Your Small Business: Charge Card vs Credit Card

Both a business charge card and a business credit card could be beneficial to you, depending on your unique business needs. While these resources are very similar, they have a few things that make them different. Here are a few things to consider about charge cards vs credit cards.
Balances
One of the biggest differences between these two types of cards is in the way that balances are handled. Both of them will give you a specific credit limit to work with. With a charge card, you can charge up to your credit limit and then you will have to pay off the balance by the next month.
With a credit card, you will be able to make purchases up to your credit limit as well. The key difference with this type of card is that you can allow your balance to stay on your account for an extended period of time.
Leaving Balances
If you leave a balance on your credit card, you will simply start to accrue interest charges on the account. You will then have to make a minimum monthly payment the next month. With the charge card, if you do not pay off your balance, they are going to charge you late fees.

Tracking Your Business Credit Card Expenses

Since business expenses and the interest on your business credit card are tax deductible, it is important to keep track of these expenses during the year. Keeping track means more than following your balance online. If you ever receive an audit, you must be able to prove the purchases were made for business purposes and were properly recorded. Therefore, you must keep written copies of all your expenses throughout the year.
Save Receipts
The most important step to tracking your business credit card expenses is saving receipts. This includes everything from minor trips to the coffee shop for business meetings to airline tickets. Whenever you are using your business card, you must ask for a copy of your receipt. It is advantageous to use your business card for all business-related expenses. That way, you have your expenses all in one place, and you do not have to dig through any individual or personal cards in order to track any charges in question. Get business cards for any individual in your company who will be using the account and require receipts for every purchase.  Put these receipts immediately into an expense file.
Record Expenses on Reports
At the end of each day, week or month, depending on your personal preference, you should enter the expenses into a ledger for your financial report. Today, this is most commonly done through programs like QuickBooks or other accounting services. If you have a software program, much of your expense report can be automated. Remember: interest on the charges is also deductible. Therefore, you must track interest payments you make to your business credit card in addition to the regular payments you make toward principal debt.
Make Extra Copies
Business owners who fail to make copies of receipts and reports run the risk of losing everything in the case of theft, computer virus or natural disaster. Even files saved on a computer are not safe. You should make hard copies and duplicates of receipts for storage in a fireproof and waterproof safe. In addition, it is wise to back up all computer files on an external hard drive. These are available for purchase for a few hundred dollars, which is tax deductible. You can also use an online data storage service if you do not have in-house servers.
Organize to Prepare for Tax Season
When it comes time to file your taxes, you will have to categorize business expenses. For example, some expenses will be deducted under "Cost of Goods Sold" while others will be capital expenses. Capitalizing expenses allows you to defer taxes until profits result from the expense. This can provide relief in the given tax year, but not all expenses can be capitalized. If you are not an accountant, it will be wise to hire one for assistance with this process. Start by dividing the receipts and expenses into categories as you see fit. Any questions should go before your accountant in order to ensure you are getting the greatest tax benefits.

The Requirements for Opening a Business Credit Card

A business credit card can be issued to a small business owner in the business's name. The credit card can allow a small business owner to get loans, make payments and build credit history without putting their personal credit on the line. Another benefit of the credit card is that, should the small business fail, the business owner's personal credit history would not be affected. Applying for a business credit card can be a complicated process that does involve some risk, but business owners can avoid those problems and get the business credit card by being careful and thorough as they apply.

Getting Started

The business owner's first step should be to establish some assets and start a business-only checking account. At first, the business owner's credit score will double as the business's credit score, but it will change as the business checking account is used more and more often. The business owner should make sure to pay all her bills and other financial obligations on time--failing to do so will hurt her chances of getting a good business credit card.
Since it will take a while for the business credit score to be established, business owners should wait at least a year before applying.

Choosing a Credit Company

All major credit card companies offer business credit cards. A business owner should take a look at each company's products to try to figure out which ones work best for her business's financial needs. She should also carefully check each card's interest rates and other fees. She should try to find a balance between low fees and the right range of services. She should also make sure she has enough capital to pay the business credit card bills on time.

