Juggling the Demands of a CPA & Family
Who among us does not know of a CPA or Tax Accountant whom you never see from December to April 16th? In our firm many of us have families and during Tax Season it is extremely difficult to carve out the kind of family time we would normally have the remainder of the year. From Accounting Today, a post written by CARL ALLEGRETTI hit a nerve with me. Not all of you reading this will be accountants, but man or woman, Mom or Dad, we all have those times when work gets busy and it is difficult to balance the demands of work and the time we need with our families and children.
“1. Set thoughtful priorities: As busy season comes around, your time becomes more and more precious as client work increases and deadlines need to be met. With all the demands on your time, something has to give. Focus on setting thoughtful priorities—both at work and in your personal life.
To find the right balance, I look closely at what my top priorities are in and out of the office. For me, family comes first. In order to find the time to coach and attend my sons’ sporting events, I stopped playing golf because I couldn’t justify the amount of time on the course.
2. Plan ahead: Many of us are great at planning when it comes to work. We have a laid out plan for all the things we want to get done. This approach becomes all the more important during busy season.
Don’t forget to also plan for personal time, which isn’t always easy given your professional demands. With careful planning, anything is possible—and that includes using your vacation time before and after peak periods of work. Like an elite athlete, we all must rest, recuperate and reenergize during the year.
I found that when I acknowledged that my personal life was as big a priority to me as my career, it became much easier to effectively plan my life outside the office. I now schedule my calendar up to a year in advance to make sure my personal and professional priorities are locked in.
3. Personal health: Taking care of yourself should be a big priority. If you are not healthy, juggling multiple tasks can become difficult. Getting enough sleep, eating right and keeping active are important in managing stress. The number one way to train the brain is physical exercise, and studies have repeatedly shown that physical activity keeps your brain healthier and stronger.”
Take the time to make a plan for your busy time. Don’t forget to carve out some time for your family and yourself no matter how busy things get.
Pete DiSalvo
CPA
June 16th Tax Deadline.
June 15th is ordinarily the date that second quarterly estimated tax payments are due, if you are self employed. This year June 15th falls on a Sunday so this year, Monday the 16th takes on added significance. If you are not sure whether, or how much you should be posting for quarterly estimated payments, last week would have been a great time to Give Pete DiSalvo a call.
If you 
are still not sure at this point, we invite you to call Pete right now! The sooner you answer this question the more Pete can do to help you minimize your taxes along with any penalty for underpayment.
Pete DiSalvo specializes in working with small businesses to help maximize profits and minimize taxes.
For those of you who like to plan ahead, September 15th is the 3rd tax deadline… Is your business ready?
Usually during the rush of tax season you have to decide upon what to base your 2014 estimates. You would have considered the safe harbors and chosen the one that best fits your circumstances at the time.
Click & let us answer all your tax questions!
Self employed taxpayers pay estimated taxes to avoid a penalty for underpayment of tax liability. The Internal Revenue Service requires taxpayers to pay the lesser of 110% of the prior year tax or 90% of the current year tax. Generally it is easier to calculate 110% of your 2013 than to estimate 2014 income.
Now that five months of the year have passed you may have a clearer picture of your income for the year. If there has been a significant change from what you used for the first quarter estimate a re-calculation now could either save you cash flow (if you will owe less) or give you an opportunity to start paying that April 15, 2015 liability now if income is higher.
If you think there is a change in your income and would like to explore with us the possibility of a change in your estimates, please click to take advantage of our Free Consultation. Don’t forget, Pete DiSalvo is the Dave Ramsey endorsed tax expert for small business.
Recipe: March Madness Mini Burgers
March Madness Mini-burgers.
Ingredients: Basketball Cheese Slices: 6 slices cheddar or American cheese black food coloring
or a knife 2″ round cookie cutter, and a 1″ or 1 1/2″ round cutter– See more at: http://www.hungryhappenings.com/2011/03/march-madness-mini-cheeseburger-recipe.html#sthash.QfLjB1xZ.dpuf
Instructions
- Dry out your mixing bowl.
