Homestead Protections in Texas - With Comments on Asset Protection and Estate Planning

Introduction

This is an outline of the unique protections available to an individual's residence and personal property by what are commonly referred to as the "Texas homestead laws" contained in Art. XVI, Sec. 50 of the Texas Constitution and in Texas Property Code Chapters 41 and 42.

The homestead has always been sacred in Texas. The Texas Constitution provides the homestead of a family or single adult is protected from forced sale for purposes of paying debts and judgments except in cases of purchase money, ad valorem taxes, owelty of partition (divorce), home improvement loans, home equity loans, and reverse mortgages. Further, even a permitted lien must be in writing and signed by both spouses. This protection, combined with the prohibition against garnishment of wages contained in Sec. 28, has long made Texas a haven for debtors.

It is quite possible to make a good salary (which cannot be garnished), own a million dollar Texas home, have numerous judgments against you, and be reasonably secure from creditors. This differs from other states, where judgment creditors can literally put a homeowner on the street with only the clothes on his back. Add a living trust to the mix, and asset protection and estate planning can be combined into an effective unified structure.

Texas homestead laws are liberally construed by the courts. "Indeed, a court must uphold and enforce the Texas homestead laws even though in so doing the court might unwittingly assist a dishonest debtor in wrongfully defeating his creditor." Painewebber, Inc. V. Murray, 260 B.R. 815, 822 (E.D.Tex.2001). Unless a judgment debtor owns investment real estate, sums of cash, or a business with attachable inventory, a judgment against him is essentially uncollectable.

Texas homestead protections are available only to individuals - not corporations or LLC's - and they do not encompass investment or business assets, which should be held in a traditional Texas LLC or the new Texas Series LLC.

What is a "Homestead?"

The answer is not as obvious as one might think. Texas law states that a person's homestead is primarily a question of intent. Even a vacant lot can be homestead if the owner has reasonable expectations of building a home on it.

Property Code Sec. 41.002 supplies the following size limitations:

(a) If used for the purposes of an urban home or as both an urban home and a place to exercise a calling or business, the homestead of a family or a single adult person not otherwise entitled to a homestead shall consist of not more than 10 acres of land which may be in one or more continuous lots, together with any improvements thereon.

(b) If used for the purposes of a rural home the homestead shall consist of:

(1) for a family, not more than 200 acres, which may be in one or more parcels, with the improvements thereon; or

(2) for a single, adult person, not otherwise entitled to a homestead, not more than 100 acres, which may be in one or more parcels, with the improvements thereon.

Note that this definition applies to realty and fixtures, not movable personal property, although such personal property may be exempt under Property Code Chapter 42 (see below).

A person may claim an urban homestead or a rural homestead but not both. What constitutes "urban" versus "rural" has been the subject of much litigation. It is a fact issue that may differ from case to case. Once established, however, the initial characterization of the property as urban or rural continues even if the nature of the surrounding area changes. U.S. v. Blakeman, 997 F. 2d 1084.

A family may have only one homestead. Individual family members may not also claim separate homesteads.

Out-of-Staters are Welcome

Can persons from other states declare their intent to reside in Texas and designate a protected homestead there? Yes. If the issue is raised in court, it will be a fact issue to determine whether or not such a declaration was made in good faith (or with the obvious intention of defrauding creditors) and whether there is some actual occupancy as well as additional evidence such as a Texas driver's license, voter registration card, etc. This is not a difficult test to meet, since there is no minimum number of days a person must physically reside in Texas in order to claim a homestead there. If someone has multiple lawsuits and judgments, then moving to Texas to establish a homestead may be an excellent asset protection strategy.

Moving From One Homestead to the Next

The Property Code provides in Sec. 41.001(5)(c) that "The homestead claimant's proceeds of a sale of a homestead are not subject to seizure for a creditor's claim for six months after the date of sale." This expressly permits homestead protections to be rolled over from one homestead to the next, notwithstanding the preference on the part of title companies to collect judgments upon sale of the homestead. Taylor v. Mosty Bros. Nursery, Inc., 777 S.W.2d 568, 570 (Tex.App. - San Antonio 1989, no writ).

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Home Eviction Notices - A Quick Guide

Latest forecasts predict that in 2011 an increasing number of homeowners will face up to home repossession. If your home is repossessed and you do not move out by the date set by the court you will be issued with an eviction notice.

An eviction notice is an order informing you that you will be removed from your home on a specific time and date. The eviction notice will be personally handed to you at least three days before you are expected to leave. On the date of the eviction the bailiff will explain that you are being evicted and that you must leave the property right away. You will be given a maximum of ten minutes to pack a few personal items. After this you will have fourteen days to collect the rest of your possessions such as your clothes and furniture. If you do not remove your possessions in this time then the bailiff will arrange for them to be disposed of.

