Republic Bank Steps Up with RAL Funding for Liberty and Jackson Hewitt

… which is kind of ironic, considering both chains were founded by the same man and now are bitter rivals.

Progressive Accountant reports today:

In the wake of the exit of Santa Barbara Bank and Trust from the refund loan business, tax services company Jackson Hewitt has reached an agreement under which Republic Bank & Trust would increase the amount of funds it provides for financial products to 45 percent in the 2010 tax season, up from 25 percent a year ago. The terms extend through Oct. 31, 2012.

The deal follows Santa Barbara’s announcement it was selling its business after the Office of the Comptroller refused to approve its lending as part of any financial product program offered by tax preparation companies. Santa Barbara had been expected to provide 75 percent of the capital for products such as refund anticipation loans.

Meanwhile, Liberty reports:

Liberty Tax Service (Liberty) today announced that they have signed a three year agreement with Republic Bank (Republic) (NASDAQ:RBCAA) to have Republic provide tax refund products for over 90% of Liberty’s locations.

“I am pleased to announce we have strengthened our relationship with Republic by entering into a three year agreement that makes Republic the primary originator of tax refund products for our offices,” said John T. Hewitt, Chairman and CEO of Liberty Tax Service. “This agreement ensures Liberty offices will be able to facilitate Refund Anticipation Loans and Electronic Refund Checks for the upcoming season for those customers who want a tax refund product.”

Liberty Tax Service is the fastest growing retail tax preparation company in the industry’s history. Founded in 1997 by CEO John T. Hewitt, a pioneer in the tax industry, Liberty Tax Service has prepared over 7,000,000 individual income tax returns. With 41 years of tax industry experience, Hewitt stands as the most experienced CEO in the tax preparation business, having also founded Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE:JTX).

At the same time Brandweek is reporting that Jackson Hewitt is planning a big ad push starting Jan. 11:

A new push from Jackson Hewitt, however, is all about the joy of a big refund check.

The TV, print, outdoor and online campaign from Zimmerman Advertising illustrates the notion of large refunds by showing consumers toting around giant checks (like the kind presented at charity events) after visiting Jackson Hewitt. The approach contrasts with rival H&R Block’s ad campaign, which touts the firm’s ability to answer tough tax questions.

Advertising, Adweek http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1227613352http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1126101268

Client marketing chief Debra Dowd, who joined Jackson Hewitt a year ago after serving as head of marketing for Almay Cosmetics at Revlon, among other posts, said that emphasizing refunds was a “really obvious place to go,” since research showed that many Americans actually look forward to tax time.

“It’s one of the largest checks you’ll get this year,” she said, noting that the sour economy puts people even more in the mood to get some cash back. A radio ad emphasizes the joy of refunds with cries of “Let’s go to a ball game!” and “Let’s go to our favorite restaurant!”

Ads breaking on Jan. 11 will also be tagged to show Jackson Hewitt’s affiliation with Walmart. Earlier this month, the tax firm announced it was expanding its in-store footprint at the retailer to 1,800-1,900 locations, vs. the previous estimate of 1,500-1,750. Dowd said the Walmart association dovetails neatly with Jackson Hewitt’s demographic target: “Main Street Americans.”



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Posted on December 31, 2009
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 22 Comments

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business

Even if the economy isn’t helpful, businesses can start planning now on how to improve their operations.

“The main goal is to manage cash flow more efficiently,” says Leigh Lones, Risk Director, Bibby Financial Services, a factoring company. “With some forward thinking and planning, businesses can implement important changes to their operations to improve their bottom lines, even if the economy remains lifeless.”

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Businesses

1. Pay your employees first, they are your highest priority and don’t forget the IRS – keep current with payroll taxes.

2. Pay attention to the credit worthiness of your customers so you are confident your will get your money. Remember a sale is not a sale until you have been paid.

3. Limit the amount of business you do with any one customer so you aren’t left penniless if they run into trouble and are unable to pay. Read more

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Posted on December 30, 2009
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Are lawsuits against CPA’s poised to spike?

New Year’s Resolution: review client relationship practices

After a year of record-setting investor losses, a leading securities attorney warned that accounting firms will face a rising tide of enforcement actions and litigation in 2010, and should take steps to ensure their client relationship practices reflect recent court decisions.

In a guest speech at the New York State Society of CPAs 2009 Investment Companies Conference, leading civil litigation and enforcement defense attorney Richard A. Roth of the New York-based Roth Law Firm PLLC, told 350 assembled CPAs that shareholders are now engaging in a high-stakes version of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”

Read more

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Posted on December 29, 2009
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How a CFO steals millions… and no one notices?!

Tracy Coenen noticed.

Tracy Coenen

Coenen

This week Koss Corp (NASDAQ: KOSS) announced that Sujata “Sue” Sachdeva was fired from her position as Vice President of Finance for stealing at least $4.5 million from the company. Two members of the accounting staff Sachdeva supervised were suspended without pay. And then the estimate of losses went up to $20 million.

And here’s where it gets crazy…  read the rest at Sequence Inc. Fraud Files Blog.

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Posted on December 26, 2009
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Jackson Hewitt Loses Bank Funding for RAL’s

Jackson Hewitt’s key bank has reportedly cut off most of the money it used for tax refund loans.

Regulators ordered Santa Barbara Bank & Trust to stop providing the loan money, which covered about 75 percent of Jackson Hewitt’s financial products program, according to a regulatory filing by Jackson Hewitt reported by Bloomberg. Shares of the company, the No. 2 tax preparer behind H&R Block, dropped $1.34 to $4.50 on Thursday.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told Santa Barbara Bank & Trust on Dec. 18 that the lender would not receive regulatory approval to originate the refund anticipation loans in 2010, according to a statement from the bank’s parent, the Pacific Capital Bancorp. A bank spokesman, Tony Rossi, said that “the tax refund loan business is a sort of niche business that falls outside of what would be considered core banking operations.” The bank signed a nonbinding letter of intent with a private equity firm to sell the tax business, the statement said.

