Credit Card Audits

The Problem

The payment industry, and in particular, credit card processing, is complex. Merchants are faced with confusing statements, hundreds of various payment processing fees - including costly layers of discount rates, transaction

fees and surcharges - in addition to the numerous processing options offered by merchant service providers, payment gateways, and other payment processing entities. Without an unbiased insight, a merchant can easily fall trap to unfair pricing and pay large fees to accept credit card payments.

Who Should A Merchant Trust?

When evaluating merchant processing services, a merchant understands their own business requirements for card acceptance, but often have to rely on a sales representative selling merchant services to provide honest information on merchant service plan types and pricing options. Competition for your business is fierce and most sales representatives are paid on commission for the fees generated by your processing. This has led to deceptive sales tactics in an industry known for its complexity and negative image.

Merchants asked to reveal their processing rate often tell us about their ‘qualified’ rate or an effective rate not inclusive of all provider fees. This misunderstanding is far too common for an expense that has significant impact on the operating margin of a business. The payment industry is complex. We can help.

Expense Reduction Solution

The Stryde two-phase approach to expense reduction is unparalleled in the payment industry. We correct the processing plan to reflect the most competitive plan type and rate, using formulated, specific asks of the existing provider. Our team then works with the client to further reduce the non-negotiable fees through processing optimization – where we help qualify payment transactions at lower interchange rates by passing through additional processing data.

Phase I We ‘right-size’ the account plan, placing the merchant on the correct plan type with the most competitive plan rate. Savings are immediately realized moving forward.

Phase II We implement ‘processing optimization’ where we help the merchant correct future transactions to avoid downgrades and satisfy Level 2/3 processing requirements.

Stryde has tools to audit and analyze credit card processing, and we are uniquely positioned to secure the lowest possible card processing rate, ensure accurate billing, and help merchants reduce their overall payment processing expenses.

Stryde is ready to make a difference to your bottom line by delivering maximum transparency and

measurable results. Our experience and expertise in the payments industry, along with our proprietary auditing tools, will deliver unparalleled expense reduction results.

Larry Potter

 Larry@yourwotc.com 

Merchants Can Realize an Average Savings of 21% on Processing Fees

Payment Processing Expense Reduction Notes:

• Continue using your existing merchant service provider
• We work directly with the provider, on your behalf
• Our two phase approach maximizes savings opportunity:
• Phase I – we ‘right-size’ the account plan, placing the merchant on the correct plan type with the most competitive plan rate. Savings are immediately realized moving forward.
• Phase II – we implement ‘processing optimization’ where we help the merchant correct future transactions to avoid downgrades and satisfy Level 2/3 processing requirements.
• Our network of merchant services providers is immediately available should a merchant choose to obtain or switch processing services
• We are a Partner Provider for the two largest payment gateways, Authorize.net and PayPal, offering wholesale pricing to merchants
• Our team has the experience and expertise to recommend payment processing improvements, including:
• Back-office accounting integration
• E-commerce solutions
• Card Present terminal and POS equipment
• Payment gateway configuration and support

Contact Larry Now at Larry@yourwotc.com

The Average Recovery for a Work Comp Audit

The average total recovery is 10-15% of a company's one year average annual premium. For example, if a company has been paying on an average $100,000 per year in workers' comp premiums, the average total recovery would be $10,000-$15,000.

We are are not trying to sell insurance. You keep your relationship with your current carrier. This is simply an audit review that will either lead to some sort of recovery of funds for errors that were found OR you receive a free audit to know that everything has been done correctly. 

How far back will a review go?

An overpayment can go back 5-7 years, however depending on the class codes and some restrictions some recoveries will only go back 3 years. 

To get your free audit, contact us at Larry@yourwotc.com

Hotel Re-branding & Cost Segregation

The Hotel Industry is unique in that like a commercial product a hotel follows a definite life cycle. If a hotel owner does not keep this in mind, their facility can quickly become worn out and dated in comparison to their competition. To stay competitive, Owners must acknowledge that there will be constant new brand competition. A newer, swankier hotel that offers the latest amenities to its guests will quickly put an outdated hotel out of business. This fact leaves few options of staying competitive for a hotel owner. The most prominent option would be to rebrand. What does “rebranding” entail?