You can however attempt to get the eviction process stopped. When the bailiffs hand you the eviction notice they have to give you a form to request another court hearing. You should use this form to explain your circumstances and outline the reasons why you want the bailiff's visit to be stopped or delayed. For the eviction to be stopped you will need to present strong evidence that you are able to clear your arrears and will be able to keep up with your mortgage payments.

Even after eviction it may still be possible for you to get your home back. If the mortgage lender has not sold your house and you can raise the necessary finance to pay off the mortgage then you can apply for an injunction to stop the sale of the property. The exception to this is if contracts have already been exchanged with a buyer. In this case you will be unable to prevent your home being sold.

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Mortgage Fraud Defense

A fraud charge is based on achieving personal gain from illegal actions. Credit card fraud results in obtaining products without paying. Falsifying documents may change legal proceedings, or a false signature can change a will. A growing form of fraud charge is mortgage-related fraud. Taking advantage of this form of loan can make someone many thousands of dollars, but it can also put them at risk of arrest.

Those charged with mortgage fraud will need to build a strong defense case in order to either prove innocence or attempt to fight and reduce a possible harsh sentence. The prosecution must have sufficient evidence to convict. Holes in evidence may result in overturning a sentence. Plea bargaining is also a tool that may be used in some cases. By admitting to the crime without a court case, the sentence may be reduced. For instance, rehabilitation classes substituted for jail time.

Sentences for a mortgage fraud charge will depend on the state of the crime. The degree of damage will be considered, and this number will be reflected clearly by the amount of fines assigned. At the very least, the person convicted will probably be expected to repay what was lost.

A mortgage fraud charge is most often associated with obtaining a false appraisal for a mortgage. Inflating the property value can also help someone obtain a larger, but unneeded loan. This can severely hurt lenders.

Taking kick-backs from mortgages, equity skimming, and foreclosure fraud are also becoming more and more common. Foreclosure fraud occurs when lenders take advantage of their clients, or vice-versa. Because of today's troubled housing market, officials are on the lookout for these scams
.
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Leasehold Enfranchisement: What Is a Nominee Purchaser?

It is the nominee purchaser whose name is on the Section 13 notice that is served on the freeholder - the initial notice declaring an intent to exercise the flatowners' rights under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Clause 14, 'The Participating Tenants' of the Act, gives more detail.

If four or more leaseholders want to own the freehold together then they must set up a corporate body to do so. This is because the Law of Property Act 1925 states that no more than four individuals may be listed as the owners of one property.

If you are a flat owner in a small block with three or leaseholders or fewer then you do not necessarily need to set up a nominee purchaser company. However, some neighbours choose to set up a limited company anyway because it helps with running the block and allocating responsibilities, especially when flats change hands. You may also choose the same company to organise the management of the maintenance of the building, although in larger blocks you will need separate entities for management and freehold acquisition.

The nominee purchaser can be a person, one of the flat owners, or a corporate person, a trust or, most likely, a company formed by the flat owners for the purpose. There is no legal stipulation dictating who or what is the nominee purchaser, so you and your neighbours have a free choice of directors, according to your circumstances.. However, the directors have legal responsibilities and it is worth considering a cost-effective directors' and officers' liability insurance policy.

This body could be a company or a society and the cost of setting this up and all the legal and professional costs fall to the leaseholders, not the freeholder. This process does not need to be expensive - a few hundred pounds is normal - but you must be careful to ensure that the body is correctly set up.

It can be expensive and time-consuming to have your Initial Notice rejected by the freeholder because you got it wrong. For this reason, we would recommend you ask an accountant or qualified enfranchisement solicitor to set up the nominee purchaser company even though you can buy off-the-shelf limited companies freely. The professionals will need to produce the articles of association to reflect the purpose of the company and to govern voting rights of the participants and control of shares.

The nominee purchaser must be decided upon at an early stage, in that he or she conducts the later stages of the process and, on completion, will be responsible for the management of the building. Deciding upon the nominee purchaser should be one of the early actions along with setting up a participation agreement and choosing your professional advisers in the enfranchisement process.

Any negotiations or arrangements involving neighbours in a leasehold block are fraught with difficulty. You need to be prepared for frequent long discussions with give-and-take on all sides to settle upon constituents that as many flat owners as possible are happy with. The preparatory work you do here before the notice serving begins will reap dividends in the future for all the flat owners.

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Conveyancing Solicitors and Customer Care: The Silent Factor to Consider

Conveyancing solicitors and the conveyancing market in general has only just started to make a recovery after approximately 18 months of a slump. The recovery is slow and is likely to remain so whilst the economy recovers; this means that it is very difficult for buyers and sellers alike. Over this period, a number of factors have affected the market, including:

1. Falling houses prices
2. Lack of Faith in the property market
3. Lack of faith in the banks
4. Lower percentage mortgages (i.e. no more 100% mortgages)
5. An increasing difficulty to obtain credit for all.

