Tax Assistance 12/17/2008
Tax Assistance Asheville, North Carolina CPA, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 684-7884 announced the opening of his tax return preparation and accounting office. Erickson is focusing his efforts on both individual tax return preparation and business tax return preparation and helping those forming new businesses to get their accounting systems established from the beginning to allow the new business owner to always know where he stands from a financial and operations perspective. Paul Erickson points out, there is an old adage: lack of success is not because people plan to fail but because they fail to plan. Too many business fail and our difficult economic circumstances are causing more businesses than ever to fail. One key reason is that business owners often lose sight of the part of the business they are good at doing as they start spending their time doing work they never wanted or intended to do. One such area is bookkeeping, accounting and tax return preparation. Business owners may be able to do their company's bookkeeping, accounting and tax returns, just as they might be able to change the oil in their car. However, their time would be far better spent working in their area of expertise - the area in which they generate themost income per hour for themselves and their families -- if they want to succeed. He reminds his clients their time is a precious resource. He points out how we have all felt there is not enough time to get everything done. If they had a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who took care of their taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, they would have significantly more time to do what they are good at doing and what they have a passion to do. They will then have the ability to pursue it with a far greater level of certainty since they will be proceeding with the comfort of knowing that both they and their CFO are confident their forward planning will produce excellent returns. Undoubtedly they were concerned that a CFO would cost$50,000-$100,000+ a year. Paul Erickson has offered his services at a small fraction of what it would cost them if they hired a full time CFO. Retaining Paul L. Erickson's services could be the most valuable and most comforting business decision they will ever make. Through his more than 25 years as a CPA and attorney, he achieved extensive experience working with businesses of all size and disciplines. Before moving to Asheville, he worked for five years as General Counsel and Vice President of Finance (which included the function as CFO) for Erickson Retirement Communities, Inc., one of the nation's largest developers and managers of retirement communities. He will bring that type of experience to the table as he and his clients look for tax advantages and financial instruments that are particularly suited to their business or that they might not be taking full advantage of. Plus, he will use his expertise to help get his client's accounting and bookkeeping systems better established with today's very efficient and helpful software systems. Paul Erickson will help them on a monthly basis to make sure their financial house remains in good order so they can focus on the current and new business opportunities they can make the most of. When asked how he can afford to offer his services as such a low rate, he informs clients that in converting his business from law to accounting, bookkeeping and tax services, he was able to cut his overhead by thousands of dollars a month and will pass those savings on to his clients. In accounting and taxation, with a relatively small investment of time, one can get the accounting systems set up, train the clients or their staff how to use them to prepare invoices and issue checks which are functions clients will need to do. Erickson says after 25 years of practicing as an attorney, it was a difficult to close his law practice in Western, North Carolina because there is no one left that has the expertise and willingness to help the families with disabled children whose causes he has championed for the past 15 years. Paul Erickson fought against incredible odds to help those families and won some substantial victories for some families. See: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/4th.G.fortbragg.lovaas.pdf South Carolina has now passed legislation to require coverage for autism in health insurance policies. Mr. Erickson attributes that to South Carolina's progressive ideology and its willingness to pass legislation of which he was instrumental in getting passed some 10 years ago. Erickson had hoped favorable decisions like the Fort Bragg decision would have helped families with special needs. While South Carolina took positive steps forward, North Carolina's reaction was negative. As he fought to obtain proper services for children with autism in North Carolina, its General Assembly repealed its maximization standard and replaced it with a minimum standard against which its schools could hardly be challenged for providing inappropriate educational programs for its children with special needs. Erickson's view: Apparently the state prefers the pounds of cure over the ounce of prevention. Neither logic nor accountability will prevail against that philosophy. In other words, his success caused North Carolina to move backwards, not forwards. By shifting his business to taxation and accounting, Paul L. Erickson now looks forward to his clients achieving success and working towards financial security. Because that will ultimately generate more tax revenue for the state, he is confident he will not run up against state opposition in helping his tax and accounting clients. For clients who still seek legal services, he suggest they purchase a Pre-Paid Legal family membership at his web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. That membership includes the preparation of their wills, unlimited legal consultation on any legal matter, representation in court if they have a moving traffic violation, a schedule of hours of free legal defense for when they get sued, demand letters, 25% discount for matters not fully covered, 24 hour emergency legal services and they can obtain the Identity Theft Shield to protect themselves against the fastest growing crime in the US. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. . Protect Against Identity Theft 12/17/2008
