Articles

Know who owns your business IP rights

If intellectual property is a pivotal component of your business, you need to ensure you own the rights to that property. Demonstrating legal ownership does more than protect your IP from infringement; it adds to your business value when securing investors or new ownership. There are times in your business when you cannot assume ownership of certain intellectual property. Special consideration should be paid to IP as part of employee and contractor agreements, in third-party relationships

Take caution when offering credit monitoring

If your business is involved in an information breach, you are not generally required to offer credit services to your customers. However, many organizations do, offering services such as credit reporting, credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, and identity restoration services. Recognize that many data breaches do not actually involve risk to the consumer’s credit. Offering such services do not protect your customer from any harm that might result from the breach. What’s more, some courts have

Text messages could be binding contract

As more business communication is conducted via text messages, businesses need to be aware that they can have legal ramifications. In the eyes of the law, text messages may not be as informal as you think. An issue is emerging regarding whether a text message can constitute a binding contract. Many states have no legislation or case law on the issue. However, most states have adopted the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, which stipulates that electronic writing

Make Online Reviews Work For Your Business

Many factors play into a potential customer’s decision to buy your product or service, but one thing is clear — online reviews are at the top of the list. A recent study by BrightLocal reveals that 91 percent of people read online reviews before making a purchasing decision, and over 80 percent of people trust the reviews as much as a personal referral! Here are suggestions to improve yours:

How to Save When Attending a Wedding

Planning on attending a wedding or two (or three or four…) this summer? If you’re not careful the costs will add up fast, especially if travel is involved. Here are five tips to survive the financial cost of wedding season:

Never Take on the IRS Alone

Sleuthing your way through a tax audit by yourself is not the same as fixing a leaky faucet or changing your oil. Here are reasons you should seek professional help as soon as you receive a letter from the IRS:

Payroll Fraud Schemes Every Business Should Know

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, nearly 30 percent of businesses are victims of payroll malfeasance, with small businesses twice as likely to be affected than large businesses. Here are four scary payroll fraud schemes you need to know: Ghost employees. A ghost employee does not exist anywhere except in your payroll system. Typically, someone with access to your payroll creates a fake employee and assigns direct deposit information to a dummy account so

Get Your Life Back! Ideas to Unplug

With endless movies, TV shows and video games available to us 24/7, it’s become too easy to spend all our free time on electronic devices. If you and your family are looking for ways to unplug this summer, consider these ideas:

5 Summer Tax Savings Opportunities

Ah, summer. The weather is warm, kids are out of school, and it’s time to think about tax saving opportunities! Here are five ways you can enjoy your normal summertime activities and save on taxes: Rent out your property tax-free. If you have a cabin, condo, or similar property, consider renting it out for two weeks. The rental income you receive on property rented for less than 15 days per year is not considered taxable income.

This month:

June 16: Father’s Day June 17: 2nd quarter estimated taxes due June 17: 2018 tax deadline for U.S. citizens living abroad Summertime offers unique tax saving situations. Outlined here are five ideas everyone can use. Plus, this issue includes ideas to help you unplug from your electronics and discusses possible payroll fraud schemes. Finally, spend a minute reviewing the wisdom of asking for help should you be contacted by the IRS. Call if you would

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