End of the Year Checklist for Small Business Owners

End of the Year Checklist for Small Business OwnersEnd of the Year Checklist for Small Business OwnersEnd of the Year Checklist for Small Business Owners Johnston, PayScale.comAs the year draws to a close, you may be looking forward to holiday parties, jetting off to some warm, exotic locale, or simply enjoying a few days of R R at home.But before you ring in another year, youll need to tie up payroll, organize tax documents, and otherwise ready your small geschftlicher umgang for the coming months. Thats why we created this checklist of things to do before the end of the year.1.Gather your paperwork. Hopefully youve been keeping records for tax purposes throughout the year, but if not, nows the time to get all your paperwork organized.According to Julian Block, a Larchmont, N.Y.-based tax attorney and author of Tax Tips for Small Businesses, the general rule is that for tax purposes, you should hold onto supporting documents like canceled checks, credit card slips, invoices for equ ipment purchased, and receipts for three years.For your 2009 return, the filing deadline welches in 2010, so the deadline for the IRS to start an audit would be April 15, 2013, says Block. However, the IRS has six years to start an audit if youve under-reported your income by more than 25 percent.2.Make an appointment with your tax professional (or use tax software). If you have a simple Schedule C and know what your receipts are, then Block says you may be fine on your own using the same software that a tax preparer would use. But if your return is more complex and you want to consult a professional, then you have a few options, according to Block tax attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled werbers.Block says the latter is often your most affordable option. Locate an enrolled agent in your area through the National Association of Enrolled Agents. Another way to save money? Prepare the return yourself and hire an enrolled agent to review it, rather than hiring someone to do the entire return. 3.Double-check your payroll and benefits. According to Karen Cunningham, HR Director at AmeriFlex, a benefits administration company that works with small businesses, its cheaper to correct payroll issues in December than it is next year.She says some small businesses forget to include taxable fringe benefits like third-party sick pay or a car provided for personal use. Its compensation, just not in the form of cash, so it should be posted to payroll, she adds.Now is also a good time to make sure youve communicated any changes to benefit plans or retirement options. December is the time of year I go back and run a report to make sure that money really is in employees 401(k) accounts, she says.4.Show appreciation for your employees. Many companies do performance reviewsin December or January, which Cunningham describes as a great time to reflect back on the successes of the employees as well as the opportunities for development.In addition to announcing merit increases or bonuses (if youre able to offer them), Cunningham says its also important to give employee recognition, a gesture that recognizes your employees as people, not just worker bees.If your budget doesnt allow for a holiday party, then consider hosting a potluck or letting employees leave early one afternoon for holiday shopping, she adds.5.Assess your staffing needs for the coming year. In looking ahead to the New Year and planning your budget, consider your business goals and whether youll need to recruit new hiresto achieve those goals. Cunningham says staffing your business in tough economic times may require creativity.For instance, you might bring in contractors for a short-term project or hire people with multiple skill sets. Also, consider hiring someone at a lower level and providing them with the opportunity to grow, adds Cunningham.That requires nurturing and some additional investment from the business owner, but there are a lot of eager people out there who would love to work and would love to learn new job skills or perfect an existing skill set.

