Hawkinson Muchnick & Associates adds a new location in north-central Georgia, opening an additional office in Paulding County.
January 2017 – Douglasville – Hawkinson Muchnick & Associates is proud to announce the opening of a new office in Hiram, Georgia. Officially opening its doors in early January, the Hiram office brings high quality tax, accounting and business advisory services to businesses and individuals in an expanded area, adding convenience for clients in Paulding County and the region and allowing the firm to serve an expanding client base.
Paul Hawkinson describes the need for expansion saying, “HMA has been experiencing rapid growth for several years now. It made sense to add an additional location to better serve the clients who rely on us.”
His partner, Dan Muchnick, agrees. “Our clients are geographically diverse,” he reports. “As business owners ourselves, we know how important it is to be able to meet with the professionals you depend on at a location that’s convenient so you don’t spend too much time travelling. Having an office in Hiram lets us make it easier and faster for them to get the services and advice they need close to home.”
As longtime residents of the area, both Muchnick and Hawkinson are deeply involved in the business communities of both Douglas and Paulding counties as well as the broader region. Their intimate understanding of the economic conditions that drive business, job growth and government allows them to bring critical insight to business owners and individuals throughout this portion of the state.
“Paulding County has seen so much growth in recent years,” says Hawkinson. “It’s important for business leaders and others with an economic involvement in the region to work with professionals who really understand the changing conditions and dynamic environment there. We are able to bring that kind of insight to decision makers and investors, so they can reach their goals more efficiently.”
Shaping up your finances in 2017 may seem like a big goal, perhaps even too daunting. But if you take one small step at a time, these small steps will add up. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started.
Shift out of automatic. Have you established automatic bill pay at your bank or service provider, or automatic charges to your credit card?
Small step: Look for payments for goods or services you no longer use, such as recurring monthly subscriptions, and cancel them.
Big goal: Reduce total expenses and increase savings.
Take the urgency out of emergency. Sure, you know that having an account with enough funds specifically earmarked for emergencies is a good idea. But the amount you need to save seems overwhelming. The good news is you don’t have to immediately fund six months of living expenses.
Small step: Set up a separate account with automatic deposits of $5 or $10 per paycheck, perhaps with funds you’ve redirected from those unused recurring monthly subscriptions.
Big goal: Build an emergency fund with enough cash to cover six months of expenses.
Give yourself credit. Maybe you intend to pay off your credit card debt. But do you have a plan? Knowing where you stand is the first step in getting to where you want to be.
Small step: Make a list of your cards, the balances, the minimum payments, and the interest rates.
Big goal: Eliminate finance charges by being able to pay off your balance each month.
Retire your excuses. Does your employer offer a retirement plan? If so, you may be leaving money on the table.
Small step: Find out what amount is on offer as “matching” funds. That’s money your employer will add to your account when you make contributions.
Big goal: Maximize your retirement contributions.
Small steps can lead to big improvements in your financial well-being. Contact us for more tips that make it easy to get into great financial shape, one step at a time.
Tax return filing season has arrived, which means it’s time to mark your calendar for these 2017 tax deadlines.
January 17 – Due date for the fourth and final installment of 2016 estimated tax for individuals (unless you file your 2016 return and pay any balance due by January 31).
January 31 – Employers must furnish 2016 W-2 statements to employees, and send copies to the Social Security Administration (both paper and electronic).
January 31 – Payers must file all copies of 2016 Forms 1099-MISC with non-employee compensation in Box 7. For these forms, the January 31 due date applies to both paper and electronic filing.
January 31 – Employers must generally file 2016 federal unemployment tax returns and pay any tax due.
February 28 – Payers must file information returns (except certain Forms 1099-MISC) with the IRS. (Except for certain Forms 1099-MISC, March 31 is the deadline if filing electronically.)
Did you spot the new due dates on the tax calendar? As you begin your January payroll preparation, take into account earlier due dates for two common information reporting forms.
Forms W-2 for 2016 are due January 31 for all copies. In the past, you had to provide Forms W-2 to your employees by January 31. Now the January 31 deadline also applies to copies submitted to the Social Security Administration.
The due date for filing all copies of 2016 Forms 1099-MISC with non-employee compensation in Box 7 is January 31, 2017. For these forms, the January 31 due date also applies to both paper and electronic filing.
Please contact our office right away if you would like assistance with filing these forms.
Have you noticed the price of gas? So has the IRS – and the reimbursement rate for business mileage has gone down as a result. The new rate for 2017 is 53.5¢ per mile, down from the 2016 rate of 54¢ per mile.
The rate for medical and moving mileage also decreased. Effective January 1, the standard rate is 17¢ per mile, down from last year’s 19¢. The charitable mileage rate remains 14¢.
