The Best Debt Negotiation Companies
February 21, 2012 | 
Author What should you expect from the best debt negotiation companies?
The best debt negotiation companies can work with basically anyone to reduce the amount of their debt. By negotiating with collection agencies and creditors to reduce the amount of debt, clients are able to settle their debt for 30 – 70% of the original balance. Other forms of debt elimination simply move the debt from an unsecured card, to a secured asset. This lowers the interest rate, which is a good thing. But it doesn’t eliminate the debt. Its still there, but now its against your home or other hard asset.
Look for a company that is always looking out for their clients. They are members of the Better Business Bureau, or of an organization like the Consumer Recovery Network. These companies will make sure that their clients become debt free in the shortest possible time.
Make sure you ask plenty of questions. Become an informed consumer.
The best debt negotiation companies won’t make promises they have no way of keeping. They cannot “guarantee” that they will be able to arrange reductions in the balance of all of your debt. Some creditors just won’t deal. While most credit card debt can be reduced substantially, there are creditors that simply will not budge. Many debts can be settled for pennies on the dollar, in fact most – but by no means, all. I’m just being honest here.
A knowledgeable company wont tell you to completely break off all contact with your creditors. I’ve actually talked to clients who had worked with programs that told them to tell the creditor to never call them again. The problem with this strategy is that it leaves the creditor very little options for collecting the debt. It will most likely speed up the process of legal action. While it may be advisable to tell your creditors to not call you at work, you certainly don’t want to break off contact entirely. Keep the lines of communication open. It makes it much easier to resolve the debt.
The best debt negotiation companies won’t guarantee that they will be able to remove information from your credit report, when that information is perfectly accurate. Many collection agencies, and creditors, will remove information after they are paid. They really have no vested interest in leaving it there. Why would they care, they have their money. So negotiating that the creditors listing be removed or altered as a part of the settlement works in a large number of cases, but not 100 percent of the time.
The caveat to this, is that you may only need to remove a couple of negative accounts to raise your score to an acceptable level. So you may not need to remove 100 percent of the negative data to have a positive effect.
The best debt negotiation companies will give you the costs up front.
Professional help with debt negotiation can be a tremendous asset in alleviating problem debt. These companies can also cause a number of problems. If you have decided to negotiate, eliminate and settle your debt, the best debt negotiation companies are the best place to start.
HIPAA Law Protects Against Improper Disclosure of Health Information by Health Care Providers
In June 2009, a 22-year-old Honolulu mother of three young children was sentenced to a year in prison for illegally accessing another woman’s medical records and posting on a MySpace page that she had HIV.
The State of Hawaii brought charges against the woman under a state statute criminalizing the unauthorized access to a computer; and which categorized the conduct of the defendant as a class B felony.
According to accounts of the incidents that led to the woman’s conviction, there was a feud between the victim and the victim’s sister-in-law, a friend of the defendant. The defendant, who worked as a patient service representative at the hospital where the victim was a patient, accessed the computer for the victim’s sister-in-law.
Over the course of approximately ten months, the defendant accessed the patient’s medical records three times through a computer. After she learned of the victim’s medical condition, the defendant posted on her MySpace page that the victim had HIV. In a second posting, she said the victim was dying of AIDS.
The victim complained to hospital officials of the unauthorized access. After an internal investigation the hospital terminated the defendant’s employment.
The defendant’s conduct, of course, was egregious and inexcusable. The one-year jail term handed down by the Court exceeded the term recommended by the prosecutor. Nevertheless, beyond the issue of holding the defendant accountable for her actions some may question to what extent the hospital should bear responsibility for the breaches of confidentiality that occurred.
Federal law imposes statutory burdens on health care providers to protect against the improper use or disclosure of private health information and to reasonably limit uses and disclosures to the minimum necessary to accomplish their intended purpose.
Specifically, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996′s (“HIPAA”) privacy regulations became effective on April 14, 2003. HIPAA is intended to protect consumers’ health information, allow consumers greater access and control to such information, enhance health care, and finally to create a national framework for health privacy protection. HIPAA covers health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain financial and administrative transactions electronically.
In addition to the privacy regulations, HIPAA’s security rules became effective on April 21, 2005. Together the privacy and security regulations are the only national set of regulations that governs the use and disclosure of private, confidential and sensitive information.
Under HIPAA’s Security Rule, the standards for the protection of electronic information covered by HIPAA are divided into three groups: Administrative safeguards, Physical safeguards and Technical safeguards.
A couple of the most significant required safeguards under HIPAA are the Administrative “Sanction Policy” and “Security Awareness Training” safeguards.
The sanction policy standard requires a communication to all employees regarding the disciplinary action that will be taken by the covered entity for violations of HIPAA. The sanction policy should have a notice of civil or criminal penalties for misuses or misappropriation of health information and make employees aware that violations may result in notification to law enforcement officials and regulatory, accreditation, and licensure organizations.
The security awareness training standard requires all employees, agents, and contractors to participate in information security awareness training programs. Based on job responsibilities, the covered entity should require individuals to attend customized education programs that focus on issues regarding use of health information and responsibilities regarding confidentiality and security.
The HIPAA privacy and security regulations require a privacy officer and security officer to be designated by the covered entity. The privacy and security officer should continually analyze and manage risk by thoroughly assessing potential risks and vulnerabilities, and implementing related security measures.
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) clarified the penalties that may be assessed and against whom for HIPAA violations. Covered entities and individuals whom “knowingly” obtain or disclose individually identifiable health information in violation of HIPAA may be fined up to $50,000, as well as imprisonment up to one year.
Offenses committed under false pretenses allow penalties to be increased–a $100,000 fine, with up to five years in prison. Finally, offenses committed with the intent to sell, transfer, or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain or malicious harm permit fines of $250,000, and imprisonment for up to ten years.
Given the security breach that led to the tragic events, including the one-year jail term for the defendant, Hawaii employers, health care providers and health plans should review their privacy and HIPAA policies and conduct an audit of their practices in order to protect against the improper use and disclosure of private health information and to reduce the risk of privacy breaches in their own organization.
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Tags: Against, Disclosure, Health, Improper, Information, Protects, Providers | 
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Property Management Fees Explained
When you hire a property management company to serve as the liaison between yourself and your tenants, you want to be sure you’re getting the best possible property management services for the money. The services a property management company provides can range from ala carte to an all-in-one inclusive package. Along with that comes an array of fees for each. There is no set in stone fee structure we can provide you. But we can educate you on what common fees to expect and what each is commonly for. In the end it will be up to you to compare company fee structures and choose the best one that fits within your budget. Below are some of the most common fees and what service they provide.
Commission
This is an ongoing monthly fee charged to the owner to compensate the property manager for the responsibilities of overseeing the management of their property. This fee can vary from as little as 3% to over 15% of the monthly gross rent. In place of a percentage some managers may charge a flat monthly amount which again can vary from $50 to over $200 per month. All property management companies generally charge this fee.