Protect Against Identity Theft Asheville, North Carolina CPA, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 684-7884 in addition to opening a tax return preparation and accounting office, has also begun an employee benefits business. Erickson's employee benefits company is designed to help the multitude of businesses who are in the process of being snared in the all encompassing and newly enacted Identity Theft regulations (such as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and its Red Flag Rules (effective November 1, 2008); Fair Credit Reporting Act; Gramm, Leach, Bliley Safeguard Rules; and Individual State Laws) to implement appropriate policies, procedures and safeguards to comply with the various laws, rules and regulations as well as provide their employees with a low cost means of resolving Identity Theft issues when they or a member of their family become a victim of Identity Theft. The public, because of ubiquitous television ads, believes identity theft is a joke. It is a woman talking with a man's voice, a banjo playing waiter, a victimless crime with zero liability. Nothing could be further from the truth. What it is in fact, is an insidious crime that is exploding, that costs businesses today in excess of 50 Billion Dollars per year, results in the permanent corruption of its victims files in many cases, ruining their lives in extreme cases and causing potentially the largest liability for businesses and governmental bodies since asbestos and tobacco litigation. Identity Theft affects over 9 million people each year in the United States alone. There are an almost infinite number of ways for a thief to steal your identity. Everything starts with the thief's ability to get access to certain key pieces of information that belong to you. The thief is looking for information to commit one or more of the 5 Main Types of Identity Theft: 1. Driver License: Thief gets a traffic ticket in a victim's name; thief may or may not pay the fine Thief uses information to attain instant credit in victim's name • Points may be added to victim's driving record, resulting in increased auto insurance, cancelled auto insurance, or driver license suspension • Warrant may be issued to victim, thereby resulting in arrest 2. SSN/Employment: Thieves use victim's SSN to gain employment or to report income under victim's name • Thieves take the income, don't pay the taxes, leaving victim with the bill • Wanted criminals or illegal immigrants use victim's SSN Identity so they can get employment without being found or to gain employment • Thieves and Criminals use victim's SSN for employment, medical, financial, criminal, school, and other purposes 3. Medical: Thief gets medical care or prescription drugs in a victim's name • Victim may get the medical bill OR not be able to get their own prescriptions filled • Insurance, employment or treatment may be denied, because the thief's diabetes, hepatitis, AIDS, etc, is now part of the victim's MID file • Because of corrupted medical history, victim may receive the wrong prescription or medical treatment 4. Criminal: Thieves mask their criminal activity behind victim's identity • Victim may get arrested; resulting in a criminal record • Employment or pensions due may be denied because of fraudulent criminal records found during routine background checks • Security checkpoints at airports could become a nightmare • Passport could be denied and victim can be barred from leaving the country 5. Financial: Thief gains access to existing accounts or opens new accounts in a victim's name • Accounts may be overdrawn or debts incurred (credit cards, loans, utilities) • Delinquent accounts or judgments filed in victim's name for unpaid debts • Credit scores are lowered for victim, resulting in higher interest rates and insurance premiums People and businesses needing these protections can purchase the Identity Theft Shield and Pre-Paid Legal family memberships at Paul Erickson's web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. Mr. Erickson's benefits team will assist businesses to: • Appoint, in writing, an Information Security Officer to oversee the protection, and privacy of Non-Public Information and Personally Identifiable Information and in some cases protect it from Identity Theft related misuse. • Develop an appropriate written plan and policy to protect non-public information and Personally Identifiable Information of employees and customers. • Hold training for employees – to effectively implement any plan employees have to know about the plan and the laws. • Oversee service provider arrangements – businesses' liability is their information that follows them and with those organizations that they share information with. The Identity Theft Shield component is provided by Kroll Inc., which is one of the world's leading risk consulting companies. Finally, all of this is provided at no direct cost to organizations. . Personal Bookkeeping 12/17/2008
Personal Bookkeeping Paul L. Erickson, CPA, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 684-7884, has discontinued his law practice to begin a tax return preparation and accounting practice. He is focusing his efforts on both individual tax return preparation and business tax return preparation and helping those forming new businesses to get their accounting systems established from the beginning to allow the new business owner to always know where he stands from a financial and operations perspective. Paul Erickson points out, there is an old adage: lack of success is not because people plan to fail but because they fail to plan. Too many business fail and our difficult economic circumstances are causing more businesses than ever to fail. One key reason is that business owners often lose their focus on the part of the business they are good at doing as they start spending their time doing work they never wanted or intended to do. One such area is bookkeeping, accounting and tax return preparation. Business owners may be able to do their company's bookkeeping, accounting and tax returns, just as they might be able to change the oil in their car. However, their time would be far better spent working in their