This has not been helped by the economic crisis we have and are still facing, and this has meant that instructing conveyancing solicitors in your transaction has become a more thought over process. Before, many people would simply instruct a local and well known solicitor without obtaining quotes etc. However, the market has evolved over recent months and this is mainly down to less transactions and people watching their pennies. This has meant that many people spend a lot of time and deliberation when looking for conveyancing solicitors. It is not only reputation, which is being considered but, more importantly, price.

The internet has become the first source for such searches with many people obtaining several quotes before appointing conveyancing solicitors. However, you must consider that when something is cheap it does not necessarily mean you are getting a good deal. Quality of work and customer service is still a very important aspect of the transaction.

You must bear in mind that by instructing conveyancing solicitors via the internet you are likely to find that they are not local and you need to ensure that where you are not able to see your solicitor face-to-face or just pop in to check on the progress - the customer service you provide is still what you would expect. Solicitors should pride themselves on not only being competitive but also providing a very high level of customer service. You should be allocated a caseworker, who will work with you from start to finish and be provided with their direct email address should you need to contact them. The conveyancing solicitors you instruct are there to provide you a with a service and should be on hand to help at all stages of this stressful transaction and make it hassle free so that you can enjoy your new home.

We at ConveyancingShoppers are a national conveyancing centre with expertise in providing residential and commercial conveyancing. Our property solicitors have over 40 years of experience on all aspects of conveyancing and property law.
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Online Conveyancing Quotes - Beware of Hidden Costs

Online conveyancing is becoming a very popular means of finding conveyancing quotes. With conveyancing it is always the case that purchasing a property is more expensive than selling. Most people are aware that stamp duty needs to be paid and this will typically start at £1,250 and can increase to many more thousands depending on the purchase price and applicable threshold. You must also pay registration costs to the Land Registry in order to transfer the property into your name and it is also a requirement of the lender to register their charge against the property. There are a number of other disbursements, which are usual to the transaction and which that should not differ from solicitor to solicitor. These include:

* Land Registry Priority Searches
* Local and Drainage and Water Searches
* Bankruptcy Searches

....to name the main ones.

However, buying a property is often a confusing and stressful time, especially if you are a first time buyer. And sometimes the fees can tumble out of control - especially with the new trend of instructing solicitors online. For this reason you need to have your wits about you. It is becoming more and more common to search for property solicitors the same way you would search for cheap car or home insurance - ONLINE! And with this quickly becoming the best way to find a cheap service, there are increasingly more and more firms providing online conveyancing quotes and services. There are also a number of comparison websites who claim to be able to compare a large number of solicitors for you and provide you with the cheapest quote.

However, "buyer beware" should extend to this initial stage of the transaction for a number of reasons. With online conveyancing, the services are not being compared. With car insurance you will usually have an ideal policy in mind - you can pick and choose certain extras and modify your quote to suit your needs. Another handy tool here is that you can compare the policy details and provisions - so you know for example if they will charge you extra for a courtesy car, their claim excess or simply that there is a limit to the amount that can be claimed back on your car stereo.

Online conveyancing services cannot be catalogues and compared in this way. Often you are simply looking at fees alone and will not be able to see what their service entails. Ok, so the regulatory bodies maintain that the basics are carried out on all conveyancing transactions to a specific standard there is not much to control the standard of customer services being provided or hidden fees. Online Conveyancing may mean that you are subjected to a non personal service throughout the transaction, which can often increase your stress levels.

Another issue to look out for is costs - it is becoming increasingly common for a BASIC quote to be provided online via a comparison site, however at the end of the transaction, when the work is completed and there is often no room to manoeuvre without facing losing your property - fees are increased. It is becoming increasingly common that solicitors issue a final bill, which is an inflation of the initial bill and usually due to hidden fees. For this reason, I cannot stress enough how important it is to do the following:

1. Read the terms and conditions of the firm.
2. Check the small print.
3. Ask the solicitors for a full quotation in writing - do not rely on any verbal quotes.

If in doubt, get other quotes and remember - the cheapest quote is not necessarily the best quote. You get what you pay for!!

We at ConveyancingShoppers are a national conveyancing centre with expertise in providing residential and commercial conveyancing. Our property solicitors have over 40 years of experience on all aspects of conveyancing and property law.

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Finding Out How Probate And Real Estate Deposits Work Together

Several perplexing terms in the real estate business may come up that don't appear to be comprehensible merely from their on-the-face names. If you've ever encountered probate before, it might or might not be understandable that it is a real estate term because it's utilized for different unrelated processes as well.This includes number of different processes.