- Combine the vegetable oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the mixing bowl.
- Line a heavy duty baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil.
- Pour 3 tablespoons of the oil onto the foil lined pan.
- Use your hand to swirl the oil around to get an even coating all over the pan. Be sure the get the salt evenly distributed.
- Place potatoes in mixing bowl and toss to coat evenly with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
- Lay potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over potatoes. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for 8 minutes. Rotate pan 180 degrees and continue to bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove pan and flip potatoes over. Bake for 8-14 more minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and place potato rounds on paper towels to remove excess oil.
To see complete illustrated instructions here.
– See more at: http://www.hungryhappenings.com/2011/03/march-madness-mini-cheeseburger-recipe.html#sthash.QfLjB1xZ.dpuf
Riverside Theatre – A Vero Beach Gem
Have you taken in a performance at Vero Beach’s own Riverside Theatre. You might be pleasantly surprised. The theatre complex, built in 1973, cost about $1,5 million which was raised entirely from private donations. The inaugural season for the Riverside Thatre Acting Company began in 1985, and the theatre has since grown to be one of the largest producing professional thatres in the State of Florida.
If one does a Google search for the Riverside Theatre, one might be struck by the glowing reviews placed in third party travel and entertainment sites such as Travel Advisor, and others.
As a new visitor to Vero Beach I had no idea of the caliber of theatre here. We managed to get tickets for the Opening Night of South Pacific and were treated to a superb performance! The venue is beautiful, located in the Riverside Park with an art museum nearby. If you are visiting Vero Beach and are interested in attending a theatre event worthy of Broadway consider Riverside!”
~anon
Reviews like this one can’t help but cause you to feel some hometown pride in our local Vero Beach gem. In addition to the main theatre, the Riverside Theatre complex added the Agnes Whalstrom Youth Playhouse, which provides a venue for a the Riverside Children’s Theatre, along with The Anne Morton theatre, a second stage to host the Actor’s Cabaret.
As if a year round calendar of quality theatrical fare is not benefit enough, the Riverside Theatre also offers other programs throughout the year like Luncheons, the Festival of Trees, Breakfast with Santa, Distinguished Lecturer Series featuring nationally know speakers such as President George W. Bush earlier this year.
If you are still under the impression that you must travel to New York City to enjoy a first class Theatre experience, we encourage you to check out the local fare and support the tremendous efforts put forth to bring excellent entertainment right here in Vero Beach, at the Riverside Theatre. Even if you must drive down from Titusville, or Melbourne, we believe you will be glad you did.
DiSalvo And Company, P.A. is a Treasure Coast CPA firm, with offices in Vero Beach, Titusville, and Melbourne, providing comprehensive accounting and tax services for businesses in the Treasure Coast and Space Coast area of Central Florida. We are the Dave Ramsey endorsed local provider of Tax Services in your area.
Is My Sinkhole Deductible?
If you are a Corvette fan, prepare to shed a tear. A forty foot wide sinkhole opened up in the floor at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green Kentucky this week. The gaping hole swallowed eight vehicles including the one millionth Corvette to leave the assembly line at the Corvette factory next door. Also swallowed up, were several other irreplaceable vehicles from Corvette lore. Here is the list of vehicles that went under according to the museum:
- 1962 “Black Corvette”
- 1984 PPG pace car
- 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil”
- 1992 white “1 Millionth Corvette”
- 1993 ruby red “40th Anniversary Corvette”
- 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
- 2009 white “1.5 Millionth Corvette”
- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder
Some of these vehicles are rare, or one of a kind, so establishing the value of the loss is difficult. The museum estimates that the damage will be in the millions.
So what if you are not a Corvette person? Why should you even care about this? Well, because sinkholes are not exactly an unknown phenomenon here in Florida. As recently as January of this year, a sinkhole took out a portion of a major roadway in Ft. Pierce, Florida, just south of Vero Beach, Titusville, and Melbourne. Not long before that, sinkholes claimed boats, swimming pools, and parts of home in communities not very far from us.
Is My Sinkhole Deductible?