Lease-Up or Setup Fee
This fee is charged to the owner to compensate the property manager for their initial time invested and resources used in setting up an owners account; showing property and/or other activities resulting in tenant placement. I guess you could look at it as a “finders fee” for placing a tenant in your property. Once a tenant has been placed and first rent income comes in, the property manager will deduct this fee from the rent proceeds. Some property managers have been known to require this fee upfront prior to tenant procurement. Usually this fee is non-refundable once the property manager has started the process of tenant procurement or any legwork has been initiated with the property. This fee can vary from none to as much as the first months rent, and usually is a one-time fee per tenant.
Lease Renewal Fee
This fee is charged to the owner when a property manager renews a current tenants lease and covers the costs of initiating paperwork or communication involved in implementing the new lease document. A property manager may also justify this fee if they perform a year end inspection of property. This fee can vary from none to $200 or higher, and may be charged every time a lease renewal is implemented.
Advertising Costs
Depending upon the property management company’s contract, either they will pay the advertising costs or the owner or they could split the costs. If the manager is willing to cover this cost, most likely they will charge the lease-up or setup fee as outline above. If the management company covers this cost make sure to find out what type advertising or marketing of your property is included. If it’s placing your listing on their own web site and other free online classified sites you may not be getting your monies worth. They are many good rental or tenant resource online web sites that bring in qualified tenants for a reasonable fee and you will want to consider these. And don’t forget about print media, yard signs, listing on the MLS or even an open house. Nothing is worst than having your property vacant, bringing in no money only because you or your property manager skimped on advertising.
Maintenance Mark-up Charges
This is one of those costs you may never really of known about or had it disclosed to you. A “Mark-up” is a charge over and beyond the final bill on maintenance and/or repair work done to your property initiated by your property management company when using their vendors or in-house maintenance staff. This should be disclosed in your Manager/Owner contract which usually will state the markup as a percentage above the final invoice from vendor. For example, your manager had to call a plumber to replace the dishwasher in your rental property. Total charges for completing the job: $400. If your property manager contract states you will incur a 10% markup on all maintenance work the actual cost to you will be $440. Just one of those things to be aware of as these all eat into your profits.
Early Cancellation Fee
The dreaded “3 months and no tenant”. Your property manager insist he or she’s doing everything they can to find you a tenant. But here it is 3 months and still no tenant; what do you do. Well, look at your Manager/Owner contract and that might be your deciding factor. I am not a fan of this fee, and believe it to be an unnecessary fee and for you manager out there this could be the deal breaker. I’ll tell you why; if a property manager is doing their due diligence and keeping the owners in the loop as far as decision making, market conditions and communication lines open an owner will not be second guessing his property managers abilities. The odds of this scenario happening is unlikely but you must be prepared for it. A cancellation fee can range from none to over $500. To be fair, some managers legitimately deserve this fee especially if they have pocketed advertising costs, incurred lots of legwork and time invested in your property.
“You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me” Fees - These are ones I have personally had the pleasure of running into.
Your property is vacant, but we still will charge our monthly commission or a small flat fee.
“A For-Rent Yard Sign Fee”. I believe this was $25/mo.
“Preventive Maintenance Fee”. This was to cover the “just in case” and changing out A/C filters. If “just in case” never happens they still pocket the money. I believe this was $20/mo and I still was charged for filters.
In Summary
Read your Manager/Owner contract, understand what you are signing, ask lots of questions and know what the fees will buy you in services. A good real estate lawyer can help in negotiating the terms in a contract that suit both parties. These contracts are not set in stone. If your property manager will not negotiate, there are other property management companies that are eager to earn your business.
In a Down Economy – How to Get Out of a Commercial Lease and Downsize Your Office Space
Getting out of a commercial lease can be a difficult and often daunting process but depending on your individual circumstances or real estate market you are in, you may be able to negotiate a compromise with your landlord.
During a downturn, recession or financial crisis, companies find they have more space than they need. This can be due to lay-offs or perhaps part of the business moving to another location, or because the business has not developed as much as they’d hoped. In the worst case, some companies need to close down altogether.
If you’re in a position where you have too much space, then you may be able to terminate the lease early, sublet, assign or buyout of your lease obligation. There may also be an option to move out of the premises completely. Always check with your landlord before sub-letting. Remember, you will be liable to your landlord to pay rent for the remaining term of the lease and this may be more of a hassle than it is worth.
Step 1
Examine your lease for an early termination paragraph. Most commercial leases give specific terms as to the conditions you can exit the lease without penalty. If your circumstance doesn’t qualify under the acceptable early termination terms of the lease, you can expect to face the financial penalties described in the contract when you break the lease. This may include legal fees, sublease / assignment fees and payment of all or a portion of remaining rent.
Step 2
Talk to your landlord informally about the lease agreement. Test the waters with your landlord in a friendly conversation to find out how receptive he is to simply terminating the lease. It never hurts to ask. The landlord may already have someone interested in your space.
Step 3
Offer a buyout to end the lease. Even if your landlord is unwilling to terminate voluntarily, he may be more cooperative if he has a financial incentive. May want to offer to cover the landlord for the time it takes him to find another tenant to rent the space. Word of caution, if the landlord finds a lower paying tenant, your business can be liable for the difference in rent until the original lease expiration.
Step 4
Take your lease agreement to a local tenant advisor, tenant representative or real estate attorney if your landlord refuses to negotiate to end to the lease. Although you can break a commercial lease without a lawyer, seeking local tenant advisor, tenant representative or legal representation ensures both you and your landlord stay within your legal boundaries during the process.
Step 5
Obtain the assistance of a tenant advisor or tenant representative to help you identify a tenant to sublease or assign the space for the remaining term of the lease or assign the lease to another entity to fulfill your lease obligation. While you are working with a professional to identify a tenant, your landlord may be able to assist identify a new tenant, as well. Depending on your situation, you may consider continuing to pay rent until a new tenant appears; even though you are no longer residing in the space.
Most landlords will want to negotiate the terms of an early termination, buyout, assignment or sublease of the space. The new sublease may be required to be approved by the landlord and must not extend beyond the rights you have in the master lease, so you can’t add space, subtract or partition a section of your space or increase or reduce the length of the lease without your landlord’s permission. Again, in the instance you have identified a tenant to sublease or assign the lease, it is always best to seek the advice of a local tenant advisor or real estate attorney to negotiate the terms of the sublease or assignment of the lease.
It may be feasible to get entirely out of your lease. The shorter the period of lease term you have, the more likely this is. Your chances will also increase if the building is full. This is because the landlord should be able to find a new tenant quickly, and may even be able to increase the rent as a result.
When approaching your landlord be careful how you go about presenting your case. If you let them see that you are desperate to move or find out you are going out of business, you may end up paying a premium to get out of your lease. Again, it is always best to hire a local tenant advisor or tenant representative in this case because they can plead your case without getting you personally involved.
If you can find another tenant to take over the lease completely, you are likely to have a much stronger case. Remember, the landlord is likely to want to see the prospective tenants’ audited financials, bank account statements and references.
