Archivo por meses: febrero 2015

The Perfect method to Avoid Payroll Fraud

Payroll Fraud is real. According to some Associations of Fraud Examiners, it’s the number one source of accounting fraud and employee theft.fdfg

There are three common types of payroll fraud:

Timecard falsification: can be easily caught through the reconciliation and employee review process.

Ghost employees: They are employees that do not exist. It can be paying themselves a duplicate paycheck through a false name, and having the money deposited in their checking accounts.

Misclassification and workplace: Self-inflicted by the employer through worker fraud. It’s the illegal practice of designating an employee as a non existing worker or an independent contractor. Some business owners do this to avoid paying payroll taxes, unemployment tax or workers’ compensation insurance and are therefore able to submit lower bids for projects, undercutting responsible companies. In the other hand, many other business owners may be misclassifying workers without even knowing it, such as if they designate tasks or set time with the contracted employee in all cases, it is simply not worth it.

Payroll fraud needs your attention; the key is catching it and minimizing the risk. Anyone can steal at any time.  The best way in doing so is to reconcile your payroll at least quarterly with someone other than the person who runs your payroll. The reality is payroll fraud is not preventable, but is catchable. Yes, it is that simple.

There is much that goes into choosing a payroll company. While you may not realize the importance right now, this is a decision that will greatly affect your company’s financial future. With many options, you should be able to locate a service that is perfect for your company.

These advices can help you make an informed, confident decision:

  • Make sure the service is experienced in handling the most important areas. This includes: paying your payroll taxes on time; paying your employees on time; and filing your payroll tax forms by the deadline.
  • Know what you don’t need and know what you need. Payroll companies offer a huge variety of services. It is important to pay for what you need and to avoid signing up for something that does not pertain to your business.
  • Monthly cost, based on the company you choose as well as the level of service you require and the number of employees you have. It is important to know exactly how much you will be paying, month after month, so that you can budget for this expense. Companies like payroll in chile, can adapt to your business with the services you only need.

eeasdWith this information, you will find it easier to locate the right payroll company for your organization; avoid fraud,  save time and money for focus in your business.

 

7 tips for Growing Your Company

For growing into a sustainable company, Startups go through three distinct phases: Designing the product, selling the product and maintaining the business in the market. On this last phase we can take concrete actions like; evolving the product and service offerings, streamlining operations, modifying the sales organizations and others.

Here you have 7 tips for companies preparing the growing process.

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1 .Establish a customer-success team

If it hasn’t been done already, establish a customer-success team with the goal of maintaining customers for a long time. Measure and incentivize this team by gross churn.

Significant attention needs to shift from securing new customers to retaining and selling to current customers

2 . Invest in product marketing

Consider vertical sales and marketing teams based on industry, use cases and/or products. Establish a product-marketing team in charge of writing marketing requirement documents for products; these are called MRDs for products, creating sales collateral , developing customer advisory boards, messaging, and pricing, and simplifying product packaging.

There will be a diminishing productivity rate, largely because the salesforce is no longer only comprised by the founder. Counteract this by making sales easier.

3. Take a channel strategy

While a channel strategy isn’t for everyone, most companies opt for a combined direct and channel approach . It is a must to be patient, but also very critical of progress.

Determine if the channel’s sales team has the required knowledge to sell the product. Make sure they are correctly motivated to sell the product through a sales performance incentive fund , but consider compensating them in other ways, too. Allocate enough pre- and post-sales support

 4. Check product offerings

Challenge situations and consider new opportunities, including ones that would require more risks.

You can ask these questions: Can products be eliminated to double down on the successful ones? How profitable is each product line? How can the product’s market be increased? How can the average revenue per unit be grown? How can the product sales cycle be shortened to reduce the overall cost of sales?  How can post-sales maintenance costs are reduced?

5. Make tighter controls

While the company grows, the risk of losing control of spending and approval processes rise. So allocate resources to regulations and document-required. Make tighter controls that ensure compliance.

6. Open new channels of communication

Companies in the growth phase are typically large enough to switch from having two levels of management; for example, directors and vice-presidents to three levels of management, and the staff also increasing.

You can establish a culture of transparency. Schedule periodic meetings for all groups with all company  workers. Each senior executive should spend a significant portion of time to obtain an in-person assessment and encourage contact with all employees.

Challenge situations and consider new opportunities, including ones that would require more risks.

 7. Establish goals and key performance indicators in place

On the beginning Initial start-ups decisions are often made by intuition, but as the company grows, they must be checked by data collected and monitored regularly across the whole company.

Key performance indicators attainment should be shared transparently across the organization, and compensation should be tied to them also.

