this slide show wil show you how to do everything yourself and give you all the tools needed

1. Stef ’s Accounting Services Self Help Guide Calculators and Conversion Tables Amortization calculator—Also a mortgage calculator that lets you keep recalculating based on a higher down-payment or added amounts to monthly payments. Bonus calculator—aggregate method. Uses regular federal withholding rates. Use if your state allows the aggregate method. Free registration required. Bonus calculator—percent method. Uses supplemental withholding rates. Use if your state does not have a supplemental withholding rate and permits the percent method. Free registration required. Calendar calculator—generate a calendar for any month. Car lease payment calculator—lays out the future costs of an auto lease. CD calculator—shows payout at maturity based on initial deposit, interest, term and period of compounding (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). Currency converter—converts any currency into any other. Currency converter—converts any currency into any other. Financial Calculators—Any financial calculator you need. Gross-up calculator—when you want an employee's bonus to include payment of the taxes the employee would have had to pay on the bonus. Free registration required. Hourly employee paycheck calculator—includes filing status, deductions, state withholding, exemptions, other withholding etc. Free registration required. Loan calculator—calculates loan payment amounts; savings and annuity amounts and future value. Mathematical functions—from basic to PhD level. Measurement converter—converts any measure to any other. Monthly compounding calculator—takes an amount and compounds it monthly over a fixed period at a fixed annual yield. Allows added monthly contributions. Monthly mortgage payment table calculator—generates a table of monthly payments. Number of days calculator—calculate the number of days between any two dates. Public employee paycheck calculator—for federal, state, and local governments. Free registration required. Roth IRA—conversion calculator. Time zones—zone-by-zone times worldwide. Tip tax calculator—if your employees receive tips. Free registration required. Client help (help for small firms) Business expenses—how to reduce expenses; a checklist. Business plans—useful for new or growing businesses. Be sure to click on “Writing the plan” and “Using the plan” in the lefthand column. Business records retention—to see how long to keep different kinds of business records. Business scams—current ones, how to guard against. Business start-ups—checklists for new businesses. Business start-ups—selecting the right entity (sole proprietorship, S corp, LLC, etc.). Business structure—comparisons (sole proprietorship v. S corp v. LLC, etc.). Credit and Collections—the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, section by section. Domain names—find out what names are available before you try to register a name. Fax worldwide via e-mail—free trial on faxing from any place in the world to any place in the world. Home-business scams—current ones, how to guard against. Management—free library comprises 72 categories including finance, benefits administration and compensation. Social Security Statement—request a personal statement online. Strategic Planning Process—basics. Taxpayer Advocate Service. Trade magazines by industry—free. Wages—by geographical area and occupation. Dictionaries and Glossaries Abbreviations—used in business Abbreviations—used on the Internet (in e-mail, chatrooms, etc.) Accounting terms—dictionary. Area codes—quickly find the area code for a geographical location—or find the geographical location of the area code that you are dialing. Banking terms—for paper, EFT, AMT and other transactions. Business tax, financial, and real-estate terms—a glossary. Nonprofit organization (NPO) accounting terms—a glossary SIC codes—get the SIC number for any industry or specialty. Synonyms—a thesaurus. Words, phrases, translations—a dictionary Forms Business forms—download invoices, purchase orders, check requests, etc. Legal forms—contracts, loan documents, and other forms by state. IRS Current Forms and Publications 1099 A and C Instructions (2009) 2009 W-2 and W-3 Instructions (does not include forms). Employer-provided benefits—how to tax, Publication 15-B Fringe Benefits. I-9—pdf of Employment Eligibility Verification. Internal Revenue Manual. IRS forms (8109-B etc.) by mail—instead of pdfs or online. Market Segment Specialization Program Audits—obtain a copy of the IRS Examiner Training Manuals for your industry or profession. Standard Mileage Rates for 2009 Tax withholding and estimated taxes—Publication 505. Withholding tables—Publication 15-T. IRS Prior-Year Forms and Publications 1992 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1993 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1994 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1995 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1996 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1997 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1998 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 1999 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 2000 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 2001 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms. 2002 forms and publications.