Top Year-End IRA Reminders from IRS

Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, are important vehicles for you to save for retirement. If you have an IRA or plan to start one soon, there are a few key year-end rules that you should know. Here are the top year-end IRA reminders from the IRS:

• Know the contribution and deduction limits.  You can contribute up to a maximum of $5,500 ($6,500 if you are age 50 or older) to a traditional or Roth IRA. If you file a joint return, you and your spouse can each contribute to an IRA even if only one of you has taxable compensation. You have until April 18, 2016, to make an IRA contribution for 2015. In some cases, you may need to reduce your deduction for your traditional IRA contributions. This rule applies if you or your spouse has a retirement plan at work and your income is above a certain level.
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• Avoid excess contributions.  If you contribute more than the IRA limits for 2015, you are subject to a six percent tax on the excess amount. The tax applies each year that the excess amounts remain in your account. You can avoid the tax if you withdraw the excess amounts from your account by the due date of your 2015 tax return (including extensions).
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• Take required distributions.  If you’re at least age 70½, you must take a required minimum distribution, or RMD, from your traditional IRA. You are not required to take a RMD from your Roth IRA. You normally must take your RMD by Dec. 31, 2015. That deadline is April 1, 2016, if you turned 70½ in 2015. If you have more than one traditional IRA, you figure the RMD separately for each IRA. However, you can withdraw the total amount from one or more of them. If you don’t take your RMD on time you face a 50 percent excise tax on the RMD amount you failed to take out.
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• IRA distributions may affect your premium tax credit. If you take a distribution from your IRA at the end of the year and expect to claim the PTC, you should exercise caution regarding the amount of the distribution.  Taxable distributions increase your household income, which can make you ineligible for the PTC.  You will become ineligible if the increase causes your household income for the year to be above 400 percent of the Federal poverty line for your family size. In this circumstance, you must repay the entire amount of any advance payments of the premium tax credit that were made to your health insurance provider on your beha

Health Coverage Providers: Understanding Minimum Essential Coverage

The Affordable Care Act requires any person or organization that provides minimum essential coverage, including employers that provide self-insured group health plans, to report this coverage to the IRS and furnish statements to the covered individuals.

These reporting requirements affect:

• Health insurance issuers or carriers
• The executive department or agency of a governmental unit that provides coverage under a government-sponsored program
• Plan sponsors of self-insured group health plan coverage
• Sponsors of coverage that the Department of Health and Human Services has designated as minimum essential coverage

For purposes of reporting by applicable large employers, minimum essential coverage means coverage under an employer-sponsored plan.

Minimum essential coverage does not include fixed indemnity coverage, life insurance or dental or vision coverage.

Minimum essential coverage does include:

Government-sponsored programs

• Medicare part A, most Medicaid programs, CHIP, most TRICARE, most VA programs, Peace Corps, DOD Non-appropriated Fund Program

Employer sponsored coverage

• In general, any plan that is a group health plan under ERISA, which includes both insured and self-insured health plans. Importantly, employer plans that cover solely excepted benefits, such as stand-alone vision or dental plans, are not MEC

Individual market coverage

• Includes qualified health plans enrolled in through the federally facilitated and state-based marketplaces and most health insurance purchased individually and directly from an insurance company

Grandfathered plans

• Generally, any plan that existed before the ACA became effective and has not changed

Miscellaneous MEC

• Other health benefits coverage recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services as MEC

Form 8621: Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund

Form 8621, titled as Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund, is filed by U.S. individuals who hold shares of a passive foreign investment company or qualified electing fund. U.S. shareholders of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund file Form 8621 in order to comply with U.S. laws on international taxation.

A foreign corporation is a Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) if it meets the income test (75 percent or more of the company’s gross income for the taxable year is passive income), or asset test (at least 50 percent of the average percentage of assets a foreign company holds during the taxable year are assets that are producing passive income).