The bottom line is that sinkholes are a part of life in this part of our nation. We need to be aware of the ever present risk, and take prudent steps to mitigate that risk as much as we can. Perhaps a call to your insurance carrier might be a good start. Ask about any options to limit your loss. If you are unfortunate enough to sustain a loss due to a sinkhole, and you live in Vero Beach, Titusville, or Melbourne, we recommend a call to DiSalvo & Co. CPA to find out if your sinkhole related casualty loss might be tax deductible.
DiSalvo & Company, P.A. is a Vero Beach based CPA firm with offices in Vero Beach, Melbourne and Titusville. We are dedicated to meeting the accounting and tax planning needs of small business and individuals throughout the Space Coast and Treasure Coast, with clients from Titusville to West Palm Beach. Call DiSalvo & Company CPA today to schedule your free consultation at (772) 770-6008.
Do You Remember Vinyl?
I may be about to give away my age here, but I noticed a small shop in Vero Beach that buys and sells vinyl records. Seeing this shop brought back memories of all the time I spent saving for, and shopping for, my favorite music on vinyl record albums. There was something almost ceremonial about listening to a new album for the first time. First you would remove the cellophane wrapper, and then carefully slip the shiny black disc out of the protective paper sleeve before placing it carefully on the platter of your turntable. Then I would wipe the 
surface with a special brush before lowering the tonearm into the outer grove for the first time. Once the music began to fill the room, I would of course study the wealth of information, art, and images on the album cover.
Bedroom walls of the 60s and 70s were frequently lined with record albums.
I listened to vinyl records long after the compact disc came along promising the world “perfect sound forever.” I stayed with vinyl largely because much of my favorite music was off the beaten path, and did not have a large enough of an audience to warrant re-release on the new digital format. Others however stayed with vinyl because they were convinced vinyl just sounds better. I must confess, I did not miss the pops and ticks that I could never eliminate from my vinyl rig, but I do believe that vinyl records were able to reproduce a degree of warmth and depth that was lacking in the new compact disc.
There is definitely basis in fact for the theory that vinyl sounds better. Real music consists of sound waves that are continuous, and ever changing in frequency. The groove in a vinyl record is able to reproduce those continuous waves. Digital on the other hand samples the continuous waves at a fixed interval and only presents the value of the waveforms at those sample points in time.
Think of it like a connect the dots drawing. If you take a drawing of a beach ball. At every half inch along the round ball you put a dot with the next number. If you replace the curved line of the original beach ball drawing with straight lines from dot to dot, you will end up with a shape that looks a little like a beach ball, but not as much as the original drawing. In our analogy, the music is the original drawing of the beach ball, and the digital recording is the connect the dots representation of the music.
After moving all those albums a few times, I finally decided that digital music was probably good enough for me, but believe it or not, the market for vinyl never died. There are dedicated enthusiast still who keep vinyl alive. Some of the more hip recording artists today are choosing to have their new work released on high quality “180 gram” vinyl albums. Audio manufacturers exist who are dedicating much effort to perfecting playback for the vinyl purist. You might not even recognize some of the more esoteric turntables for what they are.
This state of the art turntable retails for $35,950. The tone arm pictured adds $9,500. A suitable cartridge may add as much as $15,000.
It seems the major focus on music reproduction is now all about convenience rather than fidelity. With each new medium, the music is compressed a little more, and loses some quality in the process. Now that even the compact disc seems dated, I think it is quite cool that the nostalgic record player, and the vinyl record has survived.
DiSalvo And Company, P.A. is a Treasure Coast CPA firm, with offices in Vero Beach, Titusville, and Melbourne, providing comprehensive accounting and tax services for businesses in the Treasure Coast and Space Coast area of Central Florida. We are the Dave Ramsey endorsed local provider of Tax Services in your area.
Have Peace of Mind During Tax Season
As we near our annual “tax season” it is a good time to pause for a moment and examine your plan. A certain percentage of American citizens are selected for a tax audit by the IRS each year no matter what. What if it happens to you? Are you comfortable that the person you are planning to have prepare your tax return is the right person to face off against the IRS with you?
