All of us at MoneyThumb would like to bid our readers a Happy and Safe Labor Day Weekend. For your reading enjoyment, below is the first portion of a great article from the ECPI University blog,

15 Flabbergasting Facts About the Accounting Industry

You can read the full article here

1. Accountants are happy. Accountemps did a survey indicating that seven of 10 accountants would choose accounting all over again if they had a chance to pick their profession anew.
2. The outlook for the industry is bright. Accounting and auditing jobs are forecast to grow 11 percent from 2014 to 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This rate is faster than the average for all jobs and is partly due to globalization. Other factors driving the growth include economic expansion and a tax and regulatory structure that are anything but simple. One example of the role economic expansion plays is this: when companies go public, they need accountants to take care of the documentation required by law.
3. In 2014, accountants and auditors filled about 1.3 million positions in the United States, according to the BLS. Among the top five industries employing these professionals are the government and the manufacturing industry. Accounting and related services top the list, employing 26 percent of accountants.
4. What accountants like most about their jobs: solving problems. Working with numbers, making recommendations, learning new technologies, and working with people are other top pleasures of the job.
5. The pay can be excellent! In May 2014, the median yearly wage for an accountant was $65,940, according to the BLS. The top 10 percent of accountants pocketed more than $115,950, while the bottom 10 percent earned less than $40,850.
6. If you want to go where thehighest-paying accounting jobs are, head first to the District of Columbia. Accountants living there earn a mean of $90,220 yearly, reports the BLS. Rounding out the top-five list are New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts.
7. Want to go where the jobs are? The most accounting jobs are in California. You may also find plenty of opportunities in Texas, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania. However, accountants truly are in demand everywhere.

Also, we came across the following 4 free tools for your accounting use:

Compounding Intervals, Loan Amortization, Missing Loan Term, Single Future Value, and Tax Savings Estimator. You can access all of these tools using this link from Withum Audit Tax Advisory.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

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The post 15 Flabbergasting Facts About the Accounting Industry and Some Useful free Tools appeared first on MoneyThumb.

The following ‘top ten’ list is designed to help make you aware of the most common items/actions that could trigger or increase the likelihood of a possible sales tax audit.

1. Filing sales tax returns reporting zero use tax. States can run queries to identify companies that do not report any use tax. With the national marketplace and Internet companies, there are many sellers that may not be registered to collect sales and use tax in your home state. Therefore, states expect some level of use tax reporting periodically by registrants.

2. Prior audits in which you owed taxes. If you have been audited previously by a state and owed a significant amount, that state will generally come back for a re-audit to determine whether your systems have improved. Some states with data warehouses automatically compare annual taxes reported to annual amounts calculated in audits. If the reporting ratios have not changed to match the ratios from the audit period, an audit may be initiated.

3. Failure to be registered in state where you already have another tax account. More states now have data warehouses that allow them to compare income tax and withholding account lists to sales tax registration lists.

4. Asking for a refund. While you may have legitimately paid the tax in error, states have fiscal constraints, so refunds often trigger audits to try to reduce or eliminate the refund.

5. Customer/supplier audits. If a customer is undergoing a sales tax audit and your invoice is selected, the customer or the auditor may contact you to determine whether you have an exemption certificate on file. If you reply that you do not have a properly completed exemption certificate on file and it was an error, the auditor may send a referral to his or her audit selectors. If this happens on multiple occasions, then you may be selected for an audit. If a supplier is under audit and the auditor sees an exemption certificate provided for something they think is clearly taxable, he or she may flag you for audit.

6. Industry issues/comparisons. If the Department of Revenue has audited other companies in your industry and found significant taxes, it may utilize its data warehouses to identify companies with the same NAICS numbers. It may also compare your percentage of taxable sales to other companies in your industry.

7. Performing services in other states. Many state auditors are looking closer at out-of-state vendors when doing audits of in-state companies. If your invoices document in-state presence or there are line items for out-of-pocket costs (hotels, meals, car rentals), auditors will copy invoices and forward to their nexus units.

8. Failure to charge correct tax on freight or fuel surcharges. The taxation of freight and other invoice charges may vary by state. Some vendors in states that do not tax freight may have accounting systems set up based on the home state rules. Therefore, if they are registered in other states, the tax calculation may not be computed properly.

9. Third-party referrals. People always talk about “snitch letters.” While this may not be as applicable now, there are parties out there using whistleblowing or false-claims laws to try to generate a finder’s fee.

10. State and federal government information sharing. Many states receive customs reports from the federal government. If the purchasers do not report use tax on a business or even an individual level, the state will trigger audits. If a home state does audit a company that sells high-ticket items, it may share that data on sales outside the home state. Departments of Revenue may match registration for titled items (motor vehicles, airplane, boats, etc.) to determine whether improper exemptions have been claimed.

The post Top Ten Red Flags That May Trigger a Sales Tax Audit appeared first on MoneyThumb.

ProSeries Tips

1. Customizable HomeBase View-from the HomeBase menu choose the Column Headings option. You will then discover that  you can add, delete, or move the columns in the current view. You can also click and drag column headings in HomeBase to resize or rearrange columns. Clicking on a column heading allows you to sort the contents in the column in either direction.

2. QuickZoom-there is an easy way to jump to a new form is the QuickZoom feature. There are two types of QuickZooms. You can either click the “QuickZoom” button on a form, or press the magnifying glass when you are on a field. The magnifying glass will take you to the most common entry form, schedule, or worksheet.

3. QuickEntry Mode-if you have a client who you need to enter a lot of assets for, use QuickEntry Mode and the Asset List to simplify your entries. To get to the Asset List, you need to be on one of the four main fields on the Asset Entry Worksheet (Description, Date Placed in Service, Cost, or Type of Asset), and then click on the Switch to QuickEntry Mode icon.

Intuit Tax General Online Tips

1. Enhanced Input Search-you can quickly find what you need within the input area by using the search box that is located in the left navigation panel. Simply enter all or part of a form number, line description, box number, or value within the return. The search will narrow down the results automatically and take you to where you need to be within the return. This can greatly assist you with finding areas you may not be familiar with, as well as help you do a quick audit for the return.

2. TaxHub-track the work for your accounting firm by using multiple data views. Within the Tax Returns page, you can view your work by clicking above the titles at the top of the page and selecting “By Return Type.” The different views available include: By Return Type, By EF Progress, and By Return Status. Each view allows you to sort and filter the data based on the type of view.

3. Intuit Link-invite your client to Link (client portal) and send a personalized engagement letter, checklist, and questionnaire. Then, you can find out when your client accepts your invitation and track client progress. Your clients complete their personalized checklist and share tax data from any device, including uploads, snapping pictures, or directly from their financial institution.

And one final way to help accountants and CPAs during the busy tax season is to obtain one of our well loved PDF converter tools to streamline your efforts with clients financial files.

The post Intuit Software Tips and Tricks for Your Busy Tax Season appeared first on MoneyThumb.