Rebranding can be a broad term ranging from a simple revamping of a logo but more often is a much larger undertaking with the ultimate goal of retaining guest loyalty and awareness. Rebranding is especially important today because of major social, environmental and technological changes that have taken place over the past five years. For example, five years ago wifi throughout a hotel was rare, flat screen televisions were a novelty, the expectation of a hot breakfast almost unheard of, and eco friendly was a word most people were unfamiliar with. All of those ideals have changed, and are now an expectation for most travelers. This new expectation has forced hotel brands to insist their franchises undertake multi million dollar rebranding to live up to their flag.

What does this mean for Hotel Owners?

There is a little known opportunity for Hotel Owners that would directly affect the rebranding of their organization. The opportunity is Specialized Tax Incentives, specifically:

Engineering Based Property Cost Allocation (Cost Segregation)

Property Tax Reductions

Bonus Depreciation

Various Energy Based Credits

Specialized tax credits are an essential fiduciary component when building, purchasing or renovating a hotel or motel. These credits affect rebranding and the constant renovation of non-structural components of their building such as:

Carpeting / Flooring

Decorative Lighting

Cabinetry

Dedicated Electrical & Plumbing Systems

Power Generators

Security Systems

Wifi / Internet Cabling

Parking Lots

Curbs

Sidewalks

Landscaping

Fountains

And many more…

A Cost Segregation Study is an engineering based tax analysis in which these types of components are broken out and allocated to a shorter life class, depreciating them at an accelerated rate. This means a building purchased, constructed or renovated since January 1, 1987 and costing in excess of $500,000 should have all improvements and renovations qualifying based on their individual completion dates. So, every hotel having performed renovations through rebranding within that time frame have a potential benefit sitting on the take just waiting to be captured!

To determine if your facility could capture a benefit, simply contact Larry Potter @ Larry@yourwotc.com and ask for a basic calculation, performed at no charge.

The $12 Trillion dollar transition of wealth.

If you are a:

Financial professional
Tax Professional
Insurance agent
Business Consultant
P&C agent
Business Broker
Commercial Realtor
Legal Professional

And you’re interested in participating in the $12 Trillion dollar transition of wealth that is occurring right now in the Small Business Market, then you need to learn about Stryde.

9 Out of 10 Commercial Property Investors are Overpaying on Income Taxes!

Year after year, the Federal Government has continued to incentisize those who invest in Commercial Property. The IRS has established guidelines that, if ignored, cause commercial real estate investors to pay more in taxes than they should.

What guidelines are being ignored by Commercial Property Investors?

Those revolving around Accelerated Depreciation; known in the taxation world as Property Cost Segregation.

Ramifications of Improper Depreciation Allocation

Most commercial property investors do not truly understand the substantial benefits of accelerated depreciation. This is evidenced by our analysis of thousands of depreciation schedules over the years. We have found less than 10% of investors are properly depreciating their properties. The most common misconception is, “I am going to get this money anyway”. Is this a true or false statement?

Let’s investigate…

Capital Gains vs Ordinary Income Rates

Although the mechanics of these calculations are not always as simplistic as we will be making it for this example, the short response is – increased depreciation leads to paying taxes at the capital gains rate as opposed to the ordinary income rate. Since capital gains rates are likely much lower than the Investor’s income tax rate, they would benefit from accelerated depreciation.

Time Value of Money

Simply put, your dollar is worth more today than it will be in the future. A tax dollar saved today therefore is worth more than a tax dollar saved in the future. Why lock up a tax savings in your property for 27-39 years when you can receive it today?

Catch-Up Depreciation

If you have not completed a Cost Segregation study on your property that you have held for a period of time, did you know that you can capture your entire missed benefit immediately? The IRS allows you to complete a 481 adjustment thus enabling you to catch up all the missed accelerated depreciation into the current tax year. This provision alone could save you hundreds of thousands immediately!

The Power of Cash in hand

You are a real estate “investor”. This means you understand the investing power of having funds in your hand today. Cash today [in the form of tax savings] enables you to invest in additional properties. The benefits of this are exponential and allow continued growth of your investment portfolio.

Correct allocation of real estate depreciation is essential for Commercial Property Investors to effectively manage their tax situation. Are you one of the 90% who are missing out on opportunities that 10% of your competitors are capturing?

