Click Here To Purchase 30 Minutes With...A Certified Public Accountant: Effective Tax Planning for the MicroBusiness

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Michael Hanley author of Thirty Minutes With A Certified Public Accountant: Effective Tax Planning for the MicroBusiness.

 Michael is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with extensive knowledge in the area of small business tax planning.

 Good day Michael and thanks for participating in our interview.

 Norm:

What made you become interested in specializing in small business tax planning?

Michael: 

Very early in my accounting career, I decided that I would take the path of serving small businesses.  I knew I did not want to become someone who was well-versed in all aspects of accounting, rather, I wanted to become the expert in small business accounting and taxation.  Becoming an expert in tax planning was just a natural piece of the puzzle in achieving this goal. 

Norm:

How do you define a MicroBusiness?

Michael:

For the purposes of this book, I define the MicroBusiness as any business with $1 million or less in annual sales or annual revenue.  MicroBusinesses are a large and growing portion of the American Economy and deserve the same attention that is focused on larger businesses.

Norm:

 How important is small business tax planning and when should one consider having an effective tax plan?

Michael: 

A tax plan for a small business can be more important than an actual business plan.  Similar to business planning, I subscribe to the theory of having multiple tax plans in place…a current year tax plan should be put in place every single year and all business owners should establish a short-term tax plan covering the next 3-5 years of their business as well as a long-term tax plan that revolves around succession planning and/or selling their business.

 Norm:

Did you work from an outline when you crafted Thirty Minutes With A Certified Public Accountant: Effective Tax Planning for the MicroBusiness? As a follow up, as the tax laws are so extensive and complex, how did you decide on including certain sections while leaving out others?

Michael: 

Yes, I wrote out a formal outline before actually writing the book itself.  I am a “planner,” so I always feel more comfortable when operating with an outline than off-the-cuff.  The way I decided which tax strategies to include and which ones to leave out was fairly simple. 

First, each strategy had to be effective.  I’m not looking for the $50 here, $100 there, I wanted to educate people about those strategies that could result in tax savings of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 or $323,795. 

Secondly, these strategies needed to be widely available.  Any strategies that only applied to a certain industry or a small percentage of MicroBusinesses were off the list.  The goal of this book was to provide as much good advice to as many business owners as possible.

 Norm:

 What is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor?

Michael: 

Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors are typically CPAs, accountants, small business advisors or consultants who have been tested and certified on QuickBooks. We help businesses customize QuickBooks for their unique needs and help them get the most out of the software.

Norm:

How has your education informed your writing?

 Michael: 

I actually feel that my experience has been a bigger contributing factor than my education was.  Accounting that is taught in school is geared towards large businesses and my professional experience has focused primarily on working with small businesses.  Therefore, the lessons I learned while actually practicing accounting present themselves more often throughout the book.  However, the one portion of my educational experience that has impacted my writing would be my experiences while teaching CPA Review Courses.  By teaching CPA Review Courses, I always stay ahead of my fellow accountants in terms of tax law changes. 

Norm:

What differentiates your book from the many others dealing with the same topics?

Michael: 

My book is actually the only one of its type.  It is the only book that focuses on tax planning issues as they pertain to the MicroBusiness (those businesses with $1 million or less in annual sales or annual revenue).  Additionally, it is the only tax planning book for any sized business that presents tax strategies in a concise, easy-to-read format without all the technical jargon and repetition.

 Norm:

Does your writing career ever conflict with your career as a CPA?

Michael: 

At the moment my writing career and my accounting career go hand-in-hand.  Being that I write about topics relevant to the accounting profession, there is great synergy between the two.  So far, I have been hired to be the accountant for several business owners who read my book, people I would not have crossed paths with had I not written the book.  Additionally, I have met so many great people along the publication and now during the promotion process who have helped to provide more exposure for my CPA Firm.

Norm:

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book? As a follow up, what has been your overall experience as a published author?

Michael: 

The most surprising aspect of this book was the fact that it took so much longer to publish than it took to write!  I had no idea how long and arduous the publication process could be.  People laugh it off when I mention this, but it actually took longer for us to locate the perfect pair of scissors to put on the cover than it took for me to write the book.

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Michael: 

I self-published this book.  The long-term goal is to pitch the book series to a publisher, but I felt that the best way to approach that would be to build a nice foundation by self-publishing the first few titles and having a few other authors in the 30 Minutes With… stable before bringing it to any of the bigger publishing houses.

Norm:

What will you be doing for promotion of your book and how much of it is your doing?

Michael: 

In addition to the seminars, talks, and book signings to promote the book locally, my goal is to reach a national audience.  I plan to market this book to libraries across the country.  As the only book of its type, I feel that it would serve to fill a void in the business sections of most libraries.  Additionally, I will be promoting the book heavily on the internet through www.30minuteswith.com as well as various social networking sites.

Norm:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!)

Michael: The book series is well underway.  I just submitted the first draft of my second book for proofreading/editing.  The second book is titled Choosing the Right Structure for Your Business and is due out this fall.  Future titles in the series that I will be writing include QuickBooks Basic Training, Improve Your Credit Score, Audit Proof Your Business, Health as Your Best Investment, and Incorporating Has Never Been Easier.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and your book and is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Michael: 

The best way to learn about the book series is to visit www.30minutebooks.com or to e-mail me directly at mhanley@mhcpafirm.com.  Additionally, I can be found on the social networking sites Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook and my accounting firm’s WEBSITE

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

 Click Here To Read Norm's Review Of Thirty Minutes With A Certified Public Accountant: Effective Tax Planning for the MicroBusiness

Click Here To Purchase 30 Minutes With...A Certified Public Accountant: Effective Tax Planning for the MicroBusiness