Tax preparers are locked in a battle for customers, with Jackson Hewitt vowing this month to regain market share from H&R Block. Firms can attract clients with refund anticipation loans, in which customers who need cash immediately can get a short-term loan, typically lasting a few weeks, that is based on the expected amount of their tax refund. Jackson Hewitt, with 6,600 outlets and almost 3 million clients, has been losing customers to H&R Block and Intuit, which makes TurboTax software. It suspended its dividend in March and has hired Goldman Sachs to explore “strategic alternatives,” language that typically means a company may be sold.

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Posted on December 25, 2009
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CCH Updates Last-Minute Congressional Action

As both houses of Congress move toward adjournment, CCH has updated three of its Special Tax Briefings on the provisions of estate tax, tax extender and health care legislation.

“It appears that Senate action on the extenders and estate tax will have to wait until next year. And, although health care reform legislation is likely to pass in the Senate before the end of the year, it’s unlikely that differences between the House and Senate can be resolved before 2010,” said CCH Principal Federal Tax Analyst Mark Luscombe, JD, LLM, CPA.

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Posted on December 22, 2009
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Ten Steps to Business Planning in a Time of Economic Distress

How to avoid destroying your firm’s future by using obsolete techniques.

by Bruce W. Marcus
The Marcus Letter

There is a wonderful old Russian folk tale about the family in a sled being chased by ferocious wolves. To slow down the wolves, thinking to protect the remaining family members, they threw children overboard.

That story comes to mind as we watch the law and accounting firms, chased by the wolves of  a depressing economy, decimate their firms by furloughing or firing staff, deferring new hires, cutting salaries, and otherwise taking draconian measures to slash costs and, presumably, to save firms. In too many cases, these actions are precipitous and short sighted, with no view of the future. There is a notion that when economic conditions improve, there will be a large pool of talent waiting to be recalled. Maybe, but not likely.  It seems probable  that in too many cases, this kind of thinking will reduce once vibrant firms to impotent skeletons in a highly competitive market. For larger firms, pursuing these practices may mean creating firms that of themselves will substantially alter the nature of legal or accounting practice. For the accountants and lawyers jettisoned under these policies, it means living with regret at having wasted all those years, all that education and all those apprenticeships, and all that money, to no fulfillment of promise. If the downturn lasts long enough, it means monumental changes in career plans. And who will be able to wait around waiting for the law and accounting firms to recover? What can be done now that anticipates functioning successfully as recovery kicks in?

More than functioning defensively, is there an active approach that will better serve a firm’s future? Yes, there is.  It’s a non-traditional approach to long range planning.

Continued at Planning amid distress….

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Posted on December 22, 2009
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Top 100 Firm Blue & Co. Spins Off Aliign Small Biz Specialty Unit

Aliign Home PageAliign offers one-stop shop for integrated and flexible tax and accounting services

Indianapolis-based Blue & Co. is reportedly launching an independent business unit aimed at small business called Aliign LLC in the Indiana and Ohio markets.  Kentucky is due to follow in the first quarter of 2010. Aliign’s website lists seven directors and five offices.

The firm says:

“Aliign provides an integrated suite of tax Blue & Co.and accounting services offered within a highly advanced technology platform—providing clients with 24/7 web-based access to their financial documents and data.”

Jerry Hammel

Hammel

“Our vision with Aliign is to offer small businesses a single source for all their accounting needs—including tax planning, full-service payroll, outsourced bookkeeping, and general accounting,” stated Jerry Hammel, director at Aliign. “Striving to offer clients maximum convenience, we provide our services within a highly advanced technology platform, which includes secure client portals, hosted QuickBooks, and web-based payroll and bookkeeping. Clients enjoy anytime-anywhere, paperless access to their financial documents, as well as real-time access to Aliign professionals. It’s all at the clients’ fingertips!”

Aliign was developed as an alternative to larger firms—providing the same level of sophisticated services with a highly personal touch. Catering to small businesses, Aliign’s business model supports custom, technologically advanced service packages at an affordable rate.

“Aliign is unique in that we offer a full-line of services within an advanced web-based platform, while also supporting a personalized, one-on-one approach to working with our clients,” said Hammel.

“We develop partnerships with clients—working side-by-side throughout the year to ensure that they understand their financial position. It’s not enough that we simply supply clients with documents; we want to make sure they understand the data in order to make sound business decisions,” said Hammel.

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Posted on December 21, 2009
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Five Reasons You Can’t Stop Business Development during Busy Season

Make busy season into business development season.

“Firms need to look at the busy season as a stepping stone for 2010, while your clients are focused on taxes and accounting more than any other time,” according to John Ezell’s ProHorizons.

Here’s why you need a business development strategy in busy season:

  1. Accounting draws attention: The tax season is the time where you get the opportunity to meet your clients in person. Accounting is an important issue that, generally, captures an audience.
  2. Competitive advantage: Firms that make an effort at marketing during the busy season gain a competitive advantage over other firms who are not in the marketplace.
  3. Strengthened relationships: It is an opportunity to further strengthen relationships with existing clients.
  4. Increased referrals: Strengthened relationships will improve both quality and quantity of referrals.
  5. Accelerated growth: It offers opportunities to increase business and should not be wasted.

via Blog | ProHorizons.

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Posted on December 21, 2009
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