Bluffs CPA

Ideas, insights, and updates from a CPA in Council Bluffs, Iowa

The water is rising…

As the Missouri river swells between Omaha and Council Bluffs, we have a unique opportunity to watch a major flood event slowly develop into a major emergency. This also gives us a highly unique opportunity to become incredibly prepared for this impending disaster. Sue Pitts at the Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) Small Business Development [...]

Somebody has to pay taxes

A lot of people are getting fired up talking about significant income tax reform. Everyday there is someone posting on Twitter about income tax being unconstitutional or that the founders would be rolling in their graves about it. While that may be a fair point, no one seems to offer a viable solution. It would [...]

Iowa tax policy activity

The Des Moines Register has a nice summary on the activity that the state government has taken, will likely examine, and also notable items that are pretty much dead in the water. A few items that have cleared the hurdle into approved territory are the Taxpayers First Act that reduces funding for university sabbaticals and [...]

Attention Omaha Business Owners…

The Douglas County Assessor’s office will not be sending out pre-filled personal property tax returns this year. In an effort to reduce operational expenditures, these courtesy returns will no longer be sent out. However, they do have a free e-filing system that is up and running. Your personal property tax is still due by May [...]

Review #4: LessAccounting

If you have a Schedule C business (sole proprietor), LessAccounting wants to be your one stop bookkeeping shop. The key for LessAccounting is being an integrated solution rather than having to stop by one program for invoicing, another for bookkeeping, and yet another for contact management. Goal: Simplify bookkeeping for micro-businesses (less than 20 employees [...]

CPA Technology Advisor’s Top 40 under 40

I know this post is basically breaking my arm to give myself a pat on the back, but I’m happy I made the cut for CPA Technology Advisor’s Top 40 under 40 shortly before I was recognized by the Journal of Accounting for my Excel-lence.

Review #3: Freshbooks

Freshbooks was not intended to be an accounting system. Freshbooks still claims to not be an “accounting package” although it allows you to produce a profit and loss statement for your business by entering non-billable expenses as well as billable expenses into the system (in other words, you can track all your expenses, not just [...]

Mentioned in the Journal of Accountancy

My alternative solution to the problem posted in the August Journal of Accountancy Technology Q&A has been published as part of the November Technology Q&A. Excel functions that have embedded “if” properties such as AVERAGEIF(), COUNTIF(), and SUMIF() are very powerful tools “if” you take the time to learn their power and integrate them into [...]

To Omaha and Council Bluffs Non-profits

The IRS, under a one-time relief program, will allow small tax exempt organizations that have not filed returns for 2007, 2008, and 2009 to keep their tax-exempt status if they file a return by October 15, 2010. They have also published a list of organizations that they expected to hear from, but have not heard [...]

Review #2: B2Bee

B2Bee is a simple bookkeeping solution aimed at helping professionals with a low transaction volume prepare invoices and track their income and expenses. Both income and expenses can be tracked by client and by project, enabling you to quickly create a nicely detailed invoice for your clients. Goal: Invoicing, income, and expense tracking for professionals [...]