Wednesday, January 23, 2013

10:36 AM

Pick a song, any song Streaming is set to become the next stage of India’s e-commerce revolution



Overall, Saavn has the smoothest playback
Overall, Saavn has the smoothest playback

With the launch of its music app last week, Gaana.com becomes the latest major music streaming service to be available as a mobile app in India. While Internet radio has been around for a long time, both in India and abroad, it’s not been a huge success here until recently, because both average connection speeds and access were quite limited.
Today, music streaming in India is split between three main services—Saavn.com, Dhingana.com and Gaana.com. Saavn has a larger international presence, with listeners around the world, and has nearly three times the number of users of the other two services. Dhingana has a larger regional catalogue and Gaana has a good catalogue of English music in India, something the two other services added on later. Gaana, however, still has the lead on that front.
The market for music streaming in India is enormous—the latest Internet and Mobile Association of India numbers suggest that there are 150 million Internet users in India, and for most, piracy is the only affordable way to access the music they want given that there aren’t many legal sources of digital content. With the numbers for mobile users skyrocketing, streaming is a solution.
At around Rs.6 per song, services like Flyte and iTunes are fairly expensive, and that’s where companies like Dhingana and Saavn come in, relying on ad revenue to let users listen to the music for free. Both Satyan Gajwani (CEO, Times Internet Ltd, which owns Gaana.com) and Vinodh Bhat (CEO, Saavn.com) feel that streaming is competing with piracy, and not paid download services such as iTunes or Flyte, because piracy offers the same content for free.
Streaming offers a large variety of free content with ease of use and safe, virus-free access to a large library of music, making it a viable alternative to piracy. Bhat tells us that the numbers are likely to be driven by mobile users, because “mobile users are much more engaged and listen to more songs in a session than a Web user”.
With a number of great free options available today, which is your best bet?
 
photo
Gaana is the only ad-free music app
 
Gaana
Pros: The mobile app clearly needs a few tweaks, but it shares a lot of the design input with the website. Gaana.com launched in early 2011, and with just over one million songs, it has a comparatively smaller catalogue.
To make up for this, the app features a lot of curated “Best of…” lists to get you listening to popular music. At the same time, the focus is a little different from the other apps where search has the priority. Gaana’s “radio mode” can also automatically build playlists for you, based on the music you’ve been listening to and the song you’re on when you press the radio button, to help you find tracks you haven’t heard before.
The app also handles its social integration really well—it’s easy to set up, you can keep it from spamming your wall, and it finds your friends quickly. Gaana’s friend list allows you to see what music your friends are listening to, and also any playlists they’ve created. These are not static lists, so if your friend then changes the songs in the playlist, that shows up on your device as well.
While the eventual model will likely be ad-supported, Gaana is currently the only ad-free music app. So it has, for now, the nicest user experience.
Aside from Gaana, Gajwani’s team has also been working on BoxTV, a TV-streaming service which could work like Hulu or Netflix, letting users watch movies, TV shows and trailers on demand.
Cons: The radio feature feels underdeveloped. You often get stuck with a single album or a single artiste instead of finding music which wouldn’t have been heard otherwise. Another issue is that the app currently performs badly on EDGE—it can take a long time to start streaming though playback is generally smooth. Wi-Fi and 3G performance don’t have any issues.
 
Saavn
Pros: Saavn’s app has a minimal design which is easy to use, particularly in phones. According to Saavn, the service has two million songs, with songs in six languages—Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and English. The English songs were added in November, partly because as an American company, Saavn’s focus was on the large demand for Indian music outside India.
Once you’re playing tracks though, the buttons on the app clash with the Android buttons and make it look cluttered without really helping the user.
Saavn’s implementation of adaptive streaming is well done—the company has six different versions of each song saved, and dynamically switches between them to prevent any loss of quality. Overall, Saavn definitely offered the smoothest playback at all times.
Cons: Saavn is due for a redesign. The entry screen looks bland and the player, cluttered. And since it’s an older service, there are already a lot of ads on the screen which play before your songs do.
photo
Dhingana has the biggest selection of local music
 