7 Ways to Make Your Job Search More Productive

7 Ways to Make Your Job Search More Productive7 Ways to Make Your Job Search More ProductiveJob seeking takes a fair amount of energy and concentration. It can be ego-bruising and discouraging, as well as exhilarating and rewarding. Maximizing your time and energy in productive ways can make you feel more in control and confident and can make your job search more productive.Here are seven ways to make your job search more productive.Analyze how you spend your time. When you are job seeking, how much time do you spend doing each task? Is the majority of your time spent finding the job? Applying for jobs? Researching the company? Checking for scams? When you have a clear picture of how you are spending your time, you can look for ways to focus on the things you should be doing to make your job search more productive.Cut out unproductive job seeking time. Do you really need to send a follow-up letter to an employer that you are not really that interested in working for? Do you need to s talk the job listings you have already applied for, daily, to see if they have been updated or removed? No, to both of these. While I am certainly not encouraging people to not follow up, a minimal amount of time should be spent on checking into positions you have submitted an application with previously.Refine your keyword searches. Know the terms of your industry and refine your search to reflect your interests. Sifting through hundreds of listings that are not relevant or interesting to you is wasting your time and will feel discouraging.Dont apply to every job you see. There is a common misconception that it is better to apply to everything that you might qualify for and just see what shakes out. If you dont really qualify for a job or it doesnt really have the flexibility you need, skip it. Its smarter to apply to fewer jobs with more tailored information than hundreds of jobs with general information.Make time to follow up on promising job leads. Writing a simple thank-you not e for an interview or a follow-up letter to an application can leave a great impression. Target these efforts and only connect with companies that you are very interested in working with.Send inquiry letters to companies that you want to work for. If there is a great company that you really want to work with, sending a brief contact letter expressing your interest can drive up your chances of connecting with the company. Target these letters to the hiring managers or philanthropisch resources departments.Use Small/Niche Job Boards. While is a small job board, we have a huge database that can be tailored to search for the specifics of your industry. Talk to other professionals who are in the industry you want to work in and find out how they secured their positions.Make sure you are not exhausting the energy you need to find a career by chasing dead ends or applying to jobs you are not interested in. These steps can make your job search more productive, helping you to land a position faster. By writing tailored cover letters and targeting your job search, you are going to see that your efforts are rewarded with better choices and more focused opportunities. By doing what it takes to make your job search more productive and approachingit like a job you are on track to being a great, productive, successful flexible employee.Readers, how do you make your job search more productive? Share your tips with everyone by leaving a comment

How employers time-tracking systems steal from your salary

How employers time-tracking systems steal from yur salaryHow employers time-tracking systems steal from your salaryNowadays, many employers rely on digital time-tracking software to monitor when employees are working. It may be more efficient than the punch clocks of yore, but a new study published inAmerican Business Law Journalfound that it contributes to wage theft and that hourly employees like nurses, drivers, and factory employees, are particularly vulnerable to losing their hard-earned money to digital time-tracking.Time shaving and automative break deductions unfairly reduce hours actually workedElizabeth Tippett, associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, looked at 330 court cases to identify how digital wage theft happens through these tracking systems. She identified three patterns of how it happens1. Automative break deductions, which involves subtracting a preset increment of time (usually thirty minutes) from employee hours to reflect their scheduled meal break, regardless of whether the break is taken2. Rounding, which happens when employers set their timekeeping software to alter employee punch time in a preset increment3. Time shaving, which occurs when supervisors alter employee time records to reduce recorded hoursBreak deductions and rounding are a legal gray area. There are no explicit rules around them under The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).Existing rules tacitly allow employers to extract unpaid labor from employees and make it very difficult for employees to reclaim the wages associated with such labor, Tippett argues. Employees may leid even realize they are being unfairly docked if they do not have electronic access to their own time records. And employees and consumers are not incentivized to change this. Digital wage theft happens often at the benefit of the employer keeping payroll low and the consumer getting lower prices for services.Tippett details the case of Jara Willis, a nurse in the intensive care unit of a Texas hospital, to demonstrate how employers get away with uncompensated labor. The hospital allotted Willis thirty minutes per day for a meal break, but it was almost always interrupted or cut short with requests from other nurses on the shift, from physicians, and from patients and their families, Tippett writes. Over the four years Willis worked at the hospital, she could not recall a single uninterrupted meal break.Digital time-tracking systems default in the employers favorEmployees like Willis get pay deducted for breaks they never have the chance to take, in other words. You only had a chance to nibble on a muffin for five minutes, but you still get thirty minutes of pay deducted. One solution to this, Tippet suggests, would be if the FLSA required employees to be paid for each hour worked.Tippett also suggests penalizing time shaving, because your manager altering time records is not a legally ambiguous practice - its clearly wage theft. Automatic break deductions sho uld also ultimately be banned, Tippett recommends. We can also fight erroneous data collection with new technology that asks for more accurate timekeeping. Tippett suggests a pop-up window at the end of the day that asks, It looks like you missed lunch. Is this accurate? (Yes or No).Until the law changes, employees will continue to be forced to work off the clock to meet their boss demands. To stop this, there would need to be more uproar around the unfairness of this. Tippett wants us all to question whether it is wise to extract uncompensated labor from those who care for our loved ones, and who process, transport, and serve the food we eat.