Paperwork Requirements

Once she chooses a bank, a business owner can begin the application process. Before applying for the business credit card, she must put together certain information and documents and have them on hand as she fills out the applications. This includes the Social Security numbers of the business owner and anyone who would be authorized to use the card, the business's legal name and street address, the business's tax ID number and a copy of business gross sale and profit figures for the last fiscal year. Some lenders may request other financial documents as the application process continues.

The Next Step

Once the application paperwork is submitted, the bank will look over it and judge whether or not the business is financially sound enough to get a business credit card. If an application is not accepted, the business owner can always file again, but she should wait at least a year before doing so.

Potential Business Credit Card Drawbacks

First and foremost, business credit cards should be used to manage the business's existing financial assets. They should not be used to generate cash flow unless the business owner has no other choice. The reason for that is simple. Compared to personal credit cards, business credit cards have higher interest rates and other fees. That means that if the business owner falls behind on payments, the consequences will be more severe. This will also have a negative impact on the business's ability to attract clients and get more loans.
Business owners should also make sure they carefully check their business credit card bills and expenses. Unlike personal credit cards, business credit cards have no protections against unauthorized spending. The credit card companies also have more leeway to change the terms without warning.

Business Credit Card Requirements for Partnerships

When you start a business, you will likely receive multiple offers for some type of business credit card. These cards would typically be offered in the name of the business. However, this partly depends on whether your business is incorporated. As a partnership, you have the option to leave your business unincorporated. Then, meeting the requirements for business credit would fall on the shoulders of each individual owner.
Basic Credit Requirements
The credit of both partners in a business will be considered when any lender extends financing to an unincorporated partnership. If one partner owns a larger percentage of equity, the credit of this owner will be weighed more heavily. However, both should have a record free of default, delinquency and other credit issues to qualify for the best credit cards.
Asset Requirements
If an unincorporated partnership fails, the partners will have to resolve outstanding debts personally. This is very risky for a lender. As a result, the lender will typical require collateral on any business credit card. This can take the form of a liquid asset, such as a business's bank account, if necessary. A further option is for one or both of the partners to use personal collateral to secure a loan.