Form 8621 is three-pages and requires the U.S Shareholder to provide the following information;

• Statement of annual information. This part of Form 8621 requires information with respect to all shares of the PFIC held by the U.S. shareholder filing Form 8621. It requires information on the classes of shares of the PFIC, date the shares were acquired, and the value of the shares, as well as other information.
• Elections. The U.S. shareholder has the option to make certain elections, which may be beneficial to avoid certain negative tax consequences, on Form 8621.
• Income from a Qualified Electing Fund (QEF). U.S. shareholders who elect to have the PFIC taxed as a Qualifying Electing Fund (QEF) complete Part III with the income details of the QEF for the reporting period.
• Gain or loss from Market-to-Market Election. Filers who elect on Form 8621 to have the Mark-to-Market rules apply to the PFIC, report the gain or loss in Part IV of Form 8621.
• Distributions from and dispositions of stock of a Section 1291 fund. Filers of Form 8621 who do not elect to have the PFIC taxed under the QEF or Mark-to-Market rules, report the distributions from and dispositions of stock of the PFIC in Part V of Form 8621.

Specific penalties are not imposed for failure to file Form 8621, unlike the burden of penalties and sanctions imposed by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). However, regulations coordinate the filing of this form with requirements in the filing of other forms such as the Form 8938 (individual FATCA reporting requirement). U.S. individuals are required to disclose any directly held foreign assets on Form 8938. Exception to this requirement applies to all foreign financial assets the person reports in certain international reporting forms such as Form 8621

How Ruchi Gupta CPA LLC can help you. 

Penalties for failure to file Form 8621 could include a $10,000 penalty (under Form 8938), and suspension of the statute of limitations with respect to the U.S. shareholder’s entire tax return until Form 8621 is filed. This suspension of the statute of limitations provides the IRS with unlimited time to audit the U.S. shareholder’s tax return.

Our company assists you in the process of filing Form 8621, providing you with all the details, resources, and helping you respond to disputes as we represent businesses and individuals in their quest to manage their financial matters with the best tools available.

Please contact us to learn more.

Moving Expense Deduction

If you move your home you may be able to deduct the cost of the move on your federal tax return next year. This may apply if you move to start a new job or to work at the same job in a new location. In order to deduct your moving expenses, your move must meet three requirements:

1. Your move must closely relate to the start of work.  In most cases, you can consider moving expenses within one year of the date you start work at a new job location. Additional rules apply to this requirement.
   
2. Your move must meet the distance test.  Your new main job location must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your prior job location. For example, let’s say that your old job was three miles from your old home. To meet this test, your new job must be at least 53 miles from your old home.
   
3. You must meet the time test.  You must work full-time at your new job for at least 39 weeks the first year after the move. If you’re self-employed, you must also meet this test. In addition you must work full-time for a total of at least 78 weeks during the first two years at the new job site. If your tax return is due before you meet the time test, you can still claim the deduction if you expect to meet it.

If you qualify for this deduction, here are a few more tips from the IRS:  

• Travel.  You can deduct certain transportation and lodging expenses while moving. This applies to costs for yourself and other household members while moving from your old home to your new home. You may not deduct your travel meal costs.
  
• Household goods and utilities.  You can deduct the cost of packing, crating and shipping your property. This may include the cost to store or insure the items while in transit. You can deduct the cost to disconnect or connect utilities at your old and new homes.
  
• Expenses you can’t deduct.  You may not deduct:
    o Any part of the purchase price of your new home.
    o The cost of selling your home.
    o The cost of breaking or entering into a lease.

• Reimbursed expenses.  If your employer later pays you for the cost of a move that you deducted on your tax return, you may need to include the payment as income. You must report any taxable amount on your tax return in the year you get the payment.
  
• Address change.  When you move, make sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Post Office. To notify the IRS, file Form 8822, Change of Address.

Tax tips for Starting a New Business

When you start a business, a key to your success is to know your tax obligations. You may not only need to know about income tax rules, but also about payroll tax rules. Here are five IRS tax tips that can help you get your business off to a good start.

