Resolve To Organize
Your Office
I sat my desk in late December and realized that the one thing I
needed to do in 2005 is reorganize. My old way of doing things simply
wasn’t working. I even looked into electronic filing systems (those
of you that know me, know how much I love paper, so don’t let your
jaws drop too much). In the end I decided that, for me, it wasn’t a
viable solution.
An extra filing cabinet, a desk extension and 12 in-trays later, I
finally feel a little more confident that I can be more organized this
year. In talking to many of my colleagues, organization seems to be
the first thing that takes a backseat in business. Make your new year
resolution now to get that clutter under control. It feels great!
Tech
Talk With Tom
Ever
wondered exactly what is running on your computer? You can hit
Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up Windows Task Manager, but all it lists is a
bunch of obscure program names. It doesn't tell you who made it,
where its located or what it is doing. Enter Security Task Manager
by A. & M. Neuber. This great shareware program does all of
this for free!
After installation, simply run Security Task Manager and you'll already
see a lot more information at your finger tips than Microsoft has ever
offered with it's own Task Manager. The first thing you'll see is
the proper name for any program currently running on your system.
Ever wonder what rundll32.exe or svchost.exe really are? If they're
running, you'll know! The second, and most important part of
Security Task Manager is the second column. This gives every
program a "security rating", the higher the number, the bigger
risk it is. To find out what this program is doing to deserve this
rating, just click on it and in the bottom right hand corner a box will
display detailed information on the program: who makes it, what ports it
is listening to, what it is doing. If a program is highly rated,
but you know from the description that it is ok, just let it do its job.
On the other hand, it is the unknowns that we are really interested in.
Once you've decided that a program has to go, just right click on the
name of the program, hit Remove and your halfway done! Next you
have to decide whether to end the threat for this session, or to remove
it forever. You can either End the task, or Quarantine the file.
I recommend Quarantine as it completely deletes the program from your
Startup (if it was there), and makes the file itself inaccessible to
your system. Ending the task does just that, shuts down the
program, but it can start back up the next time your machine does.
For free, Security Task Manager does more than more users will ever need
it to. However, if you upgrade it for a nominal fee, you also have
access to any running
Services on your system. The way it comes "Out of the
Box", Security Task Manager is a "Must Have Tool" for
anyone who requires stability and security for their home or business
PC. Download it from: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/securitytask.html
Tom Beauchamp is the owner
of LAN’s Edge in Austin, TX. LAN’s Edge is a computer gaming
center that offers PC and xbox gaming as well as a high speed internet
connection and PC sales and repair.
He can be reached at daystar@lansedge.com.
Visit http://www.lansedge.com
for more information.
Employee
or Subcontractor?
For many, the question of whether a
person should be classified as an employee or an independent
contractor is cut and dry. For others, it’s a toss up.
From the IRS website, I found the
following information. A link is provided below for a more in-depth
analysis. It’s always best to classify a person correctly from the
get-go, but this is a good time to re-evaluate.
Who
is an Independent Contractor?
A general rule is that you, the payer,
have the right to control or
direct only the result of the work done by an independent contractor, and not the means and
methods of accomplishing the result.
Who
is an Employee?
A general rule is that anyone who
performs services for you is your employee if you can control
what will be done and how it will be done.
Partial Source:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the accountant, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
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| Important
Tax Deadlines |
1/15 4th Qtr estimated tax
payments due
1/15 - Dec payroll tax deposits are due
1/31 - Last day to mail 1099s and W2s to recipients
1/31 - Last day to file 941s and 940s. |
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| Form
1040 Explained |
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For those of you who are not familiar with US
tax forms, "Form 1040" is the most common of the US
Federal tax forms. Most people file one of the several versions of
this form.
Ever wonder why the IRS calls it Form 1040?
Because for every $50 that you earn, you get 10 and they get 40.
(haha, see us accountants have a sense of humor too!)
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| Year
End Accounting Tips & Reminders |
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-- When sending a
1099 to a sole proprietor, the person’s name, not their
business, should be used.
-- Don’t forget to
depreciate your assets!
--1099s are for funds
PAID in a tax year, not accrued.
-- All payroll payments
and filings should be based on the check date, NOT the period
ending.
-- If you need to make a
correction to a 941 you have previously filed, you’ll need to
file a 941c
-- It’s
always a good idea to wait to mail your W2s and 1099s (with
transmittal forms W3 and 1096) to the proper agency until the end
of February (the due date). This gives the recipients time to
review the forms and submit questions/corrections to you.
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| Spotlight
On... LAN's Edge |
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This
month the spotlight swings on over to LAN’s Edge. LAN’s Edge
is a computer gaming store in Austin, Texas run by our very own
Tech Talk columnist, Tom. LAN’s Edge opened in 2002 to cater to
people who like to play video games, but wanted a more social
environment. Tom tells us, “Our store has been dubbed ‘the’
nightclub in Austin for geeks”. A pretty accurate description,
but they offer more than just fun - they have recently branched
out to selling and repairing PCs.
Walking
into LAN’s Edge is like walking into every 16 year old boy’s
dreamland. High end machines, dark lighting and a whole lot of
firepower await you.
LAN’s
Edge was the first of it’s kind to open in the central Texas
area and has
managed to grow during the down economy for the entertainment
business.
"Keeping
40 computers up and running with over 60 games takes a lot of time
and effort," says Tom. "Candy takes care of most of
our paperwork and lets us concentrate on our business: the
customers, the computers, and the fun."
LAN’s
Edge is located at 9012 Research Blvd #C6 in Austin, TX. For more
information, visit their website at http://www.lansedge.com
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Have
an article you’d like to write for our monthly newsletter or
want to be spotlighted?
Email candy@offassist.com.
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