Dhingana
Pros: Launched in 2007, and based in California, US, Dhingana is one of the oldest streaming services around, and the huge amount of local music available on the site reflects this. While it has fewer tracks than Gaana, the 3.5 million songs in the catalogue are in 35 Indian languages.
Like Saavn, Dhingana also uses adaptive streaming, allowing the best possible quality for your connection even when you’re on the move. This means that unlike Gaana, which sometimes gives a bad experience on a 2G connection, Dhingana offers smooth playback.
While it doesn’t have the same degree of social sharing, Dhingana integrates “trends” showing what even people you’re not connected to are listening to.
Cons: If Saavn looks bland, Dhingana looks downright ugly. The home page has four buttons and a logo that looks like it was made using MS Paint. In a few cases, the thumbnails presented with songs were not kept in the proper aspect ratio, so you see squashed pictures, and the screens look too plain.
By at No comments:

Sunday, December 23, 2012

4:30 PM

Deal at last minute

In fact,both Sagar and Jasleen,extol the benefits of comparing prices.With so many shopping portals up and running successfully,a wise way to wriggle out of a sticky situation is to double check the price of your gift online.Incidentally,the same dress that may cost more on a store can be had at almost half the price online.
However,cautions Champ,while that is all appealing,buying online,including gadgets isnt a safe all proposition.So stick to the ones that you have used earlier.Do a proper research on their delivery and post-sale activity and then buy to be on a safer side.
This is the reason,adds the online shopper,why donation and gift cards are such a big pull.They,adds Sagar,take the entire onus of choosing a gift for someone.And although fixing a certain amount could be equally stressful,it is always a safer bet,and much appreciated.
And in case you are buying gifts then,says Champ,Choose the COD (cash on delivery) option.This while will rein the urge to spend more physical money has that controlling effect it also means that you can double check the gift before the actual process of gifting.
Look for bargain.One of the advantages of late shopping,says Sagar,is that often you get to crack a deal as the purchase is often in bulk.And there is a good chance of you getting a little extra,after all the store has to make all its selling in a stipulated time.Tip: Usually pick a standard design of the store its likely to fetch you are better bargain than something new.
And while doing so,beware or pressure sales tactics.Says Champ,Store representative and sales people are bound to hound you with innovative offer,dont fall for the temptation.Remember,if its too good to the ear,its probably not that good a bargain. For instance,adds Sagar,when a sales representative tells you that the deal is only available if you buy it right now,you probably should ask to speak to a manger to hold the price.If they believe in their product they should want you to feel good about your purchase and not buy it out of fear of losing a special price.
Last not the least,says Champ,Try DIY.They not only are a smarter way of gifting,but buying them turns out to be happily economical,and outrageously satisfying.
And remember,insist the experts,shop with cash,it limits overspending and impulsive hoarding.
By at No comments:

Friday, December 21, 2012

3:00 AM

Salient Features of the Companies Bill 2011

Salient Features of the Companies Bill 2011

The Companies Bill, 2011, which was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday, on its enactment will allow the country to have a modern legislation for growth and regulation of corporate sector in India. The existing statute for regulation of companies in the country, viz. the Companies Act, 1956 had been under consideration for quite long for comprehensive revision in view of the changing economic and commercial environment nationally as well as internationally. In view of various reformatory and contemporary provisions proposed in the Companies Bill, 2011, together with omission of existing unwanted and obsolete compliance requirements, the companies in the country will be able to comply with the requirements of the proposed Companies Act in a better and more effective manner.
The Salient features of the Companies Bill 2011 are as follows:
1. (Amendment in Clause 135): In the Section on Corporate Social Responsibility (Section135), which is being introduced as a statutory provision for the first time, the words ‘make every endeavour to’ have been omitted from its Sub-clause (5). So that the first para of Sub-clause (5) of Clause 135 now reads as follows: “The Board of every company referred to in sub-section (1), shall ensure that the company spends in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.”
Such clause is also amended to provide that the company shall give preference to local areas where it operates, for spending amount earmarked for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The approach to ‘implement or cite reasons for non implementation’ retained.
2. (Amendment in Clause 36): To help in curbing a major source of corporate delinquency, Clause 36 (c) amended, to also include punishment for falsely inducing a person to enter into any agreement with bank or financial institution, with a view to obtaining credit facilities.
3. (Amendment in Clause 143): Provisions relating to audit of Government Companies by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) modified to enable C&AG to perform such audit more effectively.
4. (Amendment in Clause 186): Clause 186 amended to provide that the rate of interest on intercorporate loans will be the prevailing rate of interest on dated Government Securities.
5. (Amendment in Clause 144): Provisions relating to restrictions on non audit services modified to provide that such restrictions shall not apply to associate companies and further to provide for transitional period for complying with such provisions.
6. (Amendment in Clause 203): Provisions relating to separation of office of Chairman and Managing Director (MD) modified to allow, in certain cases, a class of companies having multiple business and separate divisional MDs to appoint same person as chairman as well as MD.
7. (Amendments in Clause 147 and 245): Provisions relating to extent of criminal liability of auditors – particularly in case of partners of an audit firm – reviewed to bring clarity. Further, to ensure that the liability in respect of damages paid by auditor, as per the order of the Court, (in case of conviction under Clause 147) is promptly used for payment to affected parties including tax authorities, Central Government has been empowered to specify any statutory body/authority for such purpose.
8. (Amendment in Clause 141): The limit in respect of maximum number of companies in which a person may be appointed as auditor has been proposed as twenty companies.
9. (Amendment in Clause 139): Appointment of auditors for five years shall be subject to ratification by members at every Annual General Meeting.
10. (Amendment in Clause 139): Provisions relating to voluntary rotation of auditing partner (in case of an audit firm) modified to provide that members may rotate the partner ‘at such interval as may be resolved by members’ instead of ‘every year’ proposed in the clause earlier.
11. (Amendment in Clause 2): ‘Whole-time director’ has been included in the definition of the term ‘key managerial personnel’.
12. (Amendment in Clause 42): The term ‘private placement’ has been defined to bring clarity.
13. (Amendment in Clause 61): Approval of the Tribunal shall be required for consolidation and division of share capital only if the voting percentage of shareholders changes consequent on such consolidation.
14. (Amendment in Clause 152): Clarification included in the Bill to provide that ‘Independent Directors’ shall be excluded for the purpose of computing ‘one third of retiring Directors’. This would bring harmonisation between provisions of Clause 149(12) and rotational norms provided in Clause 152.
15. (Amendment in Clause 470): Provisions in respect of removal of difficulty modified to provide that the power to remove difficulties may be exercised by the Central Government up to ‘five years’ (after enactment of the legislation) instead of earlier up to ‘three years’. This is considered necessary to avoid serious hardship and dislocation since many provisions of the Bill involve transition from pre-existing arrangements to new systems.
By at No comments:
3:00 AM

Now, one person can start a company

Now, one person can start a company 


Passage of the Companies Bill in Parliament  will pave the way for a new concept of ‘one person’ company’ (OPC). Under the Companies Act, 1956, it required at least two people to form a company. The new concept will provide an opportunity to Indian entrepreneurs to enter the corporate world without even adding a family member to the venture, which they, at times, do just for the sake of a second name.

“This will bring the unorganised sector of proprietorship into the organised version of a private limited company. The organised version of OPC will open the avenues for more favourable banking facilities, particularly loans to such proprietors,” says  PavaKumar Vijay, managing director of Corporate Professionals, a corporate financial advisory firm. “Proprietors always have unlimited liability. If such a proprietor does business through an OPC, then liability of the member is limited. This will open all options for Indian entrepreneurs, with pros and cons, and leave it in the hands of such promoters to decide the best options. It will help many foreign companies, which just need to appoint nominees for the sake of a minimum two members, when they form a wholly-owned subsidiary (in India),” Vijay adds.

Various small and medium enterprises, doing business as sole proprietors, might enter into the corporate domain. The concept would boost the flow of foreign funds into India, as the requirement for a nominee shareholder would be done away with. However, the mandatory clause that a resident indian director should be on the board could be a bottleneck, experts say.

An OPC can be formed by subscribing the name of a person to the memorandum and complying with the requirements of the Act in respect of registration. As regards the name of an OPC, the Act provides that the words “one person company” shall be mentioned in brackets below the name of such a company, wherever its name is printed, affixed or engraved.

The law comes with provisions that cover various situations arising in such a new format.

For example, any business, which is required to be transacted at an annual general meeting or any other general meeting of a company by means of an ordinary or special resolution, shall be done in the case of an OPC by passing a resolution, which should be communicated by the member to the company and entered in the minutes book required to be maintained under law.

It also provides that the memorandum of an OPC shall indicate the name another person as nominee, with his prior written consent in the prescribed form, who shall, in the event of the subscriber‘s death, become the member of the company, and the written consent of such person shall also be filed with the registrar at the time of incorporation along with its memorandum and articles.

