Business Services | Empire Taxes of Rockland

Small Business Accounting
As a small business owner you have more important things to do than to keep your own books. We take care of your books for you, so you can get back to the job of running your business and generating profits.

Payroll
We offer payroll solutions that meet your business’s needs and enable you to spend time doing what you do best–running your company.

Audits – Reviews – Compilations
Your stockholders, creditors, or private investors have different levels of risk tolerance, so we provide three levels of assurance to meet your needs.

New Business Formation
Opening your own business is exciting and thrilling. It’s everything that comes after the excitement and thrill has worn off that dictates whether a small business will make it or not.

Non-Profit Organizations
The IRS uses very specific revenue and expense classifications to determine if your organization will retain its tax-exempt status.

Small Business Accounting

As a small business owner you have more important things to do than to keep your own books. We take care of your books for you, so you can get back to the job of running your business and generating profits.

Each month or quarter we’ll do the following things for you…

Reconcile your bank account
Generate an income statement
Generate a balance sheet
Clean up your general ledger
Provide unlimited consultations

These tasks form the solid foundation of your small business accounting system. You can customize the package of services you receive by adding payroll, tax planning, tax preparation, or any of our other services.

Bank Reconciliation

Reconciling your business checking account each month allow us to keep your bank account, accounting, and taxes up-to-date.

Having us reconcile your account each month allows you to…

Identify lost checks, lost deposits and unauthorized wire transactions.

Detect and prevent excess/unjustified bank charges and ensures transactions are posted correctly by your bank.
Detect and prevent embezzlement of funds from within your company.
Know how your business is doing? You can’t really know unless all accounts are reconciled and properly accounted for on your financial statement.
Manage your cash more effectively. Proper management of funds not only saves money, it makes money for you.

Protect yourself. By timely reconciling and promptly objecting to your bank about any unauthorized, fraudulent or forged checks presented to your bank and paid by that bank, you can relieve your agency of responsibility for the shortfall and transfer the risk to the bank. This reason to reconcile alone should be enough. Crime exists.
Sleep Better. You will sleep more peacefully at night knowing your bank accounts are reconciled, in balance and that all escrow funds, accounts, checks and disbursed funds are properly accounted for.

Income Statement

An income statement, otherwise known as a profit and loss statement, basically adds an itemized list of all your revenues and subtracts an itemized list of all your expenses to come up with a profit or loss for the period.

An income statement allows you to…

Track revenues and expenses so that you can determine the operating performance of your business.
Determine what areas of your business are over-budget or under-budget.
Identify specific items that are causing unexpected expenditures. Like phone, fax, mail, or supply expenses.
Track dramatic increases in product returns or cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales.
Determine your income tax liability.

Balance Sheet

A balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your business’ financial condition at a specific moment in time.

A balance sheet helps you:

quickly get a handle on the financial strength and capabilities of your business
identify and analyze trends, particularly in the area of receivables and payables. For example, if your receivables cycle is lengthening, maybe you can collect your receivables more aggressively
determine if your business is in a position to expand
determine if your business can easily handle the normal financial ebbs and flows of revenues and expenses
determine if you need to take immediate steps to bolster cash reserves
determine if your business has been slowing down payables to forestall an inevitable cash shortage

Balance sheets, along with income statements, are the most basic elements in providing financial reporting to potential lenders such as banks, investors, and vendors who are considering how much credit to grant you.

Maintaining a Clean General Ledger

The general ledger is the core of your company’s financial records. These records constitute the central “books” of your system. Since every transaction flows through the general ledger, a problem with your general ledger throws off all your books.

Having us review your general ledger system each month allows us to hunt down any discrepancies such as double billings or any unrecorded payments. Then we’ll fix the discrepancies so your books are always accurate and kept in tip top shape.
Unlimited Consultations

We are always available to spend time with you so you fully understand how to interpret and utilize the financial information we provide. Our consultations are already included in our price, so please feel free to call us whenever you have a question or concern.

Payroll

When it comes to paying employees, laws and the IRS have made the payroll function a time consuming nightmare for the small business owner.

Small business owners spend an average of eight hours a month performing payroll functions. That’s 12 full days a year that could be spent generating sales, prospecting new business opportunities, improving products or services, or servicing customers.

We offer payroll solutions that meet your business’s needs and enable you to spend time doing what you do best–running your company.

Why Outsource Your Payroll…

Its Cost Effective
Use your staff more efficiently by letting us handle payroll and the associated legal details. Reduce overhead by removing the need to hire specialized employees.

It’s a Time Saver

Our payroll service eliminates the burden of customizing, updating and maintaining your own payroll system–no more data entry, no more researching updates or new laws, no more worries.