1. Business Structure.  An early choice you need to make is to decide on the type of structure for your business. The most common types are sole proprietor, partnership and corporation. The type of business you choose will determine which tax forms you will file.
2. Business Taxes.  There are four general types of business taxes. They are income tax, self-employment tax, employment tax and excise tax. In most cases, the types of tax your business pays depends on the type of business structure you set up. You may need to make estimated tax payment.
3. Employer Identification Number.  You may need to get an EIN for federal tax purposes. Search “do you need an EIN” on IRS.gov to find out if you need this number. If you do need one, you can apply for it online.
4. Accounting Method.  An accounting method is a set of rules that you use to determine when to report income and expenses. You must use a consistent method. The two that are most common are the cash and accrual methods. Under the cash method, you normally report income and deduct expenses in the year that you receive or pay them. Under the accrual method, you generally report income and deduct expenses in the year that you earn or incur them. This is true even if you get the income or pay the expense in a later year.
5. Employee Health Care.  The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit helps small businesses and tax-exempt organizations pay for health care coverage they offer their employees. A small employer is eligible for the credit if it has fewer than 25 employees who work full-time, or a combination of full-time and part-time. The maximum credit is 50 percent of premiums paid for small business employers and 35 percent of premiums paid for small tax-exempt employers, such as charities.
   
   
   The employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act affect employers employing at least a certain number of employees (generally 50 full-time employees or a combination of full-time and part-time employees). These employers’ are called applicable large employers. ALEs must either offer minimum essential coverage that is “affordable” and that provides “minimum value” to their full-time employees (and their dependents), or potentially make an employer shared  responsibility payment to the IRS. The vast majority of employers will fall below the ALE threshold number of employees and, therefore, will not be subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions.
   
   
   Employers also have information reporting responsibilities regarding minimum essential coverage they offer or provide to their fulltime employees.  Employers must send reports to employees and to the IRS on new forms the IRS created for this purpose.

What Employers Need to Know about the Affordable Care Act

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The health care law contains tax provisions that affect employers. The size and structure of a workforce – small or large – helps determine which parts of the law apply to which employers. Calculating the number of employees is especially important for employers that have close to 50 employees or whose work force fluctuates during the year

The number of employees an employer has during the current year determines whether it is an applicable large employer for the following year. Applicable large employers are generally those with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees. Under the employer shared responsibility provision, ALEs are required to offer their full-time employees and dependents affordable coverage that provides minimum value. Employers with fewer than 50 full-time or full-time equivalent employees are not applicable large employers.

ACA for Employers

Fewer than 50 Employees

Equal to or More than 50 Employees Applicable large Employers

SHOP Marketplace Eligibility • Employers with fewer than 50 employees can purchase insurance through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace. Information Reporting – Self-Insured Employers • All employers, regardless of size, that provide self-insured health coverage must file an annual return for individuals they cover, and provide a statement to responsible individuals. • The first information reporting returns are due to be filed  in 2016 for 2015. Credits • Employers may be eligible for the small business health care tax credit if they: cover at least 50 percent of employees’ premium costs have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees with average annual wages of less than $50,000 purchase their coverage through the Small Business Health Options Program. • Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees are not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions.

SHOP Marketplace Eligibility • Employers with exactly 50 employees can purchase insurance through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace. Information Reporting • All employers including applicable large employers that provide self-insured health coverage must file an annual return for individuals they cover, and provide a statement to responsible individuals. • Applicable large employers must file an annual return – and provide a statement to each full-time employee – reporting whether they offered health insurance, and if so, what insurance they

Original source www.irs.gov

Getting Patients to Schedule Bi-Annual Checkups

It’s estimated that one-third of Americans do not visit a dentist on a regular basis, and another ten percent of patients miss appointments without calling to reschedule. Not only is this detrimental to your patients’ overall health, but it affects your practice as well

As dentists, we hold a more personal relationship with our patients. The consequences of overbooking and frustration could mean losing a patient you couldn’t afford to lose in the first place.

Reminder calls

These are an age-old tradition that doctors’ offices use. We’re often familiar with the call to confirm an appointment 24-48 hours in advance. But what about reminding patients when they’re due for a cleaning or procedure when they haven’t booked an appointment?

Communicate with the patient the way they want to be communicated with

There are many platforms out there that will give you the ability to communicate in different methods with different patients.

An elderly patient may expressly want postcard reminders, when a patient in their late teens or twenties would most likely prefer a text over a phone call or email. Does the wife or husband need to be the one to make the appointment?

