Seven Project Management Tools You Can Start Using for FREE …rg-cpa.com/images/GoodmanJuly2016StraightTalkv2.pdf · 2016-06-24 · Seven Project Management Tools You Can Start Using

Seven Project Management Tools You Can Start Using for FREE Right Now

Welcome to the July 2016 edition of the Straight Talk Newsletter. With Independence Day in the air, we are sure that you’re looking ahead to a barbecue or two.

To start things off this month, right on the front page is an article that highlights several project management software tools that you can download and use for free.

Also, in this month’s issue, we have included information regarding the final overtime rule change. This could prove detrimental to some businesses, so I highly advise turning to page 2 and reading that article.

In addition, we have included a light-hearted article about a hungry boy and a thief.

I’m sure that the article will bring a smile to your face.

The rest of the newsletter is filled with articles geared to help you in your business.

Until Next Time, Rober t Goodman, CPA, MBA

Robert Goodman’s STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSTM Newsletter • July 2016 • Page 1

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The newsletter designed to keep you on course to build a successful small business

The one thing they don’t teach you in business school is juggling, but maybe

they should. As a small business owner, you do it all. You probably change roles more often in a day than even the hardest-working actor does in a year.

It’s no surprise that today’s small business owners are wising up and taking a closer look at project management tools as a way to build a successful enterprise.

You might hear the term “project management” and think, That’s a concept for big businesses, not for small folks like me, but you would be mistaken. Successful project management boils down to one thing: reaching your goals on time and within budget.

What’s important is that you identify which project management methods will work best for your small business. Generally speaking, small businesses get more mileage out of project management tools that streamline collaboration and facilitate sharing of information. Project

management tools can help you schedule tasks, track costs, even evaluate what works and what doesn’t. Tools that require

inflexible structures and detailed task descriptions tend not to work as well for smaller businesses.

Following are several project management tools available online, most accessible via smartphone app, and all offering free

options. Consider exploring these:

• Trello offers unlimited users and projects, but only offers 10MB of storage on their free version. Luckily, it’s easy to get Trello Gold–just share and get a new user on board, and you’ll jump up to 250MB for a year. Looking to pay for it? It’s only $5 a month, or $45 for a year.

• Evernote is available for web, Android, Windows and iOS. Evernote provides integrated apps, task tracking, blog publication and public and private “notes” formatted into a presentation.

• Zoho Projects lets you have as many users as you’d like and, apart from a 10 MB limit on storage, doesn’t have any limitations on functionality in the free

version.

• MeisterTask offers unlimited users and projects, has native apps for iPhone and iPad, and gives free users two integrations (like with Dropbox, GitHub, Zendesk and Google Drive).

• Freedcamp offers unlimited users, projects with innumerable functions. 200 MB of storage–upgrade to 1 GB for $2.49 a month.

• GanttProject is another open-source free project scheduling and management tool. This system can generate Gantt and PERT charts, produce reports in HTML and PDF formats, and offers versatile scheduling and time management tools.

• Bitrix24 is a project management system entirely free for up to 12 users, with an option to upgrade to more for $99 per month. The features rival those of PM’s current go-to software: BaseCamp.

When you step back and look at it, the project of running your business is an endless string of smaller projects. Try taking a project management approach and see how it works for you. More and more entrepreneurs are bringing this big-business methodology to their smaller businesses with tremendous results. g

Robert Goodman, CPA, MBA

Do You Have A Tough Accounting /Tax Question You Want Answered?

I love hearing from my small business clients and friends who enjoy reading my monthly newsletter. I’m always looking to answer

pressing questions you might have relating to small business. If you have a question, tip or idea, please call me at (617) 964-4766 or email me at bob@rgcpa. Perhaps I’ll feature you in a future issue!

Are You In Need ofa Qualifi ed Tax Pro?

If you are not my client and would like to explore whether we might be a good fi t, please

contact me. As a qualifi ed tax professional, I not only know all the rules, but can also help you deal with the IRS and help you decide how far to push a dispute.

