S&P to Downgrade France & Austria Credit Rating

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has notified the French and Austria governments of its decision to downgrade the country's triple-A credit rating one notch to double-A-plus. This move marks the long-awaited blow to France's international standing and knocks the country out of the top financial league of the euro zone. The downgrade further complicates efforts by the euro zone to contain the region's long-running debt crisis.

S&P last month warned that downgrades were possible for 15 euro-zone countries, including triple-A rated France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The Financial Times reported Friday that Germany would escape without a ratings cut.

Still, a downgrade for France would all but ensure that the European Financial Stability Facility, the euro-zone's temporary rescue fund, would also lose its triple-A rating, Lewis and other economists noted.

Treasury Sells 10-Year Notes At Record Low Yield

A new landmark was set Wednesday for U.S. Treasury bond supply. A sale
of $21 billion, 10-year notes were offered at a yield below 2% for the
first time ever.

The auctioned yield, or the rate the U.S. government pays to borrow
cash in capital markets, was 1.9%. That smashed the 2% yield from the
10-year sale in September.

The Treasury received bids totaling $69.04 billion and accepted $21.00
billion. Primary dealers were awarded $9.29 billion, while indirect
bidders--a category that includes foreign central bankers--were
awarded $8.04 billion.

2012 stock markets started strong

Stock markets started the year on a positive note, buoyed by strong
manufacturing data from America, Britain and China. Investors will be
hoping that 2012 proves kinder than last year, when most markets fell.

It was no surprise that the Euro area's benchmark index fared badly in
2011, though the once-hot stock markets of Brazil, Hong Kong, China
and India did even worse. One of the world's best performers, oddly
enough, was Venezuela's main index.

British regulators fine PricewaterhouseCoopers

Britain's regulators said Friday they have fined accounting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers $2.2 million for turning a blind eye on client
assets at JPMorgan Chase.

The accounting firm failed to inform JPMorgan that more than $8
billion of their clients' funds were mixed up with the bank's own
funds in seven years of reports filed with the Financial Service
Authority, beginning in 2002.

The New York Times reported Friday the fine, imposed by the
Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board, was the largest ever meted
out by that regulator.

"The tribunal found that P.W.C. had committed misconduct in respect of
each allegation in the disciplinary complaint before it. The tribunal
found the misconduct in this case to be very serious," the regulator
said in a statement.

However, the disciplinary board also said it had handed out a lower
fine than originally assessed due to the firm's cooperation with the
inquiry.

Why Businesses Need Bookkeeping?

The job of bookkeeping can be very time consuming. With no exceptions, every monetary amount that is paid or received must be recorded. Additionally, accuracy is of the supreme importance, making keeping the books in a quick manner a very bad idea. As business owners are often lacking in time, many choose to hire bookkeepers to keep company records well maintained.

Certainly bookkeeping is necessary and beneficial to business owners. According Pettir.com Proper bookkeeping can help businesses effectively manage cash flow, stay well-informed on company performance, and develop plans for the future. Moreover, accurate bookkeeping is required by both federal and local tax agencies.

A company's books are used to determine the amount of taxes the company must pay. They are also used in preparing tax returns. Sometimes, a tax agency may decide to investigate the information reported on a tax return or other type of tax-related document. In such cases, business owners are required to present accurate records for the tax agency's inspection. In the United States, for example, the Internal Revenue Service requires business owners to keep financial records that are complete and up-to-date. State and city tax agencies may require businesses to maintain accurate records as well. Failure to observe acceptable bookkeeping practices may lead to significant monetary fines, penalties, or in severe cases, imprisonment.

New IRS 1099-K Tax Form

The 1099-K is a new form for tax year 2011 that shows gross sales reported to the IRS.  The IRS has introduced a 1099-K form requiring all Payment Settlement Entities (Credit Card providers including banks, PayPal, and others) to report all qualifying payments made to individuals during the 2011 calendar year. This includes payments by credit cards, debit cards, and stored-value cards (including gift cards).

To prevent duplicate reporting to the IRS, the 1099-MISC form from the small business owner must now exclude the payments types listed above; however, it must still include Cash, Check, EFT, ACH, and Direct Deposit payments.

Online sellers who have $20,000 or more in gross sales and 200 transactions or more in the calendar year will receive the 1099-K from their third-party payment networks such as PayPal. Sellers will need to check the information on the form to ensure the reported income is correct.

Sellers will also be responsible for documenting expenses that were associated with that reported income, so that they only pay taxes on the profit, not the gross sales as reported on the 1099-K form. That's important because the gross sales totals do not exclude expenses like transaction fees or returns, which are important deductions to a small businesses' net income.

Micro credit supports under-served markets

The idea of micro lending, sometimes called micro-finance, is more typically associated with loans in amounts as little as $25, disbursed to impoverished people in developing countries, ideally helping them to generate their own income to climb out of poverty.

But more recently, microcredit has become a mainstream practice in the U.S., and even though the average Small Business Administration (SBA) microloan size is $13,000, the SBA's program shares a similar mission as traditional microloan programs.

While the microloan program is open to all entrepreneurs, the program especially supports underserved markets. This includes borrowers with little or no credit history, low-income borrowers, and women and minority entrepreneurs who generally don't qualify for conventional loans or larger SBA guaranteed loans, said Pravina Raghavan, director of the SBA's New York District Office

Most banks, large or small, do not bother granting business loans of less than $50,000 because there’s not enough profit to balance the risk. By contrast, microfinance programs in the United States typically lend $35,000 or less to small businesses with five or fewer employees. They charge more than traditional banks, of course, with interest rates ranging from 5 to 18 percent.

When President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in February 2009 to create jobs and promote spending, the law included $56.1 million for microloans for small businesses, to be doled out through the SBA through September.

Targeted toward start-up, newly-established, or growing small businesses, the microloans are short-term loans up to $35,000 each for working capital or inventory and equipment purchases. The intermediary lenders who distribute the loans can choose to lend more than that limit.

Read the full article of Microloans help small businesses on dLoewi Consulting.