Change your language when you confirm appointments. 

Be open with your clients about their dental health and the procedures they need

Clearly communicating with your patients what the procedure entails, where in their mouth the issue is and how serious it is to get fixed could greatly increase their commitment to obtaining treatment. The results are even better if you can show your patients the problem spot on the x-ray or using a mirror.

To learn more about effective patient scheduling, and to read the entire article, please visit www.thedentalgeek.com.

Employee health benefits dentists need to know

For small dental practices, it’s a significant milestone to offer employee health benefits. Making the decision to offer health benefits involves careful consideration, and knowing where to start can be a challenge.

5 types of employee health benefits

When it comes to employee health benefits, small employers have more health benefit options than they used to, including newer cost-effective options. Here are five different types of employee health benefits you need to know about.

1. Health insurance coverage – The dental practice purchases a health insurance policy to cover eligible employees and their dependents. Coverage can be purchased through a broker, online, or through the SHOP Marketplace.

2. Health insurance reimbursement plan – The dental practice provides a tax-free reimbursement plan to contribute to employees’ personal health insurance costs; also called a defined contribution health plan.

3. Health care savings account – The dental practice provides employees access to a health care savings account, such as a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account.

4. Wellness program – The dental practice provides incentives or programs to stay healthy such as access to a gym, biometric screenings, or disease prevention education.

5. Ancillary benefits – The dental practice provides employees the opportunity to purchase health benefits to supplement major medical health insurance. Common ancillary benefits include dental, vision, and life insurance. These benefits can be employer-funded or offered on a voluntary basis.

Conclusion

Deciding to offer employee health benefits is a big decision for any small or growing dental practice. A good place to start is to understand the different types of employee health benefits available, including traditional health insurance coverage, reimbursement plans, savings accounts, and ancillary health benefits.

Source: http://www.dentistryiq.com/

Factors to consider while looking for a Dental Office Space

Where you locate your practice is almost as important as how well you do your job, so finding a suitable medical office can be critical to your business’ success.

Even the best dentists can hinder the growth of their practices by choosing the wrong space or sticking with an office they’ve outgrown.

If you think it’s time to find some new digs for your practice, there are several factors you should consider. Before making any big decisions, take these seven details into consideration.

Location

Location, location, location! Where you choose to rent your office space is probably the most important decision you’ll make, aside from establishing your budget. Your ideal location should be easy to find, accessible from major highways and easily identifiable with signage. If your practice is upscale, choose an address that will attract that type of clientele. Demographics can help you decide if your type of practice is a good fit in the neighborhood. If you are a specialist, it may be wise to position your practice in close proximity to a general dentist with whom you can share referrals. Quality of life should also come into play, so don’t forget to factor in the amount of time you are willing to travel to get to work.

Competition

While you may never be able to avoid being located near other dentists, you could consider locations that have low dentist-to-patient ratios. According to a publication by New York University Dental School, there is on average, one dentist for every 1700 people (the ratio is higher in rural areas). Determining the ratio in the area(s) you are considering will help you make a more informed decision.

Size

If your practice is growing rapidly, you may need to rent extra space to handle the demand. Choosing a smaller office may be better for your budget, but it’s likely you’ll end up having to move your practice once it begins to expand. Find a space that has enough room to accommodate you now and in the future.

Layout and Design

Look at the layout and design of an office space with critical eyes. You should evaluate the size and location, for example, of the treatment rooms, imaging areas, reception area, private offices, etc. The layout of your office is important for managing patient flow and maintaining an organized space.

Traffic

Choosing the right neighborhood is not only important with regard to a patient profile, it is also important for ease of access and visibility. Is it near a major highway or intersection? Is there adequate parking? Is it close to successful businesses and popular shopping areas? Is it a high traffic area?  An article on Healthcaresuccess.com suggests that dentists rarely consider the importance of traffic patterns when choosing a location. While this takes some research, it is worth doing. “Go the city records for existing traffic counts past the sites you’re studying. Or go out yourself and, literally, count the cars going down your street per hour, morning and afternoon. As a rule of thumb, 40,000 cars a day or more are considered a retail location, though some rural towns don’t have 40,000 altogether. Also, remember that while we all hate traffic, the slower things are, the higher the visibility.”