In countries like the US, and many countries of Europe, Singapore, etc the entrepreneurs have options to decide the constitution of company as per their need and the option of an OPC is available to them. The concept of OPC is prevalent in many countries and notably in China.
Experts feel the key challenge for such a company will be to ensure that supporting legislation also recognise such a company as an entity and not just an extension of a sole proprietorship.

Source – Business Standard
By at No comments:

Saturday, December 15, 2012

5:44 PM

Go Native firming up India plans

Go Native firming up India plans
Go Native, the London-headquartered serviced apartment operator, is looking at expanding its brand in the Indian market to cash in on the growing demand for long-stay accommodation from its clientele in Europe, Middle East and India.
Guy Nixon (pictured), founder and CEO, Go Native, who was recently in India for client meeting, told DNA Money, “We would love to explore opportunities to expand out brand in India. We would be keen to meet property owners who would like to work with the Go Native franchise.”
The company has a network of 25,000 serviced apartments, a large part of which is branded and operated by Go Native in London and Edinburgh.
It also works with operators across the UK, Europe and the Middle East catering to clients’ need for housing in these regions.
Elaborating the company’s business model, Nixon said most of properties in the network are on 10-15 year management contract. “We brand and furnish the buildings and run them a bit like hotels but they are all apartments,” he said.
On the Indian market, he said, “We have been housing Indian people in the UK for over 10 years now. We have learnt a lot about the Indian market in that timeframe and have good understanding of their needs for housing. Their primary requirements are good quality accommodation, value for money, sensible pricing, good transport connectivity, preference to live within a community and close proximity to the workplace,” he said.
Go Native operates three-, four-, and five-star buildings and pricing depends on how long people are staying. In comparison to hotels, the rates at fully equipped serviced apartments are
20-30% cheaper while offering a lot more space.
While the duration of stay varies from company to company, Indian business travellers generally use Go Native apartments from 7-14 nights on the lower side going up to 1-6 months or more when coming on knowledge transfer and long-term projects.
“Banking industry forms large part of clientele from Mumbai while it is technology sector from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. It is a fairly mixed one in terms of companies from New Delhi,” said Nixon.
By at No comments:
5:43 PM

‘New NPAs don’t warrant higher provisioning’

‘New NPAs don’t warrant higher provisioning’
With banks in a firefighting mode as far as bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) are concerned, regulatory norms require them to set aside a higher provisioning. But interestingly enough, Andhra Bank’s provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) is on the way down. B A Prabhakar, chairman and managing director of state-owned Andhra Bank, clears the air in an interview with Parnika Sokhi and Megha Mandavia. Edited excerpts:
Andhra Bank’s PCR has fallen to 53.15% at the end of second quarter from 61.69% last year. Why has the provisioning been lowered despite a rise in NPAs?
The PCR is a function of the NPA portfolio and the regulatory guidelines that are in place for making provisions to various categories of NPAs. Today, our NPAs are Rs 3,013 crore. Fifty percent of these are not even one year old. So, there is no need to build in such high provisions for an NPA that is new. The PCR will increase as the NPAs become older as they move from sub-standard to doubtful and from doubtful to loss assets. The new norms on providing for restructured loans will need an additional provisioning of Rs 30 crore in our case. About Rs 500 crore of loans may get restructured in Q3.

How is the bank dealing with rising NPAs?
If it’s a problem arising out of business environment, hand-holding is essential. Restructuring is the answer to the business which is affected because of the slowdown, but potential is very much there. This I am generally referring to large accounts. I think the problem is not very serious in small accounts. That is why we have been able to make substantial recovery in these accounts and avoid slippages. We have strengthened the recovery department by deploying more work force at zones and branches.

How do you see credit growth panning for the rest of the year?
So far, we have seen credit growth of 15-15.5% and I think we may end the year with 16% growth. Today, we are not getting new projects. It is not that banks have become conservative and credit growth is not happening. The industry is not making any new investments.

On the deposit front, the share of low-cost deposits has reduced. How do you plan to bring down the dependency on high-cost deposits?
We have opened new branches to see that the Current Accounts Savings Accounts (CASA) deposits grow in absolute terms. I’m sure that once financial inclusion picks up, the CASA accretion will improve in the medium term. In the past 2-3 years, credit has grown faster than deposits and particularly CASA deposits have distorted CASA growth. But we don’t see credit growth beyond 16-17%. Once credit growth moderates, I see a possibility to improve the CASA growth. With electronic transfer in place, there is no need for businesses to maintain high current account balances. They will not grow the way we have seen in the past. Our bulk deposits should come down from 27% to 20% by March 2013. Total deposit growth will be about 14% by then.

