So what is all the noise about SEO, and why should you care? You probably get lots of spam emails promising you stuff regarding SEO, but then you get lots of spam emails for Viagra too, and both get promptly deleted.

Unlike Viagra though, everyone having a website needs some SEO – and this article will try and cut thru all the hype and explain why, and then give you some very direct things you can do to improve your ‘web presence’ so that you are noticed more by Google.

Why is SEO important?

The reason you should care about SEO (search engine optimization) is the SEO traffic coming to your website is free. Everyone has a website nowadays, but just because you have one doesn’t mean people know about it. So without having to pay a dime to anyone, you get all this wonderful search engine traffic coming to your site.

What is SEO?

SEO is the practice of “optimizing” your website so that search engines like Google will rank it higher than other similar websites. By optimizing your website you tell Google what you are about, and ‘recommend’ to them what keywords you should be ranked for.

While there are lots of SEO techniques marketed on the internet, they can be boiled down to two basic areas:

1)      “off-site SEO” is primarily concerned with getting backlinks to your site, and

2)      “on-site SEO” is arranging your site so that it is ‘optimized’ for the desired keywords.

All of the hype nowadays is about getting backlinks – but just as important (if not more) is to make sure your site is optimized for your keywords as well. You cannot expect Google to just magically know what your site should be ranked for – you must be proactive by writing and arranging your site to remove any doubts.

It Starts with the Keywords

The backbone of any SEO effort are the keywords that you use, and this part can get tricky so sometimes you might need professional help, especially if you have lots of competition. And to be clear, a ‘keyword’ can be more than one word, like “accounting software”. Here are the basic things to know about how to use keywords:

1. You want your website optimized for the keywords people are using – not the company name. You are going after new web traffic – so think like someone who is searching for the services you are offering, and use the keywords they are most likely to be searching for.
2. Use keyword ‘themes’, or related keyword groupings, because people don’t always use the same exact keyword to get to where they want to go. By having a broad keyword theme you will “catch” more traffic coming into the site.
3. Don’t optimize a page for more than 1 keyword theme, except for the homepage. The homepage is your storefront so needs to be a bit generic, but all your other pages have a specific purpose. So if you have three different products or services – have a page for each and optimize each with the appropriate keyword theme. And then get some backlinks going to those pages using that keyword.

Can anyone perform SEO for your website?

Anyone can do the “off-site” SEO work, because you don’t need any special training to get someone else to link to your website. All you need to know are two main points:

1. Optimize the backlink. The link placed on the other site should be ‘optimized’ with your keyword – which means you want the link on the other site to use your keywords in the link like this: Great Business Accounting Software.  Don’t do the link like this: click here. The first link tells the search engines what they might find at that location – it reinforces the SEO effort.
2. All backlinks are not the same. Get backlinks from websites that are both relevant to your site, and of quality.  Ideally if you have an accounting website you want to get backlinks from other accounting related websites. Second you want the backlinks coming from quality websites, websites that will lend some credibility to your own. Because one relevant quality backlink is worth hundreds of bogus ones.

Most people can’t do the on-site SEO stuff because they don’t know how to work a website, to deal with the code. The site has “meta tags” that need to be set, the navigation and page content needs to be optimized for your keywords, etc.  A company would be well advised to have their site given a good going over by a professional, and finding someone is pretty easy to do – just do a search in Google!

Which is more important; the on-site or off-site SEO? Just a few years back I would have said the off-site SEO was more important with maybe a 70 – 30 percent weight towards getting your backlinks.  Nowadays I am thinking the on-site SEO factors are more important because Google is trying to make it so that no one can ‘game’ their system, and things like backlinks are influencing the results less.

Finally remember that SEO is more art than science. Google and the other search engines do not produce manuals telling you how to become number one in the rankings. Know that you can go online and find all sorts of conflicting information. Also be aware there is some danger with SEO particularly if ‘black hat’ techniques are used, which can result in your website being banned. If you hire someone to do your SEO, find out how they plan on doing it.