Paypal Fraud and Paypal Email Scams

This article is written neither to promote nor criticize the Paypal online mode of payment. With the rapid growth in the number of Paypal users, frauds and email scams on Paypal accounts has become more frequent and severe. Our network team has put together a report on the current Paypal frauds and Paypal email scams being perpetuated by various groups of fraudsters. We also offer advice for users of Paypal to help them reduce the chances of becoming victims of such frauds and scams. As the usage of the internet has increased in handling online transactions, both buyers and sellers need to become aware of safe practices to operate online payments or online receipt of funds.
To access a Paypal account you need to have the username and password of the account. The username of a Paypal account is the main email address (primary email address) used to register the account. The owner of the account would also set up a password to be used along with the username to access the account. The security system is quite secure as long as the username and password of the Paypal account are known only to the actual owner of the account. If these details are available to anyone else it would mean that the security of that Paypal account has been compromised. Anyone acquiring the username and password of any Paypal account can access and perform all functions that the actual owner of the account could do.
In this article we will try to explain in simple terms how confidential login information of an actual Paypal account owner can be robbed and misused. We will then provide important and simple suggestions that would reduce the chances of such a fraud being committed on your Paypal account.
(a) Being careless with your information: This type of Paypal fraud can be committed very easily and does not require too much effort on the part of the fraudster. Users very often write down their login details for various websites with the fear of forgetting them. Anyone having access to these written details can login to the Paypal account and treat the account as if it was his own. Another possibility that could easily open a Paypal account to fraud is when the user selects a very simple or easy password that can be easily guessed. People with bad intentions need to make a few guesses before they arrive at the correct password to enter the Paypal account. These are the simplest ways in which a Paypal fraud can be committed and they do not require any email scam to be done.
(b) Identity theft through a Paypal email scam: Paypal phishing or identity theft as it is commonly known, involves an attempt by a fraudster to extract the login details of a Paypal account from the actual owner of the account. Armed with these detais, the fraudster can be very dangerous as full control of the Paypal account can be excercised.  In this case, emails will be randomly sent to many email addresses informing the receiver of a certain activity in their Paypal account. For these Paypal email scams to work, the receiver of the email will need to login to his Paypal account by clicking a link on the email. The exact contents of each Paypal email scam might differ but the objective remains the same. Once the user clicks the link in the email, he is taken to a web page that closely resembles a regular Paypal login page. This page is infact a fake and is hosted by the fraudster (not Paypal) with the sole purpose of collecting confidential login details from the actual owner of the Paypal account. If the owner of the Paypal account falls for this trick, his account will soon be operated by the fraudster and this could lead to heavy losses. Attempts to phish Paypal accounts have become quite common and each time a fraudster unleashes his cruel trick a number of innocent Paypal accounts become victims.
The above two methods account for a major share of Paypal frauds and Paypal email scams being committed in recent times. It is not very difficult to stay clear from these frauds and we provide some useful suggestions to help you. You really do not have to give up using your Paypal account with the fear of it being misused or phished by someone else. The internet provides numerous advantages when it comes to selling and buying online and to surrender these benefits to a pack of fradusters would be sad.
Avoiding Paypal fraud and Paypal email scams.
(1) About your Paypal password: Choose a password that is not very easy to guess. Using your first or last name for your Paypal password is not a very good idea. Paypal frauds can be committed easily if you note your pass word in places that are accessible to others. Change your password periodically and whenever you suspect that you have become a victim of a Paypal email scam or other type of Paypal fraud.
(2) Clicking links to login: Never click links on emails to access your Paypal account. Always use your web browser and type in the complete name of the Paypal website to login. Paypal email scams urge you to click a link on the email and access your website. The login information is then saved to a website that is not a Paypal website. This allows fraudsters to login to your Paypal account and make transactions on your account.
(3) Periodic account check: Login to your account periodically and look for any strange or unexpected transactions. The transactions could relate to a receipt or payment of money. If you notice any abnormal movement in your Paypal account, consider it to be a Paypal fraud and inform Paypal immediately. Also change the password immediately to reduce the chances of further damage.
(4) Logging out of your account: If you are in the habit of logging into your Paypal account and then leaving the active account minimized on your browser, you could be helping someone commit frauds on your Paypal account very easily. Such security lapses do not require email scams or other methods. Always logout of your Paypal account once you have finished working on it or when you will not be using it for a couple of minutes.
Follow the above suggestions and you will be pleased with the results. Your Paypal account will be a lot safer and you will at the same time, reap the benefits of transacting online. The contents of this article have been compiled by the network team at Kaisilver. We request you to forward this link to all your friends and acquaintences, they will be grateful that you let them know about a safe way to work with their Paypal account.

How to Chose an E-currency Exchanger

For many people the thought of using an online e-currency can be a scary thing.  We have all heard the horror stories of people being scammed and money being stolen by dishonest companies, but there are some companies out there that have worked hard to build up a good reputation for being honest and do what they can to fight frauds and scams that use e-currencies.

What is an e-currency?

Just putting the word e-currency into a search engine will bring up a huge list of strangely named currencies that you have probably never heard of.  There are though a few big online currencies that are accepted by many merchants, companies and shops.

One of the main e-currencies that has been around for over 5 years is E-gold.  This is an online payment system backed by real gold.  You have an account, much like a bank account, and your gold is stored in that.  E-gold themselves do not buy or sell e-gold, you have to do that through an e-currency exchanger.  Once you have e-gold in your account you can spend it with any merchant who takes payment that way.

Another good e-currency is Pecunix.  This is again an online payment system that is backed by gold.  Pecunix essentially works the same as E-gold, so they do not buy and sell their own currency, and it is again stored in the account you have with them.

