Friday, January 27, 2012

Business Owners: How To Keep Your Books Ready For The IRS

As a business owner, you should deposit all business receipts in a separate bank account. If possible, you should also make all disbursements by check. In regard to all business entities, with the exception of corporations, a disbursement from the business account is not necessary to qualify the expenditure as a business expense. A check written on a personal account for business purposes will qualify if that expense is otherwise allowable. It is important to document both business income and business expenses.

Write checks payable to yourself only when making withdrawals of income from your business for your own use. Avoid writing business checks payable to cash as it is important to identify which disbursements are business and which are personal. In the event of an IRS audit, this is an area that will get close scrutiny. The IRS auditor will not only look at each check to see to whom it was paid, but will also look at the reverse of the check to see by whom and how the check was endorsed. If you must write a check for cash to pay a business expense, include the receipt for the cash payment in your records. If you cannot get a receipt or a cash payment, put a statement in your records at the time of the transaction to explain the payment.

Get receipts for all business expenditures. For all business trips, make sure always to get receipts from hotels and motels. Toll receipts can also help to substantiate travel expenses. Obtain receipts from the post office when you purchase stamps and mail larger envelopes and packages. You should establish a petty cash fund for small expenses. All business expenses paid by cash should be clearly substantiated by documents showing their business purpose.

Support your entries with sales slips, invoices, canceled checks, paid bills, duplicate deposit slips, and any other documents that explain and support entries made in your books. File these materials in a safe place. Memorandums or sketchy records that approximate income, deductions, or other items affecting your tax liability will not be considered adequate by the IRS. Remember, where the IRS is concerned, the burden of proof is on the taxpayer. You will not be given the benefit of the doubt.

Classify your accounts by separating them into five groups:

1. Income
2. Expenses
3. Assets
4. Liabilities
5. Equity (net worth).

For your assets, record the date of acquisition, cost or other basis, depreciation, depletion, and anything else affecting their basis. Basis is the amount of your investment in a property for tax purposes.

Keeping Records: You must keep the books and records of your business available at all times for inspection by the IRS. Records must be kept as long as they may be needed in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Keep records supporting items reported on a tax return until the period of limitations for that tax year has expired. Usually, this is the later of:

1. Three years after the date your return is due or filed; or
2. Two years after the date the tax was paid.

However, you should keep some records indefinitely. For example, if you adopt the last-in first-out (LIFO) method of valuing your inventory or change your accounting method, records supporting these decisions and approvals from the IRS may be needed for an indefinite time.

You should also keep records that support your basis in property for as long as they are needed to figure the correct basis of your original or replacement property (including capital improvements). Keep copies of your tax returns. They will help you in preparing future tax returns and in making computations if you later file an amended return or a claim for a refund.

Using Microfilm For Recordkeeping: Microfilm and microfiche reproductions of general books of accounts (such as cash books, journals, voucher registers, and ledgers) are accepted by the IRS for recordkeeping purposes if they comply. If your micrographic system does not meet the requirements of Revenue Procedure 81-46, you may be subject to penalties.

Using Computerized Recordkeeping: If you maintain your records with an automated data processing system, you must be able to produce legible records from the system to provide the information needed to determine your correct tax liability. You must keep a complete description of the computerized portion of your accounting system. This documentation must be sufficiently detailed to show the applications being performed; the procedures used in each application; or the controls used to ensure accurate and reliable processing; and controls used to prevent the unauthorized addition, alteration, or deletion of retained records. These records must be retained for as long as they may be material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Use A Detox Diet Plan As An Alternative Health Treatment

Is a detox diet plan for yoy? Many people pursue alternative health treatments when traditional medical procedures are not being as effective as they are needed to be. Some, such as rolfing, acupuncture, and chiropractic procedures should only be done with a professional in the field. However, other kinds of alternative medical practices can be discussed with your doctor and then practiced in your own home. One such alternative type of therapy that you can do without the help of a medical professional for daily or weekly treatments is the detox diet plan.

Traditionally, the detox diet is used for those who are struggling to quit drug or alcohol abuse. There are now many other known ways in which this can help a person's health as well. Detox diets include more than simply removing addictive substances from your menu-and the diet itself is quiet complicated if you do not first research and understand the food that you should be avoiding in your daily diet. Your doctor can help you plan your detox diet so that you are eating the most beneficial foods possible. Be sure to discuss this treatment with him or her before you begin, so that you can be sure it is a healthy diet for your specific medical condition.

Detox stands for detoxification, and generally these detox diets plans are ones that remove harmful environmental toxins from your body by eliminating the source-poor food choices. First, you should minimize and eventually stop eating foods that contain harmful additive chemicals. Organic food is substituted instead. Next, add foods to your diet that promote healthy detoxification by providing the nutrients your body needs. Lastly, foods that are high in fiber and water are very important so that toxins can be drawn out of your body quickly and regularly.

Detox diet plans can be used to help with skin problems, digestive diseases, addiction, and other health concerns. It is important to be sure that you are eating in a way that is healthy for your body, so if you have other conditions, such as an eating disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, cancer, heart disease, ulcers, or low blood pressure, check with your doctor before beginning this new type of diet. It is also not suggested for those who are pregnant or nursing. If you have an adverse side effect, such as diarrhea, stomach pains, or drastic weight loss, talk to you doctor. When beginning a detox diet plan, you may experience headaches or be tired. This is normal, but if it does not improve, see your doctor.

Feeling the Rainbow: What is Color Therapy?

Believe it or not, colors affect the way we think, act, and feel more than most people would like to admit. Scientists have proven that various colors bring out different emotions in a person, affecting mental and biological processes in ways that we are only beginning to understand. In fact, some practitioners of alternative medicine have turned to colors as an answer to the health problems affecting some people. Color therapy, or chromotherapy as it is called in scientific circles, is the use of colors to affect and change moods and both physical and mental conditions.

Those who practice color therapy are few and far between, but there has been a long history of the use of colors in medical practices. Dating back to ancient Egypt, people have turned to colors to help them balance themselves and make them feel happier in their lives. In fact, the whole scheme of color therapy revolves around balance. Practitioners of color therapy use different colors to help move the energy of a person to wherever it is needed so that there is balance, allowing the person to feel at peace with him or herself. This involves all aspects of a person, whether it is mental, emotional, or even physical.

The way color therapy works is based on vibrations. Every cell in the body is composed of energy which gives off a certain vibration. It's when these vibrations are imbalanced that negative reactions begin to take place within the body. Scientists have found that colors give off vibrations as well. In fact, every color gives off a different and specific vibration. When a body is put into contact with the vibrations of a certain color, its own vibrations are then shifted. A skilled color therapist can use these vibrations to bring balance in a body, thus healing it.

How do you find out what vibrations are necessary to bring about balance? The reaction of a person to a certain color can indicate where the problem lies and what color could then help bring this balance. One way to test this is by using Luscher's Color Test. In this test, you pick colors on a screen at random, then after a couple minutes, you do the same thing, choosing first colors that appeal to you the most and moving on from there, ending with the color that appeals to you least. It's this test that gauges a person's emotional and physical state, giving the color therapist a place to start.

Although it is often viewed with skepticism, color therapy has definitive scientific information backing it up. Since we are still only beginning to understand how color affects us, color therapy is bound to grow and expand and possibly become used more often in society. Already, color is taken into account when designing rooms in a hospital, for example. Only colors that have been known to soothe people are used in decorations there. It is applications such as these where color therapy begins to break new grounds in alterative medicine.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Best Mobile Phone Contracts: The Perfect Deal for you

Are you searching for an easier and economical way to purchase a handset? Do you wish to purchase the best handset in the market? If your answer to this question is yes then your wish is granted with Best Mobile Phone Contracts.

These deals are given by the leading companies in the market like Nokia, LG, Motorola, HTC and many others. Along with a bunch of well known companies these deals also include the handsets that are currently the best sellers in the market plus which have received excellent comments from the customers all around the globe. They also consist of a variety of handsets with different styles like the touch screen, slider, bar and flip. You are free to choose whichever style you like.

Best Mobile Phone Contracts includes handsets which are fitted with enjoyable feature such as internet connection with which you can access into several websites at a great speed like Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, Google and many more. Due to this you can always stay connected with your near and dear ones even when you are out exploring the world.

Apart from these features these deals also include handsets that have GPRS, navigation system, tracking device installed in them due to which you can always find your way back home if you are lost. It also has mobile phones with unlimited downloading at a speedy rate with which you can download your favourite movie or the latest games or even videos as much as you desire.

Best Mobile Phone Contracts are normally presented to you on the base of an agreement. This particular agreement is given to you for a specific time period that might be for 20 months or 2 years or even 1 year. The contract is given to you for a long period with a single network connection in it that is Vodafone.

The buyer is only required to sign the contract and thus compel with all the terms and conditions mentioned in the contract. He or she can also purchase the chosen handset from online also.

Mobile throwing contest

There is no denying that all of us at some point wish we could throw our mobile phones out the window, down the stairs, under a car etc. Well now you can! At the UK Mobile Phone Throwing Championships! All in the aid of charity, this contest is held at the Battersea Park Athletics Track and has already been happening since the turn of the millennium in Finland.

Competitors are encouraged to bring any old mobiles they may have to be recycled. The phones that competitors actually throw are provided on the night.

With an estimated 75 million mobile phones gathering dust in drawers and cupboards across the UK, they would stretch the entire length of the Great Wall of China, nearly 5 times over! These phones will either be recycled for their materials or made as donations to poorer countries.

Officially there are two categories in the Mobile Phone Throwing. Traditional style of over the shoulder throwing, where the length of the throw is crucial, or Freestyle where points from 4 to 10 are given for aesthetics and creative choreographics.

The contestant with the highest points in both categories wins.

Mobile Phone Throwing is a light and modern Finnish sport that suits people of all ages.

Combining the recycling philosophy and fun spirit in active sport. A part of the philosophy is also a spiritual feel and the rare freedom from being available all the time in this modern world.

Mobile Phone Throwing became a hit when first arranged in year 2000 in Savonlinna.

The original organizer was a translation and interpretation company Fennolingua. Its multinational personnel had many carnival spirited athletes who threw away their frustrations along with their mobile phones.

The local recycling centre was a partner and they collected all the toxic waste after the contest. People could also buy a new mobile phone at the Championships. Ironically, the first prize was of course a new mobile phone! International media and wannabe throwers were immediately very interested and every year the Championships gather a wide range of nationalities to Savonlinna to throw the mobile phones or to watch the fun of the championships.

The next Mobile Phone throwing championship held in the UK is in August at Battersea Park, costing just £5 to enter, from 1 to 5pm. 

Few Hints to Help While You Buy a Digital Camera

Buying a digital camera is a breeze but buying a 'good' digital camera could be tricky, especially when there are thousands of models from different manufacturers around. Here are a few tips that might come handy while searching for a digital camera online.

Photography is an art that anybody, even people who lack the natural gift of clicking pictures, can learn. Who doesn't love looking at a great picture? Be it at home doing daily chores, walking down the neighborhood street, an outdoor sports event, a trip to an exotic location etc., a well captured image redefines that moment to its viewers who behold it later. Apart from being a hobby for many across the globe – young and old, male and female, photography is a major profession chosen by a lot of people almost everywhere.

The output or result of a snapshot surely depends a lot on the skill of the one behind the camera. However, modern technology has come up with ways to enable anybody regardless of their lack of photography skills to take good pictures. The coming of digital cameras has by far simplified photography. It would not be far-fetched to say that with one of the excellent digital cameras in hand, even kids in the kindergarten can grab great pictures.

Having said that, here is an interesting point. With the wide availability of digital cameras, taking shots has become very easy, but finding a genuinely good digital camera with value for every penny is surprisingly hard today. One reason for this is the fact that there are too many choices available. It becomes hard to narrow down to just one camera when there are hundreds of them with something unique in each. While it is good to get one at discounted price allowing you to save, it is also crucial that you take a look under the hood, which goes without saying, before you pay for it.

