Why Get Professional Tax Assistance During an IRS Audit?

Posted on March 31, 2023 by schatzi

Many people get audited by the IRS. Find out how having an enrolled agent on your side during this process can benefit you and can help you navigate any tax penalty.

Taxes are not usually fun for anyone, whether you’re dealing with them as an individual or as part of a business. Getting audited by the IRS is perhaps the only thing less pleasant than doing your taxes in the first place. Find out how securing audit representation from an enrolled agent can help you during this process. Whether you need small business tax help or individual assistance, having audit representation can make a huge difference before, during, and after the audit process.

The job of the IRS is to administer the Internal Revenue Service Code and to make sure all taxpayers understand and meet their tax responsibility. An IRS audit is performed in order to confirm that both of these goals are met. During an IRS audit, the government will go through your tax and financial records with a fine-toothed comb. If your tax records are incomplete or inaccurate in any way, or you underpaid your taxes, the IRS will assess the appropriate penalties.

Having an agent provide audit representation during an audit is an excellent idea for many reasons. First, it ensures that you know what is going on at every step of the audit process. The term “enrolled agent” refers to someone who has passed an intensive three-part exam about individual and business tax returns, or someone who is a former IRS employee. Either way, an enrolled agent is someone who knows the terminology in play during an audit, and who can help you understand what is going on at every point.

An agent will also be able to help you collect and prepare all the necessary information that you need to successfully complete an audit. He or she will be able to double-check to make sure you have all the paperwork and documentation that is required and organize all of it in a way that will be useful for both you and for the IRS.

Your agent can also help you stay informed about what your options are as the audit progresses. If the IRS determines that you do owe back taxes, your tax consultant can help you decide what to do. If your enrolled agent is part of a tax resolution team, he or she can provide tax helpin the form of resolution services. If this is outside of your tax advocate’s scope, he or she will at least be able to point you in the direction of appropriate tax relief so that you can get your finances back on track. Having the knowledge and experience of an agent at your disposal during the audit process can mean the difference between getting slapped with tax liens and other penalties and being able to negotiate an offer in compromise with the IRS.

If you are facing an IRS audit for either a personal or a corporate tax situation, working with an enrolled agent for audit representation is an excellent plan. Your enrolled agent can help you prepare for and navigate the audit, and can assist you with any back tax questions that come up along the way.

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What Makes A Good Real Estate Agent

Posted on March 30, 2023 by schatzi

Finding a top real estate agent will not only make selling your house easier, a good agent can also save you considerable money. They know the local real estate market and study the changes that occur periodically. The agent is your “eyes on the street” and can be a big asset to the quick sale of your home. Real estate can be like any other commodity market, and you need a good agent to guide you and get the best price for your listing.

If you add up the benefits to using a real estate agent for selling your home, you find that a good agent combines all of these things to negotiate a better price and make the deal flow smoothly:

1. Good communication skills. A positive, friendly agent can persuade potential buyers to look at your offer in a better light.

2. Showmanship. If you get a good agent, they can show your house and its many features to more prospects in less time, which lowers the opportunity cost of having your house sit on the market too long.

3. A good real estate agent already has leads. They work every day with other agents who know the people looking for new homes. This is a major plus because your agent can match new home shoppers with your listing fast.

4. Experience at closing the sale. You need to have a good agent to close the sale of your property. You will get the advantage of the faster sale of your home.

It is best to start your search for a real estate agent by asking your friends and family if they have used an agent that they would recommend. Referrals, newspaper ads and online sources can be used to find an agent. It’s easier to check on the background of an agent by referrals, but if you want more choices, newspaper and online ads can be used effectively to find real estate professionals also.

When selecting your agent, make sure that you feel comfortable with them. This is important because you will be trusting them with a major financial transaction. You will also be spending a lot of time talking with them as they sell your property.

Interview a few agents and ask them some questions about their track record. You want to find an agent that has experience, knowledge, and one that will actively promote the sale of your home as a high priority. Ask them if they have many pending listings, and what is the average time it takes them to sell a property. Write down any other questions and concerns you have and take these with you to the interviews also. In this way, you can find the right real estate agent to represent you in as little time as possible.

Your agent is your personal guide to a profitable sale. Choosing the right one can make or break your selling efforts. Only you can decide if a real estate sales agent meets your criteria. It pays to get a good real estate agent to represent you. Your home will sell at a better price and you will be happier with the overall results.

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Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business Marketing

Posted on March 29, 2023 by schatzi

Over the past decade more and more people are getting fired, getting downsized, or getting fed up with their corporate jobs and embark on the journey as a small business owner. Unfortunately, most of the new small business owners fail to consider their marketing plans or strategy. There are many marketing concepts for small business marketing to consider and plan for, but here is our list of Top 10 Marketing Concepts For Small Business Marketing.

Marketing Concept # 1: Consistency

Consistency is the number one marketing concept for small business marketing only because it is left out of marketing concepts for so many businesses. I have worked with a long list of clients, big and small, that are extremely inconsistent in all areas of their marketing. Consistency helps lower the cost of marketing and increase the effectiveness of branding.

