My target date is May 4th. Of course I set that date on April 1st and I’m monitoring this situation on a day-by-day basis.
There have been a lot of hard learned lessons and some opportunities for small businesses that came as a result of this Coronavirus Pandemic. A lot of businesses are going to close forever as a result of this disaster. For the businesses that survive, hopefully they will learn and be even better prepared in the future. I have been working about 18 hours per day for the last week, with only brief breaks to spend time with my wife and family.
I’ve been filing tax returns, preparing SBA PPP loan applications and answering questions from clients all over. I hope these thoughts will be helpful to some right now.
Communication
Communication is critical in times like these. If you are here reading this message, I am so grateful! I have to say that 90% of the questions I’ve received by voice mail and email in the last week, were already addressed and answered days in advance on my website, news feed, social media and by mass email. I’m not bringing this up to say that I am unhappy or unwilling to repeat a message. I raise the issue only to point out that if the question is important to you, you might have found the answer sooner and put your mind at ease.
Communications with my office through email are totally secure. I maintain my own mail server in my in-house Data Center. Our messages and any attachments are protected in transit by security certificates. Once you receive it in your in-box, read it, print it or save it to your device, if you delete it from your email and empty the deleted item from your mail trash box, that will remove it from the server of your mail service provider.
All employees are checking emails from home and responding throughout the day. For the time being, this is the best line of communication.
- Buddy Fricke – buddy@bara.net
- Mary Penton – mary@bara.net
- Dustin Toney – dustin@bara.net
- Robert Mobley – robert@bara.net
- Amanda Nichols – amanda@bara.net
- Tracie Gilley – tracie@bara.net
- Greg Cook – greg@bara.net
Portal
The purpose of our client portal is to exchange documents with you securely. It is not intended to provide long-term storage of documents. Neither is it intended to be our primary communication tool. Any message you post in the portal is read by one of our document management specialists, not a tax advisor.
Technology
The importance of technology really comes to the forefront now. At Cook & Co. we believe the continuous improvement of the processes and systems that support our mission are crucial to our success. We’ve been reasonably successful by any standard and have utilized our technology resources to assist business clients in developing and furthering their own business interests.
Preparedness
The businesses that I see best prepared for this disaster are the ones that had their books up to date and had already filed their tax returns as soon as possible before everything came to a screeching halt. Those businesses had no problems seeking SBA assistance if they needed it. On the other hand, I’ve been approached by more than a few business owners that were two or more years behind with their tax filings and wanted to apply for the SBA PPP Loan Program. That kind of house-keeping makes it very difficult to react quickly during time of a sudden disaster.
Be Smart When the Time Comes
When the time comes to reopen your business, be smart with your resources, policies & procedures, take care of your employees, take care of your customers and be ready to step on the gas when the time is right. I truly believe that whatever product or service you offer, will be in more demand than ever in the near future. People will be coming out of this quarantine and social distancing situation with a new outlook on life.
The Biggest Test
This pandemic and economic shutdown is likely the biggest test every business owner will ever face! Are you able to operate and adapt to a rapidly changing situation? If you don’t already know the answer, you will in the coming days. People respond or react to diversity in different ways.
Before Covid-19, nobody had an almost total economic shutdown on their checklist of things to be prepared for in their business. But now might be the right time to evaluate your business model from top to bottom.
Coming Next Week!
Eligible taxpayers who filed tax returns for either 2019 or 2018 and chose direct deposit of their refund will automatically receive an Economic Impact Payment of up to $1,200 for individuals or $2,400 for married couples and $500 for each qualifying child.
Individuals who receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits, SSDI or who receive Railroad Retirement benefits but did not file a return for 2019 or 2018 will automatically receive a payment in the near future.
To help everyone check on the status of their payments, the IRS is building a second new tool expected to be available for use by April 17. Get My Payment will provide people with the status of their payment, including the date their payment is scheduled to be deposited into their bank account or mailed to them.
An additional feature on Get My Payment will allow eligible people a chance to provide their bank account information so they can receive their payment more quickly rather than waiting for a paper check. This feature will be unavailable if the Economic Impact Payment has already been scheduled for delivery.
“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.”
― John F. Kennedy
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