Showing entries tagged: ‘hazzouri accounting’

How to Start a New Michigan Business in 2014

Saved in: Michigan Business

A vast majority of successful business owners start with just an idea. It’s usually an idea to provide people with something they would need or want, usually because he or she needed that same product or service at some point, but could not get it. However, as the saying goes, success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

 

Having a great business idea and actually executing it are two very different things. Small businesses are popping up in record numbers across the state and the entire country, but are failing in record numbers as well. According to Bloomberg, a staggering 80% of these fail within the first 18 months. Why? Research compiled from Entrepreneur Weekly, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Bradley University, and the University of Tennessee named “incompetence” as the top reason for failure. Specific items under “incompetence” include “lack of planning”, “no knowledge of financing,” and “no reason in record-keeping.”

 

Lack of Planning

 

This includes mistakes in how the business is set up in the first place. Say, some guy gets a great business idea of setting up a burger joint at a location that has many burger lovers. However, it was somehow missed by all the major fast food chains and is two hours away from the nearest one. He sets his business up in the simplest manner – single proprietorship. Somehow though, a particularly sensitive customer gets food poisoning from some fry cook who mishandles the food. The said customer could sue the owner for all he’s worth – which means everything he put in the business, plus his house, his car, his lawnmower, his cat, etc. If he had set up a corporation instead, it would be treated as a separate entity from the actual person, and liabilities would be limited to only what the corporation actually owns, such as a couple of fryers and a cash register. His house and other personal possessions would have been protected from the lawsuit.

 

No Knowledge of Financing

 

Here’s another well-known saying: “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” In the utter quagmire that is tax law, getting professional advice from a CPA can end up saving you thousands of dollars per year. Skip this part and try to do everything yourself, and you could get your business needlessly taxed to death. Even worse, you could be found guilty of tax fraud (whether intentional or not) and get sent to prison.

 

No Reason in Record-Keeping

 

It can be amazing how much money you can bleed out without knowing it when you keep incomplete records. The capital meant to last you five years could easily be wiped out in the first six months. Plus, without keeping track of every single movement of numbers in your business, you could find yourself unknowingly paying much more in taxes than you are actually required to, or underpaying and faced with a stiff fine.
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How Can a CPA Help Me Start My Business?

 

Even if you only have that one great business idea, we can help you execute it properly to give you the best chance at financial success.

 

Our business services include helping you figure out how much capital you need. Many small business owners think all the capital they need is just enough to open for the first day, and then sales will cover the rest based on some fancy computation of projected sales per day. Little do they know that this ideal projection of sales almost always won’t come until at least two years down the road, more likely five years. In the meantime, you need that capital to keep you going until enough people find out about your business to get you to breakeven.

 

We also offer tax preparation services. It is often a nasty surprise for business owners and regular employees alike when they’ve been spending their “excess” money per month – that is, anything left over after paying the monthly expenses – and then finding out at tax season that they need to pay 35% of everything they made the past year.

 

Get an Expert You Can Trust

 

Khaled Hazzouri has over 16 years expertise in helping small businesses get their company vision realized with the minimum fuss, confusion, and risk. Hazzouri Accounting is based in Canton, MI and is committed to being a proactive member of the local community and forming lasting relationships with clients. Contact us today and we will guide you through everything you need in starting a business in Michigan.

 

Stop by our website to learn more or come visit us on-line: Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

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June 10th, 2014

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Education Tax Benefits You Should Know About

Saved in: Michigan Business, Tax News

Taxes are a complicated matter for a vast majority of people. Mentioning mathematics or accounting alone will have most people fleeing – add taxes to the mix and things can get ugly. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, “nothing is certain but death and taxes”. There is no escaping the long arms of the IRS, but there is also some good news – with a little help, you could take advantage of significant tax breaks, minimizing the taxes you have to pay. These include provisions in tax laws, allowing for education benefits to help pay for the college education of your children, your spouse, or even yourself.

