Norton Accounting Services - July 2020

NortonAccountingServices.com 985-640-6072 [email protected] JUNE 2020 NORTON NEWSLETTER EASE OF MIND • AVAILABILITY • FLEXIBILITY • INDIVIDUAL APPROACH • EXPERIENCE • TAX SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES THE REAL ESTATE TAX PRO ™

FROM THE DESK OF Bob Norton

Almost every morning, my blind cat Charlie leaps onto the bed and wakes me a few minutes

HOWTO BECOMETHE ULTIMATE SUMMERTIME GRILL MASTER

before my alarm clock goes off. I think that is uncanny. I can understand if he jumps up after the alarm goes off, but before? If I hit the snooze button and roll over, then he climbs on top of me and settles down to wait for me to get up. Sometimes he decides to groom himself while still on top of me, which is annoying. I’m not sure if his plan by doing this is to make me get up, because it doesn’t work. Then, if he thinks I’ve stayed in the bed too long, he jumps down, goes over to the window, and starts playing with the blinds. He’s figured out that this will get me out of bed, if just to throw him out of the room.

Speaking of monitoring internal temperatures, TV chef and personality Alton Brown, best known for “Good Eats” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” recommends keeping a digital instant-read probe thermometer on hand to check on those internal temperatures, which is a must for meats like chicken and pork. Chicken, for instance, should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F for dark meat and 160 degrees F for white meat. Pork should hit a minimum of 145 degrees F.

There’s nothing quite like firing up the grill in the middle of summer. Whether you’re having a Fourth of July barbecue or just grilling up some dinner after work, you can’t beat the classic sizzle as meat and vegetables hit those hot grates. It’s a feast for all the senses. If you’re like most people, one thought has probably crossed your mind: “How can I be a better griller?”You might have your burger game down, but what about everything else? Do you get the most out of your grill and turn out unforgettable meals every time? It doesn’t matter if you use a charcoal, a gas, or even an electric grill. Anyone can unleash their inner grill master with a few easy tips.

When I finally get up, I go into the kitchen to check his food bowl and it usually still has food in it. Charlie follows me into the kitchen and stops by the treat cabinet. Maybe I should stop feeding him treats in the morning and then I could sleep longer!

Branch Out

If you really want to step up your grilling game, put away the burgers, hot dogs, and steak and say hello to … pizza! You can technically grill just about anything. Just think of your grill as an outdoor oven. While the primary heat source may be below the grates, when the lid is closed, heat circulates through the entire grill space, effectively cooking or baking whatever you have inside. Pizza is a great example of what you can cook in a grill, and it’s very easy. Start with your own homemade dough or buy some at the grocery store. Roll it 985-640-6072 • 1 Continued on Page 2 ...

Don’t Walk Away

When you’re grilling, you never want to walk away from your grill once you’ve put the food on the grates. When your attention is pulled elsewhere, you risk ruination. All it takes is a few minutes of distraction to ruin a perfectly good steak. When the meat goes down and you watch it — and keep an eye on the internal temperature — the results will speak for themselves.

–Bob Norton

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out to fit your grill space and add your favorite sauce, cheese, and other toppings. Then, take it to a grill heated to about 500 degrees F. You can put it directly on the grill or on a pan or pizza stone. If you do use a pizza stone, preheat the stone on the grill first. Keep in mind that if you put the pizza directly on the grill, you will get some char around the edges of the crust, so if you want a more golden-brown crust, a pizza stone is recommended.

Include Dessert

Pizza isn’t the only type of pie you can grill. You can also grill dessert pie. If you’re feeling cobbler, you can do that too. Grilling pie is relatively straightforward. Simply prepare your favorite pie recipe. Fruit pies are highly recommended for grilling, but you can also grill other types of pie that you would normally bake. The challenge comes in determining when it’s done. A grill can be a little more finicky than an oven, but generally speaking, you want to keep temperatures about the same. If you would bake a pie at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes in the oven, try to hit that temperature and time in the grill. Just remember to keep a very close eye on it. Every 10 minutes, take a look and see how it’s coming along — but don’t let too much heat out. When it looks done, pull it out, let it rest, and get ready to serve up a delicious grilled pie.

