All Forum Posts by: Michael Plaks

@Edward Alcantar

No such thing as the best use of money. 

First, it depends on your financial situation, your goals, your ages, your family situation, your obligations, your experiences and skills etc etc etc.

Second, it depends on your personal preferences, beliefs and biases. Two people in identical situation will choose two different paths.

Third, it will still be a roll of dice, because life is always unpredictable, and more so now than ever before.

All you can get from someone answering this question with a specific recommendation translates into: "this is what I did, for better or for worse." How does it help you, other than maybe expanding the array of options to choose from?

This is very much like asking what is the best occupation or the best relationship or the best place to live.

@Vaibhav Puranik

CA will charge you $800 every year no matter where you form your LLC, because it owns a property in CA and you live in CA.

TX will charge you $750 one time to register an LLC that is not formed in TX. $300 for a native TX LLC.

Most attorneys (I'm not one) do not recommend holding properties in multiple states within the same LLC. Some believe that you can do it with a Series LLC, which is sort of like one LLC with multiple compartments. So, if any LLC at all, you might want to consider a Texas Series LLC. It will still have to pay CA $800 each year.

@Gita Faust @Daniel Hyman  - want to chime in?

@Christian D.

Here're the other problems with the desktop version, besides backup:

1. You can only access it from your computer. Online version can be accessed from your phone app or from any device anywhere.
2. In order to coordinate with someone else, such as your assistant or your CPA, you need to either physically give them access to your computer or send them a file, for which they need their own licensed desktop version. Meanwhile you can keep working, but the file you are working on and the file they are looking at are no longer in sync. You can sync them later, but it creates a logistical nightmare. As in: your CPA prepares your taxes, but you made changes since the time you sent him the file. Online version is always current for everyone.
3. Intuit changes desktop versions regularly. There're mind-boggling issues with compatibility. Back when my firm had clients on QB desktop, we had to maintain multiple versions of QB just so we could open files provided by our clients who all had different versions. No such issues with the online version.
4. Intuit is phasing out desktop products, just like Microsoft and all other major software vendors. At some point, there will be the online version only. They accordingly focus on developing/improving their online product and gradually start neglecting the desktop product.

In my earlier response, I said QuickBooks was not your only option.

@Giedrius C.

You do not need to pay salary if you're not providing any services to the company. But, like I said, this is a much longer conversation.

You also misunderstood what @Ashish Acharya said. Maybe DIY is not the answer.

@Giedrius C.

It's pretty dangerous to give specific advice not knowing all your details, so take this as an idea to consider, not an advice to implement. 

You may be able to accomplish your goal by electing S-corporation treatment for your LLC. Don't do it without an experienced accountant asking you a lot more questions.

Depends on who you use. Or at least that was before Covid. Nowadays, face-to-face (mask-to-mask) is probably out anyway.

Most accountants and bookkeepers on this board work nationwide using remote technology. In my firm, for example, we use video and screen sharing extensively.

@Brian G.

None of the accounting software is suitable for what you need straight out of the box. All require customization and understanding the quirks of RE accounting. Plan on one of these two things:
A. Pay someone to set it up for you and train upfront.
B. DIY and then pay someone to untangle it eventually.

QBO is like Windows: controls the market, everyone is familiar with it, expensive, not the leading technology. Do not overlook the "everyone is familiar" aspect because one day (ideally, today) you will need some help, and it's much more available with QBO then with anything else.

Xero is ahead of QBO in automation and is a great product. Except their ridiculous tech support concept that they will not change despite years of protesting by the user community. You cannot talk to anyone at Xero. You leave a message and then wait until someone calls you back. When it's either too late or you're in the middle of something else, like driving. Beats me how they are able to survive on this system, but they are.

Not well familiar with Wave, so no comment.

Don't pee on our parade. Taxation is theft, and we need to pay less. :)

Some of you have been looking into conservation easements as a tax shelter for doctors and other high earners.

Take notice: the IRS is in the attack mode. 

On July 9, the U.S. Tax Court struck down four more abusive syndicated conservation easement transactions. The IRS calls on any taxpayer involved in syndicated conservation easement transactions who receives a settlement offer from the agency to accept it soon.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-offers-settlement-for-syndicated-conservation-easements-letters-being-mailed-to-certain-taxpayers-with-pending-litigation