Affordability

Check the per-square-foot pricing for each property you’re considering and determine which mix of price, location and amenities makes the most sense. You should also factor in whether your rent will increase significantly over the years as your location becomes more popular. Work with the landlord to come up with a fair agreement.

You Can Ask for Help

You’re not a real estate expert, and that’s okay. A number of companies offer office space locating and management services catering specifically to the dental industry. These professionals take all the guesswork out of finding the perfect office by considering the above factors, and more, and making expert recommendations. Also, an experienced CPA can help determine your financial exposure and expenses, mitigating many unforeseen problems.

Expanding your practice or moving to a new location should be an exciting time, but it often ends up being a stressful exercise in playing the real estate market. Knowing what factors to consider can help you make an informed decision that will enable you to serve your patients more effectively.

Don't Miss Filing Deadlines Related to Foreign Income and Assets

All U.S. citizens and residents must report worldwide income on their federal income tax return. If you lived outside the U.S. on the regular due date of your tax return, the extended filing deadline for your 2014 tax return is Monday, June 15, 2015. Similarly, the deadline to report interests in certain foreign financial accounts is the end of June. Here are some important tips to know if these reporting rules apply to you:

• FATCA Requirements.  FATCA refers to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. In general, federal law requires U.S. citizens and resident aliens to report any worldwide income. You must report the existence of and income from foreign accounts. This includes foreign trusts, banks and securities accounts. In most cases you must report the country where each account is located. To do this file Schedule B, Interest and Ordinary Dividends with your tax return.

You may also have to file Form 8938, Statement of Special Foreign Financial Assets with your tax return. Use the form to report specified foreign financial assets if the aggregate value of those assets exceeds certain thresholds. 

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• FBAR Requirements.  FBAR refers to Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. If you must file this form you file it with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. FinCEN is a bureau of the Treasury Department. You generally must file the form if you had an interest in foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2014. This also applies if you had signature or other authority over those accounts. You must file Form 114 electronically. It is available online through the BSA E-Filing System website. The FBAR filing requirement is not part of filing a tax return. The deadline to file Form 114 is June 30.

Estimated Taxes- Who Needs to Pay Them?

Interest, dividends, rents, royalties, and business receipts. What do all these types of income have in common? The answer: Typically, no federal income tax is withheld from any of them. That means you may be required to make estimated tax payments.

To determine if you have to pay estimated taxes, you’ll need three numbers: the amount of tax you expect to owe for 2015, the amount of tax you’ll pay via withholding or credits for 2015, and the tax shown on your 2014 return.

Generally, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for 2015 after subtracting your withholding and credits, you could be subject to underpayment penalties. However, if you have prepaid 90% of your 2015 tax liability or 100% of your 2014 tax liability, you will not be penalized. Special rules apply when your income is greater than $150,000, or if you’re in the business of farming or fishing.

You can compute your 2015 estimated tax using the worksheet in the Form 1040-ES package. The package also contains the forms you’ll file if you plan to pay the estimated tax by check or money order. The payments are generally due in four equal installments. The due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and the following January 15.

Be aware that changes in your personal financial situation can affect the amount of estimated tax you’re required to pay. Remember, penalties can apply if you underpay

How’s Your Dental Practice Doing?

Recently I ran across the following article in Dentistry IQ written by Roger P. Levin, DDS.  How are you recording and tracking your “big data?

You’ve probably heard the term “big data,” which refers to all of the electronic activity tracked by businesses today. With the various software programs that are available to administer scheduling, accounting, inventory, payroll, and more, dental practices now generate their own big data.

How can dentists take advantage of this information to monitor and increase practice development? The secret is to know which numbers actually indicate growth or decline – the Key Production Indicators™ (KPIs)

For general dental practices, following the metrics listed here will provide a solid picture of how their practice measures up:

1. Production: What are the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual production figures? These provide the big picture of how a practice is doing.

2. Collections: What percentage of fees charged are actually paid? If a practice isn’t collecting 98%, your policies and scripts may need to be adjusted.