 

Tax Credits

 

Tax credits generally reduce the income taxes you have to pay. According to the IRS, “if the credit reduces your tax to less than zero, you may get a refund.” The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) can lower your taxes by a maximum of $2,500 per eligible student every year for the first four years of education. The Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) is worth $2,000 per year for an unlimited number of years, and can be used even for graduate and professional degrees and “courses to acquire or improve job skills.” For the AOTC, your modified adjusted gross income or MAGI must be $80,000 or less ($160,000 or less for married couples filing jointly). For the LLC, your MAGI must be less than $62,000 ($124,000 for married couples filing jointly) for a partial credit and $52,000 ($104,000 for married couples filing jointly) or less for the full credit. Note, however, that you can only avail of either the AOTC or the LLC, but not both.

 

Tax Deductions

 

Tax deductions reduce the amount of your income that is subject to tax. You can deduct tuition and other qualified higher education expenses up to $4,000 per year. The MAGI ceiling for this is $80,000 ($160,000 for married couples).

 

Interest Deductions for Student Loans

 

If your MAGI is less than $75,000, you may be eligible for a deduction for the interest you pay on a student loan (up to $2,500). A student loan is a loan you took out solely to pay for education expenses, such as tuition, accommodations, books and other supplies, equipment, and important expenses such as transportation.

 

Tax-Free Savings Accounts

 

529 plans and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) allow your earnings and withdrawals to be tax-free when used to pay for qualified higher education expenses.
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529 plans, in particular, have no MAGI or age restrictions, and can allow you to contribute as much as $300,000 over the life of the account. It can also cover computer technology and equipment, internet access, and related services.

 

ESA’s, on the other hand, can be used to pay for eligible K-12 expenses, as well as post-secondary expenses. However, it is subject to an income ceiling of $110,000 ($220,000) and an annual contribution of $2,000 per child. The beneficiary must also be under 30 years old.

 

Government Bonds

 

Series EE Bonds and I Bonds, when redeemed to pay for a child’s tuition, are also exempt from taxes on the interest earned. Said bonds must be in your name or the name of you and your spouse, not in the name of your child. As of 2012, your MAGI should be smaller than $87,850 ($139,250).

 

Bottom Line

 

As you can see, you may be able to take advantage of several tax breaks for educational expenses or certain combinations thereof. In choosing which one/s to avail of, considerations include eligibility and determining which one/s can give you the highest returns overall. To make sure you don’t miss out on the maximum education tax breaks you are entitled to when saving for the future, get the help of an expert.

 

Khaled Hazzouri has over 16 years of expertise in helping people reduce their taxes to the minimum allowable under tax law. Hazzouri Accounting is based in Canton, MI and is committed to serving the local community and forming lasting relationships with our clients. Call us today at (734) 844-1614 or use our contact form and we will be happy to help you with all your taxation needs.

 

Stop by our social media accounts to join the conversation: Facebook / Twitter / Google+

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May 27th, 2014

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Medicare / Medicaid Cost Report Season is Here

Saved in: Accounting Services, Home Health Agency, Michigan Business

Home health agencies only have until the end of May to file their cost reports for Medicare / Medicaid. As with many other government paperwork (God bless America), this can be a severely time-consuming task that is estimated to take a whopping two-hundred something hours of research, preparation, and data analysis to complete. Given that number, even if you start today, you would have to work on it for over 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, just to finish them in the nick of time. Add to this that due to the highly complicated nature of these forms, you may overlook major errors and lose a lot of money, or even unwittingly violate the law. If you haven’t started your home health agency cost report preparation in 2014, it may be safe to say that you need to call in the professionals.

 

Khaled Hazzouri of Hazzouri Accounting is a Medicare cost report preparation accountant with many years of expertise in getting these forms done properly and on time. We can prepare the entire cost report for you for a hassle-free filing. Alternatively, we can review any forms you have already accomplished to make sure that everything is in order. We will make sure that you receive the full amount you are due. Call us at 734-844-1614 or visit our website at www.hazzouriaccounting.com for any questions.

 

If you’re feeling the pressure from the approaching deadline, take a load off and let us do the hard work for you. But for next year, there may be a number of other things you can do to streamline your operations and reduce the stress, overall.