Tips for Writing a Stellar Resume

Tips for Writing a Stellar Resume Tips for Writing a Stellar Resume However, never underestimate the importance of turning in a well-crafted resume. In most cases, your resume is still going to be what makes your first impression for you in the eyes of a potential employer. Making sure it accurately represents all that you are as a potential employee is an important part of seeing to it that employers want to meet with you.Take the Time to Customize Your ResumeExperts agree that the best resumes strike a good balance between traditional and unique. See to it that you stand out in all the right ways by making sure your resume makes the grade. Accepted resume formats run the gamut from functional and concise to highly targeted. Choose one based on your particular circumstances. You can even use one of the many existing resume templates available out there on the web. Personalize your wording and structure to better highlight what you know to be your most valuable skills and assets as a potential employee.Fine-Tune Your Resume to Match the Position in QuestionStudies and statistics show that one of the most common reasons a person attached to a given resume might notlage get a call-in for an interview is a resume that doesnt seem tailored for the position. Employers are looking for more than just warm bodies these days. Theyre looking for flesh-and-blood individuals who are going to be personally invested in the work they do for the company. That said, you dont want to look like youre desperate for just any job.Generally speaking, its a good idea to tweak your resume a bit according to the position youre applying for. Perhaps you truly are well suited for both sales positions and administrative work. However, its important to make sure the resume you send to apply for an administrative position highlights different strengths than a sales resume might. This will help you appear more centered and focused in the eyes of an interviewer.Have a Professional Write Your ResumeWhen in total doubt as to how to proceed, you may want to consider hiring a professional resume builder or freelance writer to look over your resume and make sure it covers all the bases. Sometimes professionals can see things you dont. Plus, theyll have the experience and know-how necessary to make sure you make the impression you really want to.At the end of the day, preparing a terrific resume that is sure to impress doesnt have to be a headache. All it really takes is a proper understanding of what todays interviewers are looking for