When assigning the lease to another business, the new tenant becomes directly liable to the landlord, but you may still have some accountability. The landlord will usually require you to guarantee the payments of the next tenant, but not all tenants agree to this stipulation. Again, it is always best to seek the advice of a professional to advise you of your rights.
In any case, it is not likely that you will get out of your lease without some penalty. You may be liable for the landlord’s attorney’s fees, the remaining rent oblation and you may also be liable for meeting your landlord’s expenses such as the improvements and commission paid to the broker on the space.
All things considered, you may find yourself better subletting the space and making other arrangements such as renting less office space nearby to accommodate the reduction in space.
If and when you do get out of your lease, there are things to bear in mind when negotiating a new lease. It’s always best to hire a professional real estate tenant advisor to negotiate on your behalf to provide you as much flexibility in your next lease. For example, you could ask the broker to negotiate a break clause at various stages in the lease to allow you to terminate the agreement early.
Remember, contracts are binding by law. If your landlord refuses to accommodating, you will have little choice but to stay in your premises until the end of the lease obligation.
How To Create An Effective Business Development Strategy
The Business Development Strategy is used to underpin your main Business Plan and essentially it sets out a standard approach for developing new opportunities, either from within existing accounts or by proactively targeting brand new potential accounts and then working to close them.
This document highlights the key issues you should consider prior to compiling your own plan and will hopefully guide you logically through a proven framework.
The key word is ‘Strategy’, because you are creating a workable and achievable set of objectives in order to exceed your annual target.
Your Starting Point:
The key words are Who? What? Where? When? Which? Why? How?
For example:
Who – are you going to target?
What - do you want to sell them?
Where – are they located?
When – will you approach them?
Which – are the appropriate target personnel?
Why – would they want to meet with you?
How – will you reach them?
If you have conducted regular account reviews with your key accounts during the previous twelve months, you should be aware of any new opportunities that will surface during the next twelve months. You will also, when assessing what percentage of your annual target usually comes from existing accounts, need to review data over the last two or three years. (It is likely that you can apply Pareto i.e. 80% of your business will probably come from existing accounts and in fact 80% of your total revenue will come from just 20% of your customers/clients)
You will be left with a balance – i.e. “20% of my business next year will come from new opportunities” – therefore you can then begin to allocate your selling time accordingly.
Ideal Customer Profiling:
Pro-active business development demands that we create an ideal target at the front end – i.e. an Ideal Customer Profile. The essential characteristics you will need to consider are:
- Industrial Sector
- Geographical Location (Demographics)
- Size of organisations (Turnover, number of employees etc)
- Financial Trends
- Psychographics – i.e. Philosophical compatibility
Many strategic sales professionals merely profile their best existing clients and try to replicate them – there’s nothing wrong with doing this but we should always remember that we are seeking an IDEAL and we can always improve on what we already have.
‘New’ Opportunities From Within ‘Old’ Accounts:
Because it costs approximately ten times as much, to first locate and then sell to a new customer as it does an existing one (although these costs are rarely reflected in the cost of sales), it is essential that we fully develop our existing accounts working upwards, downwards and sideways, thus making the most of the (hopefully) excellent reputation we have developed already.
Most corporate accounts have several divisions, departments, sites, even country offices and you must satisfy yourself that you have exhausted every possible avenue. Don’t be afraid to ask the question “Who else should I be talking to in your organisation”?
Developing New Opportunities:
There are a number of ways in which we can target new opportunities e.g.
o Direct Mail
o Telephone Canvassing
o Researching Archived Files For Customers Who Used To Buy From Your Company
o Exhibitions
o Seminars
o User Groups
o E-Mail Campaigns
o Referrals
o Qualified Leads
o Advertising
Not all of these will be appropriate to your particular industry, but you should not be afraid to experiment – i.e. challenge the paradigm – and do not accept that just because a particular idea has not worked in the past that it will not do so in the future. (Remember when you were learning to walk – it didn’t work first time then!)
The important thing is to make an early decision in terms of what you are going to try and then build this (those) ideas into your master plan.
A Typical Business Development Plan:
You should plan out the whole year and review / revise quarterly.
o List your existing accounts and plan what activities / actions need to be completed in order to fully exhaust all opportunities. You may for instance, plan to cover more bases within the decision making unit or contact associated companies or offices. The Strategic Account Profile can be used as a prompt.
o Begin to target new accounts using business directories etc. and set targets per week / month / quarter i.e. I normally allow for eight hours per week as a minimum (Don’t forget to continually refer back to your Ideal Profile)
o Then build in what assistance you need from your marketing function – i.e. qualified leads, seminars, exhibition attendance etc.
o Finally share your plan with your manager and then commit to it.
You should also measure it against S.M.A.R.T.E.R. i.e. is it.
S.pecific
M.easurable
A.chievable
R.elevant
T.imed
E.xciting
R.ecorded
Linking With Your Commercial Plan:
I have suggested that your Business Development Strategy, would link with your Master Business Plan but logically you should also integrate it into your Commercial Kit(this is a document that outlines your monthly,quarterly and annual targets) – specifically the areas that deal with new business generation, account management and development, four tier account lists etc.
These three documents when combined should drive and guide you through the next twelve months and beyond.
Summary:
As I have said often enough “People do not fail because they planned to fail but rather because they failed to plan”
The man who knows where he wants to go is more likely to get there, he just has to decide how to get there. All plans are essentially maps and guides; the strategic element is the ‘How’.
Do be prepared to change course, flexibility is key, and don’t be afraid to experiment, look outside the square.
Copyright © 2008 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved
Posted in Commercial Finance Articles | Tags: Business, Create, Development, Effective, Strategy | No Comments »
Wal-Mart – Eyeing The Global Market
Wal-mart, the largest retailer in the world was established in US (Arkanas) in the year 1962 by Sam Walton, and grew steadily with sales figure of $218 billion and some 4500 stores by 2002. In the early stages Wal-mart operations were confined to the United States, where it established a competitive advantage based upon a combination of efficient merchandising and progressive human relations policies, probably taking a leaf out of the book of F.W Taylor.
Wal-mart was among few of the companies to implement information system to track product sales and inventory. Among some of the other successful strategies Wal-mart implemented were sharing widespread stock ownership among employees and pass on some of its benefits as low prices on to the consumers. With having substantial market share in general merchandising where it already had huge market presence, allowed the company to successfully foray into food retailing and make a huge dent in the market share of some of the established supermarket.
The competition in the domestic market by the year 1990 made Wal-Mart to think of expanding and by 1995 they were already present in 50 states of USA and by the year 2000 the company decided to go Global as they could sense saturation in the US market.
Going global was not such a smooth sailing though for the company, the critics wrote them off saying Wal-mart is to American a company to succeed in the global market. They predicted that constraints of Infrastructure, logistics and different consumer preference and some well established retailer’s presence would make it difficult for the company to succeed globally.
