Learning Center for Tax and Financial Insights

QuickBooks Online provides numerous ways for you to know which customers owe you money – and who is late.There are so many financial details to keep track of when you’re running a small business. You have to make sure your products and services are in good shape and ready to sell. You have to stay current with your bills. Orders need to be processed as quickly as possible, as do estimates and invoices. And you may have numerous questions from customers and vendors that must be addressed.Your number one priority, however, is ensuring that your customers are paying you. Whether you accept credit cards or bank transfers or issue sales receipts for cash and checks, you need to always know where you stand with incoming payments. “Are my receivables current?” should be a question you’re asking yourself or your staff frequently.QuickBooks Online offers numerous ways to know whether you’re being paid for your products and/or services and who might be falling behind. That information is critical to your understanding of how your receivables are stacking up against your payables. You should be able to gauge whether you’re making a profit, staying even, or losing money. Here’s a look at the tools you can use.Learning When You LaunchQuickBooks Online provides a good overview of your current cash flow as soon as you log into the site and see your two-pronged Dashboard. The first thing you see when you click the Business overview tab is a cash flow forecast that goes up to 24 months. Other content includes a profit and loss graph and charts showing expenses, income (including open and overdue invoice totals), and sales. Your account balances are there, too.This is helpful data, but it’s broad. To get far more detailed information, hover your mouse over Sales in the toolbar and select All Sales. The horizontal bar across the top displays dollar and transaction totals for estimates, unbilled activity, overdue (invoices), open invoices, and (invoices) paid last 30 days. When you click one of the bars, the list changes to show only that particular set of transactions.Partial view of the toolbar at the top of the Sales Transactions pageThe table of transactions is interactive. That is, there’s an Action column at the end of each row. Click the down arrow next to any of the activity listed there, and you’ll see a menu of options. Depending on the status of each, these options include commands like Receive payment, Send reminder, Print packing slip, Send, and Void.Running ReportsThe Sales Transactions page provides more of your receivables nuts and bolts than the Business overview screen does. But to get the most in-depth, customizable, comprehensive view of who owes you, you’ll need to run reports. Click Reports in the toolbar and scroll down to Who owes you.

If you are a small business owner, there may be tax benefits that you are not fully utilizing. Among them, some benefits such as business meal tax deduction have been enhanced to 100% in favor of small business owners. Watch this video for the tax advantages on which you may be missing out.

Article Highlights: Home Sale Exclusion2 out of 5 RuleBusiness Use of the HomeGain or Loss from a SalePrevious Use as a RentalForm 1099-S IRS MatchingRecordsIf you sold your home this year or are thinking about selling it, there are many tax-related issues that could apply to that sale. To help you prepare for reporting the sale you may have already made or make you aware of what issues you may face if you are in the “thinking about” stage, this article covers the tax basics and some special situations related to home sales and the home-sale gain exclusion. Home Sale Exclusion – For decades, Congress has encouraged home ownership, including by providing various tax breaks for taxpayers selling their homes. Under the current version of the tax code, you are allowed an exclusion of up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married couples) of gain from the sale of your primary residence if you owned and lived in it for at least 2 of the 5 years counting back from the sale date. You also cannot have previously taken a home-sale exclusion within the 2 years immediately preceding the sale. There is no limit on the number of times you can use the exclusion as long as you meet these time requirements; however, under some extenuating circumstances you may still be able to claim a reduced amount of the exclusion even if you haven’t satisfied the time requirements. The home-sale gain exclusion only applies to your main home, not to a second home or a rental property. 2 out of 5 Years Rule – As noted above, you must have used and owned the home for 2 out of the 5 years immediately preceding the sale. The years don’t have to be consecutive or the closest to the sale date. Vacations, short absences and short rental periods do not reduce the use period. If you are married, to qualify for the $500,000 exclusion, both you and your spouse must have used the home for 2 out of the 5 years prior to the sale, but only one of you needs to meet the ownership requirement. When only one spouse in a married couple qualifies, the maximum exclusion is limited to $250,000 instead of $500,000. Although this situation is quite rare, if you acquired the home as part of a tax-deferred exchange (sometimes referred to as a 1031 exchange), then you must have owned the home for a minimum of 5 years before the home-gain exclusion can apply.If you don’t meet the ownership and use requirements, there are some situations in which a prorated exclusion amount may be possible. An example of this situation would be if you were required to sell the home because of extenuating circumstances, such as a job-related move, a health crisis or other unforeseen events. Another rule extends the 5-year period to account for the deployment of military members and certain other government employees. Please call this office if you have not met the 2 out of 5 years rule to see if you qualify for a reduced exclusion. Business Use of the Home – If you used your home for business and claimed a tax deduction—for instance, for a home office, storing inventory in the home or using it as a day care center—that deduction probably included an amount to account for the home’s depreciation. In that case, up to the extent of the gain, the claimed depreciation cannot be excluded. Figuring Gain or Loss from a Sale – The first step is to determine how much the home cost, combining the purchase price and the cost of improvements. From this total cost, subtract any claimed casualty loss deductions and any depreciation taken on the home. The result is your tax basis. Next, subtract the sale expenses and this tax basis from the sale price. The result is your net gain or loss on the sale of the home.If the result is negative, the sale is a loss; losses on personal-use property such as homes cannot be claimed for tax purposes.If the result is a gain, however, subtract any home-gain exclusion (discussed above) up to the extent of the gain. This is your taxable gain, which is, unfortunately, subject to income tax. If you owned the home for at least a year and a day, the gain will be a long-term capital gain; as such, it will be taxed at the special capital-gains rate, which ranges from zero for low-income taxpayers to 20% for high-income taxpayers. Depending on the amount of all of your income, the gain may also be subject to the 3.8% net investment income surtax that was added as part of the Affordable Care Act. The tax computation can be rather complicated, so please call this office for assistance.