3. Profit: What is the practice’s total revenue after operating expenses are subtracted?

4. Overhead: Is overhead 59% or less of total income? If not, doctors should examine expenses to see what can be reduced.

5. New patients: How many new patients are coming in each month and each year? This indicator should be increasing 10% to 15% annually.

6. Fee-for-service vs. insurance production: What is the ratio? Can it be adjusted one way or another to the practice’s benefit?

7. Case acceptance: How do patients respond to treatment recommendations? Are at least 90% of case presentations accepted?

9. Percentage of hygiene patients scheduled: Are 98% of the practice’s patients scheduled for their next appointment at all times?

10. Cancellation and no-show rates: Is the rate 1% or less? If not, the practice may suffer from unproductive gaps in the schedule.

Of course, recording the numbers is only the first step in making headway. KPIs must not only be recorded but also analyzed each week. A quick review should take two to five minutes. Over time, consistent evaluation of KPIs makes it possible for the doctor to rapidly identify performance gaps and make corrections to marketing, expenses, systems, scripts, and other policies as needed. The next step is to create goals, share them with the team, and monitor progress toward meeting them.

Top Five Reasons Dentists Need to Use Social Media

In businesses across the board – finance, healthcare and even your favorite pet store, companies are finding the use of social media critical to business success.

Consider using social media as a way to create professional connections, advertise your dental services and create a loyal client base.

Some of the overwhelming benefits of putting your practice on some form of a social media platform include:

• Regular Interaction with Target Clients

Using the power of social media, you can connect on a more personal level with your patients. Twitter and Facebook are great tools to utilize, enabling a dentist to send a quick, personal message to your patients anytime. This kind of personal attention can strengthen your relationship and maintain a personal connection with your client base.

• Real-time Responses

Social media platforms allow for quick responses to client inquiries and concerns. Your dental practice will be enabled with the tools needed to easily and efficiently direct potential patients to your website or contact information, to schedule an appointment.

• Increased Traffic Converts Into Increased Business

As your social media sites grow and gain higher rankings, your sites will become more visible to both your regular patients and people active on those social media platforms. This creates a great opportunity to reach potential dental clients.

• Affordable (Even Free!) Marketing

While hiring social media management from an agency can seem expensive, it can often create a higher return on your investment. Managing your own accounts on Facebook and Twitter means free marketing. However, keep in mind that this takes a significant investment of your time, as you must stay active in continually sharing relevant and useful contents if you want to drive traffic to your dental practice.

• Put You on Equal Ground

Unlike traditional marketing, social media platforms provide the same tools and resources to all users, no matter the size or amount spent. Effective use of these tools is the key to success on social media!

To read the entire article, please visit www.community.pennwelldentalgroup.com.

3 ways to get money into your dental practice faster

Doesn’t everyone want to receive their money faster? If you’re an office manager, how great would it be to tell your boss you’ve figured out how to turn around insurance payments within a week? If you’re a dentist, how would you like to hear these words?

Technology has made it possible to get claims to the insurance companies faster, which means you get your money faster. And it doesn’t end with claims — get on board with direct deposit and take it a step further. I wasn’t paid by any of these companies; rather, they are my favorite methods of making my life as an office manager much easier.

1. Are you still mailing attachments? Stop right now! — My favorite is National Electronic Attachment, Inc. Every time I use this program I get giddy, and depending on the day, it might be the highlight. It allows users to attach anything that shows up on thier computer screen and attach it to the claim. NO. MORE. PRINTING.

Every year the list of participating providers gets longer, and I’ve run across very few insurance companies that don’t allow electronic attachments. If you get correspondence from the company stating they didn’t receive the attachment or required documentation, NEA attaches a unique number to each claim. They take that number, log into their end of NEA, and find the corresponding attachment.

2. A better clearinghouse — You’ve heard this saying before, but this is one of those things where it really counts — You get what you pay for.

Did you know that some clearinghouses might actually be printing those electronic claims and then mailing them to the insurance company? Why wait until the claim gets to the insurance company to find out the subscriber ID is wrong or is missing information? OneMind Health offers a variety of products, but their first is claims submission and real-time benefits, eligibility, and pre-estimates. The beautiful screen allows users to easily track every claim, and it won’t let someone send anything until it has all the required information.

