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December 2008
In this issue:
● Notes from Mike
● Business Continuity
● Economic Stimulus Act
● Make Docs Look Great
● Technology
Assessment
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Make Documents Look Great in Word 2007
With Microsoft Office Word 2007, you can quickly and easily turn a plain-looking document into one that looks professionally designed. Use styles to quickly format major elements in your document, such as titles, subtitles, and headings. Start with predefined, coordinated designs and then customize to suit your needs. As you work, you don’t need to apply formatting and then do it again until you have what you want — just point to a style in the dialog box to see a preview in your document. Not quite right? Point to a different style and see what it looks like.
Watch the demo to see how easy it is to give a plain document a professional-looking makeover, and then give it a final polish with headers and footers and a cover page.
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Just for Laughs
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Quote of the Month
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Open your presents at
Christmastime
but be thankful
year round for
the gifts you receive.
‾Lorinda Ruth Lowen
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Notes from Mike . . .
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 Welcome to December!
In keeping with the theme of giving that this time of year, I am going to give you a gift that keeps on giving, it’s simple, inexpensive, and will save you time in 2009. “Save time”, you ask? Let’s face it, time is the great equalizer, whether you are Bill Gates, or Jane Doe, everybody gets 24 hours in a day, and you know what they say “time is money”!
The tip I want to share will help you speed up your computer or at least let you know if you’re running optimally.
Go to your computer (Home or Work) click Start > right click My Computer > click Properties. This screen will show you how much Random Access Memory (RAM) you have, if you have less than 1GB for XP or less than 2GB for Vista, you need to add enough RAM to meet or exceed those numbers (more is better, however XP will not go beyond 3.5GB). Your local Best Buy or Fry’s will usually have the memory and can even put it in for you (Google “Install Memory” if you are a do-it-yourselfer). The cost is usually under $75 for 1GB for most systems, and I have seen some sale prices as low as $15 per GB.
Now here’s the real kicker, you might say, “well Mike, it’s not that slow, I don’t mind waiting”, let’s say that your computer is wasting 2 minutes of each hour due to low RAM, that equates (Based on an 8 hour day and a 20 working day month) to over 5 hours a month and over 64 hours in a year . . . that’s right, 64 hours in a year! Now what is your time worth? If you’re a small business owner I wouldn’t put it below $75 per hour and that’s being very conservative. So for an investment of about $150 you gain $4,800, I would say the Return on Investment (ROI) on that is an Accountant’s dream. It pays for itself in less than 2 weeks! Start the New Year off right and add some RAM.
Happy Holidays!
Mike Gonsalves
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Business Continuity:
Business as usual. No matter what. |
| Five steps every business should take to prepare for a business interruption.
When people think of disasters, they generally envision hurricanes, tornados or floods – catastrophic events that devastate communities. But for a business, a disaster can be something as small as a failed switch or computer virus. These seemingly minor events can have a shocking impact on a business, often bringing operations to a standstill.
“The impacts of an interruption can be stunning,” says Bob Boyd, President and CEO of Agility Recovery Solutions, the industry leader in mobile business continuity solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. “Statistics indicate that about 60 percent of the businesses affected by a disaster will not survive because they do not have a recovery plan in place.”
Creating a basic, executable business continuity plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your organization and assure business as usual – no matter what the scenario. Here are five key steps to help you get started. |
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Get a Complimentary
Technology Assessment for Your Business |
 We are currently partnering with Microsoft to offer your company a complimentary Technology Assessment. We will examine your current environment and help you plan for the future. In return you will receive a customized report detailing opportunities to reduce risk, lower costs, and to increase productivity and revenues. This document can help you eliminate the headaches and hassles that sometimes come with technology.
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You will also learn how implementing the the right technology on your network will:
- Improve your ability to access information.
- Help you work more efficiently with shared resources.
- Increase productivity and team collaboration through your infrastructure.
- Connect users and information no matter the geographic location.
- Enhance data security and reliability.
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Contact us to get more information or to schedule your Technology Assessment |
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Economic Stimulus Act
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| With the current news that is all around us it is sometimes hard to justify opening our pocketbooks and investing in our companies. We all know that the best way to improve ourselves and our businesses is to invest time, energy and money in accomplishing our goals. As the year draws to a close take a look and see what can be done to improve your business. The decision to improve may save you money.
With the changes to the Section 179 Deduction made by the Economic Stimulus Act signed in February 2008 there are some exciting benefits for business.
At a basic level, Section 179 is a tax incentive for businesses to deduct the full amount of the purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income, up to a limit. It’s an incentive created by the US Government to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in themselves.
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 – HR 5140 helps small business by improving the limits of the Section 179 Deduction.
One provision substantially increases the amount that small businesses can deduct for certain capital equipment expenditures from $128,000 to $250,000.
A second provision allows for bonus depreciation in 2008 on certain capital equipment expenditures purchased this year that would normally be depreciated over many years.
Read on |
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