 

Revisit your business plan and operational policies, and adapt them accordingly to any needed changes you may have noticed so far. Being ineffective at finding and keeping both staff and clients can also be a huge waste of time and resources. If your employees keep leaving, find out why and address it right away. It is much cheaper and less time-consuming to give your employees better pay and benefits than to go over the hiring cycle repeatedly in a short amount of time. You can also partner up with a local college that may be looking to have their students hired as soon as possible after graduation. Aside from the large talent pool, they also have records on each applicant going back several years. Clients, on the other hand, can come from partnering up with other types of healthcare providers such as hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
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There is also a growing number of software designed specifically for home health agencies. These help in documentation, paperwork, billing requests, and many other aspects of the home health business. This includes clinical, financial, administrative, scheduling, and human resources processes, as well as compliance with industry requirements and updates.

 

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) technologies are sprouting up at a rapid pace. These technologies are useful, not only in keeping better watch of patients’ conditions, but also for reducing the need for on-site visits by your medical practitioners. This, in turn, reduces the response time for any needed interventions. It also lessens the waste of time and money on on-site visits. These technologies include the likes of blood sugar and pressure monitors that can be hooked up to a computer, or even a smartphone, for patients to be able to send their latest results online and in real time. Other emerging technologies include telemedicine robots and toilet sensors.

 

However, for the current season, where it may be too late to go through all that, Hazzouri Accounting is here to help you file your Medicare / Medicaid cost reports for 2014. Contact us today through our website or visit our social media accounts – Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn.

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April 17th, 2014

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How to Streamline Your Home Health Agency Business

Saved in: Accounting Services, Home Health Agency, Michigan Business

Despite the state of the US economy, the home healthcare industry remains one of the strongest businesses today. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, home healthcare jobs will grow 5.5 times faster than all other non-farm industries until at least 2020. The aging population of the US, coupled with the rising incidence of chronic conditions among those at retirement age, has and continues to create great demand for home healthcare.

 

There is also growing concern over the inflated and unnecessary costs being incurred by elderly chronically ill patients in the traditional hospital setting. The Affordable Care Act aims to address this by pushing for a fee-for-performance model instead of the existing fee-for-service model. This, in turn, will shift the focus of healthcare providers to keeping patients healthy and minimizing the need for hospitalization.

 

However, it’s not to say that starting and running a home healthcare agency will be a walk in the park. Licensing requirements can be very demanding and cost report preparation is infamously complicated, especially with regards to Medicare. Staffing can be a challenge, especially for those just starting out in the industry. High setup costs, cost-effectiveness, and ROI are also common issues with home healthcare agencies. So how can you streamline your home health agency business in your quest for success?

 

The Basics

 

As with any business, you should put in the effort to come up with a well-researched business plan, including an in-depth description of your operational policies. This is particularly important for a home healthcare business, which is why many jurisdictions require a formal business plan (among other things) to get a license in the first place.

 

Finding both quality staff and potential clients is a hurdle for many. Working with a local college with a nursing and nursing aide program can be helpful, as these institutions are able to assess their graduates’ performance over several years, which is all but impossible for walk-in applicants. They also have an interest in finding employment for their graduates, and will usually welcome a partnership with home healthcare agencies. Similarly, networking and partnering with other types of healthcare providers, such as hospitals and rehabilitation centers, can lead to a significant number of referrals for discharged patients and other potential clients.

 
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Home Health Software and Technology

 

Home health software such as those provided by McKesson or Axxess can significantly streamline your agency’s documentation and paperwork, while also ensuring compliance with industry requirements and updates. They can also speed up billing requests and other processes involved in the clinical, financial, administrative, scheduling, and human resources aspects of your business. All in all, they help to make your day to day operations run smoother and reduce the time and money spent on the more repetitive tasks.

 

There is also a growing push for the use of remote patient monitoring (RPM) technologies such as glucose meters and blood pressure monitors, which patients can use themselves and upload the results for via computer or even mobile phone. This reduces the need for on-site visits by medical practitioners while also enabling a more real-time monitoring of a patient’s health. And it doesn’t end there – in 2013 alone, over $100 million was invested in new RPM technologies ranging from telemedicine robots to toilet sensors.

 

Cost Report Preparation

 

This is probably the single biggest headache in running a home healthcare agency business. As senior citizens are the primary clients of home healthcare, you will need to handle Medicare cost reports. These are extremely complicated forms that can cause tons of trouble if filled out improperly. In fact, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that over 200 hours of research, preparation, and data analysis is required on average for Medicare cost reports. Getting an experienced Medicare cost report preparation accountant will go a long way in addressing this bottleneck in your operations.

