To Save on Taxes in April, Business Owners Need to Implement Tax Strategies Now

Riverwoods, IL (PRWEB) October 17, 2008

http://www.toolkit.com As 2008 heads into the fourth quarter, business owners who want to minimize their tax burden for this year and next have a range of options, but also face a considerable amount of uncertainty.

"Every tax year, there are actions you can take before year's end, and others you can delay until next year, that will have a positive impact on your tax bill," said John L. Duoba, Managing Editor of Business Owner's Toolkit an online destination for small business tips. "This year is no different."

But the lack of activity coming out of the current Congress has many tax experts scratching their heads. A number of pending measures still require congressional action, so the rules could change between now and when taxes are due in April.

In the meantime, Duoba said business owners shouldn't delay fourth quarter tactics to reduce their tax burden. These tactics often include reducing your taxable income and tax rate, postponing income, and accelerating deductions. It's also important to consider the implications of potential tax credits and the affect of Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) rates.

Reduce Taxable Income

Business owners should take full advantage of all available tax deductions, both business and personal. They shouldn't overlook the possibility of purchasing health insurance, investing in their retirement, or providing perks like a company car through their business.

Reduce the Tax Rate

Business owners can target a lower tax bracket by reducing income reported in the current tax year. If they're operating their business as a sole proprietorship, they can incorporate their business and deploy tax strategies that reduce personal tax liability. According to Karen Nathan, author of the book "Incorporate! An Easy Step-By-Step Plan for Entrepreneurs" and Director of Business Development for incorporation services leader BizFilings.com, many sole proprietors and partners incorporate their businesses to obtain tax advantages related to operating as a corporation.

Postpone Income

To reduce 2008 income, business owners can delay year-end billings until late enough in the year so that payments won't come in until 2009. If operating their business as a C corporation, owners can arrange for dividends to be paid after the end of the year.

Accelerate Deductions

Business owners can purchase equipment and other large ticket items in 2008. They should also consider expensing the cost of new equipment, rather than depreciating it. Prepaying deductible business expenses, including rent, interest, taxes, and insurance also increases deductions.

Be Prepared to Claim Tax Credits

Business owners need to be aware of tax credits they may be eligible for and meet those deduction requirements in 2008. When they're available, tax credits are generally better than deductions because credits are subtracted directly from the tax bill.

Consider Alternative Minimum Tax

If applicable, AMT can play havoc with tax planning. If an owner's AMT liability and regular tax liability tend to be approximately equal from year to year, the best bet may be to maintain this stability. If deductions are not so evenly spaced and an owner tends to have great fluctuations in income from year to year, they may be able to shift some AMT-triggering items from an AMT year to a non-AMT year.

"It's a good idea for small business owners to discuss these strategies with their accountant or tax professional," said Troy Janisch, Publisher of the Business Owner's Toolkit. "They can help predict your taxable income and determine strategies that will work best." In particular, he said it is important to identify and apply strategies now that need to be implemented by December 31.

About Business Owner's Toolkit

Business Owner's Toolkit (http://www.toolkit.com) provides total know-how for small business. The Toolkit website helps business owners start, run, and grow a successful small business by providing more than 5,000 pages of free step-by-step advice, instruction, and ready-to-use business templates. The site also offers free business webinars, business news and one-to-one advice to business owners by email. The Business Owner's Toolkit also partners with StartupNation to provide free entrepreneurial advice via a national syndicated radio show.

The Business Owner's Toolkit is a part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading multinational publisher and information services company. Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues (2007) of %u20AC3.4 billion, maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide.

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Tonner Doll Company, Inc. Celebrates 20 Years in Business

Kingston, NY (PRWEB) May 06, 2011

Tonner Doll Company, led by celebrated doll artist Robert Tonner, designs and markets collectible fashion dolls, child character dolls, and licensed character figures such as HARRY POTTER and WONDER WOMAN through a network of specialty doll retailers and their own on-line store (http://www.tonnerdirect.com). Established in 1991, the internationally renowned company has been a staple in the high-end collectible doll industry for two decades.

In celebration of the 20-year milestone, Tonner Doll is planning a spectacular celebration during their annual convention in May. According to Robert Tonner, Tonner Doll Company CEO, Tonners annual convention will be bigger and better than ever.

I cant believe its been 20 years, exclaims Tonner. This convention truly reminds me of just how much fun this business is. It allows me to share my love of the dolls with my friends, the collectors.

The 2011 Tonner 20th Anniversary Convention Celebration is to be held in Lombard, IL at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. For more information about the Tonner Convention, visit http://www.tonnerdirect.com/t-2011conhome.aspx.