Worry Free Payroll Tax Filing
Eliminate the risks of calculating and filing your own payroll taxes by having professionals do it for you. Federal, state and local payroll tax laws are frequently changing and becoming more complex. How much time do you want to spend learning all the rules and keeping your information up to date?

Allows You To Focus On Core Competencies
Our professional staff allows you to focus on the core competencies of your business. We are accounting professionals–you get the experts working for you and with you.

Comprehensive Reports
You get a wide variety of user-friendly and accurate payroll reports. For a nominal fee, we will include union reports, certified payroll, workers’ compensation reports and much more.

Get the Payroll Solution That Best Fits Your Needs.
We know that when it comes to payroll service – no one size fits all. That’s why we offer the following 3 custom payroll processing options.

Comprehensive Payroll Services
Our Comprehensive Payroll Service takes care of the entire payroll processing for you, so that you won’t have to. You get…

Your payroll checks prepared and printed on-time, every-time.
All of your payroll checks are laser printed on “blank” check stock to ensure maximum security and meet the micro encoding standards as set forth by the Federal Reserve System.
Free Direct Deposits
Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.
User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.
Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
Your payroll records maintained in tip top shape.

After-the-Fact-Payroll Services
We will take your manually-prepared payroll records and other payroll information and post this information to our data files, so you get…

Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.
User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.
Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
Your payroll records maintained in tip top shape.

Online Payroll Processing
You can enter your employee’s hours and earnings securely online and get…

The ability to instantly print payroll checks on your own printer.
Free Direct Deposits
Worry Free IRS and State tax reporting as well as EFTPS tax deposits.
User friendly, and easy to understand monthly, quarterly, and annual payroll tax reports, including W-2, W-3 and 1099 forms.
Detailed reports on your employee’s vacation, sick days, and personal days accruals.
Creation and filing of the required new hire reports
Your payroll records maintained in tip top shape.

Custom Payroll Reports Service
There seems to be an endless amount of special reports Government agencies require. We can prepare the following reports for you.

Worker’s Compensation Audits
Unemployment Claims
Social Security Audits
Child Support Audits
W-2 and W-3 processing
1099 and 1096 processing
Preparation/assistance with Federal and State registration forms

How much do we charge?
In order to give you an accurate price for our payroll services we need to know a little more about your business and what services you’re interested in. Our prices are very affordable.

Audits – Reviews – Compilations

Stockholders, creditors, and private investors often need assurance that the financial statements accurately represent the true financial position of a company.

Your stockholders, creditors, or private investors have different levels of risk tolerance, so we provide three levels of assurance to meet your needs.

Audit – Highest Level of Assurance

An audit provides the highest level of assurance. An audit is a methodical review and objective examination of the financial statements, including the verification of specific information as determined by the auditor or as established by general practice.

Our work includes a review of internal controls, testing of selected transactions, and communication with third parties. Based on our findings, we issue a report on whether the financial statements are fairly stated and free of material misstatements.

An Audit allows you to…

Satisfy stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers and pressure groups, as well as the investing community, as to the credibility of published information.
Facilitate the payment of corporate tax, goods and services tax, and other taxes on-time and accurately, thereby avoiding interest, penalties, and investigations.
Comply with banking covenants.
Help deter and detect material fraud and error.
Facilitate the purchase and sale of businesses.

Here’s what you get…

You get the highest level of assurance because we go outside your company to obtain more information. Typically, we’ll have written communication with:

Your customers, to check outstanding receivable balances,
Your banks, to confirm cash or debt balances and terms,
Your vendors, to verify outstanding payable balances, and
Your attorneys, for information on pending or threatened legal action.

We also perform physical inspections by observing your inventory counting methods and perform test counts. We document and test each operating cycle, including sales and cash receipts, expenses and cash disbursements, and payroll. Our audit papers include a detailed work program to document the examinations and testing performed, as well as the client’s supporting work papers.

Audits Not Just for Public Entities

All public companies are required to have an annual audit, but some nonpublic entities must undergo an annual audit as well. These include local governments, not-for-profit agencies and other organizations receiving government grants.

Moreover, some financial institutions require audits of nonpublic companies based on the financing amount and/or the bank’s assessment of the company’s risk. Also, companies with absentee ownership (such as those owned by investment firms, or individuals who no longer run the business) may order audits as checks of their management teams.

Review – Limited Assurance

Less extensive than an audit, but more involved than a compilation, a review engagement consists primarily of analytical procedures we apply to the financial statements, and various inquiries we make of your company’s management team. If the financial statements or supporting information appear inconsistent or otherwise questionable, we may need to perform additional procedures.