Where do you see the net interest margins (NIMs) by March 2013?
We are at around 3.15%, I think we will be able to maintain it at 3-3.1% with cost of deposits coming down. There is a bit of pressure on NIMs because of the increase in NPAs. Today, we are funding all those NPAs with deposits which means it is not earning any income.
By at No comments:
5:41 PM

Arvind Lifestyle scouting for kids wear brands

Arvind Lifestyle scouting for kids wear brands

Arvind Lifestyle & Brands, a subsidiary of textile firm Arvind Ltd, is scouting for kids wear brands to build on the five international acquisitions it made in the men and women wear segment this year.

“We have a couple of kids brands in our portfolio and are looking at expanding the segment now,” said J Suresh, managing director and CEO, Arvind Lifestyle, a major player in apparel and retail segment.

In line with the strategy, the company plans to extend Elle, the women wear brand, to the kids segment by March.

The company acquired Elle along with Nautica, Debenhams, Next and Billabong this year.

It has also started strengthening its existing kid’s portfolio as it looks to open standalone stores for its US Polo kids brands.

According to estimates, the kids wear segment is about `10,000 crore.

In the value retail space, after shedding the discounted tag from Megamart stores, the company has been able to improve margins by up to 5% in the past three months.

Meanwhile, the company is also sharpening its focus on international markets, which as of now contribute only 5-6% to its sales.

“We are aggressively marketing our home-grown brands such as Flying Machine and Arrow and plan to launch Izod brand in the Middle East very soon,” he said.

The company, which is likely to post a turnover of about `1,400-1,500 crore this fiscal, is aiming to touch `5,000 crore in sales by 2015 through both organic and inorganic routes.

The company, which contributes 27% to Arvind Ltd’s sales, is targeting to open 100-150 stores across formats
By at No comments:

Sunday, December 9, 2012

5:38 PM

Caprese collection is also available on www.capresebags.com


International handbag brand, Caprese makes its debut in India



    The latest entrant in the Indian market is the international fashion brand Caprese, offering a wide range of elegant and fashionable ladies handbags. Inspired from the Isle of Capri, a small island in the Campania region of Italy; Caprese handbags are made with a distinctly modern design language. Embracing a holistic concept, the sculptural aesthetics of the creations focuses on avant-garde shapes and precise cuts. They promise to bring a whole new fashion sense to a mass premium segment through high-end fashion imagery, differentiated designs and a very stylish Masstige offering. Caprese has been launched with a wide variety of stylised handbags for women catering to different occasions and usage. The colours, designs and silhouette are chosen keeping in mind the fashion forecasts and the tastes of the Indian woman, and the brand is launching around 50 styles as part of its Autumn Winter ’12 collection, which will be available at premium lifestyle stores like Lifestyle, Central, Pantaloons,VIP Lounges and leading ladies handbag MBO’s. The handbags will also be sold in over 100 cities across 400 outlets. Imported and marketed in India exclusively by VIP Industries Ltd., Caprese is available at a price point of 2,000 onwards. Spearheaded by Radhika Piramal, Managing Director, VIP Industries Ltd. Caprese has been rolled out post extensive test marketing, across India. Explaining the idea behind getting into handbags, Piramal said, “The branded handbag industry in India is at a very nascent stage, and there is clear absence of a big brand with pan-India presence. With our companies strengths in branding, retailing and distribution we will be able to bring the best of Caprese to the Indian consumers across India and grow the branded part of the category far faster.”
Caprese can be purchased online on www.capresebags.com, www.buytravelbags.com, www.flipkart.com, www.myntra.com, www.Jabong.com and many other leading portals. More information about Caprese collection is also available on www.capresebags.com and www.facebook.com/capresebags

The model is carrying Jane Hobo by Caprese, 3,299


Esther Tote Large Coral 3,299


Birdy Tote Medium Black 2,699


Rossini Tote Medium Vintage Blue
    2,999


Cara Hobo Medium Turquoise Green 2,899


Jane Satchel Small Brown 2,899


Katie Tote Medium Blue 1,899


Mia Hobo Small Brown 1,699


The model is carrying a Birdy Tote by Caprese,
    2,899


Coco Clutch Small Red 1,799
By at No comments:
10:39 AM

Some of us are inherently allergic to finance jargon. Is there any hope for us? One writer finds out

how to understand it

Some of us are inherently allergic to finance jargon. Is there any hope for us? One writer finds out