Marketing Concept # 2: Planning

Once small business owners decide to be consistent with their marketing, planning is the next major concept to engage. Planning is the most vital part of small business marketing or any level of marketing, for that matter, and so many owners, marketing managers, and even CMOs plan poorly. Put the time into planning your marketing strategy, budget, and other concepts presented here to ensure success.

Marketing Concept # 3: Strategy

Strategy immediately follows planning because your strategy is the foundation for the rest of your marketing activities. In the process of planning, you must develop your strategy: who you will target, how you will target them, and how will you keep them as a customer.

Marketing Concept # 4: Target Market

Target market is also another key concept for small business marketing. Defining exactly who you are targeting allows small business owners to focus on specific customers and reduce marketing waste. A well-defined target market will make every other marketing concept so much easier to implement successfully.

Marketing Concept # 5: Budget

Although it is listed at number 5, budgeting is important throughout the entire process. Creating a marketing budget is usually the hardest and most inaccurate part of small business marketing. Most small businesses owners lack a great deal of experience in marketing, so their budgets usually end up skewed. The most important part of this marketing concept is to actually establish a marketing budget. From there, you can worry about how to distribute your available funds.

Marketing Concept # 6: Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is usually defined as product, pricing, place, and promotion. As a small business owner, you must specifically decide on your products (or services), the appropriate pricing, where and how you will distribute your products, and how will you let everyone know about you and your products.

Marketing Concept # 7: Website

In today’s market, a business of any size must have a website. I hate when I see businesses that have a one page website with out-dated information. Customers, be it businesses or consumers, will search the web over 60% of the time before making any purchasing decisions. This marketing concept contains a slew of additional components, but you must at least develop a small web presence of some kind and keep it updated.

Marketing Concept # 8: Branding

Many small businesses owners also neglect this concept. Small business marketing must focus on this marketing concept just as much as large corporations do. Branding consists of the pictures, logo, design scheme, layout, make up, and image of your products and even your company. Branding is how your customers perceive (please place a lot of emphasis on that word!) your products and company. Make sure to pay special attention to what kind of brand you are building through each step of your planning and implementation.

Marketing Concept # 9: Promotion and Advertising

Promotion and advertising is a very complex marketing concept, but must be considered for any type of business and its products and services. Once you engage the previous 8 marketing concepts, you must finally let your target market know about you and your products. Proper promotion and advertising will result in effective brand recognition, and, ultimately, increased sales.

Marketing Concept # 10: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The concept of customer relationship management has become a huge industry in the marketing world. There are many types of software and services offered to help businesses of any size handle their customer relationship management. Since there is so much available, usually for a large sum of money, small business owners usually look at this concept as something they are not big enough for or have enough money to implement. Don’t be fooled by the massive industry that has evolved from this concept. Maintaining proper customer relationship management is essential to creating loyal and consistent customers.

This list of marketing concepts should be examined, researched, planned, and implemented, especially by small businesses, in order to be successful. Also, your marketing doesn’t stop here. Each business is unique and will have additional components that must be considered, but this list will jump-start any marketing plan.

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Fast Money Now With Guaranteed Unsecured Personal Loans

Posted on March 28, 2023 by schatzi

Bad credit can make it horribly difficult to find a loan when you have an urgent need to borrow money. More and more people have bad credit because of the number of job losses and layoffs that are being seen in this country, due to a weak global economy. Others still have experienced credit problems that are directly related to an illness or injury that prevented them from working.

Regardless of the reason for your bad credit, your need to borrow money is real just the same, and there are guaranteed unsecured personal loans out there that can be a real lifesaver for you and your family during these economic times of difficulty. The guaranteed unsecured personal loan does not require that you own your own home or pledge collateral of any kind in order to receive needed funding.

Guaranteed Unsecured Loans Up To $2,500

The guaranteed unsecured loan for bad credit is also known as the bad credit cash advance. This type of loan is written for a term that usually goes no longer than your next scheduled payday, which is why many people refer to this loan product as a payday loan. You need not be working in order to qualify for a guaranteed unsecured loan for bad credit; in fact, many people who take out this type of loan are recipients of monthly benefits from the government, like Social Security, SSI, or retirement.

In order to qualify and borrow money with this loan, you will need to provide the lender with a valid checking or savings account number and proof of your income. The lender will also want to know what other bills you pay each month, in order to determine your available disposable monthly income. Most of the lenders of this type of loan expect payment to be made in one payment that pays the entire loan off in full. There are some lenders, however, that will arrange for you to make as many as six payments on a cash advance guaranteed unsecured loan for bad credit.

How It Works

The way that a guaranteed unsecured loan for bad credit works is simple. You will present the lender with a postdated check that is written in the amount that you wish to borrow, plus fees and interest charges that are collected by the lender. When the date on the check arrives, the lender will deposit the check for repayment. If you are doing an electronic check, you will present the lender with a postdated electronic check by giving them your ABA bank routing number, your account number, bank name and the number of the check that you wish to use.

Again, when the date that the payment is due arrives, the lender will debit your bank account for the amount that is agreed upon. If you do not have sufficient funds to cover the check when it arrives, the lender will redeposit the check and possibly charge an additional fee. Your bank may also charge you an additional fee for bouncing a check, called an NSF or non-sufficient funds fee. For this reason, it is important that you make certain that you understand the terms of the guaranteed unsecured loan for bad credit and are prepared to make the payment(s) when they become due.

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