Action List

Here is a checklist of things you should do so that your website is ranked better:

1. Know what your best keywords are, have a list of your top 5 or 10 listed by priority, and make sure they are being used on the website.
2. If you have 5 distinct keywords you want to be ranked for – make sure you have 5 pages on your site that is optimized for each.
3. Look at each page of your website and know what its keyword is, its keyword theme should be obvious to you.
4. Make sure your site navigation is using your main keywords, as the navigation links are also important indicators to Google.
5. The single most important SEO factor on your web page is the meta title, which can be seen in the bar at the very top of your web browser, so make sure it includes the keyword.
6. If you suspect your website is not optimized for SEO, then find out for sure by having it looked at. There are many SEO companies that will evaluate your website for free – simply google the term “free SEO evaluation” and ask someone to take a look.
7. SEO in Practice – an online SEO guide for beginners
8. UITest – a website having lots of online tools to test / verify your site.
9. Google Keyword Tool – use Google’s keyword tool to make your keyword list
10. Website Management Services – a shameless plug for someone offering SEO services – me!

Learn More…

1. SEO in Practice – an online SEO guide for beginners
2. UITest – a website having lots of online tools to test / verify your site.
3. Google Keyword Tool – use Google’s keyword tool to make your keyword list
4. Website Management Services – a shameless plug for someone offering SEO services – me!

 Payroll: Payments…Payments…Payments

 The reporting of tax liabilities to multiple state and federal agencies is one of the most onerous and scary requirements of having employees.

 Over 25% of businesses experience a penalty for errors, late filings, or other mistakes filing employment tax, averaging over $700 each year.

(Source: irs data book 2010)

 Large companies may make deposits and file reports several times a week. Hundreds of filings in multiple states each year. Automating this process provides significant savings.

 No matter what size the company, compliance to eFiling requirements, ever-changing forms, and meeting new guidelines legislated into existence during the year is difficult and opens you to significant fines and penalties for non-compliance.

 Moving to eFiling

 Any change in the way your business operates should be made for the purpose of improving efficiencies, lowering expenses, limit liabilities, or to keep up with changing requirements in regulations or market place.

 Changing payroll reporting and payments to eFiling meets many, if not all, of these reasons. The simple interface and comprehensive nature of many of the forms and payments solutions available, provide efficiencies to virtually any other reporting and payment options. Automated error checking functions eliminate virtually all rejections, as well as eliminating the liabilities associated with potential fines and penalties. One of the biggest changes in the business regulation environment is the stated goal of the IRS and SSA to make all communications and business practices to be conducted electronically.

 Since many states take their lead from the federal standards, it will not be long before virtually all state and federal payments will be required to be sent electronically.

 The Problem

 Moving to electronic payments is inevitable. The question is how to go about changing over from your current process to electronic delivery.

 With over 170 state and federal taxing agencies and a myriad of different processes, formats, forms, and deadlines, many businesses have just thrown up their hands and outsourced reporting to payroll services and paid very significant fees to do so. In many cases they simply felt they had no choice. The threat of non-compliance is just too scary.

 Other companies have hired additional staff and decided to use agency websites to process payments and reports. Again the business is faced with going to several different sites, none of which have the same process. Those businesses are faced with unique logins for each site, separate tracking methods for each site, and multiple contacts to try resolving any issues that may occur while transcribing in payroll data or attempting to export/download multiple files for the various sites.

 The Solution

 Find a solution that is integrated in your payroll module and does not require transcribing information, creating exported files, or transcribing to a website. The solution should provide automated payroll reports that are filled in automatically with your payroll data and can be eFiled with just a few clicks. The interface should be intuitive and simple to understand. A replica of the actual form displayed onscreen and the review process very simple. The steps required to eFile should be few and well defined.