Unperturbed by the perceived constraints Wal-mart started its global venture in 1991 by opening its first store in Mexico, as a joint venture with Cafera, one of the largest retailer stores in Mexico. As predicted, Wal-Mart made a number of mistakes that seemed to prove the critics right. Poor infrastructure, crowded roads and a lack of understanding with local suppliers, many of whom could not or would not deliver directly to Wal-Mart stores or distribution centres resulted in stocking problems and raised costs and prices .There were also problem with merchandise selection as most of the items housed in the Mexican shop were similar to that of/in the US, which did not go too well with the Mexican market.
Learning from its mistakes Wal-mart adapted itself well to meet the local environment requirement and needs. Some of the initiatives taken by the company to resolve the current crises included:
o A partnership with a Mexican trucking company which helped the company to dramatically improve their distribution system.
o A more careful approach towards stocking practices meant the stores sold merchandise that appealed more to the local tastes and preferences.
These strategies started paying rich dividends to the company and in the year 1998,Wal-mart acquired a controlling interest in “Cifera” and by the year 2002 Wal-mart was more then twice the size of its nearest rival in Mexico with 600 stores and revenue of more then $10 billion.
With some great results in Mexico, Wal-mart followed the same strategies and subsequently entered into eight other countries. It entered into JV partnerships with other retailers in Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea .In Brazil, Argentina and China Wal-mart established its own stores. As a result the company had over 1200 stores outside the United States, 303,000 associates and generated international revenue of more then $35 billion.
Wal-mart continued its steady growth globally in spite of the few early difficulties it faced, and registered high growth rate.
o In 2004 Wal-Mart generated over $256 billion in global revenue, establishing a new record and adding more than $26 billion in sales. The Company earned almost $9.1 billion in net income and grew earnings per share by over 15 percent.
o Subsequent to fiscal year-end 2004, in February 2004, the Company completed its purchase of Bompreco S.A. Supermercados do Nordeste (“Bompreco”), a supermarket chain in northern Brazil with 118 hypermarkets, supermarkets and mini-markets. The purchase price was approximately $300 million.
o In 2006 Wal-Mart net sales rose 9.5% to a record $312.4 billion. Net income rose 9.4% to a record $11.2 billion. Our earnings per share grew double-digits from $2.41 to $2.68 per share.
o In 2006, Wal-mart were doing around 20% of there business abroad. Wal-Mart’s marketplace is clearly the world.
o Wal-mart has total International portfolio divided among three of the Geographical locations(The Americas, Europe and Asia) with Americas – 71%, Asia – 17%a and Europe – 12%
While store development and expansion has experienced significant growth, it is not the only measure of success. The division has posted impressive financial results as well. Wal-Mart International announced that 2007 fiscal year end sales reached $77.1 billion, a 30.2 percent increase over the previous year, and that operating profit rose to $4.2 billion, an increase of 21.5 percent over the prior year.
Looking at some of the key information pointers above, Wal-Mart U.S. expects to open over 305 new, relocated or expanded units in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2007. Wal-Mart International plans to open over 220 new, relocated or expanded stores in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2007. The company further plans to continue acquisitions where they can add strategic value to the business.
In the year 2007 Wal-Mart were hit by twin turmoil’s in the housing and credit markets, which further fuelled there, reason to look beyond U.S. and identified India as one of the potentional growth market. Wal- Mart which already pulled out of Korea and Japan this year, were constantly on a look out to enter the India Market and there reasons were quite obvious.
India being one of the emerging markets was an obvious choice for Wal-mart with an estimated 12 million kirana shops in India. Of these, the largest consumer-goods companies in the country are only able to service less than 10% of them. This means that 90% of these small stores are not directly serviced, providing a large and new market opportunity for the joint venture. However entering a country through the wholesale channel will be the first time for the Wal-mart globally.
After years of looking for a way into India’s fast-growing but highly protected retail market, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is trying a backdoor approach teaming up with an Indian phone company Bharti Enterprises to court the country’s burgeoning middle class. India’s Bharti Enterprises plans to invest up to $2 billion to $2.5 billion by 2015 in setting up a nationwide chain of supermarkets and retail shops in partnership with U.S. chain Wal-Mart. Together, they will set up 15 wholesale cash-and-carry stores over the next seven years. Focusing on the wholesale segment is Wal-Mart’s best immediate option, given that India restricts direct foreign investment in consumer retailing. Despite obvious cultural and business challenges, Wal-Mart International has experienced success because of its ability to transport the company’s unique culture and effective retailing concepts to each new country. The company makes a concerted effort to adapt to local cultures and become involved in the local community. Associates respond to customer needs, merchandise preferences and local suppliers. By serving each hometown in the same way, Wal-Mart International has realized significant growth with potential for much greater development worldwide.
In 2007, Wal-Mart International has opened around 320 to 330 units in existing markets. Relocations or expansion of existing stores has accounted for approximately 30 of these units, while the remainder represents new operating units for the company.
In the coming year 2008, The Company projects its capital spending in fiscal 2008 to increase by approximately 2 to 4 percent, which compares to the 15 to 20 percent increase forecast for fiscal 2007, Wal-mart, believes that capital spending in the U.S. will be approximately flat to the current fiscal year. This reduction in growth is expected to result from: building fewer U.S. units; anticipated flattening of construction costs; improvements in the distribution centre network; and design efficiency.”
How a Foreign National Can Buy Real Estate in America
Opportunities for real estate investment for foreigners is wide and varied in the United States. It doesn’t matter where you’re from and what currency you’d be using to purchase a property, you have a property waiting for you.
There are generally three kinds of real estate investment available to foreigners. These investments include the commercial estate investment and residential property investment. Residential properties are further classified into single family properties, apartments or condominiums and recreational properties. Regardless of what kind of real estate you are interested in, there are all sorts of tax ramifications, financing options and legal requirements that you have to deal with.
Why Should You Invest in the U.S. Real Estate Market?
You’ve probably heard of the increasing number of foreign real estate investments in the United States. This is not surprising. With the troubles that the real estate investment market is facing in the United States, greater opportunities in real estate investment were opened to foreign investors.
With the dollar’s value in its all time low, foreign investors are finding real estate bargains all over the United States. There are no shortages of deals in this market. More and more distressed properties are being sold everywhere and foreigners are pouring in millions buying these foreclosed or distressed properties. The United States real estate has become a fairly attractive long-term investment for foreign investors.
In November of 2006, the National Association of Realtors released a report entitled “Foreign Investments in U.S Real Estate: Current Trends and Historical Perspective”. The report showed that there has been a steady increase in foreign real estate investment in the United States. This is especially after the euro and the loonie became stronger in the face of the continuous devaluation of the US dollar. Prime bargains were opened to foreigners. Many foreigners have now looked into the possibility of retiring or settling in the United States.
If you’re a foreigner, you would find a lot of reasons why you should invest in the United States real estate market. Aside from the fact that the floating exchange rate has given you a lot of leverage over the bargaining table, the financial market is a pretty good reason why you should invest in the US real estate.
