Abbott, Jordan & Koon offers a wide variety of accounting and auditing services, ranging from monthly or annual compilations to audited financial statements.  Our audit client base includes the following industries:

Just looking for a little help when you have when you have an accounting issue? AJK can provide as much or as little input as needed. We offer QuickBooks training classes and can assist you in setting up your own accounting system. We also offer support after set-up for those questions and situations that inevitably come up during the year.

Get services tailored to your needs.

Spend your time building your business - and your profits; let us handle your bookkeeping, recordkeeping, and report filing.

AJK can provide as many of the following services as you want:

• Paying bills and managing accounts payable.
• Handling all payroll functions, including quarterly and annual payroll tax reports.
• Invoicing your customers, posting collections, aging accounts receivables.
• Doing your bank reconciliations and providing cash balance reports.
• Maintaining sales journals and general ledgers.
• Preparing all required business tax reports and filings.
• Preparing any customized reports you find useful.

Where do we begin?

We'll work with you to identify the services you need. Then we'll set up a schedule so data is collected, recorded, and handled efficiently and timely.

How much will it cost?

You're likely to save more than our services cost. Your in-house staff needs will be reduced, so you will reduce associated employee costs such as payroll taxes, employee benefits, training time and expense, equipment and software costs, and employee management costs.

Best of all, your bookkeeping and accounting functions will be taken care of, so you can concentrate on running your business. Contact us for a free estimate of the cost savings for your business.


 

AJK will work with you and your banker, lawyer, insurance agent, and other advisors to solve your business problems.

We can assist you with loan applications, pricing, credit policies, cash flow concerns, cost controls, and other management issues. We will gladly assist you in reviewing your operations to see what you might do to be more profitable.

What makes a business successful?

Never stop investigating ways to improve all areas of your business. The astute businessperson will seek information to assist him or her in making the changes necessary to stay profitable in a competitive business world.

Here are some ideas that could improve your profits:

Do your homework. Before you start a new business, be sure the community can support such a business. Some areas are not large enough to warrant certain specialty shops. A bicycle shop, for example, may take a population base of 50,000 people to make it profitable. A grocery store, on the other hand, can be profitable in a town of only a few thousand. Carefully review business proposals. Business deals and special franchises which sound too good to be true usually are. We will gladly assist you in reviewing any business purchase or business proposal. Enlist the services of professionals. Accountants, bankers, insurance agents and lawyers can help you solve your business problems. These professionals handle a variety of business problems every day. They make excellent sounding boards for proposed transactions. Check reasons for incorporating. Don't incorporate your business without first checking the long-range tax and nontax considerations. There are many small corporations that would have been better off operating in some other legal form. Make payroll deposits on time. Some businesses receive penalties for late payroll tax deposits. To avoid such problems, don't sign payroll checks unless the first check in the stack is the payroll deposit to your bank. This may have you paying deposits earlier than required, but you will not be receiving penalties. Listen to your customers. You are not only selling products or services, you are selling customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers return to spend more money and are likely to refer new customers to you. Strive to retain customers. It is estimated to cost ten times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain a current customer through good customer service. Don't make yourself indispensable. If your company runs well now in your absence, it will run well in the event of your disability or death. If you are currently indispensable, start training people now. One of the most rewarding forms of retirement is to own your own company and to be absent as much as you like.

Give us a call for a no-charge initial conference. You should interview us, as you would any professional, to determine if we will be a good long-term match for you and your business. If we don't have the answer to your problems, we will assist you in locating someone who does. We always welcome your questions.

Over the coming years, the tax law gradually reduces estate and gift tax rates, and the exemption amount increases. The estate tax will be repealed in 2010, but the gift tax will be retained. Ironically, the estate tax will be reinstated in 2011 unless Congress acts to make changes once again. In the midst of these phase-in and phase-out provisions, a little planning can save thousands of dollars.

You may be surprised what your estate is worth. Add up the value of all your assets. Don't forget life insurance which may fall into your estate. If your total value exceeds the exemption amount, you should look into what a few simple planning techniques can save your family at estate time. In addition, there are some very effective estate planning ideas that can also cut your current income tax bill.

Some planning possibilities:

Gifting Current tax law allows you to give away $13,000 per year per recipient. (This amount is adjusted annually for inflation.) Your spouse may join in the gift even if he or she is not an owner in the transferred asset. This means that you could transfer up to $26,000 per year to each of your heirs.

