On December 26th, NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N) announced that it had closed on its initial public offering of 6,200,000 shares of common stock at a price of $26.00 per share. NetSuite also announced that the underwriters of the offering exercised in full their option to purchase an additional 930,000 shares of the company's common stock (565,000 shares from the company and 365,000 shares from the selling stockholders), bringing the total initial public offering size to $185.4 million prior to the deduction of underwriting discounts and estimated expenses paid by NetSuite.

Qualys, Inc. of Redwood Shores, CA, was selected as a winner of the first Red Herring Global 100 Awards, signifying the company's worldwide growth a... more >>

Smaller and Younger Companies Get Overseas Presence
by Anita Campbell December 7, 2007 

High Street Partners was founded 3 years ago to help companies deal with the challenges and frustrations of doing business overseas.

We’ve written previously about the growing trend of the micro-multinational. That trend is about companies that are very small and very young, yet have a global presence almost from the get-go.

Today, many of these micro-multinationals are operating in W... more >>

High Street scores helping U.S. companies into India
In three years, Maryland firm chalks up 90 customers

BY CHRIS NELSON 

Globalization made it possible for businesses to market their products and services and form partnerships around the world, but it didn’t eliminate the challenges and frustrations that companies must deal with when expanding internationally.

Enter High Street Partners Inc. – an Annapolis, MD-based firm that ... more >>

As New England area high tech companies deal with VAT (value-added tax) problems in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, the movie Groundhog Day often comes to mind. Just as Bill Murray's character, Phil Connors, found himself repeating the same experiences day-in and day-out, companies, whether first-timers or well established entities, fall into the same avoidable traps. These include an assumption that VAT works just like sales tax in the United States (it doesn't), a belief that VAT doesn't apply to non-European businesses (it does), or a failure to acknowledge that VAT is an inescapable part of doing business in Europe. Sometimes, it is all of the above.

The 27 European Union member s... more >>

UPDATE NOVEMBER 7, 2007:

The deadline for moving to more rigorous regulations around Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes has been deferred one year for nonpublic entities, and will be effective for years beginning after December 15, 2007, not 2006, as originally stated. 

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued the delay on November 7 in response to research indicating that many nonpublic companies had not had the necessary time to understand and apply the guidance required by FIN 48, and so were not yet in a position to implement the new rules. Many companies and their accounting staff also learned late in the process that FIN 48 does apply to pass-through entities. The delay grants the time needed to gather the required tech... more >>

For this week only, the UK is four, rather than five, hours ahead of Eastern time, and seven, rather than eight, hours ahead of Pacific time.  This may impact your call schedules etc.  The US reverts to Standard time (puts the clocks back an hour) on Sunday, November 3rd.

In 2007, the United States changed its DST observance. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated that DST would start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. Previously, the dates were the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October.

We look forward to helping the following companies with their diverse international needs.  A brief snapshot of our most recent clients:

Boggs & Partners Architects, Annapolis
Responsible for the design of commercial, corporate, healthcare, retail, residential and government facilities, the firm has received international acclaim for its innovative design and planning solutions.

Escalate Retail, San Diego
Escalate Retail builds software to help retailers create loyal customers. The company’s software solutions are behind the scenes at many of the leading customer-focused retail organizations.

Highland Capital Partners, Boston
HCP is a venture capital firm with of... more >>

A brief snapshot of our most recent clients:

Calix – Petaluma, CA
Calix is the largest telecom equipment supplier focused solely on access solutions for broadband service delivery. Service providers deploy Calix access systems to enable a rich set of information, communication, and entertainment services and to expand their revenue base beyond connectivity.

deCarta – San Jose, CA
deCarta is the leading geospatial software platform that powers today's most successful Location-Based Services (LBS) applications such as those deployed at Google Maps, Ask.com, Verizon and Sprint.

DP Technology Corporation – Camarillo, CA
DP Technology Corporation provides CNC programmers with CAM software. The compa... more >>

UK Ruling which may positively impact your VAT obligations

If you charge for payments made by credit card or debit card, you may be accounting for VAT on those payments unnecessarily, and a recent ruling in the UK may positively impact your VAT obligations.

An October 2006 case involved HM Revenue & Customs and Bookit, a ticket agent which customarily imposes a separate charge for cinema ticket reservations above the cost of the tickets themselves. HMRC contended that this additional charge was subject to 17.5% VAT, but the court ruled that the additional charge was, in fact, exempt from VAT and that none had to be paid.

