Certified Public Accountants CPAs – Santa Ana, Orange County California & Business Advisors

New Deadline for Form 8955-SSA

The IRS has announced that they will be extending the deadline for 2009 and 2010 filings of Forms 8955-SSA from August 2011 to January 17th, 2012. Form 8955-SSA is used to report participants with deferred vested pension benefits. Only the 2009 form and instructions have been released, with the 2010 coming shortly. Filing the 8955-SSA can be done by paper or electronically. If you choose to go the electronic route, be sure you are using a third-party software with the appropriate format that is compatible with the IRS FIRE system. Be sure you are aware that it is required to file through the IRS and not through the EFAST2 filing system.

For more information about the IRS filing requirements, call Maria Arriola at 714.569.1000.

Posted 7/29/11

Sherry Radmore says, “Beware of EFTPS E-mail Scam”

Employers should be advised on a bogus email scam referencing Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). The email being circulating contains a link, if clicked on, could be malicious software. This software is designed to gain scammers access to your financial information.

The Internal Revenue Service does not make contact with taxpayers regarding EFTPS via email or tax account matters. If you receive an email report it to phishing@irs.gov

Posted 7/26/2011

California Enterprise Zones….SAVED!

A California budget has been passed and Enterprise Zones are still alive and well for 2011! Local Zones include Anaheim, Santa Ana and Long Beach. The EZ Hiring Credit generates over $37,000 in CA tax credits for just one qualifying employee!

Call us today to find out if you are in a Zone and how your business could benefit.To learn more about the Enterprise Zones and to start claiming your tax credits call ELLS CPAs at 714.569.1000.

Posted July 10, 2011

Hot on the Audit Trail

Detecting fraud cannot always be an easy task but a few simply clicks can uncover your lingering questions. An automated accounting system such as QuickBooks is essential for a small business. Here is a simply way to determine who has made changes to transactions, this could prove to be very important is you suspect fraud.

When setting up preferences for a QuickBooks company the administrator should review the “General Tab “ and select Company Preferences and verify that the box is checked for “Save transactions before printing”.
If the box is not checked it is possible to print a transaction and then exit without saving. In this situation, the Audit trail does not capture the event. That is why no one but the owner should be allowed to log in as administrator. Each person who uses the data file should be given their own user ID and password, with restricted permissions according to the work they perform in the file.

In this way no one can over-ride the preferences, and each user’s access is being tracked in the Audit trail.
For more tips about detected fraud or utilizing QuickBooks call ELLS CPAs at 714.569.1000

Posted 6/23/2011

Summer Vacation Tips

We are all getting very excited about summer vacations! While summer vacations are relaxing the planning can be stressful. I found this great article in the Sacramento Bee, with some smart tips about steps you can take before you travel to ensure a safe and relaxing vacation. Happy travels!! http://bit.ly/kbvTEk

Posted 5/19/2011

Estate Planning in Todays World

Estate planning can be a tricky road, especially after the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (TRUIRJCA 2010). I found this really great article from Brown & Streza LLP, click here.

For more information call Sherry Radmore at 714.569.1000.

Posted 5/5/2011

Fiduciary Responsibility

If you are a fiduciary of your companies’ 401(k) plan are you aware of you responsibilities? Do you have the best interest of the company and the 401(k) plan in mind? Here a good discussion about fiduciary responsibility: http://bit.ly/jzcgvT.

For more information call Maria Arriola at 714.569.1000.

Attention Southern California Physicians

ELLS CPAs & Business Advisors is part of a very exciting collaboration of business professionals serving the healthcare community. The group is Advanced Planning For Doctors and we have just launched our new website. Check out www.advancedplanning4docs.com.

For more information about Advanced Planning For Doctors call Greg Lewis at 714.569.1000.

Small Business Administration Update

This week the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a temporary program for refinancing commercial real estate mortgages maturing after December 31, 2012. The SBA says this will be a way for small business owners to secure more stable financing. There are numerous conditions that must be met in order to be eligible for this program. To view the U.S. SBA press release click here.

For more information about real estate and SBA financing contact Ron Stumpf at 714.569.1000.

Posted 3/31/11

Electronic Tax Payments

Beginning January 1, 2011 Federal tax deposit coupons will no longer be accepted for submitting depository taxes by businesses. As of this date all federal payments should be made electronically.

The system in which the IRS has set up to receive such payments is Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). The process of enrolling in EFTPS take about 15 days so make sure that you are allowing yourself plenty of time before the due date.

For individuals, electronic payment is optional. However, for self employed individuals with payroll tax deposits EFTPS is mandatory.

For the state of California, individual tax payers are obligated to use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) if the make a single estimated tax or extension payment greater than $20,000 for a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2009 or if they filed an original return with a tax liability greater than $80,000 for a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2009. If the taxpayer meets either of these tests, all future payments must be made electronically. The Franchise Tax Board will not penalize tax payers would did not use EFT in 2009 and 2010 however they will begin assessing penalties from January 1, 2011 onward.

Be aware that utilizing a banks online bill pay to make payments is not electronic payment. You must use the Franchise Tax Board’s web pay and for federal tax you must use EFTPS.

If you need more information or have questions please call Ron Stumpf at 714.569.1000.