The financial market in the United States in relation to the real estate market is quite liberal and the restrictions against foreign investors are pretty reasonable. This is ideal for foreign companies that are seeking to invest in the real estate market in the United States in order to avoid tariff restrictions and are considering setting up an office or a company in the United States.
Furthermore, despite the devaluation of the US dollar and the wide foreclosures of a lot of property, the real estate market remains to be stable, though slightly shaky, due to foreign investors’ capital appreciation. Domestic real estate buyers may not necessarily share the same opinion, but the market has remained to be strong for foreign real estate buyers. This may be largely credited to the fact that there is minimal risk for them.
Why are Foreign Real Estate Investments Safe and Profitable?
There are a lot of investments you can make, but the safest you can make right now is investing your money in real properties. This is another good reason aside from the fact that you can make a pretty nifty profit, if you like, particularly now with the widespread property foreclosures and seemingly continuous US dollar devaluation. This is especially true if you are going to use the euro or the loonie when making your investment.
But why is US real estate investment safe for foreigners?
It is undeniable that stock investments are not a safe avenue at this point. The recession has not only affected the US economy; the same recession has greatly affected worldwide stock investments. Stocks values are dropping. It is also a fact that even without the current economic situation, stock values fluctuates.
On the other hand, real estate investments are pretty stable if you would compare it to stock investments – or even bond or mutual fund investments. With real estate investment, you’d be putting your money in an investment that would grow in value as years go by.
What are the Benefits of Foreign Real Estate Investment?
US state government supports foreign investments and along this line has formulated various tax breaks to encourage foreign investment on real estate. Many of these tax breaks are not available in many countries. In fact, most countries would frown at foreigners owning real properties within their territory.
Foreign real estate investment in the United States is open to everyone. As long as you can afford to buy the property or at least comply with the mortgage requirements and payments, you can secure for yourself a pretty good property in the United States. Again, with the current economic situation of the United States, this is the perfect chance for you to make an investment.
Another great benefit that you can take advantage of is the availability of mortgage financing. Lenders have opened their doors to foreign investors who are looking into purchasing a property. So, you don’t have to actually deplete your bank account. You can actually secure a mortgage loan and gradually pay it off.
I’m Canadian, What Are My Financing Options?
There is a steady increasing rate of Canadian real estate investors in the United States; and accordingly, the government has made certain that they have attractive financing options available to them.
If you’re Canadian – or if you’re a foreigner – you’d find a lot of reasons why you should buy a piece of real property in the United States. For Canadians, the parity of the currencies or the apparent devaluation of the US dollar is a pretty good reason itself. But how do you finance your purchase?
There are various financing options available to you depending on which state you are in. In Arizona, for instance, you’d get favorable financing terms if you are purchasing a property for recreational purposes, that is, you do not derive any income or benefit from your purchase or ownership. You will be required, however, to sign up a disclosure agreement and give a 30% down payment for your loan. To qualify though for a loan, you may be required to show availability of liquid reserves for a period of three to six months. You may also be required to present a minimum of 3-month bank statement.
If you are purchasing a property for investment, you’d probably meet stricter terms. Requirements may be more stringent. For instance, you could be required to give a down payment of more than 30% and you may be required to show one year worth of liquidity reserves.
Regardless of your reasons, if you feel like you can fulfill the requirements of a financing loan, you can then proceed to actually applying for a mortgage loan. Also, keeping yourself updated with the financing terms flux may be a wise idea.
Understanding the Tax Ramifications of Real Estate Investment
The first foreigner to have ever bought a real estate property in the United States was Peter Minuit. This opened the doors to foreign real estate investors. After a couple of centuries later, foreign real estate investment has grown into huge proportions, accounting for billion-of-dollar worth of industry.
The low risk attached to US real estate market, the availability of countless properties, and the steady market liquidity attract foreign investors in droves. The initial snag, however, is the process of understanding the legal ramifications of foreign real estate investment.
What you have to understand is that foreign investment in the United States can take a lot of forms. A foreigner has various options. He can acquire direct interest. He can acquire an interest in the real estate through a partnership, a corporation, or a limited liability company. The latter is the typical structure used by foreign investors.
Limited partnership or Limited Liability Company offers financial protection or indirect asset protection, especially in cases of bankruptcy, law suits and taxes. Foreign investors are generally taxed on the property as if they hold the property in direct interest.
Ideally, you should secure the services of a real estate accountant to help you out with the tax ramifications, but it would help if you, at least, know the basics before you actually talk to an accountant.
There are tax consequences that you have to deal with when you buy a real estate in the United States. You would need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number which you will use with all your tax transactions. Your investment in real estates can be treated as a portfolio investment and will be accounted for as an investment income which can either be fixed or a periodic income. This is typically taxed at 30% on gross revenues. This tax though does not apply though to all foreign investors. Tax rates would vary depending on the tax personality the foreign investor opted for. For instance, a corporation would be taxed differently.
Other things that you should take note of are availability and requirements of tax refunds and state tax laws on real estate properties as they may differ from federal laws, among other things.
By knowing all these things, you may save yourself from a lot of hassles when you finally approach a real estate accountant. You’d be in same wavelength when you finally get down to talking business. It is, however, very important that you secure the services of an accountant. You’d have an easier time dealing with the taxes ramifications. You’d also have assistance ensuring that you comply with all the accounting aspect of your investment. This is especially true if you are purchasing a real property for investment purposes.
Do You Need to Secure the Service of a Real Estate Lawyer?
If you are considering buying a property in the United States, you need to secure the services of a real estate attorney – someone who could help you with the legal issues concerning your purchase. It is tempting to forego securing the service of a lawyer to save money, but this could cost you a lot of money in the long run. Make sure that you have an experienced and trustworthy lawyer to help you out. Make sure that you have thoroughly checked out his credentials, profile, history of successful cases handled by him, and other factors that would influence your decision. You could check online and look for a lawyer working within the state where you are considering purchasing a property.
Functions of a Real Estate Lawyer
There is no actual distinctive function for a lawyer in a real estate case. However, you would really need the assistance of a lawyer for various tasks. A real estate lawyer would review the sales contract for you. He would also check on the title and other documents relating to the property. A lawyer would also review your mortgage contract and make the necessary adjustments or corrections. You could also get him to review with you the legal and tax issues concerning the purchase. A real estate attorney could also make the necessary adjustments relating to various expenses and costs involved in the purchase. He would assess your eligibility for tax refunds and draft the documents and statements relating to this.
Putting it simply, a real estate lawyer will be your watchdog. He would guide you through the whole process of purchasing a real estate in the United States in order to make sure that you will be legally protected. You will have a capable and trustworthy liaison to help you out with the contract. He will also face legal disputes if any arise.
Tips on How to Invest in Real Estate Successfully
Now, if you’ve fully bought into the idea of real estate investing in the United States, you might just want to know how to go about investing in real estate successfully. If you want to be successful in this venture, the first thing that you have to avoid is overanalyzing. Of course, it is a good idea to carefully think through your actions but it is a bad idea to overanalyze your investment to nonexistence. You might lose a great opportunity.
