In business, making pricing decisions is always tough — and even more so when the economy is slow and sales are slipping. It's tempting to cut prices hoping to generate higher sales volume. But sometimes that just produces lower margins on a low volume. What do you do if you’re being squeezed by cost increases? Can you increase prices in a slow economy? How do you respond if your customers complain? Can you justify holding prices steady if your competitors cut their prices? There are no easy answers, but running through a three-step process can help you make the right decision.
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Do you regularly monitor your company's cash accounts? You should. Even if you leave the job to your bookkeeper or accountant, you should stay aware of where the cash is going and how the spending is approved. Along with inventory “shrinkage,” theft or improper expenditures of cash are among the chief sources of loss for small companies.
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If you change jobs you may have an important decision to make — what to do with your 401(k) plan. You'll have several choices. Unfortunately, the easiest choice is the worst choice: that is, to take a distribution from the old plan and put it in the bank. It may be tempting, because who couldn’t use some extra cash. But if you do, you’ll owe taxes on the balance and usually a 10% penalty as well. You’ll lose the benefits of future tax-deferred growth on your savings. And if you spend the money, you’ll have to start from scratch in saving for retirement.

Instead, consider three options.
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Have you taken the time to check your income tax withholding for 2011? It's true that there were no major changes in tax rates or deductions for this year. However, there are still several reasons why you might want to adjust your withholding.
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Don't forget to put a little tax planning on your busy summer agenda. A midyear tax review is a great way to save tax dollars and time. To get together for a check of your 2011 tax situation, give us a call.
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Suppose you're selling your business, and it's worth $400,000. You're offered $210,000 down and lump sums of $100,000 at the end of year one and year two. Should you take the offer?

Most people know that $1,000 now is worth more than $1,000 a year from now. Here's why:
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You may not realize this, but one of the best opportunities to increase your business’s bottom line can be found by reviewing its overhead. These expenses, consisting of mundane but necessary essentials such as office supplies, utilities, credit card processing and insurance, each have their own unique savings opportunities. Business owners and managers often get complacent and let these recurring items grow over time, eventually bloating their company’s overhead costs. So, how do you harness these potential savings opportunities to fight this overhead battle of the bulge?

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If nothing else, the recent financial meltdown provided an important learning experience and reinforced time-tested concepts about risk in investing. None of these lessons will comfort investors. However, we can still evaluate investment risks, at least on a relative scale.
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At the end of 2010, most of the provisions in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will \”sunset\” or expire. Only those provisions extended or made permanent by later tax legislation will remain effective in 2011. That fact makes year-end tax planning crucial for 2010. At the point of major tax change, there are always opportunities and pitfalls that should be analyzed if you want to keep your taxes as low as possible. (more…)