New York SBDC Research Network

Compensation for civilian workers rose 0.7%, wages and salaries rose 0.4%, and benefit costs rose 1.3%, seasonally adjusted, from March to June 2011. Over the year, compensation rose 2.2%, wages and salaries 1.6%, and benefits 3.6%

Annual report on businesses without paid employees in nearly 300 industries for the nation, states, counties and metropolitan areas. Most who own such businesses are self-employed and operate very small businesses (for example, real estate agents or beauticians) that may or may not be their primary source of income. The number of nonemployer businesses...declined by more than 260,000 between 2008 and 2009 across the United States, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau...In 2009, there were 21.1 million nonemployer firms, a decrease of about 1.2 percent from 2008. This continues a decline first noted in 2008 — following the beginning of the recession at the end of 2007 — when the total number fell by more than 350,000 from a peak of 21.7 million firms in 2007. “Nonemployer firms generate a small percentage of total U.S. business receipts, but they constitute the majority of U.S. businesses...”

Someone asked me about finding an online seminar about a particular topic, and I found a couple that I had used before. But then I came across www.finervista.com ; "Find best online seminars and webcasts by industry experts." A useful site for a variety of topics.

From the state tax department: Many businesses and tax practitioners used Sales Tax Web File for the first time in June 2011, in response to the recent mandate to web file quarterly returns. Close to 70% of the sales tax returns due on June 20 were filed electronically, a significant increase over 20% one year ago. Some sales tax vendors and practitioners experienced difficulties filing or reaching a representative to assist them with the new web filing requirements. The tax folks apologize for the inconvenience. They are training additional staff to make sure that your calls are answered promptly in the future. Although they'd prefer that all taxpayers use Sales Tax Web File, they know that some can't. Taxpayers who prepare their own returns without computers or who don't have broadband access aren't required to file online.

Don McMillan with a few pointers on how not to use PowerPoint: Life After Death PowerPoint from EMT Media on Vimeo .

Virginia Heffernan writes about the growing incidence of misspellings and errors in publishing. She supposes that the editorial process has sped up in recent years and involves more computers and fewer humans which explains why this may be. It is very annoying and distracting to be enjoying a book and finding the wrong form of a word used or to find spelling errors. Heffernan's article suggests that perhaps poor spellers think differently and should not be judged harshly. It also points out that poor spelling can actually hurt business beyond making a bad impression. While the idea that sloppy spelling can sink whole businesses seems far-fetched, even casual bloggers recognize the imperative to spell well online. This is because search engines look for strings of characters in sequence, and if your site has misspellings, Google is less likely to list it at the top of search results. With misspellings, according to the tech site Geekosystem, “You aren’t going to get nearly as many h...

Thanks to a comment in a previous post, I've discovered that the IRS is offering transitional relief for small revoked NFP groups. As the letter writer notes, "If you can honestly say there is still a need for your non-profit, and you feel you can muster the human and other resources needed to sustain it, don't pass up this opportunity to regain your tax exempt status." Fill out a new exemption application and pay an IRS User Fee. But for organizations with annual gross receipts normally less than $50,000, the User Fee will be reduced to only $100 and reinstatement will be retroactive. The offer is only good through December 31, 2012. You can find the details here [PDF] .

WASHINGTON – Find out what business owners learned after nearly losing their companies to small scale disasters like a sprinkler system malfunction or catastrophic events like widespread flooding during a free webinar on July 19 hosted by Agility Recovery Solutions and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Agility Recovery CEO Bob Boyd will share real stories of entrepreneurs whose business continuity strategies emerged while recovering from major disasters. He’ll also outline some practical applications of disaster preparedness tips, focusing on the concept of not only putting a plan together, but testing it periodically. SBA has partnered with Agility to offer business continuity strategies for entrepreneurs via their “PrepareMyBusiness” website. Visit www.preparemybusiness.org to access previous webinars and for more preparedness tips. Since 1953, the SBA has provided more than $48 billion in disaster recovery funds to 1.9 million homeowners, renters and businesses of all s...

From SBA Office of Advocacy[PDF] . "The annual cost of federal regulations in the United States increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008. Had every U.S. household paid an equal share of the federal regulatory burden, each would have owed $15,586 in 2008." Check especially the chart on PDF page 60.

From NYS sales tax guidance This memorandum describes the procedures that sellers should follow to properly disclose to customers that certain discounts received through store loyalty cards are manufacturer's discounts. Many businesses use store loyalty cards to offer their customers incentives to shop frequently at their stores. These incentives often include discounts that are activated by scanning the customer's loyalty card at the cash register. When these loyalty card discounts are given and the discounted item is subject to sales tax, the amount subject to sales tax generally depends on whether the discount reflects a manufacturer's discount or a store discount. If the store is reimbursed for the amount of the discount by the manufacturer, distributor or other third party, it is a manufacturer's discount. If the store receives no reimbursement from a third party for the amount of the discount given, it is a store discount. Generally, when a customer purch...

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts demographic and economic studies and strengthens statistical development around the world through technical assistance, training, and software products. For over 60 years, the Census Bureau has assisted in the collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and use of statistics with counterpart governments in over 100 countries.

A recent library inquiry about programs available to assist employers who want to hire former convicts got me to call Elaine Kost from the state Department of Labor. She noted two programs that she described as underutilized: "The Federal Bonding Program (FBP) was created as a job placement tool to assist at-risk job seekers. The purpose of the program is to provide fidelity bonding at no cost to a business for the first six months of employment for hard-to-place job applicants." The term "hard to place is not limited to ex-cons. Sometimes, an employer will perform a credit check on a potential employee and will balk because of a low score; the FBP could be used for this purpose as well. "The The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is designed to promote the hiring of individuals who qualify as a member of a target group; individuals with barriers to employment. Federal tax credits are available for hiring the following groups under WOTC: A. Qualified recip...

From the Census Bureau In 2009, businesses with paid employees numbered 7.4 million, a decline of 168,000 establishments from 2008, marking the second consecutive year of decline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Further, between 2008 and 2009, employment dropped 5.3 percent, a decrease of more than 6 million employees, for a total of 114,509,626. In 2008, the number of establishments decreased by about 104,000, although the number of employees increased by almost 300,000. These findings are from County Business Patterns: 2009 , which provides the only detailed annual information on the number of establishments, employees, and first-quarter and annual payroll for most of the 1,100 industries covered at the national, state and county levels. The statistics are broken down according to employment-size classes (for example, number of establishments with one to four employees) and legal form of organization (for example, corporations and partnerships).