Before you purchase the property though, it might be wise to check the property value. If it sits well with you and you can reasonably afford the property, go ahead and make the purchase.
If you are considering the property for a quick flip, make sure that the property is in perfect condition and in good area. This is to ensure that you could double or actually triple your return of investment. If you can inspect the property yourself, do so. If not, a good and trustworthy agent can help you with this task.
Another important thing to remember when you’re buying real estate is good financing. You should take your time to carefully consider all your financing options. Foreign investors can email in their queries to various lending institutions. It is a good idea to make sure that you’ve had their terms and rates on paper because they tend to change these terms and charge you with a lot of junk. Your real estate agent can help you with reviewing the escrow charges.
The bottom line, however, is that it is very important that you do your homework before you actually buy a real property. Investing in real properties in the United States can be profitable especially during these times. In fact, it may be the wisest and most perfect investment you can make right now.
Business Analyst Finance Domain Sample Resume
This is just a sample Business Analyst resume for freshers as well as for experienced job seekers in Finance domain of business analyst or system analyst. While this is only a sample resume, please use this only for reference purpose, do not copy the same client names or job duties for your own purpose. Always make your own resume with genuine experience.
Name: Justin Megha
Ph no: XXXXXXX
your email here.
Business Analyst, Business Systems Analyst
SUMMARY
Accomplished in Business Analysis, System Analysis, Quality Analysis and Project Management with extensive experience in business products, operations and Information Technology on the capital markets space specializing in Finance such as Trading, Fixed Income, Equities, Bonds, Derivatives(Swaps, Options, etc) and Mortgage with sound knowledge of broad range of financial instruments.
Over 11+ Years of proven track record as value-adding, delivery-loaded project hardened professional with hands-on expertise spanning in System Analysis, Architecting Financial applications, Data warehousing, Data Migrations, Data Processing, ERP applications, SOX Implementation and Process Compliance Projects.
Accomplishments in analysis of large-scale business systems, Project Charters, Business Requirement Documents, Business Overview Documents, Authoring Narrative Use Cases, Functional Specifications, and Technical Specifications, data warehousing, reporting and testing plans.
Expertise in creating UML based Modelling views like Activity/ Use Case/Data Flow/Business Flow /Navigational Flow/Wire Frame diagrams using Rational Products & MS Visio.
Proficient as long time liaison between business and technology with competence in Full Life Cycle of System (SLC) development with Waterfall, Agile, RUP methodology, IT Auditing and SOX Concepts as well as broad cross-functional experiences leveraging multiple frameworks.
Extensively worked with the On-site and Off-shore Quality Assurance Groups by assisting the QA team to perform Black Box /GUI testing/ Functionality /Regression /System /Unit/Stress /Performance/ UAT’s.
Facilitated change management across entire process from project conceptualization to testing through project delivery, Software Development & Implementation Management in diverse business & technical environments, with demonstrated leadership abilities.
EDUCATION
Post Graduate Diploma (in Business Administration), USA
Master’s Degree (in Computer Applications),
Bachelor’s Degree (in Commerce),
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Documentation Tools UML, MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Project), MS Visio, Erwin
SDLC Methodologies Waterfall, Iterative, Rational Unified Process (RUP), Spiral, Agile
Modeling Tools UML, MS Visio, Erwin, Power Designer, Metastrom Provision
Reporting Tools Business Objects X IR2, Crystal Reports, MS Office Suite
QA Tools Quality Center, Test Director, Win Runner, Load Runner, QTP, Rational Requisite Pro, Bugzilla, Clear Quest
Languages Java, VB, SQL, HTML, XML, UML, ASP, JSP
Databases & OS MS SQL Server, Oracle 10g, DB2, MS Access on Windows XP / 2000, Unix
Version Control Rational Clear Case, Visual Source Safe
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SERVICE MASTER, Memphis, TN June 08 – Till Date
Senior Business Analyst
Terminix has approximately 800 customer service agents that reside in our branches in addition to approximately 150 agents in a centralized call center in Memphis, TN. Terminix customer service agents receive approximately 25 million calls from customers each year. Many of these customer’s questions are not answered or their problems are not resolved on the first call. Currently these agents use an AS/400 based custom developed system called Mission to answer customer inquiries into branches and the Customer Communication Center. Mission – Terminix’s operation system – provides functionality for sales, field service (routing & scheduling, work order management), accounts receivable, and payroll. This system is designed modularly and is difficult to navigate for customer service agents needing to assist the customer quickly and knowledgeably. The amount of effort and time needed to train a customer service representative using the Mission system is high. This combined with low agent and customer retention is costly.
Customer Service Console enables Customer Service Associates to provide consistent, enhanced service experience, support to the Customers across the Organization. CSC is aimed at providing easy navigation, easy learning process, reduced call time and first call resolution.
Responsibilities
Assisted in creating Project Plan, Road Map. Designed Requirements Planning and Management document.
Performed Enterprise Analysis and actively participated in buying Tool Licenses.
Identified subject-matter experts and drove the requirements gathering process through approval of the documents that convey their needs to management, developers, and quality assurance team.
Performed technical project consultation, initiation, collection and documentation of client business and functional requirements, solution alternatives, functional design, testing and implementation support.
Requirements Elicitation, Analysis, Communication, and Validation according to Six Sigma Standards.
Captured Business Process Flows and Reengineered Process to achieve maximum outputs.
Captured As-Is Process, designed TO-BE Process and performed Gap Analysis
Developed and updated functional use cases and conducted business process modeling (PROVISION) to explain business requirements to development and QA teams.
Created Business Requirements Documents, Functional and Software Requirements Specification Documents.
Performed Requirements Elicitation through Use Cases, one to one meetings, Affinity Exercises, SIPOC’s.
Gathered and documented Use Cases, Business Rules, created and maintained Requirements/Test Traceability Matrices.
Client: The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, Parsippany, NJ May’ 2007 – Oct’ 2007
Profile: Sr. Financial Business Analyst/ Systems Analyst.
Project Profile (1): D&B is the world’s leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses. The Point of Arrival Project and the Data Maintenance (DM) Project are the future applications of the company that the company would transit into, providing an effective method & efficient report generation system for D&B’s clients to be able purchase reports about companies they are trying to do business.
Project Profile (2): The overall purpose of this project was building a Self Awareness System(SAS) for the business community for buying SAS products and a Payment system was built for SAS. The system would provide certain combination of products (reports) for Self Monitoring report as a foundation for managing a company’s credit.
Responsibilities:
Conducted GAP Analysis and documented the current state and future state, after understanding the Vision from the Business Group and the Technology Group.
Conducted interviews with Process Owners, Administrators and Functional Heads to gather audit-related information and facilitated meetings to explain the impacts and effects of SOX compliance.
Played an active and lead role in gathering, analyzing and documenting the Business Requirements, the business rules and Technical Requirements from the Business Group and the Technological Group.
