:
1. How much business will I lose?
2. Can I modify my products or services to attract new clients?
3. What optional expenses can I reduce?
4. Have I talked to my bank and landlord about payment deferral plans?
5. Have I talked to my employees about taking a pay cut now that I will repay in the future?
6. Have I reduced my personal expenses enough to preserve cash in my company and personal accounts?

This is going to be as difficult as the downturn of 2007-2009. It should be shorter in length, but it will be as difficult. So now is the time to be planning for your survival.

Good Luck
Louise

04/04/2019

I want to share a story of what happened to a client of mine because of the Federal Government Shutdown . And because he uses QuickBooks Pro software and QuickBooks payroll and E-payment services, I am concerned that this might have happened to others. Here is what happened:

On Jan 28th he filed and paid this Federal and State Payroll taxes. Both the Federal and State tax payments were transmitted through the Intuit E-Payment system. The California tax deducted from this checking account the next day.

Even though he received a confirmation that the Feds had accepted his payment, they did not process the payment to his bank Until Feb 11th. Then the fun begins.

the Bank clearly withdrew the funds from his bank account. But the Feds seem to think the payment was dishonored and sent on March 1 Sent him a Bill for dishonored fees and interest due on the late payment.

When he didn't respond to this, they sent him another bill with more fees and penalties. Then in Mid-March they sent him a notice that 'they were moving his overpayment from the June 2018 quarter to his Unpaid Taxes account and paying him Interest".

This week he finally showed me all these notices and I put together the story and wrote the IRS a letter requesting that they remove all the late fees and penalties from his account because the whole situation was caused by the shutdown. I included the notification with the IRS tracer number for the payment. The pages from the bank statement showing the deduction.

It will be about 10 weeks before we receive a response, but I am interested to know how many other companies are going through this same problem.

What is that statement " I am from the government and I am here to help you"?

02/10/2019

A very interesting situation has been surfacing with my clients and myself. In balancing their bank statements, I am finding many debit card charges they made that never get deducted from their checking or credit card accounts. This sounds great EXCEPT if you are the seller/provider of the services. Did you get paid? If you are a business that takes credit or debit card payments for products or services, check your statements very carefully. If there is a disruption of data flow in our banking system, you ma not be getting paid properly. REMEMBER you have 10 days after the receipt of a bank statement to notify the bank of a problem. After that,, they will disregard your claim. For my own situation, 3 charges at an Embassy Suite Hotel 2 months ago have never appeared on my account. I am happy for me, and sad for any business this is happening to. So check your statements carefully. Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

01/26/2019

SCAM ALERT - be on the look out for an alert that appears to come from Norton Security. It will pop up and say that Trojan's have been found on your computer. Then it will appear to run a scan and "show" the 5 trojan files it found. THEN IT WILL OFFER to update your security program so it can delete the trojans. DO NOT, DO NOT CLICK on anything. Immediately close your browser and if possible, reboot your computer. Then go to your real security program - I use Bitdefender Internet Security. Run the Program Update, and then Run the system scan. This will take up to 30 minutes or longer depending on the size of your system and the number of files. But it is important so the security program can find and remove any problem files that might exist. BUT DO NOT RUN THE NORTON files in the popups. Those programs try to take over your computer and hold it hostage. It can be expensive to regain control of your system. If your system is seized by a trojan, call a reliable Tech service like ASN Computers in Chino Hills, CA (www.asncomputers.com) or The Geek Squad at Best Buy for help. Do not call any number in any message on the computer. Take care.
Louise

07/28/2018

I am thinking of forming a branch of the Me Too # movement to shine a light on women who have been belittled, disparaged, and had their education, degrees, and performance on the job by men just because they are women..

I had this happen again this week. I was doing forensic accounting for the plaintif in a case. The defendant had concocted an explantion of why he didn't make a profit in a deal and therefore didn't have to honor a contract.

I was asked to evaluate his position based on the 9000 pages of accounting records he submitted, i did and proved that his position did not comply with either accounting or IRS rules. The defendant's lawyers and forensic accountant made several negative comments about my accounting skills. In court yesterday, the judge upheld my position. Vindicated again. But it's time we find a way to stop these guys. What's your story?

06/29/2018

Hey Friends, I want to let you know that there is a very active telephone scam going on right now. If you get a call from 360-339-5040. KNOW THAT IT IS A SCAM. If your in the mood, listen to it. It is humorous, but do not believe it, or act on it. And DO NOT CALL BACK ON THE NUMBER THEY GIVE YOU. Remember, the IRS only, only contacts people in writing. Not email, not text, not with phone calls. I have received this call twice this week. SO BE CAREFUL. Their plan is to scare you enough that you will buy a prepaid credit card and send them $$$$$$$. Please share this with everyone over 60. They target the seniors who scare easily and are not aware that this can be happening.

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