July 31, 2008 at 3:02 am · Filed under Microsoft Accounting
Microsoft has made available an updated version of its Office Accounting. There is a free version called Express and a paid version that has several more features.
If you manage your home-based business and are just looking for a way to manage your accounts, track your invoices and bill payment, the free version might be what you’re looking for. Otherwise you will have to buy the full version to use all the features.
Some of the features include:
* Create quotes, invoices, and receipts.
* Write checks, track expenses, and reconcile online bank accounts.
* Convert a quote into an invoice without having to transfer information from one program to another.
* Track employee time.
Resource links:
Product information
Download the program
http://windowstipoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/07/software-microsoft-office-accounting.html
July 31, 2008 at 2:51 am · Filed under Management Accounting
Property management accounting software has become a necessary tool for landlords and property managers. Good property management software makes the business of property management more efficient, saving landlords time and money in the process. In this article, we will take a look at some of the common features as well as the benefits of using software for property management.
Perhaps the main benefit of using software specially designed for both accounting and property management is the ability to end the reliance upon spreadsheets or manila folders to store and track information. Software has the ability to greatly simplify and streamline your data entry, storage and retrieval saving time and money.
Vital to any property management business is the ability to track income and expenses. At tax time, obviously you need to have all of your income and expense information close at hand and in order. Software allows you to store all of that information electronically in one place. Well designed software will allow you to see at a glance what your tax liability is. In addition to income and expense tracking for tax purposes, your software should allow you to generate reports with a couple of keystrokes or mouse clicks. The reports you generate should neatly present all the information you need to know about your rental property investments which you can then print.
Part of recording income for a property is tracking rent payments. This is another important benefit of property management accounting software that should not be overlooked. Using software, one can tell at a glance which tenants have paid and which have not. In addition, software can allow you to view or generate a report showing the rent payment history of a given tenant or tenants.
Software also allows you to quickly know and stay on top of where your money is going. The ability to easily monitor your historical expenses both in the aggregate and by property will allow you to make better decision regarding future spending and rental rates.
Whether you are a do it yourself weekend landlord managing one property or a professional property manager with hundreds of units under management, it makes sense to use property management accounting software. When it is time to pay your taxes or make any important decision regarding your rental property investments, you will want to have all the relevant information available at your fingertips. A good software program will save you time and help you make the right decision.
http://www.hostedpropertymanagementsoftware.com/property-management-software/property-management
July 31, 2008 at 2:49 am · Filed under Health Savings Account
Four years ago, the hot new idea for reining in health costs was the health savings account, a savings vehicle tied to a high-deductible insurance policy and designed to make patients more responsible for – and more aware of – the expenses involved.
The thinking was that such accounts would slow spiraling medical costs for both employers and consumers.
Today, with only 5 percent of the 114 million Americans covered at work opting for such health plans, their future is in question. In Texas, regarded as the birthplace of the HSA, only 387,000 people have signed up out of the 12 million with employer-provided insurance.
Proponents point to small companies – including some in Texas – that have used the lower-cost plans to offer coverage for the first time.
Meanwhile, critics argue that the plans benefit only the healthy and wealthy, with sick patients who can’t afford deductibles of more than $2,000 doing without care.
Under the 2003 federal law that established them, HSAs must be coupled with high-deductible health plans carrying at least a $1,050 deductible for an individual or $2,100 for a family.
In return for paying so much out of pocket before coverage kicks in, the policyholder can save pre-tax dollars in an account that can grow tax-deferred – much like a 401(k) retirement plan – and be used for future health costs.
A covered individual and his employer together can make annual, tax-free deposits of up to $2,900 (or $5,800 for a family). Unused funds can be rolled over from one year to the next and go with employees when they change jobs or retire.
Despite the tax benefits, patients have not been enamored of the trade-off. Few have signed on at companies now offering HSA plans as a new option, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a private New York City foundation focusing on the nation’s health care system.
“People aren’t used to paying” high deductibles, said John R. Thomas, president and chief executive of Irving-based MedSynergies Inc., a company that helps physicians manage their revenue.
To be successful, an HSA must have employer support, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas. “If employers don’t put money in the HSA, all you have is a high-deductible plan” – something unlikely to appeal to many employees, he said.
Mr. Goodman said high-deductible plans get at the heart of the health cost problem – overuse of medical services by people who, if they paid with their own money, might decide against that trip to the doctor.