area of expertise - the area in which they generate the most income per hour for themselves and their families -- if they want to succeed. He reminds his clients their time is a precious resource. We have all felt there is not enough time to get everything done. If they had a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who took care of their taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, it would give them significantly more time to do what they are good at doing and what they have a passion to do - and the ability to pursue it with a far greater level of certainty since they will be proceeding with the comfort that both they and their CFO are confident the forward planning will produce excellent returns. No doubt they are concerned that a CFO would cost $50,000+ a year. Paul Erickson then asks them, what if they could hire a CFO for as little as $300 a month? That could be the most valuable and most comforting business decision they will ever make. He then asks them to consider letting him become their part time CFO. Through his 30 years as a CPA, he obtained extensive experience working with businesses of all size and disciplines and will bring that experience to the table as he and his clients look for tax advantages and financial instruments that are particularly suited to their business or that they might not be taking full advantage of. Plus, he will use his expertise to help get his client's accounting and bookkeeping systems better established with today's very efficient and helpful software systems. Paul Erickson will help them on a monthly basis to make sure their financial house remains in good order so they can focus on the current and new business opportunities they can make the most of. When they ask how can Paul Erickson afford to do that? He informs them that in converting his business from law to accounting, bookkeeping and tax services, he was able to cut his overhead by thousands of dollars a month and will pass those savings on to his clients. When asked about the families with disabled children whose causes he has championed as an attorney for the past 15 years, Paul Erickson's face saddens. He fought against incredible odds to help those families and won some substantial victories for some families. See: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/4th.G.fortbragg.lovaas.pdf Erickson had hoped favorable decisions like the Fort Bragg decision would help families with special needs. Unfortunately, he realized that state reaction was not favorable. As he fought to obtain proper services for children with autism in North Carolina, its General Assembly repealed its maximization standard and replaced it with a minimum standard against which its schools could hardly be challenged for providing inappropriate educational programs for its children with special needs. Erickson's view: Apparently the state prefers the pounds of cure over the ounce of prevention. Neither logic nor accountability will prevail against that philosophy. In other words, his success caused North Carolina to move backwards, not forwards. By shifting his business to taxation and accounting, Paul L. Erickson now looks forward to his clients achieving success and working towards financial security. Because that will ultimately generate more tax revenue for the state, he is confident he will not run up against state opposition in helping his tax and accounting clients. For clients who still seek legal services, he suggest they purchase a Pre-Paid Legal family membership at his web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. That membership includes the preparation of their wills, unlimited legal consultation on any legal matter, representation in court if they have a moving traffic violation, a schedule of hours of free legal defense for when they get sued, demand letters, 25% discount for matters not fully covered, 24 hour emergency legal services and they can obtain the Identity Theft Shield to protect themselves against the fastest growing crime in the US. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. . Need Help With Finances? 12/17/2008
Need Help With Finances? Paul L. Erickson, CPA, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111 has opened a tax return preparation and accounting practice. He is focusing his efforts on both individual tax return preparation and business tax return preparation and helping those forming new businesses to get their accounting systems established from the beginning to allow the new business owner to always know where he stands from a financial and operations perspective. Paul Erickson points out, there is an old adage: lack of success is not because people plan to fail but because they fail to plan. Too many business fail and our difficult economic circumstances are causing more businesses than ever to fail. One key reason is that business owners often lose their focus on the part of the business they are good at doing as they start spending their time doing work they never wanted or intended to do. One such area is bookkeeping, accounting and tax return preparation. Business owners may be able to do their company's bookkeeping, accounting and tax returns, just as they might be able to change the oil in their car. However, their time would be far better spent working in their area of expertise - the area in which they generate the most income per hour for themselves and their families -- if they want to succeed. He reminds his clients their time is a precious resource. We have all felt there is not enough time to get everything done. If they had a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who took care of their taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, it would give them significantly more time to do what they are good at doing and what they have a passion to do - and the ability to pursue it with a far greater level of certainty since they will be proceeding with the comfort that both they and their CFO are confident the forward planning will produce excellent returns. No doubt they are concerned that a CFO would cost $50,000+ a year. Paul Erickson then asks them, what if they could hire a CFO for as little as $300 a month? That could be the most valuable and most comforting business decision they will ever make. He then asks