Benefit Plan Policies: Conflict of Interest

Larry Beebe, CPA

In this series, we are reviewing the written plan policies needed to help your benefit plan stay compliant and operate most effectively. For a full list of the necessary policies and why your plan should implement them, click here.

As a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan, you have an obligation to operate your plan in the best interests of plan participants and their beneficiaries. In order to fulfill this obligation, trustees and other plan fiduciaries must adopt […]

April 11, 2014 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

DC Family Business Alliance Forms Family Business CEO Roundtable

The Greater Washington DC Family Business Alliance (the Alliance) is pleased to announce the formation of a Family Business CEO Roundtable, a monthly facilitated peer group session exclusively for family business owners and executives. Through guided discussions with nationally-recognized experts, brainstorming sessions, and problem-solving exercises, the Roundtables will provide important perspective and targeted insights to help family business executives gain clarity and develop practical solutions.

The inaugural Roundtable meeting will take place on Thursday, May 15 in Bethesda, MD. Interested […]

April 3, 2014 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

408(b)(2) Fee Disclosure Regulation Update: A Road Map for Plan Sponsors

Caroline Kettering, CPA

As a plan sponsor, you probably dread sifting through mountains of papers in order to find and understand your plan providers’ fees. The Department of Labor isn’t too thrilled about it, either. Two years after the original 408(b)(2) fee disclosure regulations were finalized, the Department of Labor has issued a long-anticipated proposed amendment concerning the format of these disclosures. The proposed amendment aims to provide a “road map” for plan sponsors to help you more easily identify […]

April 2, 2014 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

7 Bookkeeping Basics For a Successful Business

Posting by Mike Rockefeller

Proper bookkeeping is an often overlooked, but important, part of the accounting process. Your company will acquire new assets, borrow money, receive income, and perform countless other financial transactions. Recording those transactions in a timely and accurate manner is vital to your business’s success and longevity.

Keeping your finances and records in order will not only help you stay on top of important company credits and debits, but can also help you prevent fraud and financial malfeasance. […]

March 31, 2014 Accounting Read more...

Family Business Estate Planning: Establishing a Family Limited Partnership

Posting by Billy Thomas, CPA

In estate planning, families are presented with many financial challenges: asset control, asset protection, ensuring the financial literacy of future generations, and maintaining wealth for future generations. In certain cases, a Family Limited Partnership (FLP) is a helpful estate planning tool to address and provide for those concerns.

What is a Family Limited Partnership?

Organized under state law, a Family Limited Partnership is simply a limited partnership in which the partners happen to be a closely related […]

March 31, 2014 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Bond Beebe Launches Redesigned Website for Forensic Accounting Practice

Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, is pleased to announce the launch of a redesigned website for the Firm’s Forensic Accounting Practice, www.bbforensic.com. With posts on relevant fraud prevention, investigation, and litigation issues, as well as Frequently Asked Questions and articles, this site aims to provide insights to help businesses and tax-exempt organizations prevent fraud and safeguard financial assets.

Interested professionals are invited to submit content for the site […]

March 27, 2014 Firm News & Events, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Recent Supreme Court Cases Affecting Employee Benefit Plans

Sue Weaver

On our Payroll Auditing blog, Andrew Staab of Felhaber Larson Fenlon & Vogt recently provided a helpful overview of two Supreme Court decisions that affect employee benefit plans. These particular cases address when you need to act in order to preserve your rights. Here is a snapshot of the issues at hand:
Filing an Appeal
Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Central Pension Fund of International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employees, 134 U.S. 773 (2014) addresses the issue of […]

March 26, 2014 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

ESTATE TAX EXEMPTION LIKELY TO INCREASE IN MARYLAND

Sean Urbany, CPA

Late last week, the Maryland Senate passed a measure that will gradually raise Maryland’s $1 million estate tax exemption to match the much-higher federal exemption. The measure has already passed the House. If signed into law by Governor O’Malley, in 2015 the exemption will be $1.5 million and in 2016, it will be raised to $2 million. The increase will continue to rise to $3 million in 2017 and $4 million in 2018 before matching the federal […]

March 24, 2014 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Problem-Solving Tough Challenges: Our Family Business CEO Roundtables

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA

When’s the last time you were able to think long-term about your family business? You may find yourself fighting daily fires and attending to time-sensitive problems, leaving strategic initiatives to fall by the wayside. Or, perhaps, you want to face the challenge head on, but don’t know who to turn to and have trouble obtaining an objective view.

The Challenges Facing Family Businesses

While every business has its unique environment, there are some common problems that […]

March 19, 2014 Family Owned Businesses, Firm News & Events Read more...

Hiring a Payroll Auditing Firm, Question 6: How Long Does Your Typical Audit Take?

Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA

As part of this series, I am providing Plan Trustees with a list of questions they should ask when requesting proposals from payroll auditing firms.  Click here to view the full list of questions.

The amount of time required to perform a quality payroll audit varies considerably.  For example, the audit for a company with 30 employees should be scheduled for one half day.  Normally, in this half day, the auditor will be able to do […]

March 19, 2014 Payroll Audit Read more...