Spring is here! I have my own little spring garden and within the confines of my fenced-in backyard, a burst of color explodes in April. Yellow, red and purple are the primary colors. I like the vibrant green of grass and the start of tree buds, but the colors of spring flowers make it much more explosive. Even through the dreary rain, I can still see the splash of colors.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln paid income taxes throughout the Civil War, but after his death, Treasury returned all his payments? Here’s the story…..

An entrepreneur can spend years starting and building a business. For many, we live and breathe our passion, put in long hours, and give up being with family and friends. You can invest your blood, sweat and tears trying to increase and protect your business value.

My list of projects is ever growing, especially during this time of year. It’s easy to start a tax return, but find I get interrupted then go back and attack it again. Sometimes this goes on over several weeks. I do it again and again until the last piece is completed. When I prepared my first tax return this year I found it difficult to push the final button to print the return. I had to have a conversation with myself – is there anything else I can do to improve the results? Is it perfect? If there is nothing left, then just do it. All my efforts to prepare the return do not count until I file the return.

Your chance of an IRS tax audit is slim, only 1% of tax returns are subject to an audit, and 70% of those are by mail. I have been fortunate and have had success with IRS audits. My first line of action is to be proactive and avoid trouble.

The Magic of March comes in the forms of Fairies and leprechauns, rainbows, four leaf clovers and green beer. I’ve never seen a fairy or leprechaun or have drunk green beer. I did enjoy an Irish coffee at an Irish bar in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day many years ago. That brought a bit of magic to the cold, misty day.

Personal financial planning stresses the importance of paying yourself first. Financial experts recommend that a person prepare for the future by putting money away for savings and investment. The rest is available to spend. Let’s take that same logic and apply it to business.

Everyone has a story! I started FOCUS CPA because of a challenging time in my life. In the late 90’s my best choice was to close a business. It was a very painful time, financially and personally. Now I want to make sure that no one else goes through that same experience. I take what I do personally. I know it’s just business, however business is made up of people.

“Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things.”

Every day we make decisions – some are important and some are trivial. In my line of work, we base decisions on data. However that is only one perspective of the issues – other factors that affect the outcome are involved. Factors such as internal desires and outside forces, which are not measured with facts and figures.