them to consider letting him become their part time CFO. Through his more than 25 years as a CPA and attorney, he achieved extensive experience working with businesses of all size and disciplines and will bring that experience to the table as he and his clients look for tax advantages and financial instruments that are particularly suited to their business or that they might not be taking full advantage of. Plus, he will use his expertise to help get his client's accounting and bookkeeping systems better established with today's very efficient and helpful software systems. Paul Erickson will help them on a monthly basis to make sure their financial house remains in good order so they can focus on the current and new business opportunities they can make the most of. When they ask how can Paul Erickson afford to do that? He informs them that in converting his business from law to accounting, bookkeeping and tax services, he was able to cut his overhead by thousands of dollars a month and will pass those savings on to his clients. It was a difficult to close my law practice in Asheville, North Carolina because there are no one left in Western North Carolina who have his special education background and experience and who are willing to help the families with disabled children whose causes he championed as an attorney for the past 15 years. Paul Erickson fought against incredible odds to help those families and won some substantial victories for some families. See: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/4th.G.fortbragg.lovaas.pdf South Carolina has now passed legislation to require coverage for autism in health insurance policies. Erickson had hoped favorable decisions like the Fort Bragg decision would help families with special needs. While South Carolina took positive steps forward, his home state (North Carolina) reacted negatively. As he fought to obtain proper services for children with autism in North Carolina, its General Assembly repealed its maximization standard and replaced it with a minimum standard against which its schools could hardly be challenged for providing inappropriate educational programs for its children with special needs. Erickson's view: Apparently the state prefers the pounds of cure over the ounce of prevention. Neither logic nor accountability will prevail against that philosophy. In other words, his success caused North Carolina to move backwards, not forwards. By shifting his business to taxation and accounting, Paul L. Erickson now looks forward to his clients achieving success and working towards financial security. Because that will ultimately generate more tax revenue for the state, he is confident he will not run up against state opposition in helping his tax and accounting clients. For clients who still seek legal services, he suggest they purchase a Pre-Paid Legal family membership at his web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. That membership includes the preparation of their wills, unlimited legal consultation on any legal matter, representation in court if they have a moving traffic violation, a schedule of hours of free legal defense for when they get sued, demand letters, 25% discount for matters not fully covered, 24 hour emergency legal services and they can obtain the Identity Theft Shield to protect themselves against the fastest growing crime in the US. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. . Accounting & Bookkeeping 12/17/2008
Accounting & Bookkeeping Paul L. Erickson, CPA, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111, has closed his law practice and opened a tax return preparation, bookkeeping and accounting practice. He also remains open to the possibility of returning to the retirement business but at this time has decided to focus his efforts on individual tax return preparation, business tax return preparation and helping those forming new businesses to get their accounting systems established from the beginning to allow the new business owner to always know where he stands from a financial and operations perspective. Paul Erickson points out, there is an old adage: lack of success is not because people plan to fail but because they fail to plan. Too many business fail and our difficult economic circumstances are causing more businesses than ever to fail. One key reason is that business owners often lose their focus on the part of the business they are good at doing as they start spending their time doing work they never wanted or intended to do. One such area is bookkeeping, accounting and tax return preparation. Business owners may be able to do their company's bookkeeping, accounting and tax returns, just as they might be able to change the oil in their car. However, their time would be far better spent working in their area of expertise - the area in which they generate the most income per hour for themselves and their families -- if they want to succeed. He reminds his clients their time is a precious resource. We have all felt there is not enough time to get everything done. If they had a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who took care of their taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, it would give them significantly more time to do what they are good at doing and what they have a passion to do - and the ability to pursue it with a far greater level of certainty since they will be proceeding with the comfort that both they and their CFO are confident the forward planning will produce excellent returns. No doubt they are concerned that a CFO would cost $50,000+ a year. Paul Erickson then asks them, what if they could hire a CFO for as little as $300 a month? That could be the most valuable and most comforting business decision they will ever make. He then asks them to consider letting him become their part time CFO. He has extensive experience working with businesses of all size and disciplines and will bring that experience to the table as he and his clients look for tax advantages and financial instruments that are particularly suited to his client's business that they might not be taking full advantage of. Plus, he will use his expertise to help get his client's accounting and bookkeeping systems better established with today's very efficient and helpful software systems. Paul