Grilling is all about culinary freedom. Experiment, have fun, and dig in!

The Power of the Golden Spice

AN INTRODUCTIONTOTURMERIC’S HEALTH BENEFITS

turmeric seemed to work just as well as ibuprofen (Advil) for people with arthritis in their knees. Participants in that study took 800 milligrams of turmeric every day. Can it help the liver? Yes. One of the spice’s most notable characteristics is its powerful antioxidant abilities. Antioxidants play an important function in our bodies. The average person is exposed to refined and processed foods, smoking, environmental pollution, and chemicals found in pesticides and drugs. Turmeric can protect the liver from damage due to these toxins, which also aids those who take strong medications known to cause long-term liver damage. Can it decrease symptoms of hay fever and depression? Some symptoms, yes. The curcumin in turmeric can help reduce hay fever symptoms like sneezing, itching, runny nose, and congestion. When used in tandem with antidepressants, turmeric may help reduce symptoms of depression. There are many benefits to using turmeric in your weekly meal routine. Try out some Indian or Chinese recipes or prepare some Instagram- worthy golden milk. In whatever you make, enjoy the rich flavor combinations turmeric offers!

People have raved about many superfoods over the past few decades, but one that’s garnered notable attention is turmeric. Fittingly known as the golden spice due to its orange-yellow hue, turmeric is famous for being a crucial part of Indian cuisine, ayurvedic medicine, and Chinese medicine. But does turmeric actually help people? And if so, how? Let’s start with the basics to find out. What’s in turmeric? First, it’s important to know what the spice contains and why researchers are so excited about it. Turmeric is packed with a chemical known as curcumin, which has been shown to provide anti-inflammatory effects, pain relief, antioxidants, and a decrease in the risk of cancer. Pro Tip: You should not consume excessive amounts of turmeric if you take medication that has blood-clotting effects, such as aspirin. However, a moderate amount typically doesn’t react with these or other medications and has many other benefits. Can it improve joint health? In many cases, yes! The Arthritis Foundation recommends taking a 400–600-milligram tablet of turmeric up to three times daily. Multiple studies cite turmeric’s ability to reduce inflammation and relieve arthritis pain, and one study even notes that

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HOWWELL ARE YOU TRACKING YOUR BUSINESS? 3 Key Performance Indicators to Watch

on the industry. The higher your RPE, the more effective your business is at maximizing its greatest resource: the people who work there. This number can become skewed or decrease if you’re growing quickly and hiring or if you’ve recently laid off staff. If you haven’t made changes and your RPE is under $100,000, you’re either overstaffed or facing a struggle ahead. As you’re tracking these KPIs, remember to be skeptical. If a metric looks too good to be true, it probably is! So dig in and double-check the math. If you uncover an inaccuracy, you can take steps to fix it, and if you find the number is accurate, you can learn from your successes. Armed with these metrics, you will be in a much better spot to be proactive in your business and solve minor problems before they ruin your month, quarter, or year. It’s a win-win situation, which is exactly what we need in these tough times!

systems and processes more easily. Then, you can take proactive steps to reduce your churn.