 The solution should support all of the federal and state agencies you file with and include unemployment, wage withholding, and new hire reports and payments.

 There should be a single login to eFile and view all filing histories. Any filing should be time-stamped and dated to provide and audit trail.

 There should be a calendar system that provides reminders for filing deadlines that could be received via email, desktop alerts, or even text messages to your cellular devices.

 Compliance guarantees should be part of the service. All negotiations with state and federal agencies concerning filings should be conducted by representatives of the service. Any fines or penalties incurred because of service errors should be paid by the service.

 Finally it needs to be affordable. An annual subscription that includes all of your filings for twelve months should be based on how many employees you have and should be less than outsourcing to a payroll service.

 Go to:  efile.aatrix.com

 State and Federal eFiling requirements are mandating more businesses to eFile payroll reports and payments every year.

More than a dozen states either lowered the threshold for employee count requirements or outright mandated that businesses eFile wage withholding, unemployment, and new hire reports.

The federal government requires virtually all employers to make withholding payments electronically.

The efficiencies provided government agencies by requiring eFiling will continue the trend towards requiring business to file reports and payments electronically.

Electronic tax administration is the foundation for a modernized IRS that provides secure, convenient, timely and accurate services to taxpayers, and to the tax professionals and IRS employees who serve them. (IRSOB-E report 2010 page 9)

The full vision for a modern ETA environment goes beyond just e-filing and seeks to make electronic interactions among taxpayers, tax practitioners, and the IRS the norm. These electronic interactions include the entire range of pre-filing, filing, and post-filing tax activities which taxpayers and their representatives may engage in with the IRS, including the ability to resolve taxpayer account issues over the Internet. ( IRSOB-E report 2010 page 9)

The Board emphasizes the need to substantially increase the e-file rate, particularly among businesses filing employment tax returns, because it is crucial to the IRS to achieve the strategic 80 percent electronic filing goal. ( IRSOB-E report 2010 page 39)

“Its good news for taxpayers as well, whether they are commercial or private filers, most experts agree, businesses that utilize e-filing have a 99 percent accuracy rate, said David Deeter of Frazier & Deeter LLC.

Source: E-filing hits record high | Atlanta Business Chronicle

It is clear that the movement towards electronic filing is more than a trend. It is inevitable that virtually all reporting to taxing authorities will be electronic.

What to look for when choosing an eFiling solution.

With more and more agencies providing an eFile portal online which allows businesses to file reports electronically for free, you may wonder why an efiling solution would have any appeal.

You should look for a solution that has dramatic advantages over the use of the agency sites.

Simplicity

• The interface is very simple. Choose any form from one screen, review/edit onscreen and simple steps to eFile

• One administrative account to track all confirmations, filings, and payments

Efficient

• eFiling is completed within the payroll solution without additional exports, typing, and logging into multiple sites

• Reports are filled in automatically with no need for manually transcribing

• Reports are time-stamped and saved on you machine and accessible anytime for review or audit

Accurate

• Reports are completed using the data within the payroll solution you use

• The solution must guarantee compliance with all legislation, eFile requirements, and form changes.

Affordable

• The solution should be offered as a subscription service which covers all your filing requirements for a single price. It should include all state and federal agencies you file with.

• It should offer a W-2 eFiling service which allows you to complete all filings as well as employee distribution for less than $4 per employee (the average in-house cost).

eFiling More Than a Trend…

Electronic filing is not going away. In fact, it is the future for virtually all business activity. State and federal agencies are being legislatively and budgetary driven to take advantage of the efficiencies and cost savings eFiling affords them. Take great care in choosing a solution that meets all your needs and has the ability to grow and meet your future needs.

by Bruce Senti

 Processing W-2s is one of the most important and burdensome requirements businesses face every year. It is the time of year many payroll administrators dread for obvious reasons.

 Making a mistake on an employees W-2 not only puts the business at risk of costly fines and penalties, but also creates a great deal of extra work to fix.

