SmartStopsOnTheWeb

Big Small Business Resources
www.bizoffice.com
CPA sole practitioners planning to start or grow their own firms can get information on financing and government grants, business plans and Internet marketing in this site’s BizOffice Library. Other links lead to tips on small business survival and strategic planning.

Get the Word Out
www.marketingbestpractices.com
After a free sign-up, marketing consultant David Frey’s site offers small business tips, links to articles and related resources. His e-messages offer advice on creating effective marketing strategies, overcoming price objections and getting free news coverage of your business. Links take users to e-stops such as those of the American Marketing Association ( www.marketingpower.com ) and the Marketing Education Association ( www.nationalmea.org ).

Females, Enter Here
www.we-inc.org
This Women Entrepreneurs (WE) site offers entries from company president Karen Kerrigan’s Weekly Journal and news items of interest to female business owners. Users can read free-trade tips in WE’s global markets adviser Laurel Delaney’s e-column, Going Global, or go to the Resource Center to find links to articles on business ethics and growth, government contracting and savings options for retirement plans.

Succeed at Succession
www.family-business-experts.com
CPAs who consult for family businesses can register for free at this Web stop to access current and archived articles from the monthly e-zine Understanding Family Business. Topics include succession planning, with titles such as “Family Feuds Don’t Need to Kill Your Family Business,” and how to write a family business history. Users also can tap into the ask-the-expert section, take a succession planning survey and find tips on easing the transition.

One Rung of Many
www.recruitladder.com
Employers looking for serious employment candidates can post open positions for free on this site, where job hunters pay to read your classified ad. Visitors can get tips on writing cover letters and resumes that work or negotiating severance packages, as well as lighter fare in Comics. Ladder.com also has links to industry-specific employment boards such as www.financeladder.com , www.salesladder.com and www.mktgladder.com .

GENERAL INTEREST SITES

For Their Future
www.360financialliteracy.org
This AICPA-sponsored Smart Stop offers resources to help CPAs and financial advisers guide clients at every stage of their lives. The Childhood section offers the video presentation “Business Building Blocks” for high schoolers and articles on paying for college and student loan basics. Couples can take the financial compatibility quiz, while the “sandwich generation”—those caring for their children and parents—will find life-expectancy and long-term-care calculators. Retirees can get information on asset allocation and estate planning basics. Financial Topics include articles and FAQs on owning your own business, government benefits and tax planning.

A Word to the Wise
www.wiseupwomen.org
Ladies 22 to 35 thinking of their financial futures can register here for free and use the worksheets on monthly budgets to make action plans and track spending, or just brush up on financial terms in the glossary. This site also has sections that teach how to become an investor or manage insurance and risk, as well as archived discussions from the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor’s monthly toll-free teleconference call.

Look to the Law
www.thecorporatecounsel.net
Legal-minded CPAs can find free survey results on, for example, where they file section 404 management reports as well as Broc’s Daily Blog, a separate site domain with examples of internal control disclosures and information on the reinstatement of Sarbanes-Oxley’s first whistleblower. Other gratis benefits include a conference calendar and the basic text of articles in E-Minders, a link to guidance on lease accounting, shareholder access proposals and last-minute planning during proxy season.

HR Tools and Trends
www.workforce.com
CPA firm owners and human resources managers can access all site sections by registering for free first. Users can read current and archived articles on benefits, business issues and trends, compensation, staffing and technology. The Buzz invites visitors to take the latest news poll, read the Dear Workforce advice column and even enjoy cartoons.

Keep Uncle Sam Honest
www.treas.gov/tigta
Tax preparers and auditors interested in knowing how the IRS is regulated can find congressional testimony and current and archived reports on audits for the compensation and labor accounting system at this Web page. There are Department of Justice notices on federal fraud and money laundering charges and decisions, vacancy announcements for department careers and links to other government Web sites.