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Payroll – A lot of business owners wish they had more hands on with this area of their business. But unfortunately a lot of them simply can’t do that because it either takes too much time, too much thinking, too much math or just too much headache if something goes wrong. To most business owners the very thought of having to be in charge of making sure your employees and the IRS get paid, can be simply terrifying. So at great cost, in several aspects, most business owners tend to hire an outside firm to complete this daunting task.

But what if you could be easily taught to master the payroll process yourself or have a current employee learn it or both? What if you could have that desired “hands on” with payroll and see where ALL of your business’s funds are going?

Have you asked yourself what makes QuickBooks such a valuable tool to a business owner, manager, or office bookkeeper? And why would you want to invest your time and money in learning to use the software? What are the benefits of learning QuickBooks?

There are two pertinent answers to this question. The first is that accounting is a very integral part of any business. By learning to master QuickBooks you allow yourself to manage your receivables, accurately forecast future cash flow, manage your payroll, meet current and future tax obligations, and much more. Beyond that,

It’s all about action NOW – It’s reported by the IRS that nearly 10 million taxpayers fail to file their taxes each year. Reasons vary from forgetfulness to deliberate avoidance and many people are afraid to contact the IRS to fix the problem. However, it’s very important to get the situation fixed as soon as possible. It’s really not likely that you’ll go to prison for the missed filing, but unfortunately you could be looking at a heavy fines and penalizations.

On the other hand, there technically is no penalty for forgetting to file if you’re owed a refund. For those who owe money, the IRS will gladly set up an installment payment plan, which is an agreement that allows gradual settlement of the past due balance. No matter what the situation, it’s past time to fix the problem.

Yes, we’re aware, taxes take time. And sometimes, it just seems impossible to get around to filing your taxes by that darned April 15th deadline. However, you’re not the first person to find yourself in this predicament. Every year, about 7% of taxpayers – roughly 10 million – file for a six-month extension.

But if this is the first year you find yourself landing in this group, read on to see what you need to know about filing an extension.

So it’s officially crunch time for taxpayers to wrap up their tax returns or, in the case of some, to start working on them. If you’re one of the many people who wait until the last minute to file their taxes, here are some tips to help get you going.

You should first start by collecting the information and papers you’ll need such as:

• Social Security numbers
• Wages and earning statements like W-2’s
• A copy of last year’s tax return
• Bank routing and bank account numbers if you plan to have your refund directly deposited or a payment automatically withdrawn