 In addition to the liability issues with processing W-2s there is also the matter of the pain effort need to print forms, preparing them for mailing, and the costs incurred completing the whole process.

 Complete W-2 eFiling services can eliminate most of the pain associated with processing W-2s in-house. In the past these services were provided by payroll service providers and were often very expensive. The addition of complete eFile services to many payroll software solutions, has made this option very affordable, and offers significant efficiencies to small businesses.

 What to look for in an eFile solution.

 When determining whether a complete W-2 eFile solution is the right choice for your business, there are several features to look for.

 1)     The solution should be native to your payroll solution and automatically convey your payroll data directly from your payroll entries. Manual entry of your payroll data opens the door to transcription errors and lost time trying to locate and fix errors.

2)     The solution should include automated error checking that complies at minimum the standards set by Accuwage and eVerify.

3)     It should provide the ability to save a history file of each filing and the ability to print file copies if desired.

4)     It should include all filings required: Federal copies and State copies including the Federal W-3 and any state reconciliation forms required.

5)     It should automatically print and mail employee copies directly to your employees

6)     It should also host employee copies to a password-protected website so terminated employees who have change addresses can access their copy and print it as needed.

 Additional features to look for in an eFile Solution.

 Outside of the minimum requirements listed above there are several other features that provide benefits and efficiencies.

 1)     It should provide the ability to schedule when your employee copies are mailed, when your Federal filings are made, when your State copies are filed, and the ability to make corrections at no charge up until the filings are made. Often times when the employees receive their W-2s they recognize a change that needs to be made. The ability to file a corrected Federal and State filing prior to their submission date will save the need for W-2 Cs or other additional forms.

2)     It should allow you to review all employee data in a spreadsheet format, which allows easy editing, and the simple entry of additional information required such as third party healthcare.

3)     It should include forms for all states that require W-2s and allUSterritories.

4)     You should be able to find testimonial evidence from customers who have used the solution with your native payroll solution.

5)     The solution should have at least 3 years of history in providing this solution to assure that the solution is a mature and well-tested product.

 Cost.

 Finally, the service must be affordable. Typical in-house cost of processing W-2s is from $3.85 to $4.35 per employee. This cost includes processing time, forms, envelopes, and postage.

 A fair price for a complete service solution should be blow the lower limit of in-house costs.

 Go to: https://aatrix.com/index.php/w2-efiling-service

With this release Business and FUND accounting users can now:

• View Allocation Code History in General Ledger – view allocation codes and verify which have been posted.
• Purge Budget and Allocation History in General Ledger – include budget and allocation history when you purge through the General Ledger Purge History window.
• Import and Export data in General Ledger –add new accounts or update existing data from external files through the GL Import/Export window.
• Recalculate the Period Table – correct corrupted or missing ledger data.

The latest DENALI release also includes updated General Ledger Reports:

• Balance Sheet – select classified, comparative detailed, and comparative classified report types when you generate the GL Balance Sheet.
• Budget Reports –select standard and revenue and expense report types when you generate the GL Budget Report.
• Budget Performance – view how actuals are performing against budgets, as well as the budgeted and actual amounts for all included accounts.
• Revenue and Expense Report – see the relationship between the revenue generated and the expenses paid for a specified range of periods.

All DENALI products are built using the Microsoft® SQL Server database, which gives Denali extra speed, stability, and multi-level security. DENALI is also offered as a SaaS solution with many other Cloud offerings.

For those who still don’t understand the Accounting Software as a Service movement, also known as “SaaS”, “On Demand”, or “Web Delivered software”, don’t worry—it’s not complicated. Accounting Software as a Service is simply a way to access and use your software over the internet. The Accounting Software as a Service revolution is at full steam, and for great reasons. Some of the benefits include:

 No client/server software installation or maintenance: no complicated planning and implementation guides, and no need to install something on each person’s PC that will access the system.