Leaders at every level must define and track key yearly and quarterly goals.

 BONUS TIP: Outsource the payroll

Choosing to outsource the payroll does not mean, we don’t have any blame for an unwanted situation it might occur. We can avoid investing in training and payroll software. These are reasons why choose an outsourced service is a right choice.

All we will have to do, is to provide a person with basic knowledge of the payroll function, who will be the connection with the outsource service . It is necessary a person in charge for making decisions. The outsource service like payroll in chile, has a detailed service level agreement, so we can contract the services we require from the outsource service, keeping in-house others.

 

 

Basics for reduce your Corporate Tax

Reducing tax is a wide concept. Most businesses want to contribute the tax that they owe, however they don’t want to pay more than they have to.za111

Technically it’s impossible to reduce your tax, as everyone is charged the same rate, set by the tax agency. In the case of Corporation Tax, the applicable rate is paid on your profits; the money left after all allowable deductions for expenses, salary and others, and is set depending on your profit level.

Most contractors, freelancers and small businesses pay the small profits rate, and large companies pay the main rate .The key to making sure you pay no more Corporation Tax than you have to, therefore, is making sure you take advantage of every allowable deduction and expense to give an accurate picture of your profits.

For example, If you paid 500$ for a new piece of equipment but forgot to claim it, your profits will be overstated by 500$, so you will pay 100$ depending on the profit rate, as an extra in Corporation Tax. It literally pays to stay on top of these things.

Every situation is different, and there may be deductions or allowances for your specific industry, we recommend check with a professional. There are a few basics every business owner should know to make sure they’re not paying more tax than the necessary.

Record everything

Record every train or bus ticket, and each pad of paper, because over the course of a year those items add up.

You’ll have industry-specific items to claim too, remember your tax agency rules. Basically anything you claim must be entirely for business use.

Use Gift Aid

When making a charitable donation, make sure the Gift Aid box is selected so that the charity gets the full donation tax-free. Higher rate taxpayers can claim the difference between the higher rate of tax and the basic rate of tax, on the total value to the charity of your donation.

Claim all allowances and benefits

While some benefits are being cut, make sure the state is giving you what you are owed.

Pay yourself a salary

Do not forget that you and your business are different legal entities; the money made is not yours so you need to pay yourself a salary. Also salaries are business expenses, which reduce your profit and, in turn, your Corporation Tax.

Check tax codes

Be tax aware and make sure your tax code is correct. Some people may be paying too much tax without knowing it. If a tax code is not correct, the wrong amount of tax and deductions will be made. If you think there is a problem with your tax code, contact your local tax office.

Buying new equipment

If you’re in need of a slightly heftier piece of equipment, new premises or other assets, you can take advantage of your government’s annual investment allowance; things like commercial vehicles, building fixtures and office equipment for tax purposes.

Consult a chartered certified accountant

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Tax is confusing, so when it becomes too complex to deal with you, it is an intelligent option to consult a qualified chartered certified accountant, like accounting in Chile

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Accountants: How can become themselves Essential to their Clients?

How accounting service providers can make themselves essential to their clients? This topic is useful to know. We invest time and financial resources into a whole host of accounting but the question is: Do your clients believe they cannot succeed without you? We know that our technical expertise and depth of business knowledge is what our clients value most. But another question: Is that enough?

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Many well-educated and highly skilled professionals have the credentials and real world experiences that they can apply to bring solutions to their clients, whether they grapple with complicated or simple challenges; like accounting in chile. But what makes them essential, is the connection and rapport with the clients

If however,  your clients do not have that connection with you, then you and your partners need to begin thinking about how to build that rapport, how to become indispensable to the clients you serve.

The Formula

  • Background training
  • Professional expertise

Both of them must be combined with other characteristics. Being proactive, a good listener, diligent, accessible and resourceful. It is helpful to make introductions to other leaders in the business community, facilitate valuable connections and share industry trends, including challenges and opportunities, with clients.

Also you can make a lot of things for your clients like:

  • Help them to gain some exposure in the community by introducing them to the local media
  • Nominating them for appropriate awards
  • Inviting them to speak at one of your events
  •  Write an article to publish in one of your newsletters.
  •  Planning events like a quarterly informal meeting over breakfast or dinner

All this tips can go a long way towards building a meaningful relationship and enables you to interact on a more frequent basis. It is difficult to anticipate and solve problems through an email exchange ,so pick up the phone usually.

If you want to have clients believing strongly that you are integral to their current and future sustainability and growth, you need to do more for them. The company accounting in chile, it is a good reference and an excellent role model for start-up companies or established firms.