From section170.org:

When your business buys certain pieces of equipment, it typically gets to write them off a little at a time through depreciation. In other words, if your company spends $50,000 on a vehicle, it gets to write off (say) $10,000 a year for five years (these numbers are only meant to give you an example.)

Now, while it’s true that this is better than no write off at all, most business owners would really prefer to write off the entire equipment purchase price for the year they buy it.

Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income. It’s an incentive created by the US Government to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in themselves.  

So what qualifies? Here is a list from the same website:

Material goods that generally qualify for the Section 179 Deduction
Please keep in mind that to qualify for the Section 179 Deduction, the below equipment must be purchased and put into use between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.
Equipment (machines, etc) purchased for business use
Tangible personal property used in business
Business Vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of 6,000 lbs (Section 179 vehicle deductions)
Computers
Computer Software (off the shelf)
Office Furniture
Office Equipment
Property attached to your building that is not a structural component of the building (i.e.: a printing press, large manufacturing tools and equipment)
Partial Business Use (equipment that is purchased for business use and personal use – generally, your deduction will be based on the percentage of time you use the equipment for business purposes.)

The example on the Section 179 website shows a savings of $119k on a $400k purchase! Please check with your accountant and make the best decision for your business. Here’s to a great 2010!

Microsoft plans to launch the next version of Windows (named Windows 7 while in beta) in early 2010. Windows Server 2008 was released last year.

Where does this move leave small businesses that run Microsoft Software? There are two choices: budget for licensing upgrade fees for Microsoft Office or consider Microsoft alternatives. Network Velocity is recommending every client give Google Apps serious consideration. Google Apps is now a viable alternative to Microsoft Office for small to medium sized businesses.

For more information on how the end of support for Microsoft products may affect your business or to learn about Google Apps as an alternative please contact us at 858-270-3595.

While the real world impact of using two monitors over a single monitor may vary by user and task, there is no denying that today’s multi-tasking workforce stands to benefit from a multi-monitor setup. 

Think about the impact of this study. A potential increase in productivity from an investment of ~$500 per employee. Even if the numbers from the study are off and there is a relatively minor gain in productivity that is still money well spent….even in lean times! The full article as published in the Wall Street Journal is available here.

For comparison, below is of one of our Engineer’s desktops at work. Two 24″ monitors in use, one oriented vertically and the other horizontally allowing the simultaneous viewing of four applications. (Click image for bigger version)

Under the new law, a qualifying business can expense up to $250,000 of section 179 property purchased by the taxpayer in a tax year beginning in 2008. Absent this legislation, the 2008 expensing limit for section 179 property would have been $128,000. The $250,000 amount provided under the new law is reduced if the cost of all section 179 property placed in service by the taxpayer during the tax year exceeds $800,000.

We encourage all buisnesses to evaluate this information for their own needs. This a great opporutnity to expense any end of the year IT projects in 2008!