Cost Segregation with No Upfront Fees: Larry@yourwotc.com

Credit Card Audit Overview

Our Credit Card Audit focuses solely on expense reduction within the payments industry. Our expertise and experience coupled with our through expense reduction process, ensures a competitive advantage over other firms advertising similar services and you no not have to change processors

Our two-phase approach to expense reduction is unparalleled in the payments industry. We correct the processing plan to reflect the most competitive plan type and rate, using formulated, specific asks of the existing provider. Our team then works with the client to further reduce the non-negotiable fees through processing optimization, where we can help qualify payment transactions at lower interchange rates by passing through additional processing data.

We have seen the highest success rate for merchants that process credit card transactions where the card is not physically present. This is referred to as a Card Not Present (CNP) environment, and includes B2B and eCommerce companies. Companies processing card payments between $1M and $20M on an annual basis typically have the largest potential savings opportunity. For card present locations, where the credit card is physically swiped at a terminal device, there may still be significant savings.  

Clint must submit 1-2 recent merchant processing statements along with the Audit Services Agreement in order for us to perform an analysis.  

Our Credit Card department will present findings to Client upon completion of the initial analysis.

After receipt of all / any additional required documentation, we will begin securing lower fees directly with the merchant services provider. On average this process takes 30-60 days from receipt of all client documentation needed to process the lowering of fees.

To begin, contact us now at Larry@yourwotc.com

We are not a merchant processor.

Cost Segregation and Depreciation Recapture

Depreciation recapture is an often misunderstood aspect of tax planning and comes into effect only during the sale of a property.  

Recapture is limited to the lesser of the gain or the depreciation taken. Meaning, first you have to sell the property and have a gain on the sale to even be concerned. 

To have a loss, one would have to sell the property for less than its net tax value. For practical purposes, the depreciation taken is the main limiting factor because the IRS calculates gain as the selling price less the net tax value (cost less depreciation taken). The recapture rules dictate how the gain is taxed, with § 1245 governing personal property and § 1250 governing real property. Section 1245 dictates that the accelerated depreciation taken on personal and real property be taxed at ordinary income tax rates. Section 1250 requires that depreciation taken on real property be taxed at a 25% capital gains rate. Any gain in excess of the total depreciation is taxed at the normal capital gains rate, but this does not wholly dictate whether recapture eliminates a need to do a cost segregation study. This is illustrated in the example below.

Assuming your client has sold or is going to sell their building, let us use the facts below to show the benefit of a cost segregation study.

• Property purchased 6/1/2005

• Cost = $5,000,000 with a breakdown of:

» 5 - year  – $1,000,000

» 15 - year – $750,000

» 39 - year – $3,250,000

• Selling price of $10,000,000

• Effective tax rate of 40% (Fed. & State)

• Interest rate of 6%

Using these assumptions, we can calculate the benefit on the sale derived from the cost segregation study taking the accelerated depreciation now vs. depreciating the building at a 39-year life. The benefit of the study is compared to the increased tax generated by the study in the table below.

	Benefit of Study	Extra Tax w/Study	Net Benefit
If sold in 2008	$291,439	$261,636	$29,803
If sold in 2009	$380,711	$330,265	$50,446
If sold in 2010	$456,023	$380,984	$75,039

Note: Calculations based on accumulated depreciation at date of sale, not net present value.

Keep in mind that depreciation recapture occurs only to when the sales price is allocated to a specific item in an amount sufficient to produce a gain. Therefore it is essential that the selling price allocation be as part of an appraisal. When a building is sold, for purposes of calculating the gain on the sale, the sale price should be allocated to the specific items based on their fair market value at the time of the sale. While conventional wisdom might suggest that appreciation of real estate generally occurs due to economic appreciation on land, and inflation on the cost of materials and labor, other factors such as income stream and goodwill are often taken into consideration when appraising the property. According to the IRS, the fair market value is not determined by the net tax value but by an appraisal that assigns the fair market value to the property. The IRS will respect a purchase and sale agreement (P&S) in an arm’s length transaction. If a seller allocates the selling price in a P&S to the assets class by class and this is accepted by the purchaser, it will be considered binding on both parties by the IRS – so much so that you cannot do a cost segregation study in this case.