After changing his career path from medicine to fashion, Tonner attended the Parsons School of Design. At Parsons, I discovered that maybe a kid from the Midwest could end up as a fashion designer in New York, Tonner reflects.

Upon graduation, Tonner was invited to work for Bill Blass, an internationally recognized force in the fashion field. Tonner soon became one of the companys top designers, heading up the Blassport label. "He had the same sort of instinct about clothes that I had when I was his age," Bill Blass once said of Tonner.

Tonners long-time interest in collecting fashion dolls led him to try his hand at doll sculpting. In 1985, Tonner received a glowing review from an esteemed panel of judges at the National Institute of American Doll Artists Conference in NYC for a model-like fashion doll he had entered for critique. During the years that followed, Tonner turned more of his attention to developing and perfecting his doll designs, while still pursuing his career as a rising fashion designer. In 1991, he left the fashion industry to start the Robert Tonner Doll Company.

All of Tonners fashion dolls and costumes reflect his fashion industry background, and strong desire for perfection. They have been prominently featured in national and international media, including People Magazine, CNN, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Womens Wear Daily and British Vogue Magazine. Additionally, several of his creations were added to the permanent collection of the Louvre Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, France.

In addition to fashion, Tonner continued this thrilling trend of beautifully costumed dolls inspired by the cinema. Movies have become more magical to me than ever, said Tonner. Tonner has channeled many pop culture icons, such as those from Twilight, DC Comics DC STARS, Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland, Disney, Gone with the Wind, Marvel, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many, many more.

In the mid 1990s, amidst the AIDS crisis, Tonner was greatly affected, and as a way to give back threw a fundraising event to benefit AIDS research. Tonner organized an American Model doll fashion show, where the dolls were dressed by well-known designers, such as Bill Blass and Dolce & Gabbana. The event was hosted by none other than Demi Moore, a doll collector herself. The doll that wore the same stunning Dolce & Gabbana dress that Demi wore that evening garnered a $ 50,000 bid from her then-husband, Bruce Willis. The star-studded event was a great success, and raised $ 350,000 for notable AIDS foundation AmFar.

Other newsworthy milestones during Tonner Dolls 20-year career include the introduction of Emme, the first full-figured fashion doll in 2002, which garnered widespread media coverage. In most recent news, in 2010 Tonner again made headlines for releasing his first gay fashion doll, Andy Mills Event Planner.

Whats next for Tonner Doll? Says Tonner, I never know where the next inspiration will come from something that says, you must turn me into a doll. But I do know that doll collecting isnt going away anytime soon and neither are we. Doll and character figure collectors around the world can celebrate, too.

Tonner products are available for purchase at http://www.tonnerdirect.com, as well as in specialty retail stores, FAO Schwarz, and the world-famous Harrods of London.

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IBM business partner releases e-business Case Study: B2B Web site produces a 5 week ROI

(PRWEB) October 30, 2003

mrc Case Study: Tichenor College Textbooks

College Book wholesaler's new e-business site produces immediate ROI

Every semester, in the United States, 15 million college students exit their first day of classes, syllabi in hand, and make a collective beeline for their college bookstore.

In expectation of this crazed collegiate swarming, college bookstores across the country must prepare for the rush by placing list after list of book orders at their college textbook wholesalers and distributors in time.

Tichenor College Textbooks, one of the most prominent and successful of these wholesalers, supplies new and used college textbooks to private and institutional college bookstores nationwide, and has been doing so for over 40 years.

Additionally, TIS, Inc, its parent company, also runs a number of college bookstores throughout the country. With this experience on both sides of the fence, it came as a surprise when the bookstore paradigm suddenly shifted within the industry and TCTC found itself in a struggle to remain competitive.

Tichenor sales reps began hearing buzz that its customers wanted a more convenient way to order textbooks, namely, over the Internet—and to add to the pressure, its two biggest competitors had already come to market with their own Web sites.

Something had to be done. But, TCTC also knew that integrating its legacy backend with a new Web site, in the time frame required, was going to be a tall order.

Challenge

The first matter of business was their legacy system. It contained decades of mission-critical algorithms, logic, and business rules that could not be easily duplicated.

Secondly, TCTC was in a time crunch. They began looking for a solution right after the January rush ended in 2003, with the goal to have everything up, built, tested, and running live by the August "back to school" rush. That simply didn't leave much time for a project of this size.

The last challenge was cost consideration. Whatever method they chose, TCTC was going to have to stay within a closely managed budget.

