15Apr 2019 by Admin
Know Your Taxes: How To File Income Tax Return

Know Your Taxes: How To File Income Tax Return

Business Tips, For Accountants, For SMEs
Who should file? If you are earning purely compensation whose income tax return has been correctly withheld [tax due equals tax withheld] If you have two or more employers If you are a non-resident alien receiving income from sources within the Philippines but are not engaged in trade or business If you have a business/practice profession income and your method of deduction is either an itemized deduction or optional standard deduction If you are a mixed-income earner (compensation and profession income) If you are an estate or trust engaged in trade or business If you have a business/practice profession income and you opted to avail of the 8% flat income tax rate If you are a non-individual (corporation or partnership) who are subject to a 30% income tax rate, exempt…
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05Apr 2019 by Admin
Is Knowledge Really Power?

Is Knowledge Really Power?

Business Tips, For Accountants, For SMEs
If you had a television in the 1990s until the early 2000s, you might have heard Mr. Ernie Baron say, “Knowledge is power” right before ending his segment on TV. And if you believe in this statement, we feel you. We upheld this declaration from the moment we heard it until we came across another statement that’s taking quite a different route: Knowledge is not (enough) power. Before you raise your eyebrows up so high your hairline has to take a step back, let us define what knowledge and power are first. According to the dictionary, “knowledge” is a noun that means “facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; [it is] the theoretical or practical understanding [emphasis added] of a subject.” “Power,” on the other…
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28Mar 2019 by Admin
Fast Food Won’t Make You Fat (Not Even A Bit)

Fast Food Won’t Make You Fat (Not Even A Bit)

For Accountants
You read that right. Despite seeing studies linking obesity with fast food, we believe that it won’t make you fat. Do you know what makes you fat? Y-O-U. You make yourself fat. Blaming fast food when you start gaining weight is a victim mentality--that you have been wronged by others. In this case, the fast food makers and advertisers. But look at this: How many people saw the newest burger commercial? How many drove to the fast-food restaurant to buy it? How many ate it? How many gained weight? Did everybody who did get plumper? Maybe. Did everybody stay plump for the rest of their lives? We didn’t think so. Then why blame fast food? Whose idea is it to drive all the way to the big M? Whose idea…
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22Mar 2019 by Admin
What Challenges Do Accountants In The Philippines Face?

What Challenges Do Accountants In The Philippines Face?

For Accountants, For SMEs
Accounting remains one of the top choices for students for several reasons. We discussed this before, but here’s the summary. One, there’s a high demand--be it overseas or local. This probably gives the impression that it is a stable profession. Two, there’s a variety of environments. Accountants are needed in every industry; hence, they can pick whichever suits their taste. Three, it is a high-paying job. Nonetheless, this profession is not without challenges. We asked random accountants before and their sentiments seem to be the same. Here is an excerpt of what they said, copied verbatim: Kuripot at ayaw magbayad ng tamang tax na taxpayerF.E.U. Handling clientsJ.B. That you was hired as an accountant but at the end may others pala ( secretary, lawyer, collector, adviser)…hehehe 😄L.D.C. Yung GM. kala…
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08Feb 2019 by Admin
Is Technology a Threat to Accounting?

Is Technology a Threat to Accounting?

For Accountants
You’ve probably heard that the recent development in technology, particularly the artificial intelligence (AI) in accounting software, is a threat to your job as an accountant. Questions such as “Should I hire an accountant or is accounting software enough?” is not uncommon in forums, Q&A sites, and the like. A simple Google search of the keyword “automation and accounting” would even yield links to articles and videos saying that technology is slowly killing the number crunchers in the industry. We beg to disagree. Technology in accounting--that is the accounting software--is by no means created to eradicate accountants in the field. Instead, we regard it as a tool to take off the menial, repetitive tasks off of your shoulders. (We talked about this before too.) What does that mean? To illustrate,…
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03Jan 2019 by Admin
How to be a freelance accountant

How to be a freelance accountant

For Accountants
Freelancing has been a buzzword for quite some time now thanks to all the perks that come with it. Hence, it’s undeniable that more and more people, including you, are looking into the possibility of scoring some freelance jobs. But “Where do I start?” seems to be the most common question. So here we’re listing down some of the steps to set the ball rolling. Be certified and competent Whether we like it or not, clients would choose certified public accountants over those who haven’t taken the licensure exam yet--even if you have bookkeeping certification. So before getting all excited about this new venture, make sure you have already passed the CPALE. You also have to create a name in the field. One way to do that is to join…
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26Nov 2018 by Admin
Cloud vs. Desktop Accounting: Which is Better?

Cloud vs. Desktop Accounting: Which is Better?

Business Tips, For Accountants
Still haven’t decided between cloud-based accounting software and the online one?Here’s a simplified comparison we made just for you that we hope can help make up your mind. SecurityWe know that one of the main concerns you have about accounting software is its security. “Isn’t cloud-based more susceptible to malware, virus, and unauthorized access AKA hacking?” you ask.Bellingham Wallace Accounting says that’s a myth. Both are still secure, with the online accounting gaining a bit of the upper hand here. Cloud-based systems’ data are stored in secure dedicated servers, which are protected by enterprise-level security systems. And because it is “in the cloud,” it is safe from physical threats (e.g. anything that can damage your computer).On the other hand, offline or on-premise accounting systems are protected by your local security…
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05Nov 2018 by Admin
What is smishing and what can you do about it?

What is smishing and what can you do about it?

For Accountants, For SMEs
As the song goes, Christmas “is the most wonderful time of the year.” Unfortunately, it’s also the time when our security--offline or online--are at a higher risk.While we can’t tell you exactly how you can protect yourself from offline thieves and scammers, we can share what we know about the latest modus the digital crooks have and what you can do about it.Let’s start off with smishing.What is smishing?Cute as it may sound, smishing is a risky tool online thieves have been using for some time. In fact, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has an article dedicated to it warning us of its possible consequences.Smishing is a combination of phishing and SMS.So if you know phishing, smishing is the same thing except that it’s done via text messages. It may…
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17Oct 2018 by Admin
Here’s Why You Have To Ditch Your Spreadsheet Now

Here’s Why You Have To Ditch Your Spreadsheet Now

For Accountants
Can you think of any business that didn’t rely on spreadsheets as they start up?We’d bet you can’t. You see, spreadsheets have become so integral to every business that it’s the basis of a lot of financially related software we use these days.In accounting, we all agree that spreadsheets are way much easier to use than the traditional accounting methods our ancestors taught us.But it’s been almost four decades since the first spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was introduced to us, and don’t you think it’s time to put it to rest?Here are the five reasons we haveSpreadsheets can be complexThere’s no undermining a spreadsheet’s power when it comes to tracking sales, purchases, inventories, and whatnot. In fact, if we know just the right commands and formulas, we can turn the simple spreadsheet…
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05Oct 2018 by Admin
Why 15 minutes is all you need to prepare BIR forms with Oojeema

Why 15 minutes is all you need to prepare BIR forms with Oojeema

For Accountants
  Let’s admit: Preparing BIR forms is one of the most daunting tasks in accounting and bookkeeping. It’s boring, painstaking, and eats up a lot of your time you could have spent on something else. This is especially true for those who are still using the traditional method AKA the spreadsheet. Let’s take the form 2550Q as an example. We all know that the second part of this form houses output taxes for different revenues. There’s the VATable sales, sales to government, zero rated sales, and so on. As you can probably see, going through each of these boxes, even with the help of spreadsheet takes a lot of time. Oojeema helps save you time by automatically computing output taxes as you go. Here’s a short video of how easy…
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