Dirty Dealing? Bank Overdraft Lawsuits Getting Settled

Another bank has reached a tentative settlement in response to charges that it manipulated customer checking accounts in order to trigger multiple bank overdraft penalties.

Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Associated Bank has agreed to pay $13 million to settle lawsuits brought in 2009. More than 30 U.S. banks, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and PNC are accused of similar practices.

Struggling to verify your checking account balance? Get a fresh start on balancing a checkbook here, now.

If you have an existing checking account and have not been balancing it each month, then you have three options in order to get your account balanced.

1. Stop trying to figure out your checking account balance and simply open a new account: this is perhaps the easiest way to start fresh. You will be able to start over with an initial balance of zero and not have to find previous bank statements to begin balancing your account. If you have had your account for a while and getting a new account is easily done, then I would recommend this approach.

Balancing a checkbook: if you answer “yes” to either of these questions, then you really need to read this blog post!

1. Are you calling your bank everyday to get the checking account balance in your business account – and then writing checks based on this balance?
2. Are you constantly bouncing your checking account and incurring massive overdraft fees?

Here’s the reality. When you aren’t keeping track of your checking account balance, then you could be throwing money away. Even more importantly, you may never know if you’re actually making money in your business.

Three Creative Ways to Grow Your Small Business

With your larger competitors’ deep pockets, vast budgets and endless resources, it may seem next to impossible to not only compete, but to capture market share from these stalwarts. However, there are some simple and extremely creative ways to grow your small business. In fact, these approaches allow small business owners to not only capitalize on their larger competition’s deficiencies, but to use them to put plans in motion to increase sales. Interested in knowing what these approaches are?

Say “so long” to your IRS federal tax deposit coupons and manual deposits at your bank!

Today, we got a notification from the IRS announcing a regulatory change eliminating Forms 8109/8109B for making federal tax deposits. Effective January 1, 2011, you will no longer be able to make your tax deposit manually at your local bank.

I have blogged previously that it is important to make sure that you are timely in your payroll tax payments, and now it’s important for you to check with your bank or financial institution to find out its cutoff date for accepting federal tax deposit coupons to make sure your final manual deposit is not delayed.

Credit for business: Time to switch to “Plan C” – and the “C” stands for cash.

In the first part of my blog post about funding small business, I talked about a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article that shared how banks were often still denying credit – despite the loosening of the credit market – for companies with under $1million in annual revenue. And, companies that exceeded that amount could be turned down for small business funding if they were in the “wrong” industries.

So, the question is, where does a “small” small business owner in the “wrong” industry go for cash to meet ongoing payroll (and other needs) to continue to grow? What can you do when the bankers are “actively recruiting the smallest of businesses –not necessarily to extend credit, but instead to process their deposits and help manage their cash flow” – so when they fit the bank’s definition of “small” and “they become ready for a loan or line of credit, the banking relationship will already be well-established?”

Times are tight for small businesses and for small business funding.

I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say times have been – and continue to be – tight for small businesses. But, as we emerge from the recent credit meltdown – and credit for business begins to loosen – we are finding that not all “small” businesses are benefiting from the easing in the credit markets.

A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article points out that banks are lending again, and the volume of deals in the small-business credit market reflect that trend. But, the article also mentions that things are very uneven. In fact, many companies are being shut out because they are too small or in the wrong industry. The WSJ writes that “much of the money is going to the ‘big’ small businesses.” The article suggests that “small” is a relative term, and that companies with less than $1 million in annual revenue aren’t sharing in the renewed growth in credit for business.

Find valuable information about payroll taxes – 940 payments, 941 payments and more – that business owners and managers need to know.

First, it makes sense to clarify where the money comes from to make 940 and 941 payments. In fact, these payroll tax obligations are made up of two different revenue streams:

1. The first stream consists of monies withheld from an employee’s check – the employee’s contribution to social security, Medicare and income tax withholding. These are also known as trust fund taxes or trust fund obligations. They are called that because the business – and the responsible parties/owners of the business –is withholding an employee’s share to be paid to the IRS. Therefore, the business and the responsible parties/owners have a fiduciary duty to make sure that these withholdings get to the IRS.
2. The second stream of monies that make up 940 and 941 payments are known as employer matches. These funds are contributions made by each employer. The business is responsible for matching certain employee contributions.

Don’t miss any 940 payments – or 941 payments – on your payroll taxes. Find out why!

Because the IRS relies on upon each business to report its 940 payments / 941 payments, it enforces very strict rules and steep fines to make sure that everyone complies by faithfully making their payments and filing their returns on time.

Find out how steep the payroll tax penalties can be!

In a song, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” lyrics warn us against messing with someone named Jim. So, what does that have to do with payroll taxes?

We have all heard these lyrics written by Josh Turner and made a Top 10 Hit (8) by Jim Croce in 1972 and, if your company has ever fallen behind on your payroll taxes (940 payments and 941 payments) with the IRS, you may have thought the lyrics should read, “And you don’t mess around with the IRS.”

When cash is tight and you are facing those weekly 941 payments, it is tempting, as the old saying goes, to “rob Peter to pay Paul” and catch up next week.