IT Director, Jerome Stillions, and a committee that included his Information Services team and Tichenor College Textbooks management, knew that the first order of business was organizing, and prioritizing their needs.

They began their research process by generating the comprehensive requirements list of what the site needed to accomplish. Then, research was done on the Internet, trade publications, and visiting vendor booths at industry trade shows, such as the COMMON user group conference in March.

"We looked for a solution that could give us: integration with our current order entry system, rapid development for this project and future projects, and minimal hardware investment...We also had to look at the platform and development software we were going to use," explained Stillions.

Solution

After their initial research TCTC narrowed their choices down to four software solutions, and ultimately they chose to go with the mrc-Productivity Series for three main reasons that stood out against the other candidates they considered: First of all, the other solutions TCTC considered required them to purchase additional hardware. And, with new hardware, it's not just the initial outlay of cost to be considered.

Consideration needs to be paid to compatibility, firewalls and security, loading/configuring software, purchasing licenses, testing, and troubleshooting, which all takes time. And time can be measured in dollar signs as well as headaches.

The mrc-Productivity Series did not require an immediate investment in any additional hardware. Choosing the mrc-Productivity Series, allowed them to do everything they needed with their iSeries, a platform Tichenor College Textbooks is comfortable with.

The second factor for mrc's tool-suite was that it allowed them to not only use the mrc-Productivity Series for rapid development of this project, but to also plan for future projects as well. And, without the threat of having to buy additional software modules or upgrades for each stage moving forward. There were no "gotchas."

Additionally, the J2EE-compliant mrc-Productivity Series allows TCTC flexibility moving forward in choosing which languages or platforms to write their applications to.

And, finally, the mrc-Productivity Series' External Object capabilities gave TCTC a way to smoothly integrate their legacy systems.

"The reason we went with the mrc solution was, first and foremost, we wanted to integrate our backend capabilities quickly and easily and that's exactly what it did. And it did a beautiful job."

Results

Stillions is very pleased with TCTC's return on investment, "...we did not have ROI figured prior to making this decision. We knew this was something that had to be done to stay competitive. But, not factoring in operational expenses, we have probably paid for the software from our online sales since going live on August 18th." (A 5-week ROI.)

The new system continues to pay dividends. "It's hard to say how much business we were losing before we developed the Web ordering system. I do know that 20% of our online sales during this past rush were done after business hours. So, having the site available during this time hopefully prevented those sales from going elsewhere."

And, he expects the online sales to grow considerably in the coming months. "My projection is, by the next rush period which is in January, we will have experienced a 30% growth in usage."

But, the projections don't stop there. Their next projects utilizing the mrc-Productivity Series will be to offer their customers the capability to submit return authorizations on-line. And, they also want to build a secure intranet site for their company sales reps.

Overall, he's pleased with the results, and pleased with the support he's received in his endeavors. And as far as mrc's report card, this has been a good semester: "Thus far I would grade the service we have received from mrc with an A."

Related Textbooks To Buy Press Releases

Building Business Capability Agenda Announced for Business Rules Forum, Business Process Forum, Business Analysis Forum and Business Architecture Summit - Oct 30-Nov 3

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) June 05, 2011

Help in the American Red Cross relief effort by registering before June 15, 2011 for Building Business Capability, October 31-November 3, 2011, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Register by using REDC and 10% of the registration cost will be donated to the American Red Cross. Take advantage of early bird pricing before June 30, 2011 and save $ 300

Building Business Capability offers tutorials, keynotes, sessions and case studies with 5 days of content featuring 17 tutorials and 130 sessions across 10 tracks.

Building Business Capability Agenda is now online, visit http://www.buildingbusinesscapability.com/2011/agenda for more information

Hear Case Studies from Companies such as:

UNUM

M&T Bank

The Vanguard Group

First Bank of Delaware

Delta Dental

Pharmacy OneSource

Wawa, Inc.

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)

Bank of Montreal

eBay

CVS Caremark

Giant Eagle

ESI International

Bombardier Aerospace

California Association of Realtors

Highmark, Inc.

Northrop Grumman

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

West Bend Mutual Insurance

CONTECH Construction Products, Inc.

The Hartford

Mars Canada

Authority of Norway

Gain insight from featured industry heavy-weights:

Ronald G. Ross, Co-Founder & Principal, Business Rule Solutions, LLC and Executive Editor, BRCommunity.com

Gladys S.W. Lam, Principal & Co-Founder, Business Rule Solutions, LLC and Publisher, BRCommunity.com

Kathleen Barret, President and Chief Executive Officer, IIBA

Roger Burlton, Founder, BPTrends Associates

Paul Harmon, BPTrends

Kevin Brennan, CBAP, PMP, V.P. Professional Development, IIBA

James Taylor, CEO, Decision Management Solutions

Alec Sharp, President, Clariteq Systems Consulting Ltd.

