• Create an electronic set of backup records (e.g. bank statements, tax returns, insurance policies).
• Document valuables with photographs or videos of home contents and store with a friend or family member who lives outside the area.
• Update personal and company emergency plans.
• Check on fiduciary bonds if you are an employer who uses payroll service providers; a bond could offer protection if the provider defaults.

IRS specialists trained to handle disaster-related issues can be reached by calling 1-866-562-5227, and copies of previously filed tax returns can be requested by filing Form 4506 (Request for Copy of Tax Return).

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Scott F. Berger is a tax and accounting services principal at Kaufman, Rossin’s Boca Raton office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country.  He can be reached at sberger@kaufmanrossin.com.

Put People First
Fourteen years earlier in 1962, two other innovative entrepreneurs also set out to change the way of doing business in their industry.  Jim Kaufman and Jay Rossin envisioned a CPA firm that was truly different from the others. They wanted to build a workplace where people wanted to come to work. If employees feel joyful, challenged and fulfilled, they believed, they’ll provide the best possible service for clients.  This vision led to profits and growth for the business, now in its 50^th year.

Share the Vision
To realize his goal, Jobs assembled people who shared his vision and values.  At Kaufman, Rossin & Co., that common purpose is the basis for a strong company culture.

“For optimum success and power of people in an organization, you must have goals and values that are clearly defined and commonly shared with a culture that supports it,” Kaufman told 300+ team members at his recent semi-annual seminar. 

The central atrium at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California

Foster Personal Connections
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s famous Building 20 became known as one of the most innovative spaces in the country.  Completely by happenstance, the building’s design and amalgam of experts promoted collaboration.  Walls were torn down and offices were constantly shuffled around to make space for more big thinkers during World War II.  Professors of all disciplines mingled with students in the long corridors of the building. People interacted, shared, and created like nowhere else! 

Jobs also saw the power in fostering personal connections to spark creativity and serendipitous problem-solving. As CEO of the budding animation studio Pixar, he designed the company’s headquarters with a central atrium housing essential services, so employees would meet, interact and brainstorm.

Likewise, Kaufman, Rossin’s main office in Coconut Grove encourages employees to meet in the central kitchen, gym, community center and other common areas. These chance meetings spark conversation, creativity and collaboration.

While modern technology makes it increasingly easy to communicate via email, text and social media, Kaufman reminded employees that there is no substitute for face-to-face interactions when it comes to developing and nurturing valuable personal connections with co-workers, clients, and other members of the community.

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Lisa Cawley Ruiz is a brand journalist at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office. Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. Lisa can be reached at lruiz@kaufmanrossin.com. Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn.

For website passwords, use the first four or five letters of the website to start the password. For example: 

For added security, add the @ symbol and a number (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0) to the first letters of the website. For example:

Pick a phrase that is easy for you to remember, but that no one else will be able to attribute to you. For example:

Passphrase: “My Wife’s Birthday Is April Twenty-Fifth Nineteen Sixty Six”

Use the first letter of each phrase to form an abbreviation. For example:

m – My
w – Wife’s
b – Birthday
i – Is
a – April
t – Twenty-
f – Fifth
n – Nineteen
s – Sixty
s – Six

Abbreviated pass phrase: mwbiatfnss

Add the passphrase to the first letters of the website, the @ symbol and number. For example:

Following this pattern will help you develop strong passwords that are easy to create and remember. Remember that at a minimum the passwords must:

• contain at least 1 letter
• contain at least 1 number or punctuation mark
• be at least 8 characters long

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Jorge Rey, CISA, CISM, CGEIT is an associate principal and the director of information security & compliance for Kaufman, Rossin & Co. Kaufman, Rossin is one of the top CPA firms in Florida. Jorge can be reached at jrey@kaufmanrossin.com.

On July 1, 2012, QuickBooks 2009 will no longer automatically calculate correct payroll taxes or provide payroll tax forms. Live technical support and add-on business services such as payroll, credit card processing, QuickBooks Email, and online banking will also be discontinued.

However, if you don’t use live technical support or any of the add-on services, and are happy with your current version of QuickBooks, you can continue to use it.

Products for which services will be discontinued are:

• QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Simple Start 2009
• QuickBooks for Mac 2009
• QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 9
• QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition 2009
• Credit Card Processing Kit 2009
• Invoice Manager 2009

We encourage you to upgrade your QuickBooks software as soon as possible to minimize disruption to your business. If you have any concerns, please contact your Kaufman, Rossin professional or one of our QuickBooks ProAdvisors.

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Lisa K. Grossman is an associate principal at Kaufman, Rossin & Co., and a leader in the Firm’s QuickBooks consulting practice. Lisa is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. She can be reached a lgrossman@kaufmanrossin.com.

Tax exemption is higher now than ever, but not for long.
The current estate, gift and generation skipping tax exemption is currently $5,120,000 ($10,240,000) per couple. This is higher than it has ever been and is scheduled to drop to only $1,000,000 (only $2,000,000 per couple) in 2013 unless Congress and the President can reach an agreement. This may be a use it or lose it!

Don’t wait until the end of the year to get started.  Do it now!

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John R. Anzivino, CPA is in charge of Kaufman, Rossin’s estate, trust and exempt organization practice. Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the state and offers a wide variety of services for high-net worth individuals. John can be reached at janzivino@kaufmanrossin.com

Below is a screenshot of one of the scam emails being sent.

If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact your Kaufman, Rossin professional.

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Scott F. Berger is a tax and accounting services principal at Kaufman, Rossin’s Boca Raton office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country.  He can be reached at sberger@kaufmanrossin.com.

Are you an app lover? Do you use apps for more than just games?

If so, you’ll appreciate that QuickBooks has the capability to integrate with numerous applications to simplify billing, invoicing, customer management, financial management, and mobile accounting. One of our favorite apps is Bill.com.

Bill.com is a paperless bill pay service that integrates with both desktop QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online. If you’re trying to organize payables, gain greater control over cash flow, and gain access to bill pay functions on your smart phone, then this app may be great for you.  Even if your accounting firm pays your bills for you, this app will help you get clear, instant access to your records.

How it works:

• You get a dedicated email address or fax number to send in copies of your invoices. They’re all archived in a secure, web-based portal.
• You can maintain proper internal controls by having separate staff upload, approve, and pay bills.
• Payments are sent via ACH, if accepted by your vendor, or via paper checks.
• If a paper check is required, funds are first transferred to Bill.com.  Then, a check is cut from Bill.com’s account. This lessens your exposure to check fraud.
• Users have access to a cash flow calendar allowing them to easily schedule, postpone, and project expenses.
• All accounting information exports to QuickBooks, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry.
• It works with any computer or mobile device. This provides a great solution for owners who travel frequently and want to stay on top of their expenses or retain the authority to pay bills themselves.

This is a trusted service, recommended by the AICPA’s CPA2BIZ division.  It’s gotten very strong reviews from the QuickBooks community for both its functionality and user support.  A package for up to 5 users is $49.00 per month plus $0.99 for each paper check required.

App savvy professionals can get more information at http://www.bill.com/.

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Meredith Tucker is an accounting services manager at  Kaufman, Rossin’s Boca Raton office, and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Kaufman, Rossin & Co., one of the top CPA firms in the country, offers  QuickBooks training and consulting services. She can be reached at mtucker@kaufmanrossin.com.

Last week I experienced another way Kaufman, Rossin takes care of their employees. Despite it being tax season, we were encouraged to take a break and participate in the Mercedes Benz Corporate Run in Fort Lauderdale. Part of my job, being on the marketing team, is to help host events.  This 5K Run/Walk proved to be the most fun event I’ve had so far!  Why? Team camaraderie!

I drove up early, bought lots of food and drinks, and lugged coolers over to our river view tent to set up.  I was pleasantly surprised by two of our principals who showed up early to help!  We hung signs, laid out food and had plenty of time to take in the view, have a salsa dance lesson and occasionally check-in with the office via the iPad.  I was excited as the rest of our team began to show up – most of them I hadn’t had the chance to meet yet. One group even “carpooled” via boat! I thought that was pretty cool for an accounting firm. There were good-natured challenges for race performances, tons of encouragement, and a 100% completion by our racers.  The photos I captured showed lots of smiles, and gratitude for a much needed break from the daily grind. After eating dinner and basking in our collective success, everybody pitched in to clean up – that was another nice surprise!

As I reflected on the evening, I knew right away what made Kaufman, Rossin a best place to work- the people.

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Katy Stallfus is a marketing assistant at Kaufman, Rossin & Co. – one of the top CPA firms in Florida. She can be reached at kstallfus@kaufmanrossin.com.

I spoke with Businessweek about this topic recently.

The Federal credits have become more attractive for entrepreneurs in recent years because they’ve been simplified, can be transferred in an acquisition, and can be taken retroactively.  And they are particularly good for startups, since R&D costs incurred in years when a company has no income can be carried forward to offset taxes on future profits.

Florida’s credit is new, and applies to expenses in tax years beginning January 1, 2012.   There’s $9 million available for this year, on a first come basis.  If you spend more this year than you did (on average) for the past four years, it’s worth investigating.

If you haven’t had an expert evaluate whether you should claim this credit, contact me at shaggard@kaufmanrossin.com for an assessment!

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Sean Haggard, CPA, is a tax manager in Kaufman, Rossin’s Boca Raton office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. Sean can be reached at shaggard@kaufmanrossin.com.  Connect to Sean on LinkedIn.

Here are 5 key takeaways I learned at SXSW that could change the way you do business.

1. Content, content, content!  Have you ever heard the expression, “content is king?” Well this is true now more than ever. Content strategy, creation, and curation were covered in multitude. Creating good content is not an easy task, but thought leaders shared some helpful tips:
   1. Create a content strategy that includes workflow, substance, structure, and governance revolving around your core strategy.
   2. Experiment with different types of content: text, photos, graphics, videos – and be sure that all content is flexible and tailored to your audience and platform with a specific goal to achieve.
   3. Write with a journalist mindset. Content is all about real-time marketing, storytelling, and an editorial point-of-view.
   4. Do more with less. Increase the quality of your content, not quantity. And it’s smart to re-use and re-purpose good content.
   5. Don’t forget to use a little humor.
   6. Is your content compelling to readers? Visible to search engines? Linkable to partners? Shareable through social media? And transferable to mobile devices? Make sure it is!
2. Social media is here to stay. It’s evolving and becoming even more personalized. Integrate social media efforts into the entire marketing plan, and turn your employees into your online activists. And how do you prove ROI? That’s still a burning question among all the experts… My favorite tips include creating your own value system, benchmarking, and paying attention to the final outcome of your efforts.
3. Data is no longer boring. Data is now fun, interactive, and visual! All companies have mounds of data that can be interpreted visually to create stunning infographics, interactive charts, and useful, eye-appealing content.
4. Search engines aren’t what they used to be. How do you improve your company’s Google or Bing ranking? There are many solutions such as creating great content, focusing on the user experience, including meta descriptions, leveraging social media, and much more.
5. Future technology is really cool and a little creepy. Creating an online, automatic, and personalized alter ego from online data is already possible. Google Plus Your World is changing and personalizing our search results based on our profiles, searches, and friends’ online activity. Augmented reality is soon going to become reality. Instead of revolving around your mobile phone, your phone will revolve around you. And location-based technology will be even more interactive and automatic.

I hope you find value from these takeaways, or at least start thinking about this evolution of business! If you’d like to learn more, I invite you to attend two opportunities on March 27th:

• PRSA – Miami Chapter’s panel, “ The Continued Evolution of Social Media: Hear Key Takeaways from the SXSW Interactive Conference,” where Christine de la Huerta of rbb Public Relations, Stephanie Camargo of The Axis Agency, and I will be speaking.
• Catalyst Miami’s “Social Media for Non-Profits” presentation which I will be hosting.

Finally, thank you to everyone who participated in #ILoveAccountants during SXSW! It was a fun ice breaker, and it was interesting hearing everybody’s responses.

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Aubrey Swanson is the social media coordinator at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office. Kaufman, Rossin & Co.is one of the top CPA firms in the country. She can be reached at aswanson@kaufmanrossin.com. Connect with Aubrey on Linkedin. Follow Aubrey on Twitter.