3. Direct deposit — This is the cheapest way to get your money faster, and it won’t cost you a thing! Set up a separate account that is linked to your main checking account. The OM in the office will need access to the account in order to track deposits that are made from the insurance company. Once the deposits are accounted for, you can just transfer money into the main account.

If you don’t separate the accounts, it might be messy to look at. Sometimes the insurance companies will make a bulk deposit, but sometimes they don’t.

This list isn’t a complete revenue cycle solutions, but you will see a difference immediately. The skill set of your staff, your goals, and how you train your staff also play a role into how quickly you turn production into collections. Use the technology that’s available to you and reap the benefits!

Find out how ACA affects Employers with 50 or more Employees

Some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, or health care law, apply only to large employers, which are generally those with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees. These employers are considered applicable large employers – also known as ALEs – and are subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions and the annual employer information return provisions. For example, in 2016 applicable large employers will have annual reporting responsibilities concerning whether and what health insurance they offered in 2015 to their full-time employees.

All employers, regardless of size, that provide self-insured health coverage must file an annual return reporting certain information for individuals they cover. The first returns are due to be filed in 2016 for the year 2015. 

Effective for calendar year 2015, ALEs with 100 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees will be subject to the employer shared responsibility provision and therefore may have to make a shared responsibility payment. This applies to employers that do not offer adequate, affordable coverage to their full-time employees and one or more of those employees get a premium tax credit. The employer shared responsibility provisions will be phased in for smaller ALEs from 2015 to 2016. 

Calculating the number of employees is especially important for employers that have close to 50 employees or whose workforce fluctuates throughout the year. To determine its workforce size for a year an employer adds its total number of full-time employees for each month of the prior calendar year to the total number of full-time equivalent employees for each calendar month of the prior calendar year and divides that total number by 12.

Employers with more than 50 cannot purchase health insurance coverage for its employees through the Small Business Health Options Program – better known as the SHOP Marketplace. However, Employers that have exactly 50 employees can purchase coverage for their employees through the SHOP.

Start Planning Now for Next Year’s Taxes

You may be tempted to forget all about your taxes once you’ve filed your tax return. Do not give in to that temptation. If you start your tax planning now, you may avoid a tax surprise when you file next year. Now is a good time to set up a system so you can keep your tax records safe and easy to find. Here are some IRS tips to give you a leg up on next year’s taxes:

• Take action when life changes occur.  Some life events can change the amount of tax you pay. Some examples that can do that include a change in marital status or the birth of a child. When they happen, you may need to change the amount of tax withheld from your pay. To do that, file a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, with your employer. Use the IRS Withholding Calculator tool on IRS.gov to help you fill out the form.
• Report changes in circumstances to the Health Insurance Marketplace.  If you enroll in insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2015, you should report changes in circumstances to the Marketplace when they happen. Report events such as changes in your income or family size. Doing so will help you avoid getting too much or too little financial assistance in advance.
• Keep records safe.  Put your 2014 tax return and supporting records in a safe place. If you ever need your tax return or records, it will be easy for you to get them. For example, you may need a copy of your tax return if you apply for a home loan or financial aid. You should use your tax return as a guide when you do your taxes next year.
• Stay organized.  Make tax time easier. Have your family put tax records in the same place during the year. That way you won’t have to search for misplaced records when you file next year.
• Shop for a tax preparer.  If you want to hire a tax preparer to help you with tax planning, start your search now. Choose your tax preparer wisely. Use the Directory of Tax Return Preparers tool on IRS.gov to find tax preparers in your area with the credentials and qualifications that you prefer.
• Think about itemizing.  If you claim a standard deduction on your tax return, you may be able to lower your taxes if you itemize deductions instead. A donation to charity could mean some tax savings. 
• Stay informed.  Subscribe to IRS Tax Tips to get emails about tax law changes, how to save money and much more. You can also get Tax Tips on IRS.gov or IRS2Go, the IRS mobile app. You’ll receive Tips each weekday in the tax filing season and three days a week in summer. You will also get Special Edition Tax Tips at other times during the year.

Planning now can pay off with savings at tax time next year.

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