Erickson will help them on a monthly basis to make sure their financial house remains in good order so they can focus on the current and new business opportunities they can make the most of. When they ask how can Paul Erickson afford to do that? He informs them that in converting his business from law to accounting, bookkeeping and tax services, he was able to cut his overhead by thousands of dollars a month and will pass those savings on to his clients. When asked about the families with disabled children whose causes he has championed for the past 15 years, Paul Erickson's face saddens. He fought against incredible odds to help those families and won some incredible victories for some families. See: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/4th.G.fortbragg.lovaas.pdf Erickson had hoped favorable decisions like the Fort Bragg decision would help families with special needs. Unfortunately, he realized that state reaction was not favorable. As he fought to obtain proper services for children with autism in North Carolina, its General Assembly repealed its maximization standard and replaced it with a minimum standard against which its schools could hardly be challenged for providing inappropriate educational programs for its children with special needs. Erickson's view: Apparently the state prefers the pounds of cure over the ounce of prevention. Neither logic nor accountability will prevail against that philosophy. In other words, his efforts were causing North Carolina to move backwards, not forwards. By shifting his business to taxation and accounting, Paul L. Erickson now looks forward to his clients achieving success and working towards financial security. Because that will ultimately generate more tax revenue for the state, he is confident he will not run up against state opposition in helping his tax and accounting clients. For clients who still seek and attorney or legal services, he suggest they purchase a Pre-Paid Legal family membership at his web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. That membership includes the preparation of their wills, unlimited legal consultation on any legal matter, representation in court if they have a moving traffic violation, a schedule of hours of free legal defense for when they get sued, demand letters, 25% discount for matters not fully covered, 24 hour emergency legal services and they can obtain the Identity Theft Shield to protect themselves against the fastest growing crime in the US. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. . Identity Theft Shield 12/17/2008
Identity Theft Shield Asheville, North Carolina CPA, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111 in addition to opening a tax return preparation and accounting office, has also begun an employee benefits business. Erickson's employee benefits company is designed to help the multitude of businesses who are in the process of being regulated in the all encompassing and newly enacted Identity Theft regulations (such as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and its Red Flag Rules (effective November 1, 2008); Fair Credit Reporting Act; Gramm, Leach, Bliley Safeguard Rules; and Individual State Laws) to implement appropriate policies, procedures and safeguards to comply with the various laws, rules and regulations as well as provide their employees with a low cost means of resolving Identity Theft issues when they or a member of their family become a victim of Identity Theft. Because of voluminous television ads, the public sees identity theft as a joke. It is a woman talking with a man's voice, a banjo playing waiter, a victimless crime with zero liability. Nothing could be further from the truth. What it is in fact, is an insidious crime that is exploding, that costs businesses today in excess of 50 Billion Dollars per year, results in the permanent corruption of its victims files in many cases, ruining their lives in extreme cases and causing potentially the largest liability for businesses and governmental bodies since asbestos and tobacco litigation. Identity Theft affects over 9 million people each year in the United States alone. There are an almost infinite number of ways for a thief to steal your identity. It appears the FTC is going to leave the enforcement of FACTA to private attorneys. Everything starts with the thief's ability to get access to certain key pieces of information that belong to you. The thief is looking for information to commit one or more of the 5 Main Types of Identity Theft: 1. Driver License: Thief gets a traffic ticket in a victim's name: • The thief may or may not pay the fine • Points may be added to victim's driving record, resulting in increased auto insurance, cancelled auto insurance, or driver license suspension • Warrant(s) may be issued to victim, thereby resulting in arrest 2. SSN/Employment: Thieves use victim's SSN to gain employment or to report income under victim's name • Thieves take the income, don't pay the taxes, leaving victim with the bill • Wanted criminals or illegal immigrants use victim's SSN Identity so they can get employment without being found or to gain employment • Thieves and Criminals use victim's SSN for employment, medical, financial, criminal, school, and other purposes 3. Medical: Thief gets medical care or prescription drugs in a victim's name • Victim may get the medical bill OR not be able to get their own prescriptions filled • Insurance, employment or treatment may be denied, because the thief's diabetes, hepatitis, AIDS, etc, is now part of the victim's MID file • Because of corrupted medical history, victim may receive the wrong prescription or medical treatment 4. Criminal: Thieves mask their criminal activity behind victim's identity • Victim may get arrested; resulting in a criminal record • Employment or pensions due may be denied because of fraudulent criminal records found during routine background checks • Security checkpoints at airports could become a nightmare • Passport could be denied and victim can be barred from leaving the country 5. Financial: Thief gains access to existing accounts or opens new accounts in a victim's name • Accounts may be overdrawn or debts incurred (credit cards, loans, utilities) • Delinquent accounts or judgments filed in victim's name for unpaid