Small businesses will get a helping hand with some key expenses under President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan, signed into law on February 17. Around $282 billion of the bill is devoted to tax cuts, including breaks for small businesses. Some of the highlights include:

• Small businesses will be able to more quickly deduct the cost of investments in plants and equipment from their taxable income.
• Small businesses will be allowed to recover alternative minimum tax (AMT) and research and development (R&D) credits faster.
• Small businesses will be allowed to write off up to $250,000 of capital expenditures in the year of acquisition.

As a result, 2009 might be a good time to consider upgrading your technology. Learn more…

The Microsoft Office suite and SharePoint are amazing tools to improving the way your company works. Take a little time each month to learn more and soon you’ll be looking more professional, getting more done and working better with your team. This month’s highlights;

Spotlight Word: Make a Check
List If you just need a checklist that you can print, you can make a list where each item has a check box that you can check off on paper. You can also create a list of check boxes and check off items electronically by opening the document in Word. Learn how…

Spotlight SharePoint: Introduction to Versioning
When versions are tracked for lists or libraries, revisions to the items or files and their properties are stored. This enables you to better manage content as it is revised and even to restore a previous version — for example, if you make a mistake in the current version. Versioning is especially helpful when several people work together on projects, or when information goes through several stages of development and review. Learn how…