Category: Insights

As you may have heard, in an effort to combat high unemployment, President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act) into law on March 18, 2010.  Among other things, this legislation gives qualified employers a break from the employer’s portion of Social Security taxes in 2010 on qualified new hires and a general business credit for each retained worker that satisfies a minimum employment period. It also includes a provision to extend the available increased expense deduction under Code Section 179 for equipment purchases made during 2010. Continue reading “Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act: What Does it Mean to You?” →

As you know, the recent economic downturn has had a negative impact on many businesses. However, there are some businesses that are continuing to excel and even grow in these troubled times. Being a consulting and business valuation manager in public accounting, I have had the opportunity to gain insight on what has been working for business owners and what has not during the last few months. Continue reading “Seven Ways to Succeed and Increase Value in Today’s Economy” →

In today’s economy, many businesses are looking for ways to reduce waste. Being adequately prepared for your annual audit or review can help accomplish this. In my experience, audits and reviews can be completed more efficiently and with fewer headaches for both the client and the accountant if the following steps are implemented. Continue reading “Audit Planning: Simple Ways to Reduce Waste Related to Your Annual Audit or Review” →

After surviving hurricane winds and an ice storm over the course of the past year, the area now adds a major flood to the list of natural disasters that have caught federal attention. On August 14, FEMA declared a federal disaster in Jefferson County, Kentucky, regarding the severe storms and flooding that took place in the Louisville area on August 4. This designation sets in motion a variety of relief mechanisms and financial implications for affected parties. Continue reading “Jefferson County Flooding Leads to Federal Disaster Tax Relief” →

It’s that time of the year… time to pack up and head out for your summer vacation. However, if you’re like many owners of closely held businesses, this is sometimes easier said than done. If important things seem to grind to a halt when you’re out of the office, it may be time to consider developing processes in your organization that aren’t dependent on your being around. In other words, get the business out of your head and on paper in the form of policies and procedures that your trusted employees can administer. Continue reading “Improved Collections Lead to Improved Vacations” →

If you are like many owners of closely held businesses, you likely own life insurance policies to fund cross-purchase provisions in a buy-sell agreement. Or, perhaps you have obtained key-man life insurance to provide funds in the event of the death of a key employee. Continue reading “Avoid Trap of Taxable Life Insurance Proceeds on Key-Man Policies” →

Are your income tax returns finished yet?

Did you check out line 45 on the second page of your 1040? That’s where you look to see if you had to pay an extra amount of tax called the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

Usually, when people see they’ve been required to add this mysterious little item onto their already high-enough income taxes, they are pretty perplexed. They feel like they’re being punished and they’re often not sure why.

So what is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) anyway? It is a completely separate system of income taxes that exists in addition to the regular tax system. To find out whether it is owed, taxpayers have to calculate their regular taxes under the usual set of rules, and then calculate their AMT by using a different set of rules. Continue reading “Alternative Minimum Tax a Mess for Taxpayers, Accountants” →

Nonpublic companies receiving an annual financial statement audit may be seeing significant changes in the performance of their financial statement audits this year. To increase the effectiveness of financial statement audits, the American Institute of CPAs – the body that establishes standards for audits of nonpublic entities – issued a new suite of risk based auditing standards which will be effective for most December 31, 2007 audits. The new standards call for more of a “rifle” approach where the auditor identifies specific audit targets and acts as a financial statement sniper of sorts. Continue reading “New Auditing Standards to Impact Private Companies” →