Tax Season: 2014
Are you planning to do your own taxes, maybe with the help of some do it yourself software from a big box store? I don’t think you want “the Geek Squad” helping you navigate a tax audit, do you? Imagine then for a second, staring down the IRS auditor all by yourself.
Here is some words from folks who are glad they did not to do it themselves when they sat across from the IRS not long ago.
“We eventually got the IRS issue settled but it was through Pete’s calm, collected attitude and pragmatism working with the agent that got me through this life event. Pete’s an honest and knowledgeable man with years of experience and with a high degree of integrity. He worked with me to compile all the paperwork and details for justification and explanation of the errors. Pete was a life saver for me and I place my faith and trust in him. I highly recommend Pete for your tax needs!”
- Frank S., Melbourne, FL
I’ll bet Mr. S from Melbourne Florida was glad he was not stuck on hold for someone in customer service over at TaxByte.com
Now is the time to examine your plan for taking care of this unavoidable chore that comes with being an American citizen in 2014. Now is the time to give the tax experts at Peter DiSalvo & Company,CPA a call to see if there is a better plan. Many of Peter’s clients find that for not much more than the cost of the do it yourself software, they can have the security, and peace of mind that comes when DiSalvo & Company takes care of this chore for you.
Call Peter DiSalvo & Company now at 772 770 6008 and arrange a better plan for 2014.
DiSalvo And Company, P.A. is a CPA firm with offices in Vero Beach, Melbourne and Titusville. DiSalvo and Company is committed to meeting the accounting and tax planning needs of small business and individuals throughout the Space Coast and Treasure Coast, with clients in Brevard County, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, and Martin County.
DiSalvo & Co. CPA Wishes You a Happy, and Prosperous 2014.
from
DiSalvo & Company, CPA
Melbourne – Titusville – Vero Beach
Dealing With Emergencies While Traveling Abroad
Perhaps we should have published this a few months ago. Who would want to leave Vero Beach with the weather we are having this week. But if have a European vacation planned this fall you may want to give this article about traveling emergencies a quick read.
According to the blog Invest Better Spend Smarter, based here in Vero Beach, Florida. There are a few good things to know in case you run into an emergency situation.
“Imagine falling ill in a foreign country, unsure of whether it’s just something you ate or your appendix rupturing. You head to the nearest medical facility, only to find that your insurance isn’t valid and they won’t treat you without an upfront payment. Contact your insurance company before you leave to see if your insurance plan will cover medical expenses in foreign countries. If it does not, you should consider purchasing a short-term international travel health insurance plan, such as those offered by HTH Worldwide and GeoBlue.”
To study up on more great tips for avoiding catastrophe overseas read the rest of the article here:
http://esageprime15.com/2013/10/how-to-deal-with-emergencies-while-traveling-abroad/
These ideas are curated for you by DiSalvo and Company. DiSalvo And Company, P.A. is a CPA firm with offices in Vero Beach, Melbourne and Titusville. DiSalvo and Company is committed to meeting the accounting and tax planning needs of small business and individuals throughout the Space Coast and Treasure Coast, with clients in Brevard County, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, and Martin County.
Budget Battle vs. Stock Market
CNN Money reports that:
Unless a compromise is reached during the next week, the government is poised to shut down at the start of October. While stock market investors don’t typically worry too much about a shutdown, the political wrangling and gridlock ahead of the the budget as well as the looming debt ceiling deadline may cause some volatility in the stock market and other markets, according to experts.
“We suspect a budget showdown in Washington will likely weigh on global markets for the next several weeks,”
~ Craig Johnson, senior technical research strategist at Piper Jaffray.
The budget fight overshadowed positive global economic news, as new data from HSBC showing China’s manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months.
Budget Battle vs. Stock Market
This information brought to you by the CPA firm of DiSalvo & Company, P.A. with offices in Melbourne, Titusville, and Vero Beach, Florida. DiSalvo & Company, P.A. is a full service CPA firm that does personal, business, non-profit, estate, and trust tax returns. No firm is too big or too small to receive the best service from DiSalvo & Company, P.A.
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