Article Highlights:Gift Tax RuleAnnual ExemptionLifetime ExemptionMedical and Tuition ExemptionsGift SplittingGifts of PropertyIf you are financially well off, you may want to gift money or property to family members or others you care about. If that is the case, there are some gift tax issues you should be aware of. Oh yes, the government even taxes gifts if they are large enough, so it is best to know the rules; otherwise, you may end up making a gift of taxes to the IRS.The gift tax rules provide two exclusions from gift tax, the annual exclusion and the lifetime exclusion:Annual Exclusion – The annual exclusion is periodically adjusted for inflation and is currently $16,000 per individual. Thus, you can give $16,000 a year to as many individuals as you wish without any gift tax or gift tax return filing requirements.Lifetime Exclusion – On top of the annual exclusion, there is a lifetime exclusion that is linked to the estate tax exclusion, which is also inflation adjusted, and for 2022 is $12,060,000. Thus, in addition to the $16,000 annual per donee exclusion, there is a $12.06 million exclusion that applies to the aggregate of all gifts more than the $16,000 per year per donee gifts.There are complications to utilizing the lifetime exclusion. You must file a gift tax return to claim the lifetime exclusion, and the amounts of the lifetime exclusion used as an exclusion from gift tax will be tracked on any gift tax return(s) filed and will reduce the estate tax exclusion. So for example, if in 2022 you make a gift of $3 million to your child, and you haven’t made gifts in the past that exceeded the annual per donee gift tax exclusion, you will pay no gift tax, but you will have reduced your remaining lifetime exclusion to $9.06 million ($12.06 million less $3 million). If you make more large gifts in the future that use up your remaining lifetime exclusion, not only will you then be subject to gift tax on the excess gifts, but at your passing, and assuming the value of your estate is large enough to be subject to estate tax, you will have no estate tax exclusion left to offset the estate’s value, so it will all be subject to estate tax.CAUTION - The estate tax rates and the lifetime exclusion have long been a political football. They date back to 2006, when the lifetime exclusion was $2 million. Congress can change the current exclusion at any time. In fact, recent proposed legislation would reduce the exclusion to $5 million.Special Tuition/Medical Exclusion - In addition to the current $16,000 annual exclusion, a donor may make gifts that are totally excluded from the gift tax in the following circumstances:Payments made directly to an educational institution for tuition. This includes college and private primary education. It does not include books or room and board.Payments made directly to any person or entity providing medical care for the donee.

When you're raising money for your project or business, it's important to be aware of the potential tax implications of your activities. Crowdfunding can be a great way to raise money, but there are a few things you should keep in mind. Watch this video for a brief discussion on how different types of crowdfunding may have different tax ramifications.

Article Highlights:Non-Refundable Tax CreditOther IncentivesQualificationsFinancingWho Gets the CreditCredit TimingNewly Constructed HomesBatteriesIf you have been considering installing a solar electric system on your home and taking advantage of the lucrative federal tax credit, time is running out. Unless Congress extends the credit, it will no longer be available after 2023. The home solar tax credit is a very lucrative non-refundable federal tax credit for 26% (22% in 2023) of the cost of the system with no maximum. So for example, if the solar electric system cost you $20,000 and was placed in service in 2022, your tax credit would be $5,200 (26% of $20,000). A non-refundable tax credit offsets your tax liability, regular and alternative minimum, dollar for dollar, and any excess is added to any credit allowable in the subsequent year. For example, if your 2022 credit was $5,200 and your 2022 tax liability was $4,000, then $4,000 of the credit would go to pay off your 2022 tax liability and the remaining $1,200 would be added to your 2023 solar credit, if any, and used to reduce your 2023 tax liability. Many state and local governments and public utilities also offer incentives, such as rebates and tax credits, for investment in renewable energy property. When deciding whether to make a purchase, you should consider the available incentives and your cost savings for operating the system.Qualifications - To qualify for the credit, the equipment must be installed in a home that is in the U.S. and that you use as your residence. The credit can't be claimed for equipment that is used to heat a swimming pool or hot tub. If the equipment is used more than 20% for business purposes, only the expenses allocable to non-business use qualify for the credit. The credit covers both the cost of the hardware and the expenses of installing it, such as labor costs for on-site preparation, assembly, and installation of the equipment and for piping or wiring to connect it to your home. You claim the credit in the year in which the installation is completed. If you install the equipment in a newly constructed or reconstructed home, you claim the credit when you move in. Financing - Solar installation companies offer a variety of ways to pay for their systems other than cash. You could take out a loan, and if that loan were secured by your home, generally you would be able to deduct the interest on the loan. Another option is to lease the system, in which case you would not qualify for the solar credit, as the leasing agency would get the credit and the lease payments you make would not be deductible. In addition, for the lease option, you would have to deal with transferring the lease to the new owner should you decide to sell the home before the lease term is up. (This may entail you paying off the lease or the buyer assuming the debt before the sale can be finalized. Some buyers may not want to take on the additional obligation.) Another option is to allow the solar company to install the solar power system and then purchase the electricity from them. You would not be entitled to the solar credit under the latter arrangement.