While looking at the features and functions of a camera, it is important that you have a clear knowledge of the way you intend to use the camera. In other words, you need to be sure where and how you will be using the camera. This should narrow down the eligible models considerably. For example if you are a frequent traveler, an AA battery operated one is handier than the lithium-ion battery operated ones.

Resolution of the camera is the basic and naturally first feature people look into while buying a camera. No doubt a higher megapixels camera always has more chance of capturing better pictures, but that should not be the only factor that determines the camera. It is a good way to to start looking at it first but along with that a good camera needs to incorporate other features too.

An equally important feature is the zoom function. It can make a lot of difference while taking shots as the object of your target doesn't always pose for the shutter at the same distance. If the object or person is too far away you will have to get closer physically to get a clearer shot. While doing so the target would have been already moved or the moment is already gone, but with more zooming ability, you can do away with the distance in seconds. Therefore, more the zooming ability, better the camera.

In addition, other automatic features like face & smile detection, image sensors, color modes, scene modes and many more that make grabbing images easy and and quick, delivering good outputs should be taken in to consideration. So, while you look for the cheapest digital camera that also grabs great images, know what you want and go to review sites and compare a lot.

The Best Gaming Mobile Applications

Among the many kinds of mobile applications available for smart phones, gaming apps are perhaps the world’s favorite kind. They cater to a vast range of age groups and target audience and some of them are among the most successful mobile apps downloaded worldwide. Once a developer can get their games to be popular amongst a few, the buzz spreads virally. People come to know of popular games from sources like blogs, social media platforms, and friends.

Here are some of the best gaming mobile applications ever –

Angry Birds: One of the latest and most popular mobile apps downloaded in phones around the world today. It’s a simple game of judgment. Grab a bird and use the catapult to destroy pyramids made by evil pigs. It’s fun to try getting the whole pyramid, but equally frustrating because it’s much more difficult that it sounds.

Infinity Blade: While Angry Birds is an immensely popular casual game, Infinity Blade is one of the more serious action recreations. It has extraordinary graphics and extremely good swipe based controls. Perhaps IB is one of the best iPhone / iPad apps ever. Developers say that a multiplayer mode is on its way for eagerly waiting gamers.

Cut The Rope: Like Angry Birds, ‘Cut The Rope’ is another casual physics based game, but only for the Apple iOS. All you have to do is swipe across the screen to cut a swinging rope and feed a cute monster underneath waiting for the food.

Fieldrunners: You have to protect your tower from waves of enemies rushing towards you. Every time one of them breeches your wall you lose a life. You have to create mazes of strategically places weapons to ward them off.

Rage HD: This game is perhaps one of the best examples of how powerful the Apple iOS is. This high definition and popular shooting game is one of the best iPhone mobile apps downloadable for your device. It’s a cross between a fairground ride and a shooting gallery, and extremely well made.

Plants vs. Zombies: It has invaded PCs, Phones, and touch gadgets everywhere! One of Pop Cap Games’ most popular productions, Plants vs. Zombies is wicked addictive and one of the highest rated mobile applications ever!

Street Fighter IV: The last installments of this popular franchise, ST4 is now available at rock bottom prices! This arcade fighting game is perhaps one of the longest running success stories of the video gaming world – and now it’s already a mobile application phenomenon!

Fruit Ninja: Well, fruits arrive on your screen and you have to swipe across them to slice them while avoiding the occasional bombs. It’s another casual gaming success story like ‘Cut The Rope’.

Pac Man Mobile: This ancient gaming classic is perhaps the best known video game in the world alongside names like Mario and Sonic. Now, it comes as mobile apps downloadable on your Apple or Android smart phone.

One of the most lucrative fields for phone software developers is gaming. Among so many mobile apps downloaded daily, at least 40% are games! You can use mobile applications for almost everything, but recreation and relaxation apps are perhaps among the most admired.