Accounting Prepaid expense question?
824533
At month end, you need to credit prepaid expenses with one twelfth (one month's worth) of the cost, and debit the cost account in the P & L account, called something like 'communication costs'.
739460
They want to see 2003 and 2005 to see continuity of operations.\n\nFirst tell the auditor that you do not have all your receipts and why you do not have them.\n\nTry to legally recreate them.  For example you purchased a typewriter for your business.  Get the instruction manual and warranty card for it, find a office supply cataloge that shows what the purchse price would have been then.   Get what ever support you can to justify your deductions.  Look at your credit card statements (get copies if you have to or download them).  If you went to a seminar in Miami call them and have them fax you a statement saying you were there and what the dates were, same with the hotel where you stayed.  Get the software books and boxes to prove you purchased them.\n\nOnce the auditor starts looking at your return he will narrow in on only a couple of areas.  You did not say what type of Schedule C you did but the usual places they go are Entertainment Expense and Travel Expense.  \n\nThe one thing he will do is ask you for all your bank statements.  I mean ALL of them(personal and business accounts).  Have them for him.  If you do not have them now call the bank to get copies, or download them off the net.  \n\nWhat he will do with the bank statements is add up all of the deposits that went into every account, subtract from this transfers that came from other accounts.  This is the income that you should have reported as Gross Receipts on your schedule C.  If not you better be able to account for every difference.  If it is higher he will increase your income by that amount.  \n\nIf there were deposits to your account for reasons other than business income then you need to show proof where it came from.  For example your brother gave you $5,000 as a birthday gift.  \n\nGive him every thing in a nice orderly package, tie each amount on the return to the package.  DO NOT GIVE HIM A SHOEBOX.  If the auditor feels you are not hiding anything then he not ask for more information if you are upfront with a lot of information.\nBut do not give him more than he really needs to know.\n\nIf he asks you "Do you know what time it is?" the correct answer is "Yes" the wrong answer is "It is 9:45am"\n\nIf you do not know the answer tell him "I will check and get that information for you"  Do not lie, make up information.  you will trip over your own toes.  Do not have any one else there with you, they will give out useless information that can bite you.\n\nBefore your first meeting you will get an IDR#1 this is called a Information Document Request #1 and will list every item on it that he will need.  It will narrow down where he will be looking at.\n\nAt the end of the first meeting he will ask you for more information.  Ask him for another IDR.  Do not give him more information unless it is listed on the IDR!  \n\nAlso keep a list of what information you do give him.\n\nIf you feel you are getting into trouble CALL A CPA from a local cpa firm spend the money because he may save you from thousands if you are really going to get into trouble.  Or talk to your friends, one of them may know someone who works at a firm that could advise you for a small fee.\n\nBe aware that Schedule C returns are the most audited 1040 returns out there.
202584
None. If you are an independent contractor, you should provide the contract for the other party to sign if they want your services. This contract should stipulate what services are being provided and the schedule of payment to you. When February rolls around the next year, the other party provides you with a 1099 form as a statement of what you were paid so that you can report the earnings to your accountant. If the amount of money was less than $500, then the other party does not have to provide a 1099. As an independent contractor, you are responsible for your expenses, which are a business deduction. Keep records diligently!
391593
Hi!  I work for an accountant and we charge $165.00.  I think you can expect anything from $100.00 - $200.00.  Try H & R Block if you want a cheap rate :)
449665
MOST of the time they are deductible. \n\nThe rule is if they are a percentage then they are interest and are deductible.\n\nBut a far more important question is can the company charge them. Many states have written laws that prevent the companies from legally charging prepayment penalties. The problem is that many of the companies just go ahead and charge them anyway knowing that may people will never check  out if they are allowed to collect them.\n\nI had a client here in Wichita where I maintain a tax office come in last year after being charged a prepayment fee by Beneficial Finance wanting to know the same thing. When I told them to contact the Kansas Attorney Generals office because they weren't allowed to collect such fees anymore in Kansas I think that they though I was crazy.\n\nBut they took my advice and wrote them and within one week they had a letter from the Kansas Attorney Generals office saying that they had contacted Beneficial and ordered them to repay the prepayment fee. Of course they were elated.\n\nTo make a long story short the customer got back over $4800 within 10 days of contacting the Attorney Generals office. Just because they say they have the right to collect a prepayment fee doesn't mean they do.\n\nSo contact your State Attorney Generals Office and be sure they even had the right to charge you a prepayment fee. If they did then most like it's deductible. \n\nLet me know the details and I'll research it for you.
151954
teekshi is wrong.  When you put something in layaway, you don't add the layaway payment to the total payment.  In this case, you put down the 10%, which has been correctly calculated to be $14.  You still owe the difference 140-14=126.  So, you can't take the item with you until you pay the difference ($126)
130609
I have an account with ING and from what I can tell and from what I've read, its because they are internet based and not store based or "branch" based.  That means that they don't have a lot of overhead cost, such as electric bills, water bills, and the regular house payment on a bank branch.
102776
The difference between the cost of the merchandise and the amount of money you sold it for, minus legitimate business expenses, is taxable income and must be reported.  In additon you are actually supposed to make quarterly payments when you are self employed, although depending on how much you make the IRS may not make an issue of it.\n\nIf you can afford it it would be a good idea to have an accountant work it out for you.  The up side is, if you find out that, after expenses, you actually lost money, that's a deduction from your regular income.  But they won't let you keep showing losses forever... the usual limit is three years.
