The new international lease accounting rules are causing some CFOs to reconstruct how they gauge corporate performance. Previous rules allowed some leases to be recorded in footnotes to financial statements. CFOs must now report leases on the balance sheet as assets and liabilities. Rather than recording lease payments as operating expenses, companies now need to…
The tax code places limits on the amounts that individuals can gift to others (as money or property) without paying taxes. This is meant to keep individuals from using gifts to avoid the estate tax that is imposed upon inherited assets. This can be a significant issue for family-operated businesses when the business owner dies;…
Although Congress, as part of the recent tax reform, promised to do away with the alternative minimum tax (AMT), it only did so for C corporations; as a result, the AMT still applies to individuals. Congress originally developed the AMT in 1969 as a means to prevent high-income individuals from using tax shelters to reduce…
One of the reasons we like QuickBooks is because it uses language and processes that are familiar to small businesspeople. Instead of using the term “accounts receivable,” it has a menu label that says Customers and menu items that use phrases like Create Invoices and Receive Payments. You would have to go into the Chart…
Individuals and small businesses should consider various ways of starting off on the right foot for the 2019 tax year. W-4 Updates – If you are employed, then your employer takes the information from your Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-4 and applies it to the IRS’s withholding tables to determine the amount of income…
Contrary to what many believe, ESOPs can be a great option when considering a retirement or succession plan. Because of a large knowledge gap, many business owners forgo this option. This article discusses the benefits of ESOPs and how they can contribute to better business performance. To view this article, click HERE to access the…
If your 2018 federal return has already been filed and you are due a refund, you can check the status of your refund online. “Where’s My Refund?” is an interactive tool on the IRS website at IRS.gov. Whether you have opted for direct deposit into one account, split your refund among several accounts, or asked…
The April 15 deadline for filing your individual tax return is almost upon us. Have you considered filing an extension? Why File An Extension? Here are some reasons for filing an extension: 1) You need more time to gather documents and support to ensure that your tax return is accurate. 2) You intentionally want to…
According to one recent study conducted by the Small Business Administration, there are approximately 28.8 million small businesses in the United States that are collectively responsible for about 99.7 percent of all economic activity in this country. In many ways, they represent the “canary in the coal mine” for a nation. When small businesses are…
Have you been ignoring your future retirement needs? This tends to happen when people are young; because retirement is far in the future, they believe that they have plenty of time to save for it. Some people even ignore the issue until late in life, which causes them to scramble to fund their retirement. Others…