Sandy Kemsley, Kemsley Design

James Kabielus, Forrester Research

Clay Richardson, Forrester Research

John A. Zachman, Zachman International

Jeff Scott, Forrester Research

Kerrie Holley, IBM Fellow, CTO of IBM's SOA Center of Excellence

Ellen Gottesdiener, EBG Consulting, Inc.

Stay informed and learn the latest with featured topics:

Best Practices in Rule Discovery and Analysis
The Top 10 Mistakes Business Analysts Make in Capturing Business Rules
Agile Predictive Process Platforms: The Key to Business Agility
Decision Models and Decision Tables: How To
BPM Standards: What is New in BPMN 2.0
Deliver Transformational Projects Through BPM Centers of Excellence
Key Elements to Road Map a Business Analysis Practice in Your Organization
Business Economics of Decisioning at Large Scale
The Dollars Are In the Details: Measuring the Cost of Requirements
Business Architecture: Trends and Directions by the Leaders in the Field
How Ready are You for BPM? Assessing your Maturity and Building your Roadmap
Getting Executive Buy-in for Process-Based Management
Process and Information Architectures the Missing Link to Improving Enterprise Performance
Business Capability Maps and Models: New Ideas and New Solutions
Operating in a Regulated Environment: Understanding & Incorporating Requirements Beyond your Control
Using Business Rule Management Systems Most Effectively for Your Organization
Using Behavior Driven Deployment and Feature Injection to Build Better Software
A Business Process Project Managers Security Checklist
Taking It to the Next Level of Effectiveness and Skills in Business Analysis

Your all-inclusive pass gives you access to four core BBC conferences: the Business Rules Forum, the Business Process Forum and the Business Analysis Forum (the official conference of IIBA) - plus new in 2011 the Business Architecture Summit. Bring the team: Each additional attendee from the same company registered at the same time receives an extra $ 200 off the Forum Pass.

The Building Business Capability conference is supported by the following sponsors: Bosch, InRule Technology, B2T Training, BPTrends Associates, Business Rules Solutions, LLC, IIL, RuleArts, Watermark Learning, Pegasystems, Corticon, ESI International, iRise, Be Informed, Corporate Education Group, New Wisdom Software, InQuestra, Learning Tree International, OpenRules, Inc., PMCentersUSA, Technics Publications, BRCommunity.com, Object Management Group, Association of Business Process Management Professionals and the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA).

Please visit http://www.buildingbusinesscapability.com for more information or go to http://www.buildingbusinesscapability.com/registration to register.

About Rising Media

Rising Media is a specialized media company focused on the production of business-technology related conferences and exhibitions. Rising Media currently produces events including eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit, Conversion Conference, Google Analytics Users Great Event (GAUGE), Predictive Analytics World, Predictive Analytics World for Government, Text Analytics World, Internet Marketing Conference, Web Effectiveness Conference, Building Business Capability, Search Marketing Expo, Social Gaming Summit and Semtech in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Australia. http://www.risingmedia.com.

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The Need to Know Info to Grow Your Business in 2011 -- Madwire Media Launches Marketing Online 2011

Loveland, CO (PRWEB) March 7, 2011

Almost three months into the New Year and many businesses are now asking themselves, how can my business grow in 2011? What works? What doesnt work? How much money will a marketing campaign cost? These questions can be scary, but not if you have a phenomenal marketing plan that drives results.

To be successful in business, a website design that converts clicks to customers, proper on and off-site SEO, and diversified marketing online that has the best possible return on investment is crucial. Getting those three things right is not easy, but Madwire Media's new Marketing Online 2011 guide provides expert guidance on all three totally free. Prepare for your business to burst at the seams.

Madwire Media's new Marketing Online 2011 guide explains how and why marketing online is crucial to business and the proven techniques that can and will grow businesses faster than expected. With 22 pages of abundant information, your business is sure to be inspired and thrive after you read what Madwire Media has to say.

The best part about this free guide is what comes with it. Not only does it include 22 pages of information, it also includes super sick website design mockup, free website SEO analysis and free webinar access. So don't delay. If you are ready for your business to dominate, visit the website and get your free Marketing Online 2011 guide today, http://www.marketingonline2011.com.