debts • Credit scores are lowered for victim, resulting in higher interest rates and insurance premiums • Thieves use information to attain instant credit in victim's name People and businesses needing these protections can purchase the Identity Theft Shield and Pre- Paid Legal family memberships at Paul Erickson's web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. Mr. Erickson's benefits team will assist businesses to: • Appoint, in writing, an Information Security Officer to oversee the protection, and privacy of Non-Public Information and Personally Identifiable Information and in some cases protect it from Identity Theft related misuse. • Develop an appropriate written plan and policy to protect non-public information and Personally Identifiable Information of employees and customers. • Hold training for employees – to effectively implement any plan employees have to know about the plan and the laws. • Oversee service provider arrangements – businesses' liability is their information that follows them and with those organizations that they share information with. The Identity Theft Shield component is provided by Kroll Inc., which is one of the world's leading risk consulting companies. Finally, all of this is provided at no direct cost to organizations. . Identity Theft Protection 12/17/2008
Identity Theft Protection Asheville, North Carolina CPA, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111 in addition to opening a tax return preparation and accounting office, has also begun an employee benefits business. Erickson's employee benefits company is designed to help the multitude of businesses, many of which have no idea they are subject to the all encompassing and newly enacted Identity Theft regulations (such as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and its Red Flag Rules (effective November 1, 2008); Fair Credit Reporting Act; Gramm, Leach, Bliley Safeguard Rules; and Individual State Laws) to implement appropriate policies, procedures and safeguards to comply with the various laws, rules and regulations as well as provide their employees with a low cost means of resolving Identity Theft issues when they or a member of their family become a victim of Identity Theft. The public, because of ubiquitous television ads, believes identity theft is a joke. It is a woman talking with a man's voice, a banjo playing waiter, a victimless crime with zero liability. Nothing could be further from the truth. What it is in fact, is an insidious crime that is exploding, that costs businesses today in excess of 50 Billion Dollars per year, results in the permanent corruption of its victims files in many cases, ruining their lives in extreme cases and causing potentially the largest liability for businesses and governmental bodies since asbestos and tobacco litigation. Identity Theft affects over 9 million people each year in the United States alone. There are an almost infinite number of ways for a thief to steal your identity. It appears the FTC has decided to have FACTA enforced by private attorneys. Everything starts with the thief's ability to get access to certain key pieces of information that belong to you. The thief is looking for information to commit one or more of the 5 Main Types of Identity Theft: 1. Driver License: Thief gets a traffic ticket in a victim's name; thief may or may not pay the fine Thief uses information to attain instant credit in victim's name • Points may be added to victim's driving record, resulting in increased auto insurance, cancelled auto insurance, or driver license suspension • Warrant may be issued to victim, thereby resulting in arrest 2. SSN/Employment: Thieves use victim's SSN to gain employment or to report income under victim's name • Thieves take the income, don't pay the taxes, leaving victim with the bill • Wanted criminals or illegal immigrants use victim's SSN Identity so they can get employment without being found or to gain employment • Thieves and Criminals use victim's SSN for employment, medical, financial, criminal, school, and other purposes 3. Medical: Thief gets medical care or prescription drugs in a victim's name • Victim may get the medical bill OR not be able to get their own prescriptions filled • Insurance, employment or treatment may be denied, because the thief's diabetes, hepatitis, AIDS, etc, is now part of the victim's MID file • Because of corrupted medical history, victim may receive the wrong prescription or medical treatment 4. Criminal: Thieves mask their criminal activity behind victim's identity • Victim may get arrested; resulting in a criminal record • Employment or pensions due may be denied because of fraudulent criminal records found during routine background checks • Security checkpoints at airports could become a nightmare • Passport could be denied and victim can be barred from leaving the country 5. Financial: Thief gains access to existing accounts or opens new accounts in a victim's name • Accounts may be overdrawn or debts incurred (credit cards, loans, utilities) • Delinquent accounts or judgments filed in victim's name for unpaid debts • Credit scores are lowered for victim, resulting in higher interest rates and insurance premiums Clients needing these protections can purchase the Identity Theft Shield and Pre-Paid Legal family memberships at Paul Erickson's web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. Mr. Erickson's benefits team will assist businesses to: • Appoint, in writing, an Information Security Officer to oversee the protection, and privacy of Non-Public Information and Personally Identifiable Information and in some cases protect it from Identity Theft related misuse. • Develop an appropriate written plan and policy to protect non-public information and Personally Identifiable Information of employees and customers. • Hold training for employees – to effectively implement any plan employees have to know about the plan and the laws. • Oversee service provider arrangements – businesses' liability is their information that follows them and with those organizations that they share information with. . How To Protect Against Identity Theft 12/17/2008
