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If you have a checking account, of course you balance it periodically to account for any differences between what’s in your statement and what you wrote down for checks and deposits. Many people do it once a month when their statement is mailed to them, but with the advent of online banking, you can do it daily if you’re the sort whose banking tends to get away from them.
You balance your checkbook to note any charges in your checking account that you haven’t recorded in your checkbook. Some of these can include ATM fees, overdraft fees, special transaction fees or low balance fees, if you’re required to keep a minimum balance in your account. You also balance your checkbook to record any credits that you haven’t noted previously. They might include automatic deposits, or refunds or other electronic deposits. Your checking account might be an interest-bearing account and you want to record any interest that it’s earned.

You also need to discover if you’ve made any errors in your recordkeeping or if the bank has made any errors.

Another form of accounting that we all dread is the filing of annual federal income tax returns. Many people use a CPA to do their returns; others do it themselves. Most forms include the following items:

Income – any money you’ve earned from working or owning assets, unless there are specific exemptions from income tax.

Personal exemptions – this is a certain amount of income that is excused from tax.

Standard deduction – some personal expenditures or business expenses can be deducted from your income to reduce the taxable amount of income. These expenses include items such as interest paid on your home mortgage, charitable contributions and property taxes.

Taxable income – This is the balance of income that’s subject to taxes after personal exemptions and deductions are factored in. http://www.articledashboard.com/ Matthew Meyer. You are welcome to publish this article on your webiste or in your newsletters as long as you have a link back to www.thefreeadforum.com For more information on accounting see www.thefreeadforum.com/infowizards/CAT/Accounting_90_1.html

A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers revealed that one third of manufacturing companies in the United States have good jobs going unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. This should come as no surprise as the Bureau of Labor and Statistics has reported similar trends affecting virtually every industry in the nation. As the labor shortage looms, here are 4 ways that guarantee you attract top talent with your employee benefits. Benchmark the Competition

Benchmarking your competitor’s employee benefits should be your first objective. Strategic positioning of your benefits in the competitive landscape should help retain your key talent, attract employees from your competitors, and ensure a maximum return on investment.

While this may sound like a huge task, benchmarking data can be found through national employee benefits associations such as the United Benefit Advisors. They survey over 9,600 employers around the nation, comparing employee benefits packages and costs from every industry.

Survey Your Employees

A robust benefits package often leads to happy employees at the expense of company profits. But with a little research, it’s possible to have the best of both worlds. An employee survey is an easy way to collect the information needed to balance what employees want with what you can afford. Perform this with an internet survey tool and you could collect results from thousands of surveys in a short amount of time.

The scope of your employee benefits survey should reflect your workforce and your goals, but at a minimum make sure you collect information about employee’s likes and dislikes with the current package. Our firm has designed surveys from 10 questions to 150 with varying success based on the incentives offered to complete the survey.

Institute a Wellness Program

National statistics show that employers save 3 dollars for every 1 dollar they invest in a wellness program. Additionally, a NASA study shows that employees who participate in an exercise program average a 12.5% increase in productivity. Healthy employees are happy and productive employees and instituting a wellness program is a key to accomplishing this.

A recent case study of a law firm in West Virginia revealed a 36 percent increase in attendance during the first year of instituting a wellness program. This means that if you don’t have a wellness program, you should get one started today, especially if your company has over 100 employees and your medical insurance claims experience is examined every year to determine your premium rates. A well designed and communicated wellness program can impact every corner of your company.

Get Creative

Too many companies think employee benefits ends with insurance. But your total benefits package should include a wide variety of both traditional and non-traditional vehicles for offering employee benefits.

Things like dry cleaning pickup and gym discounts can be negotiated by an employer and offered for free to employees. Offering direct deposit or company products at a discount are also examples of inexpensive employee benefits. More expensive benefits might include on-site child care or on-site medical care.

Don’t limit yourself to thinking about employee benefits within the confines of insurance products alone. Just remember that the goal of an employee benefits package should be to improve employee moral, increase employee retention and attraction, and make your employees feel glad they work for you. http://www.articledashboard.com/ Mike Nacke is recognized as an authority on how to attract and retain top talent with the right employee benefits. He is also the creator of Employee Magnetism, the webcast series that offers practical advice on employee retention and attraction strategies from some of the nation’s top experts. He regularly advises local and national companies on how to attract top talent in their market. For more information, visit www.mikenacke.com

You have found the car that makes your heart race by 120 beats per minute. Now only one thing stands between you and the car of your dreams: financing the purchase. In a perfect world, you would pay the full price in cash without blinking. But if you are like the seven out of ten car and truck buyers who don’t live in a perfect world, chances are you would be paying for your car through one of several financing schemes. Understanding the basics of each car financing option is key to choosing the automobile financing strategy that best suits your situation. Here is an overview of auto financing options that may be available to you.

Auto Loans from Lending Institutions

You can get a car loan from a bank, credit union, or other lending institutions. The car that you purchase will serve as collateral for the auto loan. This means that the lender can repossess your vehicle if you default on the car loan. Auto loans are a popular car financing option because they generally offer reasonable interest rates and are relatively easy to get.

Two factors are likely to affect the total cost of the car loan. One is the term or duration of the loan. Generally, the longer the term of the loan, the lower your monthly installment will be. But you will end up paying more towards interest and this will increase the total cost of the auto loan. If you can afford it, get a short-term loan. Your monthly installment will be higher, but you will be paying less money over all. The second factor that may affect the total cost of your car loan is your credit rating. Creditors with less-than-stellar credit history are usually charged a higher interest rate because of the elevated credit risk.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

Dealer Financing

Like traditional auto loans, dealer financing is reasonably easy to get. Most dealerships have relationships with numerous lending institutions, so they can arrange car loans even for car buyers with blemished credit histories. To compete with traditional bank loans, many dealerships offer zero percent or very low interest on dealer loans. However, such loans are available to car buyers with stellar credit ratings. Consumer experts advise car buyers to get pre-approved on an auto loan from a bank or credit union before approaching the dealership for possible financing. By getting loan pre-approval from another lending institution, a car buyer gets the upper hand when bargaining for a lower rate on a dealer loan.

Home Equity Loans and Home Equity Lines of Credit

If you own a home and have accumulated substantial equity on your property, then you may consider getting a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit. Home equity loans are fixed or adjustable rate loans that you repay over a predetermined period. Home equity lines of credit are open-ended, adjustable-rate revolving loans with a maximum credit limit based on the equity of your home. Home equity loans tend to have lower interest rates than credit cards and other types of personal loans. Interest payments on home equity loans may also be tax-deductible up to a certain extent. Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit use your home as collateral, so make sure you are financially capable of paying the monthly installments if you don’t want run the risk of losing your home.

Credit Cards

A credit card advance or credit card draft from your credit card company can help you drive your dream car home. Like home equity lines of credit, credit card advances or credit card drafts are revolving lines of credit with variable interest rates. To entice existing customers to avail themselves of credit card drafts, credit card companies waive cash-advance fees, guarantee low rates during the initial period of the loan, or offer high credit limits. However, because credit card drafts are unsecured, they generally have higher interest rates than home equity loans, traditional auto loans or dealer loans. Financing your auto purchase through credit cards could also leave you vulnerable to hefty penalty charges if you make a late payment or exceed your credit limit.

You can’t predict when knowing something extra about automobile financing will come in handy. If you learned anything new about automobile financing in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again. http://www.articlenewsdepot.com/ Michael Hehn writes articles about various topics. Find out what he has to say about financing at Financing