HMRC now accept that where a business provides such a service for a separate charge over and above the ticket price (or equivalent)... more >>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

High Street Partners expands US footprint and increases market share
Firm offers accounting, finance and HR services to companies expanding overseas

ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 22, 2007/PR Newswire/ - High Street Partners, Inc., a consulting firm providing finance, accounting, compliance and HR assistance to companies with international operations, announced today that the company has reached several corporate milestones with the addition of its seventy-fifth customer, an expansion of services, and the opening of a DC Metro office. This is the third year in a row that High Street Partners has tripled its customer base, indicating a strong demand for the firm’s services, particularly those focused on expansion int... more >>

April was another busy month at HSP, with the acquisition of six new clients.  We look forward to helping the following companies with their international needs.

Axioma Inc. – New York
Axioma, Inc. develops and markets innovative risk analysis, portfolio rebalancing and performance attribution products for the financial services industry. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in New York, Axioma helps leading financial firms manage risk, increase returns and improve operational efficiency.

BlueShift Technologies – Andover, MA
BlueShift Technologies, Inc. develops and markets vacuum automation products for semiconductor manufacturing. BlueShift’s linkable QuickLink wafer handling platform empowers semiconductor OEMs to cost... more >>

The 13th Directive - VAT Reclaim

You may be entitled to recover VAT on expenses incurred in the UK or continental Europe – including expenditures on trade shows, VAT charged by your European suppliers, and even VAT on hotel rooms for the European travel of your US employees.

Through a 13th Directive Reclaim, European Union legislation allows for non-resident EU companies to recover VAT on expenditures incurred in the EU. This can often be a significant recovery, as VAT charges range from 15% to 22% depending on the country. (VAT in the UK, for example, is 17.5%.)

If you are eligible for this recovery, you must follow these required procedures:

1) Submit your claim before the inflexible deadline.

 F... more >>

We were selected by a number of new clients in March, and we look forward to assisting these great companies with their international needs:

Aylus Networks Inc. – Westford, MA.
Aylus has developed revolutionary share services that will transform the way mobile subscribers communicate in emerging wireless networks. Its founder is Dr. Shamim Naqvi, a pioneer in wireless network technology credited with the development of the breakthrough Lucent Softswitch, and Motorola's Cellular Push-to-Talk solution.

Cellexus Biosystems – Cambridge, England.
Cellexus Biosystems PLC develops novel disposable bioreactors and disposable, cell-based technologies for biopharmaceutical research and production.

Coradiant Inc. – ... more >>

Please visit High Street Partners at Capital Connection™ in May.  Developed by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Community, Capital Connection is the region's top venue for bringing entrepreneurs and venture investors together.  The event will be held this year from May 29-30, 2007, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.  For more information, visit www.capitalconnection.org.

In recent weeks, HSP has been selected by several new clients.  We look forward to helping the following firms with their diverse international needs:

Bubble Motion - Menlo Park, CA. 
Bubble Motion is a technology company that develops voice applications for mobile operators.  Bubble Motion provides the technology behind BubbleTALK^TM a service that enables mobile phone users to talk, listen and reply to messages as an alternative to the conventional type and read message service provided by the mobile operators.

Covergence Inc. - Maynard, MA.
Covergence is the leader in scaling, securing and controlling VoIP and other real-time services at the access edge. The Cove... more >>

High Street Partners today announced that it will sponsor the annual Nantucket Conference. Last year, HSP President Larry Harding presented on Understanding the China Opportunity: What it Means for Entrepreneurs, Investors and Executives, a panel discussion which drew an active crowd. The Nantucket Conference convenes a small, invitation-only group of New England’s most creative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs, investors, technologists, and executives. For more information please visit www.nantucketconference.com.

Last month, High Street Partners was selected by six new clients.  We look forward to helping the following firms with their diverse international needs:

Acronis, Inc. - Burlington, MA. 
Acronis is a technological leader in storage management software. The company provides disaster recovery, backup and restore, partitioning, data migration, and other storage management products for enterprises, corporations, and consumers. Acronis has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia and sells its products both direct and through resellers and retail outlets.

Hansen Medical, Inc. - Mountain View, California.
Hansen Medical (Nasdaq: HNSN) is a developer of new generation robotic technology for accurate and stable control ... more >>