CPA Blog

5 questions to ask yourself about social media

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Published: Monday, 05 March 2018 08:23

Written by Phillip Strickler, CPA.CITP

Social media can be an inexpensive, but effective, way to market a company’s products or services. Like most businesses today, you’ve probably at least dipped your toe into its waters. Or perhaps you have a full-blown, ongoing social media strategy involving multiple sites and a variety of content.

In either case, it’s important to ask yourself — and keep asking yourself — some fundamental questions about why and how you’re using social media. Here are five to consider:

1. What differentiates your company? This question is more complex than it may appear. When striving to stand out on social media, you’ve got to separate yourself from not only your competitors, but also many other entities vying for your followers’ attention. Look closely into whether your brand “pops” and how dynamic your messages may or may not be.

2. What will your followers react to? Get to know your company’s followers. Remember, this may include current customers and prospects, as well as potential new hires and community leaders or activists. Be careful: In their efforts to get noticed, many companies have crossed the line into offensive or just plain embarrassing content.

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Tax deduction for moving costs: 2017 vs. 2018

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Published: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 11:25

Written by Phillip Strickler, CPA.CITP

If you moved for work-related reasons in 2017, you might be able to deduct some of the costs on your 2017 return — even if you don’t itemize deductions. (Or, if your employer reimbursed you for moving expenses, that reimbursement might be excludable from your income.) The bad news is that, if you move in 2018, the costs likely won’t be deductible, and any employer reimbursements will probably be included in your taxable income.

Suspension for 2018–2025

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law this past December, suspends the moving expense deduction for the same period as when lower individual income tax rates generally apply: 2018 through 2025. For this period it also suspends the exclusion from income of qualified employer reimbursements of moving expenses.

The TCJA does provide an exception to both suspensions for active-duty members of the Armed Forces (and their spouses and dependents) who move because of a military order that calls for a permanent change of station.

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Use benchmarking to swim with the big fish

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Published: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 10:46

Written by Phillip Strickler, CPA.CITP

You may keep a wary eye on your competitors, but sometimes it helps to look just a little bit deeper. Even if you’re a big fish in your pond, someone a little bigger may be swimming up just beneath you. Being successful means not just being aware of these competitors, but also knowing their approaches and results.

And that’s where benchmarking comes in. By comparing your company with the leading competition, you can identify weaknesses in your business processes, set goals to correct these problems and keep a constant eye on how your company is doing. In short, benchmarking can help your company grow more successful.

2 basic methods

The two basic benchmarking methods are:

1. Quantitative benchmarking. This compares performance results in terms of key performance indicators (formulas or ratios) in areas such as production, marketing, sales, market share and overall financials.

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Families with college students may save tax on their 2017 returns with one of these breaks

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Published: Tuesday, 20 February 2018 10:39

Written by Raul D. Prieto

Whether you had a child in college (or graduate school) last year or were a student yourself, you may be eligible for some valuable tax breaks on your 2017 return. One such break that had expired December 31, 2016, was just extended under the recently passed Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018: the tuition and fees deduction.

But a couple of tax credits are also available. Tax credits can be especially valuable because they reduce taxes dollar-for-dollar; deductions reduce only the amount of income that’s taxed.

Higher education breaks 101

While multiple higher-education breaks are available, a taxpayer isn’t allowed to claim all of them. In most cases you can take only one break per student, and, for some breaks, only one per tax return. So first you need to see which breaks you’re eligible for. Then you need to determine which one will provide the greatest benefit.

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