The law would be to blame in such a case, so for the moment to speak, for the term probate, as are numerous other puzzling terminologies generally speaking. When somebody dies, an executor goes through probate to deal with the remaining assets included in the estate. Each state has different policies but some factors for going through probate include accessing a locked apartment or a single-person bank account. Often enough, an executor will need to process the will via a probate court before he or she can manage and allocate the assets within it.

If you're an investor or a possible home buyer and want to purchase property via an real estate, you will have to work together with a probate real estate deposit to do it in many states. You will note that the property is probably tangled up in probate court. Numerous estates will not have liquid assets, so an executor will attempt to settle expenses like credit card bills by selling the estate's real estate property to liquefy some money. Those named in the will only get cash from the estate after the decedent's creditors have been paid.

Every state is unique and has different laws on probate real estate deposits. California specifically demands ten percent of the entire home price to be deposited as a deposit, so this may be difficult if you are strapped for money. In such a case this may be little difficult for you. Of course, it is all well and good if you have got this additional cash obtainable, but it will be an issue for your potential house-purchasing leads if you do not.

In the end, you should make certain you protect all of your bases prior to purchasing a house. That means you also have to be conscious of the identity of the property's seller. This means verifying who the seller is and, if they happen to be an executor of an estate of which the property is really a component of, you should research the relevant state laws appropriately in this regard.

Spending hours trying to find information on homes for sale in Boulder CO? Still haven't found a good solution to search for Nederland CO homes for sale? Use these resources to find out more about different Colorado cities and homes for sale.

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Find the Right Accountant for You

We are always surprised at how much business we manage to pick up from other accountants. What makes someone want to change accountant? Often, it's the small things that really count in these sorts of relationships. It could be that their accountant always forgets their name; it could be that their accountant never returns their calls.

Large mistakes have an impact too. We have to remember; small mistakes made by an accountant can have an enormous impact on the client.

When you're choosing an accountant it's crucial to get it right first time. You will be looking for someone you will trust; someone who is dependable.

So...you're looking for a new accountant. Let's take note of what to look for:

* Friendly: you will be building a close relationship with this person. They will be getting to know the ins-and-outs of all your financial dealings. Be up-front about what you want from your accountant. If you plan to call them with random questions twice a week then let them know what it is that you expect from them.
* Upfront fees: sure, accountants can't always know how much time they are going to bill you for but you need to have some ideas about their fees and, at least, you should not be going into shock moments before you pay the fees.
* Qualifications: your accountant needs to have recognized qualifications and needs to be a member of professional bodies. So many of these chain-firms employ under-qualified staff. Would you trust your tax-return with a form that hands all your details to a non-professional for processing? Thousands of people are doing this every tax season!
* Reachable: you should be able to contact your accountant easily; make sure that they check their email more than once a week, and that you can email documents to them, make sure that you can fax them and that they return your calls. In a wonderful era of e-filing and Skype it's less important that your accountant operates close to your home but this may help if you have to drop something important from them or swing by and pick something up.
* A good website: a good accountant will have a professional, modern looking website with useful tools and calculators to help you do thinks like manage your home budget or track your refund. You will also want to a site that can offer some financial guidance.

Word of mouth is a great way to find an accountant but Google is not a bad place to start if you're new to the area. There's also yelp.com and the newer teaspiller.com to find established accountants in your area.

Not everyone is going to want the same thing from their accountant - everyone is different - but stick to our pointers and you'll not go far wrong.
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Shoeboxed, Still The Best Receipt Scanner

Tax filing is fast approaching and the least you care about is having headaches related to it. It is always important that at a critical time like tax season, everything is ready to avoid what every taxpayer is dreadful of - penalties.

That is what mainly Shoeboxed is made for. To get everything ready, receipt-wise. We all know how integral receipts are in tax-filing, as these determine the amount of return you'll be having. IRS has a way of dealing with receipts, and lucky are the citizens now, because IRS has treated electronic copies of receipts as good as the original ones.

So why is Shoeboxed the best receipt scanner, again?

I'll give you three reasons:

First, it is highly convenient. Scanning receipts is a good habit to develop, and there is no easy way to do it than using Shoeboxed. Three easy steps, and you're done. It's as easy as A, B, C. Just collect your receipts, mail them to Shoeboxed using their prepaid envelopes, let them do the work, and after some quick time you get your receipts back delivered right at your doorstep. Tell me if you even dropped a single sweat doing that. If you wonder where your receipts went, well, it has been digitalized, ready to be accessed anytime through an internet-connected computer safely stored in a reliable and highly protected system. No other people can have the access to that account, but you. Unless you share your details to others.

Second, Shoeboxed gets everything organized. Forget the clutter and welcome order. Using the account that is only accessible by you, manage your scanned receipts by pretty much everything you like. You can sort them out by date, store, totals, brand - whatever it is. This way you can track everything single dollar you spent right at the tip of your finger, and what's more - after this you can get rid of all the papers you have and even safe the environment by recycling it!