There are a few simple steps you can take to help reduce your worries:

Put aside a set amount regularly in savings or other investments. The compounding of earnings can be substantial. The longer your investment period, the greater the beneficial effect of compounding. Invest in what you know. The better informed you are, the better your investment decisions will be. If you don't want to learn about investments, consider hiring a money manager and paying him or her to do your investing for you. Diversify your investments. Have some of your money in an investment that is easily converted to cash in case of emergencies. The old adage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" is excellent investment advice. Prepare an annual balance sheet (a list of all your assets minus all your debts) to determine your net worth. A comparison of your annual balance sheets will show you whether you're meeting your financial goals. Plan where you want to be financially by retirement age. Over 90% of Americans must rely on the government or others for assistance during retirement. With proper planning and diligence, you can be among those who can retire in comfort. Update your plan regularly. Review your financial plan often and adjust investment choices when necessary to keep your plan on track with your financial goals. Don't use credit to purchase consumption items. Wait until you can pay cash for things which decrease in value. Borrowing money to purchase a home is usually a sound idea. Using credit to purchase household furnishings is not. Pay off your credit card balance every month. Your credit card should be used for convenience, not as a source of long-term financing. Credit card interest rates are much too high. Monitor your investments to maximize your after-tax return. The difference that a 2% greater return can make in the growth of your investments is dramatic. Click here to calculate the monthly yield required to reach your savings goal. Have your insurance agent do at least an annual review of your insurance needs to determine that you are neither under- nor over-insured. Be sure to contact your agent when you buy or sell any property.

For assistance in your financial planning, contact us.

We can review your investment ideas with you and your investment advisor and make recommendations to maximize your after-tax return.

Don't ignore the impact of taxes on your investments. While taxes should not drive your investment strategy, understanding how taxes affect your earnings will help you minimize taxes and maximize your return. Consider these items:

Long-term capital gains and dividends carry a favored tax status. Consider putting more dollars in investments that give you dividend income and long-term capital gains. You can deduct a limited amount of capital losses in excess of capital gains. Consider balancing your winners and losers to maximize this deduction each year. Investments which produce high taxable annual income can be given to family members who are in lower tax brackets, thereby saving taxes for the overall family group. Depending on your tax bracket, you may benefit from investing in municipal bonds. Another area where taxes make a difference is in deciding which investments to keep in your tax-deferred accounts, such as a regular IRA or 401(k) plan, and which to keep in taxable accounts.

Check out these links.

We do not endorse any products, services, or businesses you may find by following these links. Do not enter into any transaction until you and your advisors are satisfied that you are getting what you are paying for.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - investor assistance, fraud cases, SEC filings and small business information USA Today - Top Money News Federal Reserve Bank of New York - interest rates on treasury bills and much more! Stock Quotes - Reuter's The American Stock Exchange NASDAQ Exchange - stock quotes New York Stock Exchange Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) - Edgar Database American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) Daily Stocks - get quotes, charts, and SEC filings The Financial Center - bookstore for investors, chat rooms, news desk Fund Alarm - changes in fund managers, buying and selling of fund information InfoBeat - have email notices sent to you about your stocks Stockfind - financial news by industry and an IPO corner Wall Street Directory - shopping mall for software, books, and magazines about investing For assistance with your investment concerns, contact us.

We prepare hundreds of tax returns every year. We know what to look for when your return is prepared. More importantly, you will have someone to answer your questions during the rest of the year. And we can put you on our mailing list to receive timely tax, business, and financial advice.

Your Tax-Cutting Checklist

Whether you’re a wage earner, an investor, a business owner, or all three, you should use the tax-cutting benefits available in the tax law. There is little to be gained by paying more tax than the law demands.

Identify the tax-savers for which you qualify. Here’s a tax-cutting checklist to get you started. Check the list to see if there are tax breaks that you are overlooking.

For Individuals: Roth IRA Rollover to Roth IRA Tax-deductible IRA Child tax credit Income shifting to children Child care credit Earned income credit Lifetime gifts Education savings accounts Education expenses Hope scholarship credit Lifetime learning credit Bunching deductions Flexible spending accounts Health savings account Donating appreciated assets instead of cash Qualifying property for personal residence gain exclusion Best filing status Shifting income or deductions from year to year Adoption expense credit For Investors: Tax-free municipal bonds Long-term capital gains and dividends Rental property Tax-free exchange Low-income housing credit Small business stock rollover For Businesses: Home office deduction Keogh plan SIMPLE plan SEP 401(k) plan First year expensing of business equipment Bonus depreciation Year-end bonuses Bad debt write-off Disabled access credit Other business tax credits Tax-free exchange

Contact our office if you have questions or want more information on these and other strategies that could reduce your taxes.