Two Supreme Court Cases Walk Into a Bar…

Posting by Andrew Staab

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions affecting employee benefit plans. Although neither case dealt with payroll auditing, or were otherwise “landmark” decisions, they are worthy of mention for employee benefit plan fiduciaries and service providers. The key to both cases is chronology, or, when to act to preserve your rights. Not all of the legal issues of each case will be discussed in this blog post, but rather the more salient points are covered.

The […]

March 4, 2014 Benefit Plan Accounting, Payroll Audit Read more...

Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders for the Family Business Part 3 of 4

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal

In the last two posts we talked about identifying potential leaders and educating the next generation of family business leaders. In this post I’ll discuss setting standards for work experience for developing leaders.

If several (or all) of your children have a desire to work in the family business, it’s obvious that not all of them can ascend to the role of CEO, so as leaders, finding the right fit for them is important. […]

March 3, 2014 Family Owned Businesses, Human Resources Read more...

Regulatory Updates: New FASB Private Company Accounting Alternatives, IRS Regulations

2014 has already seen a number of regulatory changes and updates that could affect your company’s accounting and financial statements this year. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued final standards for two changes that impact privately-held companies preparing financial statements in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These new standards were issued in an attempt to simplify reporting requirements for privately-held businesses.

Additionally, last year, the IRS finalized comprehensive repair/capitalization regulations that go into effect for […]

February 27, 2014 Firm News & Events Read more...

PBGC Flat-Rate Premiums Not Due Until October 15

Mark Buckberg, CPA, CFE, CFF

If you are gathering your pension fund’s information to submit your PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation) flat-rate premiums by the end of February, just as you do every year, stop now!

The PBGC has given you some breathing room. In a move that should simplify plan administration going forward, the PBGC published a final rule moving the flat-rate premium due date for large single and multi-employer plans, defined as over 500 participants, to the variable rate premium […]

February 25, 2014 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM TAX-RELATED IDENTITY THEFT

Posting by Brian Wynne

Last week the IRS released its annual “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams for 2014 as a reminder to be on the lookout for fraud and take steps to protect sensitive information as you file your taxes. Not surprisingly, identity theft tops this list.

Tax-related identity theft continues to grow – last year 1.6 million Americans were victims within the first half of the year. It is essential to be on the lookout for scams and take the necessary precautions […]

February 24, 2014 Tax Read more...

NEW GUIDANCE FROM IRS IS GREAT NEWS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Kelly Lopez, CPA
The IRS Provides New Guidance on Tangible Property Regulations
The New Repair Rules have been a hot topic in the tax community since their release. While they provided much needed guidance regarding the capitalization and disposal of tangible property, they also required businesses to file numerous change of accounting method forms (3115) in order to adopt them. This put a significant burden on businesses.

Fortunately, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2015-20 a few days ago. This revenue procedure […]

February 24, 2014 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Upcoming OLMS Webinars on Common Reporting Errors for Forms LM-2 & LM-3

Sue Weaver

It has come to our attention that the Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) is offering free webinars on common reporting errors made on Forms LM-2 and LM-3.

Details regarding times and dates are below. While these are free and open to the public, there is a registration limit of 200 participants per webinar.

Our LM-2 specialist and other professionals will be sitting in on these webinars; we plan to post an overview of each webinar on the […]

February 21, 2014 Accounting, Firm News & Events, Human Resources Read more...

Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders for the Family Business: Part 2 of 4

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal

In my last blog I talked about identifying possible leaders in the family business. Ensuring proper education and establishing clear standards for educational achievements is another important part of preparing the next generation of leaders for the family business. Many family businesses that have survived to the 4th and 5th generation have minimum education requirements before any family member can begin a career in the family business, let alone be considered as a […]

February 19, 2014 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

David Dorsey Presents Withdrawal Liability Seminar for Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Trustees

Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced that Managing Principal David P. Dorsey, CPA participated in the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ (“IFEBP”) Trustees and Administrators Institutes, February 17 – 19, 2014 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The IFEBP is a non-profit organization offering an objective and independent global source of employee benefits, compensation and financial literacy education and information; the Institutes provided education on trends and […]

February 18, 2014 Benefit Plan Accounting, Firm News & Events Read more...

ESTATE PLANNING AND THE BASICS OF PORTABILITY

Billy Thomas, CPA

The estate tax landscape has a ‘permanent’ playing field now; the current Federal legislation exists in such a way that the rules will remain consistent for the foreseeable future. Back in 2010, estate tax was in a period of uncertainty due to the expiration of the Bush-era tax rules. Then the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 created permanent estate and gift transfer tax laws, thereby providing a standard, predictable set of rules for estate planning.

The American […]

February 12, 2014 Accounting, Tax Read more...