Black Jack Smatt, a pirate in the late 16th century, known for his unique ability to escape form authorities is believed to be the Jack be nimble.  The medieval game of jumping over the candlestick originated from the tradition of jumping over fires.  Successfully, jumping over a burning candle without blowing out the flame was thought to bring good luck in the future.

Leaping forward to the 21st century, I came up with my own rendition of Jack. 

Jack be awkward is not clever or nimble, but is stuck in the 20th century using desktop accounting tools.  Jack loves the software from the past.  It is familiar, it has always been there, in the back room on the old PC, which only the part-time bookkeeper knows how to use.  It has everything his business needs to print paper checks, reports and when he gets around to tracking inventory it will do that too.  The best part is at tax time each year Jack backs everything up on a thumb drive, jumps in the truck, drives it over to his tax accountant and is finished for the year.  Why would Jack change?  Jack be awkward is not changing, but for the rest of us there is a better way.

Bookkeeping and accounting should not be banished to the back room with information never seeing the light of day.  Cloud-based accounting software connects everyone, the business owner, bookkeeper, controller and tax accountant to the same information in real-time.  Online software can integrate with other applications used by the business and share the same data back and forth.  This allows the decision makers in the business to view and analyze real-time information and stay ahead of the competition.

There are many cloud-based accounting apps to choose from.  Do some research and discover which one is right for your business.  You can become Jack be nimble and bring some good luck to your future.

Each January every business which paid an employee must go through the process of preparing and filing W-2 forms.  Most software now is able to file the federal W-3 and W-2 forms electronically with a push of a button, if yours can not it is time upgrade now.  For those who live in populated states you should be able to file the W-2 forms electronically through your payroll software as well.  What about those who live in less populated states?  I hate to say this but if you are a small business with just a few employees the easiest way to file your W-2 forms, with your state, may be to just mail them in with the appropriate state form.  You may also login to your state's website and file them directly.  For example in the State of Idaho you can register to file at tax.idaho.gov.  This will allow you to access Taxpayer Access Point (TAP) to file and pay the Idaho taxes; multiple states use this same TAP system.  If you are tired of doing this yourself maybe you should consider upgrading your systems and automating the whole process.  Use the right tools for the job.