A review doesn’t require us to study and evaluate your company’s internal controls or verify data with third parties or physically inspect assets. Rather, a review report expresses limited assurance in the form of the statement: “We are not aware of any material modifications” for the financial statements to be in conformity with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Reviewed financial statements must include all required footnotes and other disclosures.

Why might a business request a review engagement? It can be a good middle ground, providing the advantages of a CPA’s technical expertise without the work and expense of an audit.

Compilation – Lowest Level of Assurance

In compiling financial statements for a client, we present information that is the “representation of management” and expresses no opinion or assurance on the statements. Compilations don’t require inquiries of management or analytical procedures. Instead, we rely on our knowledge of accounting principles and a general understanding of your business.

Banks often require compilations from an independent CPA as part of their lending covenants.

Which Report Should You Use?

Each type of financial statement report may suit specific circumstances, depending on requirements from your client’s bank or other parties, as well as meet budgetary needs.

Understanding each report’s unique strengths and weaknesses can help you choose the most appropriate one. Please call if you have questions about which type of report is right for you.

New Business Formation

Thinking of owning your own business?

Opening your own business is exciting and thrilling. It’s everything that comes after the excitement and thrill has worn off that dictates whether a small business will make it or not. It’s up to you to maintain and stretch out the “thrill and excitement” period forever.

A methodical plan of action is needed to fulfill your dream or goal of being your own boss and running a successful business. Success lies in the approach you choose to take. We help you avoid the common pitfalls that many new small business owners make when starting their new venture.

We help you…

Prepare an initial business plan to clarify your marketing, management, and financial plans.

Determine your start-up capital needs.

Select the right accounting software by evaluating your budget, needs and hardware.
Prepare a Cash Flow Budget so you know exactly how much money you need to keep the business alive each month for the first few years. Unplanned cash requirements are always emotionally painful.
Establish billing and collection procedures to maximize your cash flow.
Establish procedures to monitor and control costs.
Setup a home office so you can maximize your tax deductions.
Prepare and file all required state and local licenses and permits.
Prepare and file your application for your Federal Employer Identification Number.
Provide payroll and payroll tax filing when you bring on your first employee.
Comply with employment laws so you don’t get hit with fines and unhappy employees.
Identify your business insurance needs.

Non-Profit Organizations

We can help you setup and maintain your non-profit organization’s tax-exempt status by handling all the IRS reporting for you.

Each year the IRS requires most tax-exempt organizations to submit the Form 990 and its relations, which includes the following items.

Income Statementwith very specific revenue and expense categories like donations, salaries, postage, rent…
Balance Sheetwith specific categories like cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable…
Functional Expense Statementwith all the expenses allocated to either program services, fundraising, or operations.
Individual Program Expense Statementthat reports all of the expenses for each program or service like seminar programs or educational mailings.
Revenue Support Schedulesthat detail the organization’s sources of income in specific categories like charitable donations, membership fees, investment income.

The IRS uses these very specific revenue and expense classifications to determine if your organization will retain its tax-exempt status. So it’s imperative that you build your accounting system around these revenue and expense classifications.

Here’s what we do for you…

Review and compile your financial statements
Design, install, and maintain your Accounting System
Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payroll preparation
Payroll Tax Preparation and Deposits
Provide training for your accounting personnel
Complete and file your non-profit status application
Provide training for your board on non-profit financial statement usage and effective budgeting practices
Prepare and file the 990 and 990T tax forms
Prepare your initial start-up documentation, including incorporation, federal employee identification number (FEIN), and payroll setup with federal and state agencies.

If you’re starting a new not-for-profit organization we can help you prepare your organization’s 501 (c)(3) application for tax-exempt status.

Here’s what’s needed…

Articles of Incorporation containing the Exempt Purpose Statement as described in IRS Code section 501(c)(3) and defined in Treasury Regulation 1.501(c)(3)-1 Paragraph d and the Dissolution Statement described in Treasury Regulation 1.501(c)(3)-1 Paragraph b subparagraph 4 (“Organizational Test”).

Employer Identification Number

By-laws of the Organization

Minutes of Board Meetings

Names, Addresses, and Resumes of Board Members

Names and addresses of all Active Members

Inventory of Assets like cash, furniture, equipment, property, pledges…

Inventory of Liabilities like mortgages, accounts payable, loans…

Rent/Lease Agreements and Contracts

Revenue and Expense Statements for the last four years or as far back as possible if your organization has been in existence for less than four years.

Written Reason for Formation and History of the organization.

Organization Activities, Operations and Programs Documentation including your statement of purpose & operations, food programs, fundraisers, flyers/brochures/pamphlets…

Financial Support Documentation including all sources of revenue like contributions, tithes, offerings, fundraisers…

Fund Raising Program Descriptions

IRS Processing/Filing Fee

We are happy to prepare any of these items if you need help.