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Tax season follows the holidays, as sure as bells jingle and confetti flutters. The celebrations are delightful and just a little stressful, however doing taxes is just stressful.

To help small business owners minimize the pain of tax-time, Sam Brotman from CPAPracticeAdvisor.com has shared some good advice. These 4 tips are relevant to companies ranging from light manufacturing to digital entrepreneurs and more.

1. Prepare Year-Round

The best way to prevent an excruciating April is to spread the effort across the other 11 months. A key element here is keeping good records. Not only does this help ensure that everything is in order when the IRS deadline arrives, but it also makes it easier to take advantage of deductions. For example, one of the most common deductions is vehicle maintenance costs, which are simple to document when you have the receipts for the oil changes collected in one place. While receipts are an obvious item to gather, have you also been keeping a log of the vehicle use and travel destinations? Investopedia recommends these records, among others, for your tax preparations. When you're prepared with all the information, you can feel confident in telling the IRS what's what.

2. Stay Current on Legislation

While the IRS is the heavy hitter in April, state taxation can also be a challenge, especially since there are some crazy state tax laws on the books--we're looking at you, NYC. Are bagels really exempt from sales tax... unless someone else slices them open for you? Each year there are small changes to the tax rules in various states. But if you keep up on these kinds of adjustments, the curve-ball won't surprise you.

3. Leverage Tools and Expertise

Tip #2 brings up an important question though: Who has time to monitor all the legislatures that might impact your sales tax records? And this question is only growing in importance as e-commerce and online sales continue to be many consumers preferred shopping approach. There comes a point where a business owner has to admit that tracking receipts and tax laws isn't the best use of time. Fortunately, there are some excellent tools and reliable partners available. Taking advantage of these resources will enable you to focus your energies on strategies with the biggest ROI for your SME.

4. Beware the Most Common Pitfalls

While the previous guidelines will go a long way to help you keep your sanity during tax season, the final tips that Brotman writes about are foundational. The first warning is to not assume your tax professional will take on full responsibility for all aspects of your filing. Even the most expert help is only as good as the information you provide. Likewise, at the end of that tax form, it's going to be your name in the blank. Stay in touch with the tax preparation process so you can address challenges before they become crises. Brotman's second warning is basically to not let the IRS scare you away from benefits. If you have the documentation ready, then you should feel confident in claiming every available write-off.

To be candid, we all know that the tax season is still going to be a little stressful. There isn't a silver bullet that will solve all problems and make April as much fun as the other holidays. But armed with these guidelines, you'll be in a much better position to manage the stress and maybe even find something to celebrate--like the month of May.

• Data-entry errors?
• Limited user access?
• Yesterday's info (or last week's)?
• Minimal analysis and forecasting?

• Easily track large quantities of items
• Reduce data-entry errors and confusion
• Open the information to multiple team members
• Provide real-time data about your warehouse
• Eliminate guess-work
• Generate clarity on what you need and when you need it

Your business thrives based on the quality of work that your team produces. So a national holiday is a fitting way to honor the people who move the work forward each day.

Another way to tell your team they’re important is by providing high-quality tools, including software that helps them succeed. We’ve all felt the frustration of working with technology that complicates more than facilitates. aACEsoft, whether on Mac or PC, streamlines each phase of your team’s labor.

• aACE Accounting helps your managers track a sale from the lead to the balance sheet, while controllers can easily hop from a single entry in the GL to anywhere in the transaction chain.
• aACE Customer Relationship Management (CRM) gives a 360º view of your business relationships and full insight into your contacts with vendors, partners, and more.
• aACE Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrates sales, operations, and accounting, helping to increase visibility, automate workflows, eliminate double-entry, and reduce errors.
• Inventory is integrated seamlessly throughout the entire aACE Software solution, helping your team plan more productively and accurately, preventing costly mistakes and reducing excessive inventory.
• aACE order management provides your order writers with tools to reduce transaction times, ensure compliance, improve oversight, all to increase customer satisfaction.
• aACE production management modules replace redundant systems and spreadsheets. It helps your team coordinate job tracking, time entry, inventory application, and purchasing.
• aACE shipping and receiving tools help your department properly schedule shipments, accurately invoice customers, prevent the shipment of unpaid goods, and reconcile courier statements.

aACE Software is a value-rich alternative to systems such as Xtuple and Accountek. Learn more about the possibilities today.

DID YOU KNOW? The Best-in-Class leading organizations look for ERP solutions that are easy to use and employee friendly. Even the most functional of ERP solutions is a waste of money if employees can’t use it. A user-friendly ERP solution will lead to a higher employee usage rate and the solution’s benefits will more quickly and profoundly manifest themselves throughout an organization.
Download the full report here

Software for Mac

Robust Operating System
OS X is called the world’s most advanced operating system by Apple. The Mac environment is extremely user-friendly, incredibly stabile, features world-class security features, supports a vast majority of software needed by businesses and even supports Windows.

Business Management Software
aACE Business Suite has you covered. It’s a cross-platform, complete enterprise solution for 10 to 999 users. So even if part of your office continues to work on PC while some departments switch to Mac, you can use one business management solution company-wide. aACE can be customized to fit precise business management needs and it integrates well with other solutions and third party services such as shipping, positive pay, credit card processing via XCharge, Magento and Zen Cart. Read more about aACE software integration »

Office Products
Standard office products such as Word and Excel are available on OS X with Microsoft Office for Mac and Apple iWork provides many of the same software tools as Microsoft Office. OS X also offers businesses many built-in tools to run right out of the box, with features such as: Mail, Address Book, iCal, built-in PDF support.

Windows Compatibility
If you use software that only runs on Windows, software solutions such asParallels or VMWare can be installed on a Mac which will allow you to run Windows software simultaneously with your Mac OS X applications. Switching back and forth between the Mac environment and Windows is as easy as switching windows.

Hardware for Mac

What Hardware Will I Need to Run My Business on a Mac?
We recommend a dedicated server to run aACE Business Suite. This can range from a Mac Mini to a Mac Pro. The client workstations can be either Mac or Windows.

Backing up Business Data
It goes without saying that all data related to your business is of upmost importance. Losing any of it could be catastrophic. The Apple Time Capsule works well for regular back ups to an external drive.

For extra assurance against accident, theft, or natural disaster, consider off-site backup management and data recovery through a service like CrashPlan.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Accurately estimate your true profitability.  Build multi-level estimates to more accurately estimate diverse cost and pricing requirements.
• Prevent important dates and steps from being missed.  Create templates for common workflows and automate production tasks and schedules. Templates can transform estimates into production plans.

TIME AND EXPENSES

• Capture time when it occurs.  Start or stop the clock for a task while you are working on it. Review and submit your day’s time using aACE’s Time-Clock or Time sheets modules.
• Eliminate the administrative overhead of financial staff.  Built in approval processes allow supervisors to approve their subordinate’s time and expenses. Time and expenses — approved!

RATES AND RATE CARDS

• Establish flexible and dynamic rates.  Bill clients fixed prices, fixed mark-ups, a percentage mark-up, or a percentage margin. Volume discounting is also supported.
• Create rate cards for specific clients, client groups, or special circumstances.  The rate cards module supports standard types of rates as well as fixed and percentage discounts.

PAYMENTS AND COLLECTIONS

• Track invoices easily.  Record conversations regarding invoices using aACE’s activity tools. Update each invoice’s tracking status and expected date of payment.
• Know when a payment is received.  aACE can send the project manager a notice when a payment is received from a client, eliminating the need for managers to constantly check in with the A/R staff regarding when work can begin.

PRODUCTS AND PRICING

• Bill of Materials and Options.  Managers can configure both bill of materials and options for assembly items. Bill of material components typically remain hidden during order entry and represent the implicit aspect of production. The options interface allows managers to specify different and custom configurations for user selection during order entry.
• Fulfillment Budget and Schedule.  Items in aACE can be assigned to a task group (Bill of Operations). A task group is a specific set of steps that need to be taken during the production process. Each task contains information about the labor category, duration, budget, and assignment.

• Create robust pricing and commission models.  aACE supports fixed prices, mark-up and margin percentages, specific client discounts, group discounts, and volume pricing. Commissions can be fixed amounts, a percentage of the price, a percentage of the margin, and can change depending on the volume of units sold.
• Automatically update product costs and cost-based prices.  Managers can configure aACE to automatically update the estimated cost for an item based on purchasing activity within a selected number of days. This process automatically updates margin and mark-up based prices and eliminates the need to manage estimated costs.
• Establish margin controls and notifications.  Managers can configure aACE to automatically send a notification if an item is sold with a margin less than a selected percentage. Know if your margin is being squeezed by increasing vendor prices or overly aggressive sales personnel.

