Here are some good suggestions by MSN Money about what to do with year end approaching!

MSN Money shares year end tax moves

We are fast approaching the end of 2013, and I want to use my space this month to communicate some important information that needs to be considered before year-end, or shortly after the beginning of a new year.

Whether your company operates according to a calendar year, or a fiscal year, there are a few things that need to be considered to prepare for the new calendar year:

• How is your budgeting process going for the new year? Will next year be the same as this year, or should you be planning some much needed changes to make it better?
• Have you installed all of the latest versions of your software? You don’t need to wait until after the first of the year to get up-to-date. Doing it now saves pressure later.
• How about benefit changes? With the new health care laws, you may need to pay more attention to your insurance plans. How about retirement plans, and other items important to you and your employees? It is harder now than ever to find good employees, and we need to remain competitive in the marketplace to keep them.
• It is a good time to remind employees to update their W-4 information for changes that have occurred during the year like getting married, having children, buying a house, or anything else that might change their withholding needs.
• How is your budgeting process going? Oh, did I already mention that? I read once that “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you already are.” Is it time for a change?

So, update that important technology today; review procedures and policies, help employees be better managers of their information, and plan for the New Year.

CPA Practice Advisor shares a new tool, created by Thomson Reuters, which will help businesses understand the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, and determine the effect on their business. Click on the link to read the story and learn more.

Affordable Care Act Analysis Tool

CenterPoint Accounting customer, Bob Sprunger of Raygor Farms, was featured in the September 21, 2013 issue of Progressive Dairyman in the article “Lessons in Silage Management”. Click here to read the entire article.

Red Wing Software customer Gorans Brothers, Inc. was featured in the October publication, The Farmer. Gorans Brothers has a Minnesota Discovery Farms monitoring station on the farm which has been collecting nutrient and sediment data since 2007.

Jada has been a part of the Red Wing Software support team for 14 years. I talked to Jada about what she does in her spare time, and here’s what she had to say!

“I enjoy spending time with my family. I have two children, a girl named Ava who is 8, and a son named Lane who is 6, and my husband is Josh. We live out in the country in Wisconsin and enjoy the great outdoors. The kids enjoy riding dirt bike on our land. This past summer, our weekends were filled with hill climbs and motor-cross events. It is so fun to watch the kids doing something they enjoy. In my spare time I enjoy playing volleyball, and have been playing for many years on a league.”