Resume How Many Pages Reviews & Tips

Resume How Many Pages Reviews & Tips The Principles of Resume How Many Pages That You Can Benefit From Beginning Right Away Just sign up there, complete the details and your Resume is prepared to download. Resumes dont have to be boring. They do bedrngnis have to take so much of your time but still should not be neglected. They provide the all important first impressions to an employer that an applicant cannot give during the earliest phase of the application process. Whatever They Told You About Resume How Many Pages Is Dead Wrong...And Heres Why From time to time, all it requires is a remarkable absprache of experience writing successful resumes. You just dont have sufficient experience yet. Get your resume down to a page and concentrate on the appropriate experience. Ultimately, federal resumes have undergone major changes over the last ten years. The Birth of Resume How Many Pages Testimonials from prior clients are an outstanding method to display your references a nd the contact section contains a Google Map. If you choose to go with at least two pages, make certain to include your name and proper page number on top, suggests Ann Baehr of Best Resumes. Furthermora, it also has a cover letter and an experience page too. In addition, the photography she opted to occupy the huge image banners on each and every page adds the ideal character. It is better to use columns as opposed to a table. Finish describing work on a single page, and commence detailing the next-oldest job on the next page. Resume How Many Pages Certainly you want to be prepared to compose a work application letter precisely and effectively in order to increase the opportunity to be accepted in the organization you desire. When you want to earn a one-page resume, but your information overflows onto another page, there are many methods to shorten your resume. Clearly, not every resume writing service provides a superior help. When its just providing filler, it shouldnt be there. An effective job application letter will enrich the application alongside increase the chance of getting an excellent interview. Any more than that and youre broadcasting that youre an inefficient communicator. Resume How Many Pages the Ultimate Convenience If youre not certain what format you wish to follow, you might obtain the available resume templates above. Resume templates are one method to guarantee structure behind your resume. The template includes portfolio and client sections where you are able to display logos of earlier customers and examples of your prior work. Employing an HTML template is a fantastic method to begin and to find an expert site up quickly. Click the next link to observe the whole two-page sample resume for a senior professional. Along with the resume, additionally, it contains a cover letter template. Its possible to easily rename and rearrange the sections to coincide with your requirements. Each section is clearly visible and the fu ll document is readily navigable. There are many ways to approach the skills section. At the same time that you may still list all your prior jobs, the sum of space you will need to describe your role, responsibilities, and achievements will be much less, because youll want to focus the info on the skills you used and accomplishments you achieved that are related to your new job targets. You also receive a totally free job interview tracker for a bonus. Different skill bars are utilised to showcase your skill level and youre able to display both expert abilities and extra interests also. The Argument About Resume How Many Pages Some job seekers prefer to adhere to a tiny bit outdated golden rule a perfect resume must contain just one page. Sooner or later, bear in mind there are no hard, unbreakable rules regarding resume length. In any event, it slows the procedure. The same is true for playing with margins. Well, the simplest way out of that is to find some mega inspirati on from folks who have done it before you. If youre altering your career dramatically, from 1 field to something completely different, 1 page ought to be enough. If thats the case, your prior experience is not really that relevant to a brand-new job you applied for. When it is possible to communicate all the important information in under a moment, you know that youre doing something right The Basics of Resume How Many Pages When trying out various fonts and spacing choices, make certain its still simple for a reader to rapidly scan the resume and establish the main selling points. One of the absolute most critical mistakes made on resumes is the usage of passive, vague wording. It is possible to edit the color and the content with no trouble. The entire group of resume templates is composed of a variety of creative resume designs.

Life After References for a Resume

Life After References for a Resume All About References for a Resume You must be sure the people selected as references will promote your job search. If your reference is someone renown in the business or industry. Following your interview, your references could be a critical component on whether you get a job offer from an organization. They can have a huge impact on your career. For each new job opportunity, you should make certain your list of references is the proper fit. Your references could make or break your odds of landing work, so be certain you choose the best people to talk for your benefit. After your interview, they could be a key component of whether you receive a job offer from a company. An expert reference is a recommendation from someone who can vouch for your qualifications for work. All About References for a Resume Job references should not ever be included on a resume. Resumes want to incorporate all ideal search phrases. Be sure you let your emp loyer know you have references available upon request. Personal references might be helpful sometimes, but dont be tempted to submit a personal reference for a substitute as soon as the work listing or interviewer specifically needs an expert reference. Academic references also can be helpful if you want more references to enhance your professional resume. The 30-Second Trick for References for a Resume When selecting your references, consider the kind of reference youre searching for. The references can be in two sorts of formats. Even if all your references are contented to be on your list, it is a very good concept to supply a heads-up that someone might be reaching out to ask about you. If youre concerned about getting a poor reference, review strategies for handling them. A person who can only offer vague positive references to your strengths might be less convincing. Choosing who to request a reference is a significant step in your application approach. Though there are several ways about the way you can write your references, there are likewise a few guidelines which you also ought to be cautious of when doing so. Reference isnt matched In the exact same study, 80% of the employers say they do contact references when evaluating shortlisted and possible candidates.