PROCUREMENT

• Reorder management made easy.  aACE auto-generates purchase orders when an item’s balance falls below the reorder threshold. The process chooses the preferred vendor, sets a quantity that will restore the item’s balance to its target balance, and sends a notification to the procurement group with a link back to the newly created purchase orders.
• Procurement Planning.  Production managers can select substitutes, keep the preferred vendor or choose from alternative vendors for an order. Purchase orders can be generated at the point when components are required in the production process.
• Receiving.  Managers are automatically sent a notification when goods are received by the receiving department. Notifications can be sent within aACE, as emails, or text messages.
• Ensure goods are properly delivered.  Procurement managers can set the tracking status of the purchase order, record conversations, and scheduled follow ups in order to ensure that the product is properly delivered.
• Know your vendors.  aACE automatically creates vendor/product associations based on purchasing activity. Product managers can enter the product code, procurement lead time, and MSRP for each vendor.

INVENTORY

• Auto-Apply.  Bill of material components can be flagged to auto-apply the inventory costs when inventoried item selection is either impractical or impossible. Similarly, inventoried items procured for a specific job can be auto-applied upon receipt if the goods are moved directly to the machine.
• Operator Entry.  The aACE task interface allows operators to record inventory usage throughout the production process.
• Back flush Entry.  aACE supports back-flush entry for assembly items, allowing job managers to simply enter exceptions at the end of the production process.
• Mobile Inventory Counting.  Count inventory with an iPad and a laser barcode scanner.

JOBS AND TASKS

• Manage projects by deliverable or phase.  Create jobs to manage specific aspects of a project. A job can be a deliverable, a phase, and have as many tasks as required.
• Delegate and schedule tasks.  Manage your own tasks as well as those you have assigned. Use resource forecasting to balance workloads.

ASSEMBLIES AND JOBS

• Assemblies.  aACE supports both single and multi-level assemblies. Each assembly is assigned a job number when an order is opened. The ID of the job reflects its position in the work breakdown structure (WBS).

• Job Management and Tracking. Tracking information in the job communicates the current stage of production based on the currently incomplete task. Use of color coding immediately indicates whether a job is pending, on schedule, or past due.
• Job and Task Scheduling.  Preferences allow managers to determine whether the deepest assembly is scheduled first or last. The duration of each job is a function of the associated task group. Anchor settings within the task group and department start/stop times determine the schedule for each task.

ORDER ENTRY

• Order Entry.  Build each production item in a hierarchical view selecting components from the options interface or from the master list. Costs include fixed and variable material costs, fulfillment (labor) costs, and component/sub costs.
• Margin Pricing and Progress Billing.  Price production items based on a margin that takes into account the full cost of the inputs, including bill of material components, optional components, and fulfillment labor costs. Progress billing allows for the billing of orders in percentage or fixed-dollar installments.

ORDER MANAGEMENT

• Regain lost sales through alternatives and suggestive selling. The aACE order entry interface provides links for alternative products and upgrades. Alternative products might include generic or premium versions. Upgrades might include complimentary items, service agreements, or warranties.
• Accept payment at point-of-sale.  aACE’s payment dialog supports cash payments, fully PCI-compliant credit card processing, a “bill me” option for clients with extended payment terms, and the ability to apply account credits.
• Know available inventory and easily manage back orders.  Order entry personnel can see available inventory balances and quickly investigate existing demand and anticipated shipments. Items can be flagged as back-ordered at point-of-sale or via the pick process. Receipt of back-ordered goods will auto-generated the necessary outgoing shipments.
• Pick, Pack, and Ship.  aACE features robust processes for managing the pick, pack, and ship process. Our Shipping Log module supports incoming shipments (receiving), outgoing shipments, and both incoming and outgoing returns.
• Auto-generate purchase orders for drop-shipped items.  The process sends a notification to the procurement group with a link back to the newly created purchase orders. Order entry personnel can also manage the procurement process directly from the sales order if applicable.