Last, but definitely not the least, Shoeboxed has innovated. Now you can choose within it's wider array of services: Business, Classic, and Lite. Prices range from $49.95 to $9.95 per month. You can also avail of their free application download, if you want Shoeboxed to be a part of your day just download it right to your iPhone and enjoy unlimited digital receipt upload. Or you can get everything free by signing up on a free trial, applicable to all three services.

And one more important thing.

Shoeboxed uses scanner devices that are Kofax-certified so if you have doubts about whether your receipts will get high quality scans, doubt no more. They make the unreadable receipts legible, they're that good!

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Balance Sheet Accounting - A Crucial Snapshot

Balance sheets are tools used by financial managers and accountants which can provide a crucial window into the financial health of a company. Balance sheets outline the equity, liabilities, and assets of a company at the end of a particular period of time. This information is then passed on to investors and shareholders. This is a vitally important reporting tool which lays out a company's financial situation in a way that possible investors and management can understand in order to make the necessary adjustments. These balance sheets must be as accurate as possible in order for an individual to make a fair assessment about the company.

Balance sheet accounting requires the individuals compiling the information to be as accurate as possible when reporting the financial status of the company. Investors sometimes refer to the sheets as statements of financial position because they help a company to gain a better understanding of their overall financial situation, including assets and liabilities. They are vital not only for investors, but also for the management team at a company since it allows them to make the necessary decisions more accurately. Having outdated or inaccurate financial information can cause members of the company's Board of Directors to make decisions that would place the company's overall health in a dangerous position.

In order for a balance sheet to be used in any kind of strategic planning, reporting that goes into it must be absolutely accurate. This requires the accounting department which is responsible for its creation to carefully oversee all of the accounting processes and reporting techniques in order to deliver an accurate report to investors and upper management. Companies that have not paid strict attention to their accounting practices have found themselves in serious financial trouble and, if it is done maliciously, serious criminal repercussions.

The benefit of an accurate and well laid out balance sheet is that investors gain a better understanding of the company and can thereby make decisions regarding the purchase or sale of stocks. Any investor interested in placing a large amount of his or her money in a particular company should spend some time carefully looking over the available balance sheets. While these can be somewhat difficult to understand, they also provide a vital snapshot that can prevent huge financial losses on the part of the investor. There are financial experts that can help investors gain a clearer understanding of the information presented in balance sheets.For more information on investing in investment opportunities usually or normally not found in the marketplace

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Balance Sheet Accounting - Letting the Professionals Take the Reigns

Investing can be a difficult process to keep track of particularly for those investors with a larger portfolio. Understanding where your returns are coming from and how your losses are made is important to getting a handle on what is going on with your money. Many investors choose to use balance sheet accounting to keep track of the money coming in and the investment going out. This is a great way to put it all down in one place and keep an eye on where your investment stands.

For some balance sheet accounting may seem like a tough way to keep track of many investments. They may need a simple process that does not need to be adjusted continuously. Finding a computer program to help keep track of your investments and your finances is a great way to let technology do a bit of the work for you making the time you spend working on your accounting minimal. This gives you more time to enjoy the benefits of your investments and spend time with family and other obligations. This does not mean that you should not keep track of your investments but that perhaps you should let there be a bit of help.

Along the lines of help, for individuals who decide they do not want to deal with balance sheet accounting and perhaps want someone else to manage the ever changing investment status a financial advisor may be of help. This will put the every day in the hands of someone else leaving you free to enjoy your life and not worry every minute about how your investments are doing. Allowing someone else to manage your investments is a good way to help you see problems coming down the way as well. They can be on the lookout for any potential issues that may arise. This means that they will be able to help you maneuver these problems as they come.

If you choose to find help in managing your day to day investment world and take control of balance sheet accounting issues you will want to be sure that they give you notice of certain changes in your investments. This will ensure that you do not get blindsided by changes that could dramatically impact your investment portfolio. You may want to set check in times and dates where they are in contact with you to discuss your current investment status and where you want to go from there. For more information on investing in investment opportunities usually or normally not found in the marketplace,

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Childcare Vouchers - Simple Way To Pay For Quality Childcare

Childcare Vouchers are widely accepted way to pay for all types ofexpenses incurred on kids. It is a great tool that parents can use to save money. If the child is under 16, one can make most of these. They do not depend on the earnings or savings.

The scheme works by allowing one to buy them directly from the salary, before tax and national insurance are deducted. It can save money on all types of registered childcare for children up to 16 years old, including day nurseries, nannies, crèches, minders, out of school clubs, holiday schemes, activity clubs and qualifying childcare offered by schools.

The only way to get vouchers is through one's employer. One can contact human resources department to find out whether it was the scheme and what is on offer. If the employer does offer childcare vouchers one should be able to buy it whether he is full- time or part- time employee.

Each company may have their own scheme or they can offer these through a childcare voucher provider. Contractors and freelancers can claim them through a Limited company.

In most of the cases, the amount is deducted from the salary.. They are often called a salary sacrifice scheme. The limit applies no matter how many children one has but the limit is per person. One can get his them as papers or electronic ones directly from the employer or the employer may ask a childcare voucher provider to give them to the employees.

Benefits -

* One can make big reliefs with tax savings.
* Allowance can be double if the partner is eligible.
* One can avoid paying NI on the value of vouchers.
* One can enjoy great customer care and peace of mind.
* The employer can attract and retain the best stuff.
* The employer can cut down on administration with simple one- off ordering.
* The employer can enhance their image as a caring employer.

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Risky Advertising - How to Avoid It

There's a common saying which goes "the higher the risk, the higher the return."

But there is a critical factor missing with this sort of thinking - you.

That's right - it doesn't matter whether it is business, property or shares... the level of risk in any given opportunity all boils down to one thing...

How good are you at it?

For example, let's say I placed a bet that I could beat Lleyton Hewitt in a game of tennis. There would be massive risk in doing that.

Why?

Because I am not very good at tennis.

But if my name was Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer there would be a lot less risk in doing so.

And it's the same with everything else.

I am not particularly knowledgeable about property or shares. Sure, I've picked up a few things over the years... I've written a number of sales letters on the topics...

But it's not my game. It's not what I do all the time.

So there would be a higher risk for me in doing that than there would be in running a marketing campaign.

And there's one good reason for that - I have more knowledge in this area.

One area which can be risky is online advertising.

Now in my view, there's no better form of getting traffic fast online than Google AdWords.

The internet has virtually replaced phone directories, or it's certainly moving that way. And research shows 92% of Australians are now going online to search for products.

But I've talked to a lot of people who have lost money with AdWords because they don't know what they are doing.

Low knowledge = high risk.

So if you'd like to get more traffic to your web site. If you'd like to be one of the 2-5% of advertisers in your market who gets 30-60% of the AdWords traffic... and if you'd like to make that traffic profitable so you can upscale it quickly...

Then I urge you to slash your risk and maximise your odds of success by mastering AdWords.
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Accounting Obligations for Freelance Workers in Spain

A lot of freelance professional new to Spain are unsure of their ongoing accounting obligations and can often get waylaid by the unsound advice of many so-called advisers. Indeed, it is very common for many of them to think that they only need to file their own taxes and pay their social security neglecting the more formal requirement to keep a correct record of their activity as a freelance worker. The following is a brief summary of the accounting requirements for freelance consultants in Spain.

Besides the ongoing tax and social security obligations, a self-employed worker must also keep the following books up to date and ready in case of an inspection:

1) Income Ledger: this should include the invoices issued by you. These should be chronologically ordered and numbered and include the name and tax number of the client and the amount of the operation with a breakdown of the applicable tax base, VAT, withholding tax and the net amount of the invoice.

2) Expense Ledger: this should include the invoices received by you, chronologically ordered and positioned in accordance with the type of expense. For example, a telephone bill should be place in the section marked Supplies. You must also include a breakdown of the applicable tax base, VAT and the total amount.

3) Capital Goods Ledger: this should reflect the cost of the goods that are going to remain in your business for more than one fiscal year (e.g. furniture, machinery, computers etc.) as well as the annual depreciation installments in accordance with legal stipulations. For example, if you purchase a computer for 1000 euros plus VAT, the amount of this total that should be deducted as an expense in the fiscal year is 260 euros as the law provides for an annual depreciation of 26% of the tax base for this type of good.

The author provides a service helping foreign nationals to set-up businesses in Spain and to get the appropriate legal, business and accounting assistance they require. To find out more click on the link - Accountants Spain; Tax in Spain

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What Is Accounting About?

So what is accounting about? It doesn't sound very sexy at all and all of the technical words sound so boring and really not appealing. But let me tell you something. Learning about how to understand accounting can be easy and not necessarily as painful as you might think. The day you understand how to read those figures on a financial report, you will feel much more in control as you will know how to use these financial tools to make more money.

What the accountant does is delivering on paper is the financial story of your business. This is basically in very simple terms what accounting is about. How to understand accounting is simply how to read a story that is stemming from your financial accounts.

Bearing this very important concept in mind, you now will have a purpose in your mind whenever you will look at your financial statements. Take your financial accounts right now and ask out loud: what is the story you are telling me? You can tell the story of your business from the past, what you did it in the past and what were the consequences in your business, what were the mistakes you made that put you into trouble and what you now can do to make it better and you can even create your story as this is what financial forecasts are for. So see, this is in a nutshell the answer to "what is accounting about?": if you are a business owner and want to get better at learning how to understand accounting.