One more point, when a C Corporation sells real property prior to the end of its full recovery period, part of the time value benefit is also lost. However, because all income is taxed at the same rate in the “C” corporation, recapture is a non-issue.

The bottom line is that recapture depreciation does not automatically negate the gain from a cost segregation study. We are not denying that a Cost Segregation Study will produce additional recapture tax, but when you compare the benefit of the accelerated depreciation from a Cost Segregation Study, it usually exceeds the increased tax. 

Get your free analysis now and remember, No Savings = No Fees.

Larry

Larry@yourwotc.com

THE KEY TO THE GATEKEEPER

IT’S ALL IN THE APPROACH, IF SOMEONE BELIEVES YOU ARE IMPORTANT, THEY WILL TREAT YOU DIFFERENTLY


1 – Use a calm and relaxed voice. Smile and confidently greet with energy and ease! Make sure you answer any question about the nature of your call with confidence and authority.

2 – Don’t use a script! A good gatekeeper will recognize it immediately and you will be shut down. Instead, plan your talking points but leave room for improvisation. Speak slowly and articulately. The Gatekeeper will notice if you are rushing through the call.

3 – Engage the Gatekeeper, learn their name. Write it down and use it while you speak to them. Be friendly, this will result in a positive attitude from the Gatekeeper the next time you speak.

4 – Don’t give out more information than is necessary. Remember, you are not selling to the Gatekeeper. You don’t need to go into detail with them, keep it simple! Tell them who you are calling for, do not ask if the decision maker is available.

5 – Do your research, approach with familiarity of the business and of the decision maker. Use the first name of the decision maker. Make it personal! If you don’t know who the decision maker is, ask the Gatekeeper. A simple question of, “Who is in charge of…” can hep immensely. Ask for the best time to call, a direct number to call, email address to follow up with, etc.

6 – Be POSITIVE, if you’re asked if he or she is expecting your call. Answer positively with, “Yes, I’ve sent information that we need to discuss.” You may want to give a sense of urgency by adding, “by the close of business.” to your positive response.

 For More Info:  http://bit.ly/2cv3i8O

Access Discount Healthcare

Access Discount Healthcare is transforming consumer health services by delivering convenient and affordable access to quality health care and well being for the populations we serve. 

ADHC's platform combines cutting-edge technology with access to highly trained healthcare professionals to connect employees with the benefits they need most.  Bringing ADHC to your Client's organization ultimately results in better health outcomes, improved productivity, lower costs, and higher morale for employees or members-which help make your Client's culture both happy and healthy. 

Program Benefits

Triage Nurse Client satisfaction is 98%  Annual client retention is 95% Comprehensive bouquet of services in the industry

Minimum Requirements

We prefer (as will you) to work with larger employers (50+) but will not pass up any employer due to the fact that this is just another tool to help you build your practice and provide benefit to the businesses you want to work with.

                            Larry@yourwotc.com

Are you losing these tax credits on new employees?

Did you know that most companies that are hiring go thru 10-20 applications before they hire? And many businesses don't take advantage of WOTC which provides a $2400-$9600 tax credit for each new hiree. Also, many managers that are using WOTC have to do all the work under deadlines that must be met to qualify for the tax credits. Our proprietary software does all the work swiftly and automatically.

You can test it out now at  www.yourWOTC.com and self-enroll if you wish to.

Business Tax Due Dates, plus obtainable Business Tax Credits

July 12+

Employers - Obtain $2400 - $9600 Tax Credit for each new employee hired (seasonal too)

July 17

Employers - Nonpayroll withholding. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in June.

Employers - Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in June.

July 31

Employers - Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. File Form 941 for the second quarter of 2017. Deposit any undeposited tax. (If your tax liability is less than $2,500, you can pay it in full with a timely filed return.) If you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time, you have until August 10 to file the return.

Employers - Federal unemployment tax. Deposit the tax owed through June if more than $500.

Employers - If you maintain an employee benefit plan, such as a pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan, file Form 5500 or 5500-EZ for calendar-year 2016. If you use a fiscal year as your plan year, file the form by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends.

Certain Small Employers - Deposit any undeposited tax if your tax liability is $2,500 or more for 2017 but less than $2,500 for the second quarter.