In the last few months, the coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses across the country to tighten their belts. Odds are your company is among them, but even if you’re doing well, accurately tracking your business’s performance is more vital than ever. Of course, this is easier said than done. Even in good times, it’s difficult to know which key performance indicators (KPIs) to track daily, weekly, or monthly to get an accurate picture of how your business is doing. However, many successful entrepreneurs report that three KPIs rise to the top: churn, pipeline revenue, and average annual revenue per employee. Churn This metric will tell you how many customers leave your business in any given month, which will then tell you how many new customers you need to bring in the following month to break even. If you track this KPI weekly and monthly, patterns will start to emerge, and you’ll be able to find holes in your

Pipeline Revenue Your pipeline revenue is the total sales volume you’d have if you won each and every piece of business you quoted over a given period of time. When compared with your actual sales volume each month, it becomes an incredibly valuable number for goal-setting and tracking. For example, if you need to produce $100,000 in new pipeline revenue to close your goal of $30,000 in sales each month but are only at $54,000 in pipeline revenue 20 days into the month when you should be at $67,000, then you’ll know that you’re falling behind and need to make adjustments. Average Annual Revenue per Employee (RPE) Most companies with over $1 million in revenue make a minimum of $100,000 in average annual RPE, and it’s not uncommon to see small businesses making $125,000, $150,000, or $200,000-plus per hire, depending

Take a Break!

Inspired by DinnerAtTheZoo.com

The Best Grilled Summer Vegetables

Ingredients

onion, red bell peppers, baby carrots, and yellow squash are great on the grill)

• • •

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning 1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced

• • •

5 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

• •

1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped

2 lbs assorted vegetables, trimmed and halved (asparagus, mushrooms, red

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic. 2. Brush vegetables with olive oil and place in a large bowl. Top with lemon juice and seasoning mixture. Toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes but no longer than 2 hours. 3. Prepare the grill at medium-high heat. 4. Grill vegetables in batches, cooking 3–5 minutes on each side until browned and tender. (Carrots will cook longer, 6–9 minutes per side.) 5. Remove from the grill, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot.

RUBY SPARKLER SUNGLASSES SWIMMING

LARKSPUR PEACHES PICNIC POPSICLES

CAESAR FIREWORKS GRILLING INDEPENDENCE

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Norton Accounting Services, LLC

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Bob PAGE 1 Unleash Your Inner Grill Master PAGE 1 The Power of the Golden Spice PAGE 2 Are You Tracking the Right Metrics? PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 The Secret to Delicious Grilled Veggies PAGE 3 3 Travel Destinations Where Photos Are a No-Go PAGE 4

NO PHOTOS ALLOWED 3 Travel Hot Spots Where Photography Is Forbidden

Uluru Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is one of the

copyrighted. It was installed by French artist Pierre Bideau who owns the rights to the display. Do French officials search the web for your vacation photos? No, but they can take action if it’s brought to their attention. The Sistine Chapel While the Sistine Chapel may be home to incredible works of art originally painted by Michelangelo, it is also a place of worship, and the Vatican considers it disrespectful to photograph such a holy place. However, there’s more to the story. In 1980, Japan’s Nippon Television Network Corporation bought exclusive rights to all photos and videos of the interior of the chapel because they funded the renovation of the chapel. While the Japanese corporation no longer holds these rights, the Vatican maintains the “no photos” rule.

What is traveling without taking photos? With the excellent cameras on our smartphones and endless platforms to share our snapshots on, we’re taking more pictures than ever. But did you know there are certain destinations where visitors are not allowed to take photos? Here are three places where you must put the camera away. The Eiffel Tower Right now, you’re probably thinking about all the pictures of the Eiffel Tower you’ve seen or even taken yourself. After all, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most popular tourist spots in the world, but under French law, taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower at night — and then distributing that photo — is illegal. That includes posting the picture to social media. French officials can send you a cease-and- desist order if they find your night photo because the tower’s nighttime light display is

largest sandstone rock formations in the world. Located in the middle of Australia, Uluru is highly regarded by the Aṉangu Aboriginal people who call the region home. Photography around parts of the rock is forbidden out of respect for the Anangu people’s beliefs, specifically Tjukurpa , or the time when the world was created. Certain areas around Uluru are used for gender-specific rituals, and as a result, members of the opposite sex must never see these locales, including in photos. The Anangu say the restriction of photography ensures they adhere to their beliefs and never lay eyes on these sacred spots, even accidentally through a photograph.

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