Author: Roxanne Brown

When it comes to computer security, one must remain ever vigilant. If you need a refresher on that lesson, HP’s Threat Research department is ready to give you one today. Researchers spotted an incredibly convincing fake website, purporting to offer Windows 11 upgrades straight from Microsoft. Instead it served up a heaping helping of malware. Read more 

On September 7th Intuit announced that QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2022 will transition to a subscription-based model; eliminating the stand-alone license that everyone has been used to.  In the past you only needed to upgrade every three years to have access to features like bank feeds, payroll, support and other e-services. Usually once the new version of QuickBooks is released you could no longer purchase an older license, however they have extended the timeframe for purchasing a 2021 license until December 7, 2021 – which will be supported until May of 2024. Another MAJOR change – QuickBooks 2022 will require a 64-bit compatible Windows operating system; it will NOT run on 32-bit machines.  Please contact me to purchase a 2021 stand-alone license with a discount as soon as possible. For more information on this announcement go…

Phishing scammers love well known brand names, because people trust them, and their email designs are easy to rip off. And the brands phishers like most are the ones you’re expecting to hear from, or wouldn’t be surprised to hear from, like Amazon or DHL. Now you can add DocuSign to that list. To review more about this go to Malwarebytes.com

Which ecommerce marketing strategies are worth the time and investment? Whether your online retail company is just starting up or has reached the point of maintaining a well-established customer base, it’s important to stay up to date with the most current ecommerce marketing trends and techniques for your business. Structuring and finally launching an ecommerce website is a milestone achievement for your brand. Therefore, it’s crucial to invest in an effective website structure and ecommerce marketing strategy. If you’re interested in finding out the best tried-and-true methods, as well as the newest techniques of marketing for an ecommerce business, pay attention to the 11 tips below.   Read more of this article on Mouseflow's Blog

Is a worker an independent contractor or employee? This is an important question that has significant importance for both employers and employees. Many companies prefer to have independent contractors because it saves them money on payroll taxes and insurance. Workers prefer to be employees because it provides them job security and benefits. While there have been some basic guidelines over the years; many companies felt they were not quite clear and categorized workers incorrectly.  Classifying a working incorrectly can be a very costly mistake and even lead to an audit. On September 25, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a new proposed rule that outlines a test for classifying workers under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act).  This new proposal, the “Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor…

Microsoft has recently announced that they will officially begin the Windows 7 end of life phase on January 14, 2020. Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 on laptops and desktops, and will no longer supply patches or upgrades with security updates. The chart below describes the life cycle for all of Microsoft’s operating systems. What is End of Life? "End of life" is the date after which an application is no longer supported by the company that makes it. After Windows 7 end of life, you can continue to use it, but at your own risk. New computer viruses and other malware are developed all the time and, without the security updates to fight them off, your data and your system are vulnerable. In addition; you will eventually have issues with certain software not running properly – this is…

Trying to figure out the rules concerning writing off meals and entertainment for your small business is pretty confusing. Some meals qualify for 100% deduction, some 50% deduction and others don't allow any deductable at all. It depends on the meal, the location and the purpose of the meal.Here are some basic rules:Meals While TravelingIf you’re traveling for business, your travel expenses are partially deductible. While you can deduct 100 percent of your lodging and mileage expenses, you can only deduct 50 percent of the meals you purchase.Meals as a Form of EntertainmentAs long as there’s a business connection, meals can be considered a deductible form of entertainment. To write it off, there must be some substantial business discussion before, during, or directly after the meal.100 Percent Deductible MealsThe IRS…

Intuit has released maintenance updates to the following versions of QuickBooks: QuickBooks® 2017 R13 QuickBooks® 2018 R11 Maintenance updates are free to install and it’s very important that all installations of QuickBooks in on the same release.  If you have a workstation on a different release you will more than likely run into problems; which can lead to file corruption. To check which release you are running; with QuickBooks open press F2.  A screen will pop up with a lot of useful information; including the version year and release. For detailed information on the most recent updates; visit the links below: QuickBooks 2018 R11 QuickBooks 2017 R13 To download and apply these upgrades, go to the Upgrading QuickBooks page on Intuit website or from within QuickBooks go to Help>Update QuickBooks…

With the new year upon us comes new regulations concerning the requirement to start collecting and paying sales tax for online sales. A majority of the states have recently enacted laws requiring remote sellers to collect sales tax following the Supreme Court's South Dakota v. Wayfair decision this past June. Thirty-one states now have laws requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax. Some of these laws will go into effect in 2019. Most require remote sellers to collect sales tax after they reach a threshold of $100,000 in sales or reach 200 transactions in a given state. Once a company reaches one of those milestones, under most of the laws it must begin collecting sales tax by the first day of the next calendar month. For more information on this important…

              Intuit has announced that beginning May 31, 2019, access to Intuit add-on services will be discontinued for all QuickBooks® 2016 Desktop products.  Since we are in tax season it is a great time to purchase an upgrade to your software; as a number of stores have QuickBooks 2019 on sale.  Check your local box stores; as well as Amazon and other online retailers.  If you need to upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise; please contact us for the best pricing. What does this mean to QuickBooks 2016 users? 1. Most important, for basic accounting functionality, QuickBooks® 2016 will continue to work. However, any Intuit services that depend on an Intuit server, will no longer be functional. The main feature that most of our clients use is the bank…