There are many more online currency systems including C-gold (backed by gold), Liberty Reserve (backed by gold) and Paypal (backed by credit cards).

What is an e-currency exchanger?

An e-currency exchanger converts money to your chosen e-currency and places it in your account for you to spend as you wish.  Funds can be sent to an exchanger by many methods, but the most popular are bank transfer, Western Union and Paypal.

Once you have sent your funds by your chosen method the exchanger converts it to whichever e-currency you have decided to use and places it in the account you have given them.  Remember that all exchangers charge a commission to do the conversion for you.

How to chose an exchanger?

Many people worry about how to chose a reputable exchanger.  They have either had a bad experience or know someone that has.  However there are a few things you can do to give yourself a little peace of mind and find out about the company you are going to send money to :-

1)  Check the details of their website

We have all seen the fake websites out there that have links that go nowhere and just don’t look right, so when making your choice make sure their email address works and that you get a response in a timely manner from them.  If they have a telephone number you can call, give them a ring.  Check the WHOIS details of the website as a back up.  Also check how long they have been in business as this is one of the best signs of a good exchanger.  Scammers do not last very long.

2)  Ask people

One of the best ways of finding out information is to ask real people.  If you have friends who have used an exchanger see what they thought.  One of the best places to find out information is on forums.  On these you can ask your questions or just read what other people have said about certain exchangers.  Be careful though as not all information on forums is true and correct, so make sure you check anything you read on a forum carefully.

3)  Are they a member of the GDCA?

The GDCA (Global Digital Currency Association) is a trade association of online currency operators, exchangers, merchants and users.  As with any other trade association you can find out information on the exchangers you have in mind.  You can see if they have any complaints against them and how they rank.  You can also submit complaints to them as well.

4)  Do they accept bank transfers?

This may seem a strange one, but it can give you a little more piece of mind.  When a company opens a bank account they have to provide ID’s, company documents and personal documents that have to be checked.  Although this does not mean that the company is 100% legitimate, it does mean there is some form of paper trail.  It also means that if anything goes wrong then you can recall your funds through your own bank.  Never send funds to a personal bank account unless you know that person.

Although these few tips may help you decide on an exchanger they are not fool proof and if you are really undecided on which one to pick then start out by sending just a small amount to be exchanged and then as you build trust in the exchanger you have picked you can start sending larger amounts to them.

As with any internet business always keep your wits about you and check as much information about them as you can.

Happy exchanging!

WebMoney

The Oldest Payment System

WebMoney appeared in 1998. At that time there were not so many people how knew about electronic money and they used virtual payment systems. In a decade the number of WebMoney users exceeded 4 million. Sale and purchase transactions between the users and web-site owners are mostly engage WebMoney even when the partners are far distant from each other.

What are WebMoney’s advantages? First of all, it is quick. Secondly, WebMoney enables seller and customer to interact directly without any mediators. Thirdly, WebMoney allows full automation of internal business processes in Internet shops and save time.

A rather significant part of WebMoney users includes web-games fans. They need an exchanger where they can buy some standard game money. Traditionally they use WebMoney to that end.

WebMoney in its Broad Concept

WebMoney users call it a payment system for simplifying and better understanding, but WebMoney is the system of title recording. It uses no electronic currency. All settlements and payments in WebMoney use money units. These units are the guarantees of material values and the confirmation that the values belong to a certain person.

WebMoney functional possibilities have already gone beyond Internet payments long ago. This system may be used for immediate money transfers in real time. WebMoney is suitable for settlements in Internet shops and web-sites, for credit and cell-phone payments.

Some think WebMoney is mostly used for micro-payments. Compared with postal and bank transfers WebMoney are far quicker and safer. Besides, the commission does not depend on the amount. The charge is 0.8%.

This ‘virtual money’ has no real guarantee. Every country has its WebMoney representative office. This system of title recording legally exists in every second developed country of the world.