MADAM, WHERE is your Form 16?” The nerdy-looking accounts guy at the office was looking at me impatiently. All I could respond was, “What on earth is that?” with eyes bigger than a surprised raccoon. He looked appalled. “Don’t you file your tax returns?” I could see him trying to hide a smirk, but the corners of his lips gave him away. My ignorance of the finance world had given me away again. I was the laughing stock of the department.
That was three years ago. Today, I’m still no smarter about money – mostly because, as a 20-something journalist living on rent in Mumbai, I have none. Obviously, my boss thinks this makes great fodder for a story – so I’m dispatched to meet financial experts and hope their advice makes sense to a Zara-wearing, bistro-loving, party-hopping spender. It’s a hell of a ride.

BABY STEPS
I meet Siddesh Damble, my father’s friend’s chartered accountant, a bespectacled old man hidden behind racks of paperwork. “I only have 10 minutes,” he says, looking grim – so much for the patient approach. “The first thing you need to do is withdraw money from your salary account because it is getting stale there.” I ask why, and he produces a smirk that is now all too familiar. “Because money in your salary account barely appreciates. Play with it a little – fix it, invest it, and grow it.” I nod like a bobble head but I’m still clueless so I ask him to elaborate. Damble grumbles but complies: “The safest thing for girls in your income bracket [by which he means bottom-rung and always broke] to do is open a fixed deposit account with your mother. Your money has the potential to grow at say eight per cent. Plus, since it’s fixed for a certain number of years, it’s just like saving,” he says. And roping in a parent means you won’t cash out in a hurry.
Just as it’s starting to make sense, Damble throws in this whopper: “Invest your cash for gold. So when you sell it later, you will definitely make more money than what you invested.”
Great, so to make money I need to buy gold, for which I need money, which I don’t have. Arrgh! Why don’t Zara skirts appreciate the same way? I’d be so rich!

INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Clearly I need more help, so I meet Gyanender Singh, a former army officer and financial analyst. This time, things get even more complicated. Singh gets to the point in five minutes. “First claim your HRA and therefore claim a deduction on it. If you’re self-employed and do not have HRA, you can still claim deductions under Section 80GG,” he says. “Better still, if you are staying with your parents, pay them rent and avail tax deductions. That way the money stays in the house and you save on tax.” So, wait. I can pay my parents rent, use my House Rent Allowance to reduce my taxes, and charm my folks into letting me keep the rent money too? Why has nobody told me this before?
Singh also advises me to declare my losses on a tax return to save more tax in the future. “Just make sure that you set off your losses against profits in the current year. Suppose you sell your real estate property for R20 lakh. That means you will pay R2 lakh in tax. Now, if you’ve made a loss of R4 lakh in stocks, you set this loss against your profit and pay tax on R6 lakh. That way you save a cool
R80,000.” He’s lost me. I have no house to sell, no profits to declare and no stocks to… what do you do with stocks anyway?
But I realise that investing is not rocket science. That starting early is half the battle won. And that it’s possible to put money away and put it to work for me. Now if only they gave me a raise so I could actually have some money to put away…

GET HELP NOW


Most people feel that only rich businessmen and real estate honchos need chartered accountants. But everyone needs a CA. Here’s why:
They’re not scared of paperwork. They’ll file your tax returns that you have been too lazy to file.
If you end up blowing all your cash on poker one evening, they’ll make sure you’re still left with something.
They’ll tell you if you can afford a mansion or studio apartment in five years based on how much you earn today.
By at No comments:
10:34 AM

DONATE IN KIND TOO

DONATE IN KIND TOO


Just because you signed over a hefty wad of cash to air-condition an old-people’s home doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to contribute. Several groups are just as happy to receive your old, but useable clothes, recyclable goods, books, toys your kids have outgrown, furniture, time and skills. And you never know who might need it – a school for hearing impaired might want your old cellphone so students can use SMS to communicate. A dog shelter might want your old books for a garage sale to raise money for a sterilisation drive. A disability group might just need your marketing skills for their exhibition. And the blind may simply need you to read out a textbook to they can make a copy in Braille. Every action that prevents an NGO from using its own funds helps. So
give away!
By at No comments: