Create STRONG passwords that you won’t forget!

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Too often we are expected to create random, complicated passwords with special characters and lots of restrictions. Especially now, with all the security breaches, we recommend the following method to help you develop passwords that are strong and easy to create and remember:

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.

Top 10 reasons you should update your estate plan before the end of 2012!

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

1. 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!
2. Your plan may disinherit your spouse!
   Do your current estate planning documents include a formula for determining the amounts passing to heirs or trusts for heirs based upon the exemption? With the currently high exemptions, your plan may disinherit your spouse!
3. Is your business safe from creditors or predators?
   Do you have a succession plan for your business? Does your plan include the use of asset protection trusts funded up to the amount of your exemption to safeguard your business from your heirs’ creditors, spouses and predators?
4. Interest rates are historically low!
   The interest rate that the IRS requires to be used for interfamily loans, sales to family trusts, and other planning techniques is at historical lows. The current required interest rate for a 9 year loan made in June 2012 is only 1.07%.
5. Discounting the value of assets is still available.
   Discounted values for lack of control and lack of marketability for interests in Corporations, Partnerships and LLCs are still available for interfamily transactions. There has been much talk about limiting such discounts, but currently, discounting is still available for planning purposes.  When discounting the value of assets by 33%, the effective interest rate on a note as mentioned in item four above drops to only 0.7%!
6. If you’re feeling generous – there’s no estate or gift tax!
   If you are currently giving or planning to give significant sums of money or assets to your favorite charity, the current low interest rates allow you to help your charity and transfer assets to your heirs with no estate or gift tax. Ask about the use of a charitable lead trust.
7. Consider a Roth IRA conversion for estate tax savings.
   If you have a large IRA or retirement plan as part of your taxable estate, which is in excess of the exemption, you should consider a Roth IRA conversion. This will reduce your taxable estate and provide years of tax free cash flow to heirs.
8. Avoid aggressive taxation on your vacation home.
   Do you have a vacation home outside Florida that will be subject to state estate tax and the costs of an ancillary probate administration in that state? Simple steps can avoid the often very aggressive taxation of these homes.
9. Is your life insurance subject to estate taxes?
   An irrevocable life insurance trust can avoid the estate tax and provide asset protection for your heirs.
10. Do you have a family member who has special health needs?
    You may want to consider unique provisions in your estate planning documents.

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

Another IRS email scam

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

The IRS will never initiate contact via email. If you receive an email claiming to be from the IRS, it is a SCAM!

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.

QuickBooks – There’s an app for that too!

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

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.

2011 Real Estate Tax Appeal Deadlines

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties have all recently issued their annual Truth in Millage (“TRIM”) notices.  Property owners wishing to appeal the assessed valuations and tax liabilities reflected on their 2011 TRIM notices have a very limited time to do so.

If you feel that your assessment may be too high, the deadlines to appeal your property taxes are approaching. After the following deadlines, appeals for 2011 will not be permitted: 

• September 16, 2011 – Palm Beach
• September 19, 2011 – Broward
• September 19, 2011 – Miami-Dade

The steps to appeal your property assessment can be challenging. If you need assistance with this process, please contact a Kaufman, Rossin professional or contact the following resources directly who specialize in these tax appeals:

Mitchell Feldman – FBS Property Tax Abatement, LLC
305.350.7360 or mfeldman@fbstaxabatement.com

Michelle Cohen – LeaseGuard, Inc.
561.998.2800 Ext. 1 or info@leaseguardusa.com

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

Attorneys Audit Technique Guide

Monday, August 8th, 2011

The IRS published the Attorneys Audit Technique Guide to help examiners audit an attorney’s tax return. However, the document is not an official pronouncement of the law or the position of the IRS, and cannot be relied upon as such.

The Guide notes in part that:

1. the identity of a client and the nature of his or her fee arrangement generally is not protected by the attorney-client privilege.
2. attorneys who base their fees on hours worked plus case-related costs should be able to provide detailed records of their time and costs since that is how they bill their clients.
3. attorneys working on a contingency fee basis use either a gross fee contract (where court costs, expert fees, etc. are deductible business expenses) or a net fee contract (where expense advances are treated as loans until settlement).

To view the entire Guide, click here. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 561.394.5100 or sberger@kaufmanrossin.com or any Kaufman, Rossin professional.

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Scott F. Berger, CPA is a tax 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.

People don’t buy what you do, they buy who you are.

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Our friend Bruce Turkel wrote that in a great email this week.  It’s true for the tourism example he cites, and for any consumer product marketing.  But the branding lesson he teaches is even more true for professional services, like accounting, legal services, or advertising.  Many factors (technical skills, years of experience, pricing) may differentiate our offerings from competitors, but the person a potential client meets and gets to know is really what they choose.

The idea of the personal brand, promoted nearly 15 years ago by Tom Peters, is true even more today.  As I teach our future leaders in Kaufman Rossin University’s Summer Leadership Program, I’m sharing tips for developing and communicating that personal brand. 

Will you share yours?  Who are you, what do you have to offer, and what are the special qualities you bring to a relationship?

Janet Kyle Altman is the marketing principal for Kaufman, Rossin & Co., one of the top CPA firms in Florida.  She can be reached at jaltman@kaufmanrossin.com.

Think your life insurance is non-taxable? Make sure.

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Many of our entrepreneurial clients think that if their company owns life insurance on an employee, it’s non-taxable.  Be careful: it’s a little more complicated.

Corporate-owned life insurance requires specific reporting in order for the proceeds to be non-taxable .

Any corporation that owns life insurance on an employee must

1. obtain a written consent from the employee and
2. annually report the ownership of this life insurance on Form 8925. 

An “employee” for this purpose includes officers, directors and highly compensated employees. The consent and reporting requirements apply to life insurance contracts issued after August 17, 2006. These rules will likely affect buy/sell agreements between corporations and their shareholder/employees. The proceeds from life insurance will be taxable if these procedures are not followed.

If you have questions about whether your life insurance  is in compliance, please contact me or any Kaufman, Rossin professional.

Dennis Fitzpatrick is a tax principal at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. He can be reached at dfitzpatrick@kaufmanrossin.com.

 
This information is not intended or written to be used for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties and it cannot be used for that purpose. Further, this information is a general description of current tax law and is not presented as a tax opinion on any general or specific tax issue or situation. This information may not be used to promote or market any transactions stated herein. Readers are advised to seek advice from their own tax advisors if they have questions.

Electronic Filing Mandate

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

The IRS recently issued proposed regulations regarding the requirement to electronically file all Forms 1040, 1041 and 990-T. However, the regulations provide that the taxpayer may opt out of the electronic filing by providing a signed and dated opt-out statement. The regulations contain the opt-out statement.

Certain technical issues may prevent the filing of certain returns. Examples in the past have included large number of K1 information or Forms 8886. The IRS will exempt these types of returns from the electronic filing requirements.

For more information contact your Kaufman, Rossin professional.

Dennis Fitzpatrick is a tax principal at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. He can be reached at dfitzpatrick@kaufmanrossin.com.

Joy At Work Translates into Great Client Service

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

I’m an entrepreneur. I love what I do. And nothing makes me more proud than knowing that Kaufman, Rossin’s employees find joy at work.

Being named Accounting Today’s 2010 #1 Best Accounting Firm to Work For in the country is an honor for me, management and our entire firm. When Jay Rossin and I started Kaufman, Rossin we wanted to build a workplace where people wanted to come to work – where they enjoyed their colleagues – and where they felt challenged and fulfilled.  48 years later, it’s clear that we’ve made that happen. Even through a down economy, especially in an industry adversely impacted, our employees recognize that management cares about not only our firm, but the individuals that make up our family.

Joyful, dedicated employees are the reason we can provide the best client service in the business. We believe if our employees are happy and love what they do, it translates into productive work and better client service. We put our people first because we know that our clients will get the best possible service and that means continued success for our business.

Our firm’s reputation is based on having the resources of a powerhouse, personally delivered. This rings true to our clients – they have access to technical expertise of industry experts provided by a team of professionals that truly care about their business. That’s one reason we’ve had so many clients for decades.

I feel privileged that Kaufman, Rossin has once again been named a best place to work – it’s something any entrepreneur would be proud of.

James Kaufman is the founding and managing principal at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country. He can be reached at jkaufman@kaufmanrossin.com.