Original content created by Madwire Media http://www.madwirewebdesign.com

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NAPW Indianapolis Local Chapter Met for Gala Event with Indys Most Powerful Women in Business

Garden City, NY (PRWEB) November 19, 2011

The Indianapolis NAPW Chapter met for a gala networking event at the Stepping Out in Style, Dress for Success Indy event at the J.W. Marriott. The event was kicked off with a cocktail hour followed by speakers and a celebrity fashion show. NAPW members sponsored three NAPW tables and several of members companies sponsored a table as well. Thanks were extended to Sally Esbaum for coordinating the event and to all for attending!

Attendees Included Sally J. Esbaum, Jamie Van Deusen, Dee Wills, Suzanne Canull & guest, Cheryl Herzog, Jennifer McNett and Danuta Panich at Table 1; Janis Hartman, Christina Sedberry, Michele Crohn and Guest, Tammie Fish, Nita Conaway, Mary Ann Hack, Bridget McDaniel and Guest, Mercedes Soria and Guest and Table 2; Vickie Proksch and Creative Labs staff and guests at Table 3.

The Indianapolis Chapter of Dress for Success hosted their annual Stepping Out In Style fashion show in September at the JW Marriott in Downtown Indianapolis. Now in its ninth year, the popular fundraising event is attracting upwards of 900 patrons, mostly women, and boasts a guest list including some of the city's most powerful women in business. In addition, among this year's attendees was Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide, who ironically was missing a fundraiser at her New York home in order to be in Indianapolis.

Presented by PNC Bank, this year's Stepping Out In Style event included the incredibly popular "Diamond Dig" presented by Aronstam Fine Jewelers and a "Match Challenge" led by the charismatic Denny Sponsel of RJE Business Interiors that generated more than $ 50,000 for the cause. The cause itself, to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women, is reason enough to bring these women of influence back year after year and they appear to be bringing their friends and colleagues with them. It could be the fashions presented on stage by Murph Damron from several local boutiques like 8fifteen, Lesley Jane Inc. or The Secret Ingredient. More than likely, however, it's probably the models that came to support including Jennifer Browning Holmes, Sonia Chen, Jody DeFord, Anita DuBois, Jodi Hatcher, Melina Kennedy, Mary Leffler, Anna Kimble-Roberson, Bev Miller, Naie Maurer, Jennifer Satterfield Siegel, Sara Snow, B. Kaye Walter and Kitty Wooley-Tharte. Another motivator in developing such a loyal fundraiser following has to be the Indianapolis Fire Department model escorts.

The chapter extended invitations to members to next months networking meeting at Pipers Caf

AP Capital Partners Co-Founder & Sr. Managing Director featured in CNBCs I Am American Business campaign.

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) October 04, 2011

Today CNBC will be launching an ad campaign profiling exceptional business leaders including the co-founder and Sr. Managing Director of AP Capital Partners, and Chairman of The RMP Group, Richard M. Powell. He was selected for being one the most dynamic, inspiring and successful executives who represent American business leadership and integrity. Mr. Powell will be featured in a 30 second commercial on the CNBC network, alongside a 60 second extended feature on the CNBC website.

CNBCs I Am American Business shares the personal stories, challenges and triumphs of individuals who are proven leaders, and have made their mark, in the American business world. As an avid viewer of CNBC, Richard is delighted to be recognized by the network. I am honored to be featured in this campaign. It is always humbling to be referenced in the same company as Jack Welch, Donald Trump, Bob Johnson, and many other outstanding business leaders. Their stories have motivated me, and constantly remind me to raise the bar, says Mr. Powell.

As he mentions above, Richard will be joining other innovative leaders of the business world that have been profiled on I Am American Business. Others not mentioned above include Kevin Plank, Chris Gardner, Sean Combs, Tommy Hilfiger, Tori Burch and Julie Aigner-Clark. Not only have these individuals built empires, but they have created jobs for Americans and are the driving force behind the countrys business sector. AP Capital Partners would like to thank CNBC and the production crew who worked tirelessly to capture and share his story. To view the 60 second feature on Richard Powell please visit http://www.cnbc.com/id/44706341.

About AP Capital Partners

APCP is a private equity firm that makes long-term investments in exceptional enterprises. The firm's goals are to dramatically improve financial performance, deliver best-in-class products and services, and create fulfilling environments for employees. APCP delivers strong relationships, a true partnership approach, and effective execution to create value in outstanding companies. The APCP team includes highly successful financiers, institutional investors, and entrepreneurs. For additional information, please visit http://www.apcpartners.com.

For more business news please visit http://www.cnbc.com

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