Now that you have that new perspective, I am going to reveal the 3 golden keys which are related to the 3 financial statements you need to look at: income statement or profit and loss statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Know that each of these financial statements tells you a story and I am going to tell you which one.

Firstly, your income statement tells the story of the performance of your business:

Do you make money? Do you manage your costs well? Are you consistent with your decisions? Do you have a good sales team? Is your marketing working? Is your product well priced? Do you have a low or high margin business?

Secondly, your balance sheet tells you the story of the risks that are inherent to your business and how you have been funding your business:

Did you take a lot of risks when you entered this business? Are you in debt up to your eye ball? Do you have spare cash to invest? Do you have sound investments? Do you have a long term vision? Are you a good negotiator when it comes to your supplier?

And finally, your cash flow statement tells the story of how well you have been managing your cash and expenses payments:

Do you have a high level of monthly debt repayment compared to what your business is making, do you manage to keep some spare cash after all your payments and expenses are cashed out? Can you afford expanding your business and invest more in purchasing new materials?

So what is accounting about? You just got it! After you learn how to understand accounting, you will be able to answer all of these questions very easily!

Business Finances Made Easy's mission is to help business owners getting an accurate understanding of their business finances. This will allow them to be able to discuss their business finances at any time with confidence and will help them to get additional funding on demand.

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Top Advantages of Invoice Factoring Services

There are many advantages of using factoring if you're a business owner. One of the biggest is that you can quickly and easily boost your company's cash flow. This can be especially useful for businesses that are short of working capital, or that need to expand quickly.

Some other benefits include:

A choice of dozens of companies within the UK that offer factoring products. These include invoice finance and invoice discounting at various different rates. Because of the high level of competition within the marketplace, prices of factoring remain low and factors are willing to work with businesses that have lower turnovers.

Being able to outsource your sales ledger. Traditional factoring involves letting the factor handle your sales book, and this includes chasing invoices and securing payment from your customers. Businesses often find that this frees up a lot of time and resources that they can direct elsewhere.

Opting for non-recourse factoring means that the factor takes on the risk of bad debt. This means that if you use invoice factoring and then your customer doesn't pay, you don't have to pay anything - you're not liable for that debt. If you work in a high-risk industry or you've had problems with your customers in the past, this can give you the confidence to run your business without worrying about not being paid.

Finding out your customer's credit status. The factoring company will perform credit checks on everyone they collect payments from to make sure that they can actually pay. This can alert you in advance of any problems your customers may have, so you can take action before it's too late.

Sylvia is a business consultant with over a decade of experience streamlining business for cost savings. She writes about invoice discounting in order to help businesses with their cash flow.

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Tired Of Paperwork? Hire A Company To Record Your Routine Financial Status

A successful business running is based on successful completion of routine tasks. In routine tasks, there is a lot of paper work involved which have to be completed on the daily basis in order to start the next day afresh. Filling the accounts ledger with cash inflows and outflows comprises the major portion of paper work. If paperwork is maintained on the regular basis the accounting persons will never face a problem while checking the balance record of the company or any other financial trading error. But, there are also some other tasks to be completed by which some of the paperwork is left, which develop bottlenecks for some other operations of the company. In this case, it becomes necessary to contract an online invoicing or an online billing company which can develop the daily cash in-bounds and out-bounds documentation.

In a big company, it becomes very hard to maintain the transaction record in paper work pattern as there are many entries coming on the regular basis. Maintaining a database on paper work is really a complex thing to manage because if any document gets lost it does not have any backup to get retrieved. In the paper based record, you are not allowed to touch any of the previous files. This can disturb the current paperwork procedure and your customers have to wait for a long time to get their payments approved. To avoid all this hectic, it calls the need of outsourcing the electronic data-base structure. There are many companies which work on the similar grounds of complexity. They are there to convert the routine hectic tasks to simple operations.

If you have hired a company for any specific task, it means you have also bought some standards along. Companies work on their specially built software. The software is based on the ERP (Enterprise resource planning) framework. This will maintain the electronic data base which will be in the hands of IT experts who will be responsible of putting all the data entries which the company becomes able to operate quickly in its financial matters. You are out of the trouble of handling the paperwork and your employees are improved with their efficiency in their other routine tasks.

There is some software that works and it does not require any presence on the computer. This is only possible when the data entry system is based on automatic provision of the data.

Today, we can see the invasion of electronic database in almost every sort of organization, whether it is a bank or a hospital, a school or an industry. Every type of company is inspiring others to use the same method of data entry as it has helped the companies a lot in feeding and retrieving quick documentation from their customers. By applying this method the companies are able to carry out their routine financial operations in a more quick and compatible manner.