 

Hazzouri Accounting has years of experience working in the home health agency field with industry-specific knowledge on highly detailed aspects of Medicare and Medicaid. We will prepare or review your filings to ensure that you receive the full amount you are due. Contact us at 734-844-1614 or visit us our cost report preparation services page for your home health agency cost report preparation in 2014. You can also ask a question on our Facebook fan page, Twitter feed, or Google+ listing!

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March 24th, 2014

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What to Bring to Your 2014 Tax Appointment

Saved in: Accounting Services, Tax News

In a previous post, we discussed How You Can Benefit From Early Tax Preparation and why getting an accountant is a great help. This time around, we will enumerate the different forms you should bring to your tax appointment with your accountant to avoid any mistakes, or having to go back if you forget any requirements. However, keep in mind that these are only suggestions – different people will have different requirements. Some may not need all of the items listed here, while others may need more items not covered here.

 

Personal Documents and Information

 

Bringing your previous tax returns with you will help us determine the exact figures for your situation, including anything you may have missed in terms of what you have to pay and deductions you may not be aware of. This is especially helpful if you are a new client, and even more so if you have already raised red flags at the IRS.

 

Your Social Security Number (SSN) will also be needed, and those of all your dependents as well as their full names. Any alimony paid or received, childcare records (including provider’s ID number), divorce decrees, form 8332, and any other related documents should also be included. If there are other adults in your household that earned money in the previous year, you should also bring estimates of the income each of them had received.

 

Other Sources of Income

 

These may include the following:

 

  • Unemployment
  • State tax refund
  • Self-employment information, including income and expense records, asset information, and office-in-home information
  • Rental income, including income and expense records and rental asset information
  • Retirement income, such as pension, IRA, annuity, social security and RRB
  • Interest and dividend income
  • Income from sales of stock or other property, including dates of acquisition and records of your cost or other information regarding sold property
  • Gambling income
  • Healthcare reimbursements
  • Jury duty
  • Hobby income
  • Prizes/awards
  • Any others under 1099
  • Employee Information (W-2)
  • IRA Information, including the amount contributed, traditional IRA basis and the value of IRAs in past year/s.

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Itemized Deductions

 

Make a list of any deductions you may think of, including any of the following:

 

  • Mortgage statements such as Form 1098
  • State/local income or sales taxes paid (excluding withholding taxes)
  • Real estate and personal property tax records
  • Vehicle sales taxes paid
  • HUD statement
  • Cash and non-cash donations to schools and religious and other charitable organizations
  • Medical expenses
  • Mileage and gas, oil, car wash, licensing, parking and toll fees in the course of charitable, medical, and business purposes
  • Investment-related expenses
  • Tax preparation expenses
  • Employment-related expenses
  • Business rent expenses
  • Moving expenses
  • Dependent care expenses
  • Higher education expenses
  • Energy efficiency upgrades to your home
  • Safe deposit box, cell phone, tools, dry cleaning, luggage, travel, meals and entertainment expenses

 

Any Damages from a Federally Declared Disaster

 

This includes the location you lived, worked, or had property in that was affected by the declared disaster. You will need records showing the losses and repair costs, insurance reimbursements or claims, and FEMA assistance information.

 

How Hazzouri Accounting Can Help:

 

Getting all of these documents and information together can be the single most difficult effort on your part in preparing your 2013 tax return. Hazzouri Accounting is affiliated with and/or certified by organizations such as the MACPA, Intuit, and AICPA to provide expert advice and assistance for your tax preparation in 2014.

 

As with every year, the majority of Americans will overpay on their 2013 taxes. With over 16 years of experience with Canton, MI taxes, and the surrounding area, Khaled Hazzouri can help you avoid any overlooked tax breaks. Filing as early as you can will put you at an advantage over the rest of the 1.8 million people in Wayne County alone serviced by only around 1500 accounting firms, and will also mean avoiding penalties and faster processing of any refunds. For more information, or to set up your tax appointment, please visit our website / Facebook fan page or call 734-844-1614 today.

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February 11th, 2014

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