Michelle Mangen is a single-mom of a son who always makes her laugh (when he's not arguing with her) and owner of Your Virtual Assistant in Neenah, WI.
Your Virtual Assistant provides virtual services to small business owners who realize that not only can they not do it all in their business but also realize that their time is better spent on the tasks that provide them with the greatest return on their invested time. She can be found on Twitter as @mmangen
According to IRS regulations all businesses are required to file 1099-MISC forms to any non-incorporated contractor they paid $600 or more to over the course of the year.
Tips to Help Save You Time and Frustration at Year End:
Be sure to obtain a completed and signed form W9 for all contractors/sub-contractors (the best time to get this is before you pay them)
Immediately enter their data into your Quickbooks or other accounting software
In Quickbooks be sure that you have also selected “Vendor is Eligible for 1099″ on their “vendor” profile
Carefully review your Chart of Accounts to determine which accounts will require review at year end to assure any vendors paid and coded to those accounts are captured for processing
Under “1099 Preferences” in Quickbooks be sure to “map” all applicable Accounts as determined in the step above
How a Virtual Assistant Can Save You Time and Money on 1099 Preparation:
Most office supply stores sell in minimum quantities of 25 – if you have have a few to prepare this can seem wasteful on numerous levels.
If you do not file on time or at all you could be subject to penalties from the IRS or state agencies.
If you do not have a computerized bookkeeping system you may find it cumbersome to print the forms (unless you have a prehistoric typewriter in your office)
What I do with all of my clients (even ones I do not do bookkeeping for) is have them submit the following information so that I can prepare and mail the 1099-MISC forms to all contractors.
Determine if my client’s State Department of Revenue requires 1099 forms (and any income thresholds dictated by the State)
If they use Quickbooks I have them provide me with a portable version of their Quickbooks file
Don’t use Quickbooks? Provide documentation of the following for each contractor:
Legal Business Name
Complete mailing address
FEIN or SSN (as applicable for their business entity structure and as completed on their submitted W9)
Dollar amount paid in the calendar year
My client’s business name, complete mailing address and FEIN numbers
Once I have the above listed information it’s easy-peasy for me to complete the remaining steps:
I will contact vendors with no W9 on record to obtain the required document
If the client does not provide me with a Quickbooks file I set up a “dummy” company in my Quickbooks file and enter in the annual amounts paid to each contractor
All 1099’s are prepared and mailed directly to the contractors
Client’s copy of the 1099, Copy A and Form 1096 are PDF’d and emailed to the client for their permanent records
The hard copies of the client’s copy of the 1099, Copy A and Form 1096 are mailed directly to the client with an addressed envelope to the appropriate IRS location (and a note
Any state documentation and forms are handled in the same manner as outlined in Steps 4 & 5
If you cringe at the thought of preparing and processing your 1099-MISC forms I’d be more than happy to assist you in 2011.
Michelle Mangen is a single-mom of a son who always makes her laugh (when he's not arguing with her) and owner of Your Virtual Assistant in Neenah, WI.
Your Virtual Assistant provides virtual services to small business owners who realize that not only can they not do it all in their business but also realize that their time is better spent on the tasks that provide them with the greatest return on their invested time. She can be found on Twitter as @mmangen
Are you experiencing email and Social Media overload?
Can you relate to the woman in this picture?
(while this isn’t me I am sure I have often looked like this before when seeing a massive number of emails in my inbox)
While I’m sure that nearly every business person can relate - however, I believe that the ones who may suffer the most are solopreneurs. Many are on Twitter, LinkedIn, have both a fan page and personal page on Facebook, subscribe to RSS feeds, newsletters, etc.
What does this mean for the average often overloaded, overwhelmed, overworked, overstressed business owner?
What can we do to process and consume the information overload as quickly and efficiently as possible?
Honestly, I have no idea – I’ve been battling it myself now for some time. I have email ADD – it’s not unusual that I am waiting for a response from a client so I can proceed on a project. What I found is that when I would go to see if I received a response email from Client Jane Doe that I would get caught up reading emails that were not “income” producing, yet nonetheless ones I needed (or believed that I needed, to read). Some time later I’d look at the clock and gasp with “Oh my gosh, it’s XX time already?”
Many productivity and time-management gurus suggest only checking your inbox three times per day. In my particular case – because most of my workload comes in by way of email this is unrealistic for me.
My email inbox is sacred real estate and I try to keep my “main” inbox for only clients and potential clients. However, I still need to process and handle all other emails that come in over the course of a day. In a full-out war on email and to take back control of my own time I began to experiment with various tools, software programs, methods, etc.
The following items/methods have proven to be highly beneficial to me in handing my email overload:
If working on a long project I will put Outlook in “offline” mode. This allows me to draft emails related to the project – yet not be distracted by any incoming mail.
I relentlessly and ruthlessly began unsubscribing from newsletters that I no longer read and from most LinkedIn group activity email updates.
I’ve left all groups on Facebook that insist on sending me a daily mass member email. (a pet peeve of mine – it’s worse than being added, without permission, to someone’s e-newsletter)
Clients who send me a considerably high number of emails have their own folder and MS Outlook rule set up so all emails are directed immediately to their specific folder.
LinkedIn requests, Facebook messages, newsletters I do read, family/friends, comments/replies on blog posts I’ve commented on, etc. (anything that is NOT directly income producing) are immediately routed to ONE special folder. That particular folder is only read at the end of the day or on the weekend – those are emails I do not feel compelled to immediately read and respond to. When I do read them I actually start a timer and record how much time I am spending on reading non-income producing items.
The last item on the list above has proven to be a truly revealing process and that alone has had the greatest impact on my overload and productivity. Once I truly realized and could quantify just how many I was receiving, as well as the time I was spending reading them, I could – without guilt – begin the process of the unsubscribing, etc.
Though I still haven’t conquered the email/information overload I do breathe much easier than I had in the past.
What processes to you have in place and what tips can you share from your personal experience?
Michelle Mangen is a single-mom of a son who always makes her laugh (when he's not arguing with her) and owner of Your Virtual Assistant in Neenah, WI.
Your Virtual Assistant provides virtual services to small business owners who realize that not only can they not do it all in their business but also realize that their time is better spent on the tasks that provide them with the greatest return on their invested time. She can be found on Twitter as @mmangen
Some of you may or may not know that my 12 year old son (Jordan) was recently diagnosed with liver disease – of which they know very little about in children.
Diet and exercise are two of the most important components
Are you a closer?
Guest Post by LaTosha Johnson
Follow LaTosha on Twitter: @TargetStars
I am a savvy shopper who has gone to a couple stores (department, electronic, etc.) over the past few weeks with the intention of buying a particular item only to walk out with a completely different one. The store employees that I refer to [...]
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