If you are having a business and you want the same method to be applied in your company, just check out the internet as you can get some deliberate offers over there.

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Importance of Invoice Templates

The essence of any business is its customers and if you are a small business then your future growth is entirely dependent on your customers. So, what is it that will please your customers? First off, your customers are paying money to purchase your products and services and are expecting the best return in the form of better quality.

Besides quality and consistency in your services, your customers will also look forward to attain ease and comfort. This requires you to respond to the queries of the customers as well as providing them with detailed and accurate invoices. Billing of the invoices is one of the most delicate matters in any business. The reason behind this is that through invoices your business is asking for the consideration from your customers in exchange of your services or products.

Hence, your invoice should focus on two aspects; it should be comprehensive as well as easy to read. This goal will be achieved easily with the use of invoice templates.

It is important to remember a good billing invoice template will not only be beneficial for customers, but also help your business achieve other goals. These goals are to promote your business's reputation, give a flavour of professionalism to your business as well as to have a record of your company's billing documentation in a consistent manner.

When it comes to small businesses and their invoicing, entrepreneurs find it very difficult to satisfy it's customers with such techniques while keeping their cost very low. Fortunately, small businesses can avail advantages of invoice templates with various bookkeeping software. Accounting software is software that provides a variety of opportunities for small businesses in this regard. To begin with, this accounting software is very easy to use with a high level of compatibility in reference to security.

As various companies follow different structures to present the billing details, this bookkeeping software system will help businesses, whether they are small or medium sized, to create customised invoice templates. Moreover, it will also identify details relating to your customers such as distinguish between the good and the bad customers, where your customers come from and deliver the invoices to your customers quicker.

A point to highlight here is that the instant delivery of the invoice templates to customers will result in faster receipt of the payments from them and solving their queries. With such accounting packages and invoice inventors, your business is previewing a more organised and professional image to your customers, which eventually will be beneficial for your business's productivity and future growth.

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Simplifying Small Business Bookkeeping

Accounting for small companies can be quite struggling especially if you are new to the business world. Keeping track of all your customers, solving their queries, recording all transactions, updating records, filing tax returns and managing all business issues is not an easy task. Moreover, all this may require small businesses to hire staff in order to accomplish these goals which mean an increase in the company's operating costs or you can say decrease in profits.

Despite of this fact, small businesses are clinging to the traditional ways of bookkeeping. Although there is nothing wrong with these methods, but as they involve handwritten ledgers and manual calculations, it consumes more time as well as more effort. Plus, when complex transactions are involved in your dealings, these conventional methods may not be very accurate. Not to forget about the chances of errors and fraud that can be the part of such bookkeeping.

So, in order to save your accountant's fee and your time as well as your efforts, along with making the filing of your tax returns less traumatic, small businesses need to adapt to the various bookkeeping software. However, before you choose any software for your small business accounting purposes, you must make a cost-benefit analysis or even consult a professional.

Complying with local standards to maintain your accounting records is also a major concern as different countries may have their own set of rules. Small businesses which have stepped in the business world are often unaware of these standards. There are many customized accounting packages available, which are made according to the requirements of various countries. Using such packages will be of great assistance when it comes to being in compliance with these standards.

Accounting Software is a great option for small sized businesses because it takes care of all their accounting needs. Business cash controls and all the other records are being maintained with great quality. Invoice creator is useful for easy tracking of customers and their billing issues. Organising raw data with speed and accuracy, along with proper documentation of the processed information for future references is another reason why these methods are preferred over conventional accounting techniques.

Comprehensive reports for the profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow summaries and ratio analyses are maintained which will in turn help you take rational decisions and improve your business profitability as a whole.

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Basic Facts About Accountants

Accountancy is an integral tool that aids a company's management in analysing the factors that lead to a business' success or failure. An accountant is the person in charge of keeping financial records and producing the reports needed to assess the company's financial situation.

The internal accountant is a person who is directly employed by your company and ensures that your financial records are correct and accurate, while an external accountant, as the term implies, is a third party accountant who is hired by the company to check if their employees and management have not been embezzling the company's funds.

In key cities such as Redcliffe, an accountant is a highly respected individual who has typically gone through an educational training that prepares him for the rigorous task of analyzing a business and keeping it afloat. Big companies based in Redcliffe hire accountants who have highly developed communication and technical skills. Of course, an experienced accountant has an edge that sets him apart from a newbie.

An accountant is trusted with the company's best kept secrets and knows the financial standing of the company. As such, an accountant must always maintain a high integrity and resist the temptations and briberies that may come his way.

In Redcliffe, an accountant is prized not only because of the skills he has, but also for an impeccable reputation that should precede him. Thus, it is imperative that one must have honesty and integrity in order to be trusted and hired by a good company, and to be able to have steady career advancement.

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