How To Protect Against Identity Theft Asheville, North Carolina CPA, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111 is using his quarter of a century of experience as a CPA to develop and implement an employee benefits business. Erickson's employee benefits company is designed to help the multitude of businesses who are in the process of being regulated in the all encompassing and newly enacted Identity Theft regulations (such as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and its Red Flag Rules (effective November 1, 2008); Fair Credit Reporting Act; Gramm, Leach, Bliley Safeguard Rules; and Individual State Laws) to implement appropriate policies, procedures and safeguards to comply with the various laws, rules and regulations as well as provide their employees with a low cost means of resolving Identity Theft issues when they or a member of their family become a victim of Identity Theft. Because of an onslaught of television ads resulting from increasing fear of Identity Theft and the advertising industries attempt to make light of a serious matter, the public sees identity theft as a joke. It is a woman talking with a man's voice, a banjo playing waiter, a victimless crime with zero liability. Nothing could be further from the truth. What it is in fact, is an insidious crime that is exploding, that costs businesses today in excess of 50 Billion Dollars per year, results in the permanent corruption of its victims files in many cases, ruining their lives in extreme cases and causing potentially the largest liability for businesses and governmental bodies since asbestos and tobacco litigation. Identity Theft affects over 9 million people each year in the United States alone. It appears that the FTC is going to leave enforcement up to private attorneys. There are an almost infinite number of ways for a thief to steal your identity. Everything starts with the thief's ability to get access to certain key pieces of information that belong to you. The thief is looking for information to commit one or more of the 5 Main Types of Identity Theft: 1. Driver License: Thief gets a traffic ticket in a victim's name: • The thief may or may not pay the fine • Points may be added to victim's driving record, resulting in increased auto insurance, cancelled auto insurance, or driver license suspension • Warrant(s) may be issued to victim, thereby resulting in arrest 2. SSN/Employment: Thieves use victim's SSN to gain employment or to report income under victim's name • Thieves take the income, don't pay the taxes, leaving victim with the bill • Wanted criminals or illegal immigrants use victim's SSN Identity so they can get employment without being found or to gain employment • Thieves and Criminals use victim's SSN for employment, medical, financial, criminal, school, and other purposes 3. Medical: Thief gets medical care or prescription drugs in a victim's name • Victim may get the medical bill OR not be able to get their own prescriptions filled • Insurance, employment or treatment may be denied, because the thief's diabetes, hepatitis, AIDS, etc, is now part of the victim's MID file • Because of corrupted medical history, victim may receive the wrong prescription or medical treatment 4. Criminal: Thieves mask their criminal activity behind victim's identity • Victim may get arrested; resulting in a criminal record • Employment or pensions due may be denied because of fraudulent criminal records found during routine background checks • Security checkpoints at airports could become a nightmare • Passport could be denied and victim can be barred from leaving the country 5. Financial: Thief gains access to existing accounts or opens new accounts in a victim's name • Accounts may be overdrawn or debts incurred (credit cards, loans, utilities) • Delinquent accounts or judgments filed in victim's name for unpaid debts • Credit scores are lowered for victim, resulting in higher interest rates and insurance premiums • Thieves use information to attain instant credit in victim's name People and businesses needing these protections can purchase the Identity Theft Shield and Pre-Paid Legal family memberships at Paul Erickson's web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. Mr. Erickson's benefits team will assist businesses to: • Appoint, in writing, an Information Security Officer to oversee the protection, and privacy of Non-Public Information and Personally Identifiable Information and in some cases protect it from Identity Theft related misuse. • Develop an appropriate written plan and policy to protect non-public information and Personally Identifiable Information of employees and customers. • Hold training for employees – to effectively implement any plan employees have to know about the plan and the laws. • Oversee service provider arrangements – businesses' liability is their information that follows them and with those organizations that they share information with. The Identity Theft Shield component is provided by Kroll Inc., which is one of the world's leading risk consulting companies. Finally, all of this is provided at no direct cost to organizations. . Fuel Efficient Transportation 12/17/2008
Fuel Efficient Transportation Asheville, North Carolina Certified Public Accountant, Paul L. Erickson, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, 828-214-1111 is bringing his 30 years of experience as a CPA to a new joint venture to simultaneously initiate environmental efforts to provide more fuel efficient transportation and save his customers from having to pay excessive fuel costs. Paul Erickson is involved with entrepreneur Steve Darity who purchases, developsleases and sells various real properties. Steve Darity approached Paul Erickson with the idea of providing low cost scooters as an alternate means of transportation in the greater Asheville area. While they initiated the venture as a scooter business, they are also offering larger motor cycles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) for interested individuals. The scooters are a practical holiday gift as it is not necessary to have a driver's license to operate them on the streets and roads. They will be attractive to teenagers who have not yet obtained a drivers license or other individuals whose attorneys recommend them for those whose license has been suspended or revoked but still need a means to get to work in order to take care of their families. The scooters are a highly efficient means of transportation as well as a lot of fun to ride. The scooters can be viewed at Go Green Scooters, at Garner Stereo Center, Inc. 3706 Hendersonville Rd., Fletcher, NC 28715. For more information contact Steve Darity at 828-280-6798 (E-mail daritys@bellsouth.net) or Paul L. Erickson at 828-214-1111 (E-mail PaulLErickson@charter.net). . Certified Public Accountant 12/17/2008
