Top Ten Fraud Prevention Tips for Small Businesses, Tip #5: Protect Your Business from Third Parties

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

As a small business owner or senior executive, it is your responsibility to promote integrity and ethical values to your employees and implement the proper controls and procedures to prevent fraud.  In this series, we are highlighting ten basic fraud prevention steps you can take to keep your organization safe.

With the integration of digital devices in everyday business activities, companies have become highly susceptible to unwanted attacks and data breaches from third parties.  Not […]

December 12, 2011 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Selecting a Third Party Administrator

Jennifer Hohman, CPA

Could your plan benefit from a Third Party Administrator (TPA)?   There are several issues to consider when making this decision. First, perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether your plan would profit from outsourcing.  If you decide that your plan would benefit, then management and Trustees of the plan must do their due diligence to ensure that the TPA selected best suits your plan’s needs.

There are many options when selecting a TPA; Third Party Administrators can provide […]

December 7, 2011 Accounting Read more...

A Holiday Reflection: Giving Thanks for the Family

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal at Bond Beebe Accountants & Advisors

One of my associates, Eric Fletcher, recently sent a Thanksgiving blog post that someone else had written that basically discussed how thankful and appreciative he was for all that was around him.  I happened to think that it was a wonderful idea and decided to mimic that gesture with my own twist.

This past year has been, at times, tumultuous and at others extremely gratifying; it certainly has […]

December 7, 2011 Family Owned Businesses, Uncategorized Read more...

Top Ten Fraud Prevention Tips for Small Businesses, Tip #4: Top-Down Corporate Ethics

Alex Helfand, ENCE

As a small business owner or senior executive, it is your responsibility to promote integrity and ethical values to your employees and implement the proper controls and procedures to prevent fraud.  In this series, we are highlighting ten basic fraud prevention steps you can take to keep your organization safe.

As accountants, we often witness instances where strong employee ethics have prevented fraud.   As required by Statements on Auditing Standards No. 99 for financial statement audits, auditors interview […]

November 21, 2011 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Principals Present at IFEBP’s 57th Annual Employee Benefits Conference

Larry Beebe, CPA

BETHESDA, Maryland (November 11, 2011) – Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced that three of their Principals participated in the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ (“IFEBP”) 57th Annual Employee Benefits Conference, which took place on October 30 through November 2, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  David P. Dorsey, Scott M. Price and Lawrence R. Beebe each participated in separate speaking engagements during the program.  […]

November 11, 2011 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

Employee Fraud – Behavioral Signs and Indications

John Merchant, CPA, CFE

Employers often ask whether there are any signs to look for or other indications of fraud being perpetrated by their employees.  Following are a few examples of things to look for:

The employee has a sudden need for cash.  Employees who are basically honest and who would normally not even consider stealing from their employer may have a change of heart when confronted with a sudden need for cash.  For instance, the employee’s spouse suddenly loses his/her […]

November 8, 2011 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting, Human Resources Read more...

DEDUCTIBLE PROPERTY TAXES

What taxes on real estate are deductible? Many people will get out their end of year mortgage statement or Form 1098 and look for the “Real Estate Taxes Paid” line on the form and use that amount.  However, depending on where you live this number may contain several non-deductible fees and assessments.  In order to accurately determine the deductible taxes you paid you need the actual tax bill.  The state of California is making an effort to educate property […]

November 8, 2011 Accounting, Tax, Wealth Management Read more...

The Top 10 Challenges Family Businesses Must Overcome

Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA, Principal

All businesses face challenges, whether it is dealing with the changing economy, finding and hiring the right employees, or increased competition in the market. Family-owned businesses are not immune to these challenges. In fact, there is also a unique set of challenges that family-owned businesses have to face as a result of the nature of their business structure. It is important to understand what these hurdles are so that if you find yourself […]

October 27, 2011 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Best Practices for Benefit Plan Record Retention

David Dorsey, CPA

Record retention is an often overlooked part of running an employee benefit plan.  Benefit plans must adhere to record retention requirements mandated by ERISA, IRS, DOL and other federal and state authorities.  However, record retention is as much about what you should retain and for how long as it is about what you should discard and when; often, benefit plans conclude another year of providing benefits to participants by putting documents in a filing cabinet(s) or in […]

October 24, 2011 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

IRS UPDATES DOLLAR LIMITS FOR 2012

Brian Wynne, CPA

The IRS has announced many cost-of-living-adjustments for retirement plans, social security tax and some other tax items.

The limits on contributions to retirement plans have been increased for 2012.  Participants can elect to defer up to $17,000 (up from $16,500) into 401(k) plans.  The “catch-up” contributions for participants over age 50 is still the same at $5,500.  The total contribution for defined contribution plans has increased to $50,000 from $49,000, using a compensation base of up to $250,000 (up from $245,000).  […]

October 21, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...