—hard-to-find forms 2003 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms 2004 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms 2005 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms 2006 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms 2007 forms and publications—hard-to-find forms IRS—by Industry or Profession Agriculture—IRS rules, regulations and resources Automotive—IRS rules, regulations and resources Bartering Tax Center—IRS rules, regulations and resources Construction—IRS rules, regulations and resources Entertainment—IRS rules, regulations and resources Gas Retailers—IRS rules, regulations and resources Manufacturing—IRS rules, regulations and resources Money Services Business (MSB) Information Center—IRS rules, regulations and resources Real Estate—IRS rules, regulations and resources Restaurants—IRS rules, regulations and resources Tax professionals—IRS rules, regulations and resources Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) Accounting regulations—for NPOs, including governmental entities. Accounting standards—for NPOs. Accounting—type in the search box the word “accounting” or narrower subject. California Association of Nonprofits—offers numerous resources for NPO's. Contributions—FASB Pronouncement No. 116 “Accounting for Contributions Received and Contributions made” Databases—how to choose the right one for your NPO; what to look for in a database. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING FOR NPOs.Financial Accounting Regulation for Nonprofit Organizations Financial statements—FASB 117 “Financial Statement of Not-For-Profit Organization.” Form 990—how to read it and what it means. Governmental Accounting Standards Board—for government entities. GuideStar—all kinds of information for NPOs. Free registration may be required. Management—free library comprises 72 categories including finance, benefits administration and compensation and includes NPO topics. NPO links—useful links for NPOs (be sure to scroll down). Other revenue (UBIT)— rules, regs and reporting. Reporting regulations—for the states. Reporting regulations—IRS rules and regs. Revenue from exempt-purpose activities—rules, regs and reporting. Revenue from public support— rules, regs and reporting. Software—a list of available NPO software Tax—at the top of this page, type in “tax” or narrower subject at the top of the page. Practice Marketing Marketing—how to make a good first impression as an accounting professional when meeting a client or in a job interview. Marketing—Free toolkit for marketing an accounting practice. Practice Resources Depreciation—rate tables with explanations. Discounts rate—and secondary rates and seasonal rates for all months and years from the Federal Reserve Bank EIC (or EITC)—how to use the income tax withholding and advance earned income credit (EIC) payment tables. FASB (Financial Standards Accounting Board)—full, summary and status of all statements Financial ratios—for the balance sheet and income statement. Independent contractor vs. employee? IRS interest rates for under-/overpayments—updated monthly. Tax due dates—federal, state dates for corporations, fiduciaries, individual, partnerships, payroll tax returns, and sales tax returns. Zip code + 4—USPS look-up. Zip codes—all cities within a zip code. Zip codes—all zip codes for a town or city. Zip codes—USPS look-up. Software Accounting software buyer's guide—lists available software with company address, phone number and thumbnail description. Accounting software—a fill-in-the-blanks process that tells you which kind of accounting your business or client needs. Payroll software buyer's guide—lists available softw4are with company address, phone number and thumbnail description. Tax software buyer's guide—lists available software with company address, phone number and thumbnail description. Zip/unzip—excellent free (for 30 days) software that zips and unzips huge files for e-mailing. State by state Sales tax rates—state-by-state sales taxes. State departments of labor—state-by-state labor offices, commissioners, directors, and secretaries. State by state revenue departments—state by state. State tax forms—state by state. State tax withholding tables and publications—state by state. State-by-state taxes—Each state’s income tax, sales tax, etc. Tools and templates (help for small firms) Balance sheet template—for a sole proprietorship can be modified for corporation or partnership. Change account titles or format as needed. Spreadsheet calculates subtotals and totals for specified period. Business plan templates—from Microsoft Office. Cash flow budget template—worksheet for 6-month cash budget includes most inflows outflows. Modified as needed. Customer account statement template—track charges and payments on customer's account, send at month end to remind of balance due. Daily cash sheet template—plug in daily amounts and spot discrepancies (from theft, misrecorded credit-card purchases, etc.). Income statement template—for a sole proprietorship can be modified for corporation or partnership. Change account titles or format as needed. Spreadsheet calculates subtotals, totals and net income for specified period. Loan application and bank review form template—shows what the bank will ask for and how it will use your data to make a decision on your loan. Monthly bank reconciliation template—plug in bank balance, deposits in transit, etc. and ledger Cash balance for instant totals that show if the amounts reconcile. Personal bank statement template—when owner's financial position is required. Spreadsheet asks for the typical information (personal assets, liabilities, sources of income, etc.). Fill it out, get a snapshot of how you look. Training (sites that teach useful accounting concepts) Accounting concepts and definitions—for learners. Accounting cycle—defined in plain English, including all terms used. Adjusting Entries—thumbnail definition for learners. Business ratios—common ratios for income statement and balance sheet—for learners. Chart of accounts—basics for learners. Financial Ratios—basic ratios for learners. Internal Controls—basic what, when where, how and why.