35501
I recommend it to everyone, even if you use an accountant.  My sister used an accountant.  I convinced her to let me use TT on her return.  I found that the accountant missed a big deduction related to her rental properties.  TT asks questions in a straightforward yet thorough manner.  And, it transfers data in from the previous year's filing.  I will say it costs way too much.  Watch for the best price around tax time.
1010528
Not unless they expressly said that they were and you confirmed that your fee was on that basis.\n\nIf they misrepresented (i.e. we are not talking about a later ruling by the IRS) then you may well have recourse due to fraudulent misrepresentation.\n\nEither way time to up the billing rate :-)
1025881
Sounds like a homework question.\n\nBy the matching principal, you recognize expenses in the same period as the revenues that they generated.  In this case, it is depreciation expense.
841626
According to my SBT Bank Acct#  my monthly premiums are paid up to date as of October (this year).  Recently, I received a notice claiming arrearages of 'rupees 2739/-'.  Please contact me as soon as possible regarding this matter at (ph).  ....\n\nBy the way..you really should speak with someone directly and then follow up with a letter.  Just a suggestion. ;)  Peace.
812345
I'm just going off the top of my head here without looking anything up, so just use my answer as a guide and not fact.  (Because staring at the code is factual, but sometimes doesn't get you very far in thought.)\n\nThe rental property.  Chop this up into three components - land, building and personal property.\n\nLand, as you know, is not depreciable.  But it should be listed as a separate component of the sale.  \nThe building is depreciable, but will also be under an additional code section, 1250.\n\nThe general rule starts with section 1231 property.  Then, depending on what it is, it might ALSO be 1245 property or 1250 property.  But just to keep things simple, think 1245 = equipment and 1250=buildings.\n\nBoth 1245 and 1250 pretty much say this: When you sell the asset, the amount over adjusted basis, up to the extent of depreciation taken, is ordinary gain.\n\nFor example.  I bought a piece of equipment a few years back for 10,000.  Tuesday, when I sold it, it had a tax adjusted basis of 1,000 (10,000 historical value less 9,000 of accumulated tax depreciation taken).  I collected 5,000.  In this case, ALL of my 4,000 gain (5,000 sales price less 1,000 adjusted basis) will be ordinary income.  \nLet's say I sold it for 12,000.  9,000 of my gain would be ordinary and 3,000 capital gains.  \nNow I'm babbling.  But in a nutshell, you are recapturing the depreciation expense at ordinary, just like you took the expense (over time).\n1250 for buildings has something similar, but not many have that issue anymore (unless they were purchased over a decade ago or so).  There is some special additional tax on the gain or special rate.\nBut the losses are ordinary, thankfully.\nAnd I feel like I'm getting off track here, but I'm trying.  :)\n\nBut onto the land.  It depends.  And perhaps this is where saying more info is needed might help.\nIf this is a separate piece of land accounted for seperately and Mary can prove that she wasn't going to improve anything, then there might be support for the claim that it is a capital asset and the gains are capital.\nHowever, that would be really agressive to me considering it saysing "holding for future development" and if there has been anything substantial done to the property.\nIn short, you will want to check out code section 1237 for reference too although it doesn't exactly fit your problem.\n\nAnd last but not least, I'll clog this answer with an Explanation nabbed from my own stuff.  Good luck on your research and forgive me for such a lengthy answer.  Usually I hate stuffed answers.  Cheers!\n\nReal property produces capital gain or loss on its sale or exchange if it's a capital asset. The main reasons for the exclusion of real property from the capital asset category are (1) that it's property held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of his business, and (2) that it's real property used in his business. Code Sec. 1221(a)(1) , Code Sec. 1221(a)(2) . However, the sale or exchange of real property used in a business (including rental realty), or the involuntary conversion of such property or real property that is a capital asset, can produce a Code Sec. 1231 gain or loss. \n\nThe fact that real property is held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a taxpayer's business precludes it from being either a capital asset or a Code Sec. 1231 asset (business-use property). Code Sec. 1221(a)(1) ; Code Sec. 1231(b)(1)(B) . The factual question of whether real property was so held gave rise to intensive litigation. Cases decided under Code Sec. 1231 are covered as part of the question of what property is used in a business. Decisions delineating property that is a capital asset are covered in this subdivision. The special rules of Code Sec. 1237 , allow taxpayers other than C corporations to obtain limited capital gain as to property subdivided for sale under certain circumstance
778937
debit salaries expense for 3600\ncredit cash for 3600
431487
Columbia House allowed me to do that during the xmas holiday.  I had not planned on it, but I ordered several on the phone and then she asked me if I would prefer to be billed.  They may only do that if you are a member in good standing, I'm just not sure what the reqs are.
489298
Are they legitmate charges to your clients? Were the clients billed?\n\nRemember there is lag time , look at your statements\nwhen you make a purchase, sometimes it doesnt show that it was processed until the next day, for several ones.\n\nOne of them is that the merchant forgot to batch out.\n\nDo you even know your only company policy?\n\nWhat didyou say to him or her when she submitted the receipts to your accountant?\n\nOr are you an employee looking for a way to get her fired or in trouble?\n\nWhy doesn't your company audit these transactions?\n\nWhy did your company accept the charges?
1186255
House numbers:\n\nYou pay 50¢ per digit.  Therefore 8000 costs $2.00.\n\nYou made a mistake in the statement though.  You are not conjugating properly.  it should be 15 costS and 100 costS, since they are singular items (as a group), not multiple :)\n\nLike you said, one way to avoid the conjugation issues is to use the past, but you can also use this way:\n\nI bought 1 for 50¢, 15 for $1.00, and 100 for $1.50.  How much did I pay for 8000?