See a Sample Employee Paid Time Off (PTO) Policy

See a Sample Employee Paid Time Off (PTO) PolicySee a Sample Employee Paid Time Off (PTO) PolicyYou need a paid time off (PTO) policy in your organization so that the employees understand your rules and expectations about the amount of time they need to spend at work. The policy assures that misunderstandings about the amount and type of PTO are minimized. The PTO policy also ensures that, as an employer, you have a published framework which provides guidance for you for making decisions that ensure the ritterlich and equitable treatment of employees. Bothof these goals are a win for both employers and employees. Following is the sample PTO policy. Purpose of Paid Time Off (PTO) The purpose of Paid Time Off (PTO) is to provide employees with flexible paid time off from work that can be used for such needs as vacation, personal or family illness, doctor appointments, school, volunteerism, and other activities of the employees choice. The companys goal is to reduce unscheduled abse nces and the need for teamberateriny oversight. The PTO days you accrue, effective (date) replace all existing vacation, sick time, and personal business days that you have been allotted under prior policies. The vacation time you accrued in the past will carry over, in excess of the PTO policy, per the companys guidelines at the time. Guidelines for PTO Use Each full-time employee will accrue PTO bi-weekly in hourly increments based on their length of service as defined below. PTO is added to the employees PTO bank when the bi-weekly paycheck is issued. PTO taken will be subtracted from the employees accrued time bank in one-hour increments. Temporary employees, contract employees, and interns are not eligible to accrue PTO. Eligibility to accrue PTO is contingent on the employee either working or utilizing accrued PTO for the entire bi-weekly pay period. PTO is not earned in pay periods during which unpaid leave, short or long term disability leave, or workers compensation lea ve are taken. Employees may use time from their PTO bank in hourly increments. The time that is not covered by the PTO policy, and for which separate guidelines and policies exist, include company paid holidays, bereavement time off, required jury duty, and military service leave. To take PTO requires two days of notice to the supervisor and Human Resources unless the PTO is used for legitimate, unexpected illness or emergencies. (Use the Paid Time Off form to request PTO.) In all instances, PTO must be approved by the employees supervisor in advance. Your Company appreciates as much notice as possible when you know you expect to miss work for a scheduled absence. Paid Time Off (PTO) Exceptions Employees who miss more than three consecutive unscheduled daysmay be required to present a doctors release to the Human Resources department that permits them to return to work.PTO taken in excess of the PTO accrued can result in progressive disciplinary action up to and including employ ment termination. This timeoff will be unpaid. The only possible exception to this policy must be granted by the company president.PTO accrued prior to the start of a requested and approved unpaid leave of absence must be used to cover hours missed before the start of the unpaid leave. Under the companys Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy, all accrued PTO time is taken before the start of the unpaid FMLA time.Unscheduled absences, due to illnesses of four hours or more, that result in consecutive days absent from work, are considered one absence incident in relation to potential disciplinary action.Progressive disciplinary action relative to incidents of absenteeism is administered on a rolling 12-month calendar as followsOne - three incidents No disciplinary action. Supervisory coaching.Fourth incident Verbal warning with a documented coaching sessionFifth incident Written warning in the employees fileSixth incident Employment terminationAn employee who receives a second wr itten warning in a rolling 24 month time period will have his or her employment terminated. An employee who has used all of his or her FMLA and Short Term Disability benefits, and is still unable to return to work, will have his or her employment terminated.Any employee who misses two consecutive days of work without notice to their supervisor may be considered to have voluntarily quit their job. Specific Eligibility for Paid Time Off (PTO) PTO is earned on the following schedule based on a 40 hour work week. PTO is prorated based on the number of hours worked on an employees regular schedule. (Thank you to Amy Casciotti of the TechSmith Corporation for the sample numbers.) Years of Service 1-2 144 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.7693 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.3-4 152 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.9231 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.5-6 160 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.077 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.7-8 168 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.2308 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.9-10 176 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.3847 hours for each full work week in a calendar year. 11-12 184 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.5385 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.13-14 192 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.6924 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.15-16 200 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.8462 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.17 208 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 4.0 hours for each full work week in a calendar year. Each employee may carry 80 hours of accrued PTO over into a new calendar year. Employees are responsible for monitoring and taking their PTO over the course of a year so that they do not lose time accrued when the current calendar year ends. (PTO is subject to supervisory approval and not every employee can t ake accumulated time in December the company must continue to serve customers.) If extenuating business circumstances prevented the employee from taking scheduled PTO, this PTO may be carried over and taken in the first half of the next calendar year with the approval of the department head and Human Resources. Employees are paid for the PTO they have accrued at employment end. If an employee has used PTO time not yet accrued, and employment terminates, the PTO taken is deducted from the final paycheck. Employees who give two weeks notice of employment termination must work the two weeks without utilizing PTO. Employees who are rehired will receive credit for former time worked and accumulate current PTO for the combined time.

Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results

Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting ResultsSecrets for Commanding Attention and Getting ResultsSecrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results Bates, author of Speak Like a CEO Secrets For Commanding Attention and Getting Results A great presentation requires research, preparation and practice. Use the steps below as guide.ResearchYou need new, interesting and current information to communicate effectively. Audiences want fresh ideas and cutting-edge thinking. One of the obligations of the speaker is to make the presentation worth their time. Whether speaking to a conference, a reporter, your employees, or the public, you have to be constantly looking for new material that will have an impact on your audience. Research is an ongoing activity, but you may want to set aside specific time to read or go on the internet. You might want to interview people before an event. You may assign other people to help you with research, but you will need time to review it. Its a good i dea to keep each event file ackerschnacker so you can throw in items when you find them. Even if you see something in a book, make a photocopy and put it into the file. Places where you will find information include magazines, books, newspapers, web sites, movies, brochures, comedy shows, radio programs, television programs and how-to books. I encourage people to read, watch, or listen to things they dont normally see or hear to get a fresh perspective and to stay current.PreparationPreparation is organizing, writing and editing. There is no right or wrong way to do this just have a system that works for you. Once you have gathered information in your files, you can sort through and start organizing, outlining and writing. Why create an outline? I learned a lot about that from writing this book. An outline helps you see on paper what is there, and what is missing. By writing it down, you can study it and get ideas before you begin writing or putting together slides. One mistake many people make is putting together slide presentations from the slides they already have in their computers before they think about what they want to say and create an outline. Depending on the event or project, in preparation phase, you may want to write downThe big idea Three main points Questions your audience (or the reporter) might haveA story Talking pointsElements/graphs for slidesShould you write out what you are going to say, jot down bullet points, or make note cards? That depends on two things your personal preference, and the schrift of presentation you are giving. A formal keynote is typically written out. A meeting is typically done from an agenda. An informal meeting may work best from note cards. PracticeYou have to practice to give a good presentation. The top speakers in the world practice a presentation several times before they give it. You can cheat on practice time, but as parents all over the world say, You will only be cheating yourself. Practice not only helps you perform better, it reduces anxiety because you are confident and prepared.Go into a conference room or close your office door and go over the materials sitting in your chair. Read or scan the notes out loud. Then stand up and go through it in real time. Practice out loud several times. I do not recommend practicing out loud in your car because you will be distracted, or on a plane, because you cannot speak loudly enough (unless you want to annoy your seat mate.) Here are some other tips on practiceDont wait until the last minute. Depending upon the length of the talk, you may need a completed script a week or two in advance so you can practice several times. Put it onto your calendar as an appointment with yourself.Use a mirror. Since you are your own toughest critic, you will be able to recognize distracting gestures, awkward stances and wandering eye contact right away. Dont use this technique until you have already practiced without the mirror so you already know the materia l reasonably well.Record audio and/or video. Play back a recording of your speech. This will help you identify areas that need improvement. With an audio recording, youll be able to hear annoying vocal habits, areas of hesitation or uncertainty, and awkward sentence structures. Dont memorize. You are in too much danger of forgetting what you want to say. Learn concepts, practice phrasing, but dont be a slave to saying it word-for-word the way its written. Use a script or outline. Practice enough so that the note cards or outline are so familiar, you only have to glance at them. That will make you look prepared and sound mora natural. Time your presentation. If you have a time requirement you must meet, timing your presentation will help you decide what to cut, or what to expand. One of the cardinal rules of speaking is to never take more time than youve been given. Use a friendly test audience. Asking a trusted colleague or mentor to listen will help you begin to get comfortable in front of other people. Visualize success. As you practice, learn how to see the audience in your minds eye. The more you can imagine the room, the people, the smiles, the applause, and yourself at the podium in control, the more successful you will be when the day comes.

Bookselling

BooksellingBookselling