Co – Authored and prepared Graphical depictions of Narrative Use Cases, created UML Models such as Use Case Diagrams, Activity Diagrams and Flow Diagrams using MS Visio throughout the Agile methodology
Documented the Business Requirement Document to get a better understanding of client’s business processes of both the projects using the Agile methodology.
Facilitating JRP and JAD sessions, brain storming sessions with the Business Group and the Technology Group.
Documented the Requirement traceability matrix (RTM) and conducted UML Modelling such as creating Activity Diagrams, Flow Diagrams using MS Visio. Analysed test data to detect significant findings and recommended corrective measures
Co-Managed the Change Control process for the entire project as a whole by facilitating group meetings, one-on-one interview sessions and email correspondence with work stream owners to discuss the impact of Change Request on the project.
Worked with the Project Lead in setting realistic project expectations and in evaluating the impact of changes on the organization and plans accordingly and conducted project related presentations.
Co-oordinated with the off shore QA Team members to explain and develop the Test Plans, Test cases, Test and Evaluation strategy and methods for unit testing, functional testing and usability testing
Environment: Windows XP/2000, SOX, Sharepoint, SQL, MS Visio, Oracle, MS Office Suite, Mercury ITG, Mercury Quality Center, XML, XHTML, Java, J2EE.
GATEWAY COMPUTERS, Irvine, CA, Jan 06 – Mar 07
Business Analyst
At Gateway, a Leading Computer, Laptop and Accessory Manufacturer, was involved in two projects,
Order Capture Application: Objective of this Project is to Develop Various Mediums of Sales with a Centralized Catalog. This project involves wide exposure towards Requirement Analysis, Creating, Executing and Maintaining of Test plans and Test Cases. Mentored and trained staff about Tech Guide & Company Standards; Gateway reporting system: was developed with Business Objects running against Oracle data warehouse with Sales, Inventory, and HR Data Marts. This DW serves the different needs of Sales Personnel and Management. Involved in the development of it utilized Full Client reports and Web Intelligence to deliver analytics to the Contract Administration group and Pricing groups. Reporting data mart included Wholesaler Sales, Contract Sales and Rebates data.
Responsibilities:
Product Manager for Enterprise Level Order Entry Systems – Phone, B2B, Gateway.com and Cataloging System.
Modeled the Sales Order Entry process to eliminate bottleneck process steps using ERWIN.
Adhered and practiced RUP for implementing software development life cycle.
Gathered Requirements from different sources like Stakeholders, Documentation, Corporate Goals, Existing Systems, and Subject Matter Experts by conducting Workshops, Interviews, Use Cases, Prototypes, Reading Documents, Market Analysis, Observations
Created Functional Requirement Specification documents – which include UMLUse case diagrams, Scenarios, activity, work Flow diagrams and data mapping. Process and Data modeling with MS VISIO.
Worked with Technical Team to create Business Services (Web Services) that Application could leverage using SOA, to create System Architecture and CDM for common order platform.
Designed Payment Authorization (Credit Card, Net Terms, and Pay Pal) for the transaction/order entry systems.
Implemented A/B Testing, Customer Feedback Functionality to Gateway.com
Worked with the DW, ETL teams to create Order entry systems Business Objects reports. (Full Client, Web I)
Worked in a cross functional team of Business, Architects and Developers to implement new features.
Program Managed Enterprise Order Entry Systems – Development and Deployment Schedule.
Developed and maintained User Manuals, Application Documentation Manual, on Share Point tool.
Created Test Plansand Test Strategies to define the Objective and Approach of testing.
Used Quality Center to track and report system defects and bug fixes. Written modification requests for the bugs in the application and helped developers to track and resolve the problems.
Developed and Executed Manual, Automated Functional, GUI, Regression, UAT Test cases using QTP.
Gathered, documented and executed Requirements-based, Business process (workflow/user scenario), Data driven test cases for User Acceptance Testing.
Created Test Matrix, Used Quality Center for Test Management, track & report system defects and bug fixes.
Performed Load, stress Testing’s & Analyzed Performance, Response Times. Designed approach, developed visual scripts in order to test client & server side performance under various conditions to identify bottlenecks.
Created / developed SQL Queries (TOAD) with several parameters for Backend/DB testing
Conducted meetings for project status, issue identification, and parent task review, Progress Reporting.
AMC MORTGAGE SERVICES, CA, USA Oct 04 – Dec 05
Business Analyst
The primary objective of this project is to replace the existing Internal Facing Client / Server Applications with a Web enabled Application System, which can be used across all the Business Channels. This project involves wide exposure towards Requirement Analysis, Creating, Executing and Maintaining of Test plans and Test Cases. Demands understanding and testing of Data Warehouse and Data Marts, thorough knowledge of ETL and Reporting, Enhancement of the Legacy System covered all of the business requirements related to Valuations from maintaining the panel of appraisers to ordering, receiving, and reviewing the valuations.
Responsibilities:
Gathered Analyzed, Validated, and Managed and documented the stated Requirements. Interacted with users for verifying requirements, managing change control process, updating existing documentation.
Created Functional Requirement Specification documents – that include UML Use case diagrams, scenarios, activity diagrams and data mapping. Provided End User Consulting on Functionality and Business Process.
Acted as a client liaison to review priorities and manage the overall client queue. Provided consultation services to clients, technicians and internal departments on basic to intricate functions of the applications.
Identified business directions & objectives that may influence the required data and application architectures.
Defined, prioritized business requirements, Determine which business subject areas provide the most needed information; prioritize and sequence implementation projects accordingly.
Provide relevant test scenarios for the testing team. Work with test team to develop system integration test scripts and ensure the testing results correspond to the business expectations.
Used Test Director, QTP, Load Runner for Test management, Functional, GUI, Performance, Stress Testing
Perform Data Validation, Data Integration and Backend/DB testing using SQL Queries manually.
Created Test input requirements and prepared the test data for data driven testing.
Mentored, trained staff about Tech Guide & Company Standards. Set-up and Coordinate Onsite offshore teams, Conduct Knowledge Transfer sessions to the offshore team.
Lloyds Bank, UK Aug 03 – Sept 04
Business Analyst
Lloyds TSB is leader in Business, Personal and Corporate Banking. Noted financial provider for millions of customers with the financial resources to meet and manage their credit needs and to achieve their financial goals. The Project involves an applicant Information System, Loan Appraisal and Loan Sanction, Legal, Disbursements, Accounts, MIS and Report Modules of a Housing Finance System and Enhancements for their Internet Banking.
Responsibilities:
Translated stakeholder requirements into various documentation deliverables such as functional specifications, use cases, workflow / process diagrams, data flow / data model diagrams.
Produced functional specifications and led weekly meetings with developers and business units to discuss outstanding technical issues and deadlines that had to be met.
Coordinated project activities between clients and internal groups and information technology, including project portfolio management and project pipeline planning.
Provided functional expertise to developers during the technical design and construction phases of the project.