“If a mother wakes up in the middle of the night with a sick child, we want her to think about the cost of the emergency room visit,” said Mr. Goodman, dubbed by many the “Father of Medical Savings Accounts.” In 1984, the NCPA suggested what it referred to as medical IRAs to address looming Medicare costs from baby boomers.
Mr. Goodman is now a health policy adviser for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
On the other side, Stacy Pogue, a policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based advocacy group, argued that HSAs favor healthy people, who don’t worry about a deductible, and the rich, who have the money for a big deductible and like the tax incentives.
In fact, a May report from the Government Accountability Office found that taxpayers with health savings accounts averaged an adjusted gross income of $139,000 in 2005 vs. $57,000 for other filers.
Ms. Pogue said she worries that low-income participants will gamble with their health rather than pay a huge deductible.
An online survey of 4,217 adults ages 21 to 64 found a striking difference in use by those in fair or poor health or who have at least one chronic condition. Thirty-five percent of them reported delaying or avoiding care vs. 18 percent in traditional comprehensive plans. The Commonwealth Fund conducted the study in March.
Survey respondents said they avoided doctor-recommended visits to specialists, lab appointments and imaging tests.
But for many small North Texas employers, HSAs have been a godsend.
Kevin Whitney, chief operating officer for Dallas-based Flexible Benefit Group Inc., sells HSA policies to companies with as few as two employees and as many as 2,000. He said he has a higher success rate among the smaller firms.
In 2004, Mr. Whitney offered the 13 employees of Flexible Benefit a choice between a standard plan and an HSA. The employees chose the HSA, Mr. Whitney said.
Only a few of his mostly healthy, mostly young employees have more than $2,100 in medical claims, he said. And under the HSA, “our premium per employee is $125 less than with the traditional PPO,” he said.
Still, Mr. Whitney said that HSAs should be cheaper and that insurers are not passing on the savings from the fewer claims they get.
Many of his business clients have only a 40 percent utilization rate under their high-deductible plans, he said. “For every $100 in premiums, they’re only spending $40 in claims. That means the insurers are making a boat load.”
He predicts HSAs will “blow away” preferred provider organizations “once the market prices HSAs appropriately.”
Pricing isn’t the only issue. Questions remain about whether HSAs will fulfill their promise as a savings vehicle to pay for future care.
Last year, 83 percent of HSA accounts had an average balance of less than $2,500, says America’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington, D.C., association representing insurers. The average balance in an HSA in 2007 was $1,380, it said, while the average amount spent from such a fund was $1,080. That left about $300 for savings.
Mr. Goodman predicted that HSAs will travel the course of investment retirement accounts – sluggish and confusing at first, but popular and effective later on.
“Actually, they’re growing faster than the IRA grew in its history,” he said.
Within 10 years, Mr. Goodman predicted, most Americans will be saving up for their deductible under the new plans.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-HealthSavingsAccounts_31bus.State
July 31, 2008 at 2:45 am · Filed under Flexible Spending Account
You’re still trying to get through that case of aspirin you bought last December, and you’ve never worn the prescription sunglasses you picked up about the same time. Instead of buying a bunch of stuff you don’t really want at year-end to avoid losing the money in your flexible spending account, this is a friendly reminder as we pass the midpoint of the year to start spending NOW.
Procrastination may be understandable. But about a third of people leave an average of $168 unspent in their FSAs every year, according to Hewitt Associates. The funds go back to their employers—and that’s just idiotic. The typical balance in an FSA is about $2,500, says J.D. Piro, principal and chair of the health law consulting practice at Hewitt. “As a percentage of the account, $168 is fairly low, but it’s very high if it’s your $168.”
Your employer may allow you a grace period of up to 2½ months into the following year during which you can use up any leftover contributions. Check with your company to see if you have that option.
Generally, you can use your FSA contributions for qualified medical and dental expenses, as spelled out in this IRS publication (.pdf). It’s a pretty broad list, covering everything from acupuncture to in vitro fertilization. However, individual employers may edit the list of qualified expenses, so make sure you check to see what your company allows.
You can get reimbursed for copayments, deductibles, and other amounts not paid by your plan, but you can’t use it for health insurance premiums. FSA dollars are also good for over-the-counter medicine, so make sure you hang onto your receipts. You can even use your FSA to cover mileage costs related to medical care. That may not have been a big deal in years past, but with $4-a-gallon gas, that 20 cents a mile is looking better all the time.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/07/03/time-to-flex-that-flexible-spending-account.html