Certified Public Accountant Paul L. Erickson, CPA, P.O. Box 455, Skyland, NC 28776, (828) 214-1111 announced the opening of his tax return preparation and accounting practice. He is focusing his efforts on both individual tax return preparation and business tax return preparation and helping those forming new business to get their accounting systems established from the beginning to allow the new business owner to always know where he stands from a financial and operations perspective. Paul Erickson points out, there is an old adage: lack of success is not because people plan to fail but because they fail to plan. Too many business fail and our difficult economic circumstances are causing more businesses than ever to fail. One key reason is that business owners often lose their focus on the part of the business they are good at doing as they start spending their time doing work they never wanted or intended to do. One such area is bookkeeping, accounting and tax return preparation. Business owners may be able to do their company's bookkeeping, accounting and tax returns, just as they might be able to change the oil in their car. However, their time would be far better spent working in their area of expertise - the area in which they generate the most income per hour for themselves and their families -- if they want to succeed. He reminds his clients their time is a precious resource. He points out how we have all felt there is not enough time to get everything done. If they had a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who took care of their taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, they would have significantly more time to do what they are good at doing and what they have a passion to do. They will then have the ability to pursue it with a far greater level of certainty since they will be proceeding with the comfort that both they and their CFO are confident their forward planning will produce excellent returns. No doubt they are concerned that a CFO would cost $50,000-$100,000+ a year. Paul Erickson has offered his services at a small fraction of what it would cost them if they hired a full time CFO. Retaining Paul L. Erickson's services could be the most valuable and most comforting business decision they will ever make. Through his more than 30 years as a CPA, he obtained extensive experience working with businesses of all size and disciplines. He worked for five years as General Counsel and Vice President of Finance (which included the function as CFO) for Erickson Retirement Communities, Inc., one of the nation's largest developers and managers of retirement communities. He will bring that type of experience to the table as he and his clients look for tax advantages and financial instruments that are particularly suited to their business or that they might not be taking full advantage of. Plus, he will use his expertise to help get his client's accounting and bookkeeping systems better established with today's very efficient and helpful software systems. Paul Erickson will help them on a monthly basis to make sure their financial house remains in good order so they can focus on the current and new business opportunities they can make the most of. When ask how he can afford to offer his services as such a low rate, he informs clients that in converting his business from law to accounting, bookkeeping and tax services, he was able to cut his overhead by thousands of dollars a month and will pass those savings on to his clients. Erickson says it was a difficult to close his law practice in Asheville, North Carolina because there is no attorney left in Western North Carolina that has the expertise and willingness to help the families with disabled children whose causes he has championed for the past 15 years. Paul Erickson fought against incredible odds to help those families and won some substantial victories for some families. See: http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/4th.G.fortbragg.lovaas.pdf South Carolina has now passed legislation to require coverage for autism in health insurance policies. Erickson hoped favorable decisions like the Fort Bragg decision would help families with special needs. While South Carolina took positive steps forward, his home state's (North Carolina) reaction was negative. As he fought to obtain proper services for children with autism in North Carolina, its General Assembly repealed its maximization standard and replaced it with a minimum standard against which its schools could hardly be challenged for providing inappropriate educational programs for its children with special needs. Erickson's view: Apparently the state prefers the pounds of cure over the ounce of prevention. Neither logic nor accountability will prevail against that philosophy. In other words, his success caused North Carolina to move backwards, not forwards. By shifting his business to taxation and accounting, Paul L. Erickson now looks forward to his clients achieving success and working towards financial security. Because that will ultimately generate more tax revenue for the state, he is confident he will not run up against state opposition in helping his tax and accounting clients. For clients who still seek legal services, he suggest they purchase a Pre-Paid Legal family membership at his web site www.prepaidlegal.com/go/paulerickson. That membership includes the preparation of their wills, unlimited legal consultation on any legal matter, representation in court if they have a moving traffic violation, a schedule of hours of free legal defense for when they get sued, demand letters, 25% discount for matters not fully covered, 24 hour emergency legal services and they can obtain the Identity Theft Shield to protect themselves against the fastest growing crime in the US. All of that can be purchased for under $27/month. |
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