Documented and analyzed business workflows and processes. Present the studies to the client for approval
Participated in Universe development – planning, designing, Building, distribution, and maintenance phases.
Designed and developed Universes by defining Joins, Cardinalities between the tables.
Created UML use case, activity diagrams for the interaction between report analyst and the reporting systems.
Successfully implemented BPR and achieved improved Performance, Reduced Time and Cost.
Developed test plans and scripts; performed client testing for routine to complex processes to ensure proper system functioning.
Worked closely with UAT Testers and End Users during system validation, User Acceptance Testing to expose functionality/business logic problems that unit testing and system testing have missed out.
Participated in Integration, System, Regression, Performance, and UAT – Using TD, WR, Load Runner
Participated in defect review meetings with the team members. Worked closely with the project manager to record, track, prioritize and close bugs. Used CVS to maintain versions between various stages of SDLC.
Client: A.G. Edwards, St. Louis, MO May’ 2005 – Feb’ 2006
Profile: Sr. Business Analyst/System Analyst
Project Profile: A.G. Edwards is a full service Trading based brokerage firm in Internet-based futures, options and forex brokerage. This site allows Users (Financial Representative) to trade online. The main features of this site were: Users can open new account online to trade equitiies, bonds, derivatives and forex with the Trading system using DTCC’s applications as a Clearing House agent. The user will get real-time streaming quotes for the currency pairs they selected, their current position in the forex market, summary of work orders, payments and current money balances, P & L Accounts and available trading power, all continuously updating in real time via live quotes. The site also facilitates users to Place, Change and Cancel an Entry Order, Placing a Market Order, Place/Modify/Delete/Close a Stop Loss Limit on an Open Position.
Responsibilities:
Gathered Business requirements pertaining to Trading, equities and Fixed Incomes like bonds, converted the same into functional requirements by implementing the RUP methodology and authored the same in Business Requirement Document (BRD).
Designed and developed all Narrative Use Cases and conducted UML modeling like created Use Case Diagrams, Process Flow Diagrams and Activity Diagrams using MS Visio.
Implemented the entire Rational Unified Process (RUP) methodology of application development with its various workflows, artifacts and activities. Developed business process models in RUP to document existing and future business processes. Established a business Analysis methodology around the Rational Unified Process.
Analyzed user requirements, attended Change Request meetings to document changes and implemented procedures to test changes.
Assisted in developing project timelines/deliverables/strategies for effective project management.
Evaluated existing practices of storing and handling important financial data for compliance.
Involved in developing the test strategy and assisted in developed Test scenarios, test conditions and test cases
Partnered with the technical areas in the research, resolution of system and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
Environment: Windows XP/2000/NT, SOX, MS Office Suite, SQL, MS SQL Server, XML, HTML, Java, J2EE, JSP, Oracle, WinRunner, Test Director
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Taxation of Forgiven Debt – The 1099C & You
Often people fall on hard times and stop paying on credit cards. After a while the account may go to an outside debt collector who might offer a settlement of the debt for 30-40% of the original sum. Once this is paid, the debtor often thinks the matter is closed, but it is not! It is very likely that the creditor will issue a 1099-C. This is a notice to IRS of the forgiven debt. If the debtor does not address this on his return he may get an IRS bill a year or two later with penalties and interest.
A foreclosure on a home may also result in a 1099-C from the mortgage lender if the property is sold for less than the amount of the loan. In this instance, a person loses their home and may also face a tax bill. Usually, the bill comes many months after the tax return was filed as a result of an IRS document matching program. This “under-reporter” notice brings grief to the taxpayer.
The key issue is whether or not the debtor was insolvent. If they were insolvent, it may not be taxable depending on the circumstances. There is an “Insolvency exclusion.” You are insolvent when, and to the extent, your liabilities exceed the fair market value of your assets. So it is possible none of your forgiven debt is taxable or it is possible that all or only a portion of it is counted as income.
You may not have any taxable income from the 1099C, but you must account for it on your return. The issue is whether or not you were solvent at the time of the debt cancellation. You only owe tax on the forgiven debt to the extent you were solvent. For instance, if the forgiven debt was $10,000 but you are only worth $5,000; you would only be liable for income tax on that amount. A home foreclosure is complicated and you may have other legal arguments besides insolvency.
There are five situations where a cancelled debt does not have to be reported as income:
Bankruptcy – the debt was already discharged through a bankruptcy proceeding.
Insolvency – your total debts exceed your total assets at the time your debt was settled or deemed non-collectable.
Indebtedness is due to a qualified farm expense.
Indebtedness is due to certain real property business losses.
Discharge of your debt was treated as a gift (You owed Mom $10K and she said “Don’t worry honey, consider it a gift”).
If you are insolvent you need to explain this to the IRS on your tax return. You can fill out IRS Form 982: Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness or attach a detailed letter to your tax return explaining the calculation of your total debts and assets.
Do not ignore a 1099-C! Failure to address the 1099C will result in a tax assessment by the IRS for any amount over $600 plus penalty and interest. This will likely occur 12-18 months after you file when IRS matches up the info reported to them with what is on your tax return. Have a tax professional do your return and they can help you determine how much of the 1099-C is taxable.
If you get a letter from IRS on a 1099-C you left off your return, get help ASAP. Otherwise, IRS might file a Federal Tax Lien and take action. Look for a CPA, Enrolled Agent, Accredited Tax Advisor, Accredited Tax Preparer, or Tax Attorney to help you with serious tax issue. You may call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 for help as well.
Websites you can check out include:
http://www.irs.gov
http://www.naea.org
http://www.nsacct.org
Bad Credit Commercial Loans – Business after Credit Worries
When you get saddled with debts, you might like the idea of putting some money into your commercial venture. This way you can get it repaired and with the earnings you can mend your bad credit in a better way. But, the fact is that everyone does not have plenty of money and that’s why, some people look for loan solutions to get their bad credit repaired through commercial ventures. Obviously this is a unique process of managing stands on bad credit. So, there are unique solutions also. They are the bad credit commercial loans which help you to add some money in your commercial venture to get your bad credit repaired soon. Sounds good? Let’s know it then.
Bad credit commercial loans are available for any sort of commercial purpose. You can take Bad credit commercial loans to remodel your plant or put some more money to run it swiftly. Again, whatever be the shape of your commercial venture, you can always avail bad credit commercial loans. It is available for all shapes, medium, large or small commercial ventures and bad credit is no fetter in this attempt. Only, to avail bad credit commercial loans, you need to place a detailed plan of your commercial purpose.
And, bad credit commercial loans are available in both the classical formats, secured and unsecured. If you are looking for cheap rates you should go for the secured versions and if you are looking for loans without collateral, you can opt for unsecured bad credit commercial loans.
However, Bad credit commercial loans are available online which is, indeed, the most sparkling side of the flamboyant image of these loans since the online option of bad credit commercial loans offer loans at cheap rates where the loan processing also takes much less time. So, with bad credit commercial loans, bad credit record hurts not any more, rather gets improved.