I pressing questions you might have relating to small business.

f you are not my client and would like to explore whether we might be a good fi t, please

contact me. As a qualifi ed tax professional, I not

Did You Know? More Exercise Isn’t Necessarily Better

Losing weight is just a matter of exercising, right? Actually, that may not be the case, according to a study of exercise and

weight loss reported on the CNN website.

Researchers looked at 332 adults in the U.S., Jamaica, and Africa, measuring their activity level over a week. The volunteers

displayed a variety of exercise levels from sedentary to active. Although those who exercised and were active burned away more calories than the others,

their activity tended to hit a plateau — after a certain level, more exercise didn’t produce more weight loss.

Switching exercises helped a little, since using different muscles can make your body use more energy. But in the long run, a combination of exercise and a reduced-calorie diet may be your best bet for losing those unwanted pounds.

Robert Goodman’s STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSTM Newsletter • July 2016 • Page 2

The secret of getting ahead is

getting started. — Mark Twain

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. — W. Clement Stone

Success is not fi nal, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. — Winston Churchill

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. — George S. Patton

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you. — John Wooden

Get More Effi cient To Get More Done

If you want to get more accomplished at work, start

developing these essential habits to increase your efficiency on the job:

• Turn off cell phone alerts. Resist the temptation to stop what you’re doing every time your phone beeps with a new message. You’ll be able to focus better on tasks when you’re not constantly distracted and interrupted.

• Fine-tune your to-do list. When planning your day, add estimated times to each item on your to-do list. This will help you decide what to do first and what can be saved for later.

• Run two-minute drills. Every few hours, look at your list for tasks that can be done quickly—answering emails and phone calls, confirming appointments, and the like. Spend a few minutes clearing those away, and you’ll have more blocks of uninterrupted time to take on bigger tasks.

• Take regular breaks. You’ll burn out if you go full throttle for eight or 10 hours. Determine how long you can effectively concentrate on a single task (usually between 30 minutes and an hour, for most people). Take a break after that time—walk around, get out of the building, talk to co-workers—and you’ll return feeling refreshed.

Final Overtime Rule AnnouncedThe U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

announced the release of its highly anticipated final overtime rule, which expands overtime protections to millions of workers across the U.S.

The final rule updates the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act by raising the salary threshold from $23,660 per year ($445 per week) to $47,476 per year ($913 per week) for the executive, administrative, and professional (white collar) exemptions.

Additionally, the final rule will: ensure the salary threshold is updated every three years; raise the “highly compensated employee” (HCE) annual salary threshold from $100,000 to $134,004; make no changes to the “duties test” under the white collar exemptions; and allow bonuses and incentive payments to count toward up to 10 percent of the new salary level.

According to DOL, the rule will take effect on December 1, 2016.

Celebrities aren’t necessarily smarter than the rest of us, but their success

speaks for itself. Here’s what they have to say about achieving success in any endeavor:

• Leonardo DiCaprio, actor: “I’ve been very lucky to have achieved a lot of the things that I dreamt of achieving as a young man. But at the end of the day—and I truly believe this—it is not about achieving great wealth or success, because they don’t bring happiness ultimately. They really don’t. What matters is whether or not you’ve fulfilled the idea of having led an interesting life, whether you’ve contributed in some way to the world around you.”

• Beyoncé, singer: “The reality is, sometimes you lose. And you’re never too good to lose, you’re never too big to lose, you’re never too smart to lose; it happens. And it happens when it needs to happen. And you have to embrace those things.”

• Justin Timberlake, singer: “I like being a beginner. I like the moment where I can look at everyone and say, ‘I have no idea how to do this. Let’s figure it out.’”

• Chris Pine, actor: “Fear runs our lives. It doesn’t matter who you are. You have to understand your relationship with fear. Whether you’re scared of getting into a relationship or taking the new job or a confrontation—you have to size fear up.”

• Ellen DeGeneres, talk show host: “Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and lost and you see a path. Then, by all means, follow that path.”

Robert Goodman’s STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSTM Newsletter • July 2016 • Page 3

Enough is enough! Matilda fi nally faxed herself to Hawaii!