 Off-site availability: because your software is available on the Internet, you can access it from anywhere in the world. Imagine having this as a key part of your disaster recovery plan.

 Constant, incremental upgrades: when you use a SaaS application, a good provider, such as Cougar Mountain Software, wants to keep you happy by constantly improving the user experience. These improvements are easier to learn and take advantage of when they come one-by-one instead of as a huge patch or upgrade.

 IT staff can focus on other activities: with SaaS, the software provider takes on the responsibilities that falls on IT in the traditional client/server application. This frees IT personnel to focus on high-value activities and day-to-day technical operations instead of being called on to troubleshoot application software or assist users with access or compatibility issues.

 Ability to redistribute your IT budget: with SaaS, you will save money in infrastructure requirements, IT time, and knowledge requirements. The savings from using SaaS applications can be kept or reallocated to improve other IT services.

 Predictable expenses: SaaS subscribers pay a monthly or annual subscription fee for online access, which includes maintenance and automatic upgrades. This makes it easier for you to predict costs and plan your budgets.

 Provides high security: access to sensitive data is restricted using passwords, certificates, smart cards, and insulated workspaces. SaaS in many cases provides better security than most companies have for in their on-premise software.

CougarMountain Software offers a SaaS based accounting software solution that delivers a suite of business management tools.DENALI, from Cougar Mountain Software, consolidates both front and back office information to serve up a single and integrated business system.DENALI’s SaaS technology provides customers the flexibility and simplicity they need to advance their customer relationships and create a competitive advantage.

DENALI’s SaaS technology is not only built for the future and highly scalable, but is accessible from anywhere, secured by a SAS 70 certified datacenter, and easy to use.

To effectively communicate, it might help to know in broad terms how generations view one another. Here are a few things to be aware of when communicating with other generations according to http://www.slideshare.net/beatyaall/bridging-the-generation-gap-in-the-workplace-1829670.

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) – Prefer job security and like to work in teams. Possible perception by other generations:

• Generation Xers might say Baby Boomers work too much and don’t have good follow through.
• Generation Yers tend to relate more readily to Baby Boomers than to Generation Xers.

Generation X (born 1965-1980) – Believe in balance, informality, and self reliance.
Possible perception by other generations:

• Baby Boomers might say Generation Xers are rude and slack off. They might also criticize what they perceive to be the excessive use of technology.
• Generation Yers tend to view Generation Xers as overly serious.

Generation Y (born 1981-1999) – Believe in diversity, optimism, and are confident and goal oriented.
Possible perception by other generations:

• Baby Boomers might say Generation Yers are tech savvy but at the same time need too much attention and reassurance.
• Generation Xers might view Yers as spoiled or needy.

If you find yourself having communication issues with someone from a different generation, remember that their life experience has been different than yours and have a little patience. Don’t view them through the bubble of their defined generation, but instead take an extra few minutes to talk to them and try to find some common ground.

According to a survey done by charitynavigator.org (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1302), charities, on average, receive 41% of their yearly donations in the last few weeks of the year. In this economy, it’s more important than ever that you make your usual year-end donations. Even if you can’t donate your usual amount this year, give what you can—individual donations make up the large majority of donations that charities receive. If donating is important to you, but has become more difficult, you can begin to budget a few dollars a month and then donate that amount after six months or a year. Remember that most donations are tax deductible, so it can be a benefit to you as well as the charity you support.

After you set aside your donation, figuring out the best charity to support can be difficult. Many charities perform better than others and use donations more efficiently and effectively. Use the following websites to ensure your donations are going to the best charities for the causes you support.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

http://www1.networkforgood.org/

https://www.justgive.org/

http://www2.guidestar.org/

http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/

http://www.charitywatch.org/criteria.html

1. Assign a single individual to be responsible for carrying out the process. Even though this individual might be a lower rank than other staff members, all members of the company must be instructed to give this individual their full cooperation. This person might overrule a higher-level staff member if what the staff member wants would hinder the accuracy of the inventory (subject to compromise or overruling by top management).

2. Identify inventory by part number. By having everything pre-identified by part number, the speed and accuracy of taking inventory will be improved. Sometimes pre-counts can be made in which damaged/obsolete/over-stock items should be moved to a special area, if practical.

3. Liquidate overstocks, substandard inventory, and obsolete inventory. The best strategy, however, is to think of inventory liquidation as an ongoing process. When a firm prepares for physical inventory, they must continuously take the necessary steps to get rid of that “extra stuff” in the warehouse. For items that will be returned to the vendors, someone other than purchasing staff needs to monitor the purchasing department status on each item.

4. Minimize any inventory at outside processors, sub-contractors, customers, or other locations if applicable. Counts from any offsite locations should be obtained by in-house staff where practical, or by others when its not practical to send in-house staff.

5. Notify material vendors to not ship any materials for a week before the physical inventory count and 2-3 days after the inventory count to minimize in transit inventory and inventory that arrives during the inventory count.

6. Notify the sales, shipping, and purchasing departments on what days there will be no shipments to customers and outside processors. Extra efforts might be needed to maximize all shipments to customers before the inventory count to reduce the number of items that need to be counted.

7. Process all customer returns and credits prior to the completion of the inventory.

8. Assign someone to review costing problems

• Part numbers with zero cost
• Parts with unreasonable cost compared to the selling price (usually a unit of measure problem)
• Parts that need to be adjusted to the lower of cost or market (obsolete, damaged, etc.)
• On kitted/assembled items, the components need to be reviewed for accuracy/completeness

9. Disposition/repair/reship in-house returns from customers as much as possible prior to the physical inventory. Customers who request returns just before the physical inventory should be asked to hold shipping the return until 3 days after the physical inventory where possible.

10. Order supplies for the physical inventory.

• Clipboards
• Notepads
• Pens, pencils, markers
• Label dots of one bright color to indicate if an item has been counted (each inventory, the color should be changed to indicate if that item was present at the last inventory)
• Calculators
• Flashlights
• Inventory tags (if its going to be a tag inventory)
• Part number lists
• Counting scales (if bulk small parts are to be counted)

11. Determine the counting procedures: usually two individuals to work as a team is best.

12. Select staff to do the counting and count auditing.

13. Train staff to do the counting/auditing.

14. Stage supplies for the physical inventory.

It can be a challenge to know the best way to set up a fundraising plan for your organization. Each organization is different, with different needs and objectives. You might have a plan already in place, but you’re not sure if it’s as effective as it can be. In this case, you might do a self-assessment to try to find areas to improve. The tools found at the links below might help give you a place to start as you create the best fundraising plan for your organization.

http://www.socialvelocity.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Social-Velocity-Fundraising-Plan-Tip-Sheet.pdf: At this site, you’ll find a tip sheet created by Social Velocity that helps measure the effectiveness of your fundraising plan.

http://www.matchmakerfrs.com/fundraising-plan/: At this site, you will be asked a series of questions about your organization and then given a unique document based on your answers.

http://www.npaction.org/resources/WORC/fundplan.pdf: This pdf outlines in 5 steps how to create a successful fundraising plan.

http://www.fundraising123.org/files/KleinNP911_Fund_Plan_Worksheet.pdf: This pdf includes a 6-step planning process, from gathering the initial numbers to getting to the details and pulling it all together.

http://www.rivernetwork.org/rn/fundraisingguide/fundraisingplanning/sampleone: At this site, you’ll find a sample fundraising plan that lists strategy, goals, action steps, who is responsible for the task, when it will take place, and how much it will cost.

http://majorgivingnow.org/downloads/doc/Operational_plan_template.doc: This Word document includes space to write your fundraising goals, objectives, and whether those have been met.

Written by Amanda Gutowski and Sara Brooks.

Cougar Mountain Software Documentation Department.