2011 October Newsletter
Oct
1
Written by:
10/1/2011 7:30 AM
For most of us, Fall symbolizes change, not just in the weather but also in our personal and professional lives. We spend our time a little differently during this time of the year - maybe more of it indoors, or busily working on a targeted campaign or upcoming event. Here at Falco Sult, we are definitely speeding up rather than slowing down this month.
October 17 marks the end of the 2010 tax filing season for clients in our individual tax practice. We also have quarter end work to complete for companies with financial statement and payroll tax filing needs. If you have to file excise tax returns in King County, be sure to read our Featured Article about the changes in the sales tax rates.
We also spend this month meeting the accountants of the future. For those of you who don't know our college ties, we travel to meet and present to students in the Accounting department at Western Washington University. Each year, our goal is to hire at least one full-time staff person, typically a 5th year graduating senior, who begins work with us the following Fall. Some of you have already met and worked with Leigh Hogan, our choice from our last recruiting season. We're thrilled to have her on board and hope that you feel the same as you work with her.
Read on for information regarding our new client tools, critical Microsoft updates and changes to the King County sales tax rates. If you ever need to refer back to an article you read in a past newsletter, don't worry, we keep them posted on our News page.
As we mentioned in last month's newsletter, our firm is undergoing a major software change. The most noticeable changes for you will be our Client Portal tool and invoice/statement delivery method.
Our new portal - NetClient CS - will offer the same online access to your documents and secure file transferring, but in a much more user-friendly manner. The main issues that you had with our previous portal tool - limited browser compatibility and multiple sets of log in credentials - will now be a thing of the past.
NetClient CS will allow you access to all of your portals, business and personal, through one set of log in credentials, that you set and manage, and works with any of the following browers:
- Google Chrome
- Internet Explorer version 7.0 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox version 3.0 or higher
- Safari version 5.0 or higher
We will be rolling this new product out in the month of November. Once we create an account for you, you will receive an activation email message from register@netclientcs.com. The message will contain a link through which you can create a log in and password for your portal.
Also, in our continued mission to become a completely paperless office, we will be delivering your invoices and statements to you via email starting this month. If you wish to continue receiving paper invoices and statements, please contact Renee' Sult.
Our goal is to deliver greater efficiency and better integrated technology that will ultimately benefit you and your interface with Falco Sult. We're here every step of the way with you during this transition and appreciate you working with us through this process.
We are proud to announce and share with you our most recent accolade: "Best Financial Advisor of Redmond 2011", courtesy of the Redmond Reporter newspaper. This is our second consecutive year earning this award in the financial advisor category.
The Redmond Reporter readers selected us through online and mail-in ballots. Thanks to everyone who voted for us as we couldn't have achieved this success without you. We're happy to be the Best in Redmond!
On Sunday, November 20, Hopelink will hold its annual Turkey Trot walk and fun run in Kirkland. The "Trot" raises money to help low-income families in east and north King County get through the challenging winter months. Please consider joining Falco Sult at this family and pet friendly community event to help our neighbors in need this season.
Whether you are a walker, trotter, waddler or 5K runner, there is a place for you at this event. It kicks off at 10am in Marina Park with a full day of festivities for the entire family.
We are excited to announce the formation of this new non-profit trade organization in the Puget Sound area. Their main focus is to create a cooperative collaboration of professionals directly involved in all aspects of business brokerage and mergers & acquisitions, and to provide networking, education and synergy in the Puget Sound markets. If you are involved in any aspect of the business sale process, from lending to legal, you are welcome to join.
Learn more about this organization, membership and founding members (including our own Chris Falco). The next event is scheduled for January 2012 (date TBD).
Finally, some good news with respect to taxes. The following taxes, which began in 1996 to help pay for Safeco Field, expired on October 1, 2011:
- King County food and beverage tax (0.5%)
- King County special car rental tax (2.0%)
Visit the Department of Revenue website for tax rate tools and business resources.
Tax issues can sometimes be complex. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us and we'll happily connect you with one of our bookkeeping and excise tax pros.
We thought you should know that Microsoft launched a number of significant updates on Tuesday, October 11th. We highly recommend that you consider downloading the critical and recommended updates on your workstations and servers.
Read more about what the updates are designed to accomplish. Also, should you need assistance with this process, just contact our office and ask for Jeff Hanley, our certified technology consultant.