Has your company spent time and other resources developing new

products and processes, or improving existing ones? You may qualify for the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit. You might even be one of the many qualifying companies that’s failed to claim it in previous years.

Only two methods of accounting are permissible for R&D expenditures:

1) You may deduct your R&D expenses in the tax year in which you paid or incurred; or

2) Regulations allow eligible taxpayers to “look back” to all open tax years (typically three years plus the current year) for potential research credits that were never claimed.

You might think the R&D Tax Credit is only for major corporations with research labs, but you’d be wrong. It’s for businesses of all sizes.

The expenditures of R&D are reasonable costs you incur in your trade or business for activities intended to provide information to help eliminate uncertainty about the development or improvement of a product.

Uncertainty exists if the information available to you does not establish how to develop or improve a product or the appropriate design of a product.

Whether or not expenditures qualify as R&D expenditures depends on the nature of the activity to which the expenditures relate. Neither the nature of the product (or improvement) being developed, nor the level of technological advancement, matters when making this determination.

R&D expenditures include the expenditures of obtaining a patent, such as attorney’s fees expended in making and perfecting a patent application.

The term “product” includes any the

following:• Formula• Invention• Patent• Pilot Model• Process• Technique• Similar Property

R&D expenditures do not include expenditures for any of the following:

• Quality control testing• Advertising or promotions• Consumer surveys• Effi ciency surveys• Management studies• Research in connection with literary, historical, or similar projects• The acquisition of another’s patent, model, production, or process

Many state governments reward taxpayers with income tax credits for increasing R&D spending. In some states, companies may take a credit against their state income or franchise tax equal to a percentage of their qualified R&D expenditures over some base amount (the credit typically can be carried forward or backward for a specified number of years). States generally use the federal definition of qualified R&D in their tax codes.

The R&D Tax Credit and other related tax breaks save U.S. businesses more than $12 billion a year. What savings have you been overlooking?

Robert Goodman’s STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSTM Newsletter • July 2016 • Page 4

See What’s Inside...Seven FREE Project Management Tools

Get More Effi cient To Get More Done

More Exercise Isn’t Necessarily Better

Final Overtime Rule Announced

Advice from the A-List

Tax Corner: Take Advantage of R&D Credits to Lower Your Tax Bill

Beyond Hard Work: Focus On These

The Hungry Thief

Beyond Hard Work: Focus On These

Hard work is essential to business success, but it’s not

the only factor that can help you advance and grow your business. Focus on these additional elements:

• Purpose. Remember why you started your business — what

you’re trying to achieve with your business. Chances are it’s more than just a paycheck. Stay fixed on your purpose and you’ll make better decisions moving forward.

• Development. Never stop looking for opportunities to master new skills and grow, both professionally and personally. The more you know about your industry and yourself, the better positioned you’ll be for advancement.

• Determination. Believe that you can accomplish your goals, whatever they are. Yes, you may fail along the way, but your belief in yourself will see you through the dark times.

The Hungry Thief

Joe and Sam went into a bakery. When the cashier

wasn’t looking, Joe quickly slipped three doughnuts into the pocket of his jacket.

“What are you doing?” Sam whispered. “You just stole those!”

“So what?” Joe asked. “Nobody saw a thing.”

Sam waved the cashier over. “Give me a doughnut, and I’ll show you a magic trick.”

Intrigued, the cashier handed over a doughnut. Sam ate it, then asked for a second one, and then a third.

“So what’s the trick?” the cashier asked, skeptically.

“You know where those doughnuts are now?”

The cashier frowned. “Where?”

“Look in my friend’s pocket.

whispered. “You just stole those!”

“So what?” Joe asked. “Nobody saw

“Delivering Value”1340 Centre Street, Suite 200Newton Center, MA, 02459Ph: (617) 964-4766 • Fax: (617)904-1141 Website: rg-cpa.com • Email: [email protected]: AICPA, Mass Society of CPAs, Principal Alliance, 20/20 GroupPlease visit our new updated website: rg-cpa.com& ask me about a free personal Tax plan!

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