If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It: Marketing the Fact that Your Business is Family-Owned

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA

For some people long ago, it was preferred to keep the “family-owned” status of your company hidden, as it might imply to prospects that your firm was very small or less professional.  As members of the Greater Washington DC Family Business Alliance, naturally we believe that being a family business carries many advantages, for both the company and for its customers.  So why not point out some of those advantages in the marketing of […]

March 17, 2011 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

DEDUCTING RENT PAID TO A “RELATED PARTY”

Jobe Dupre’, CPA

Most of the time, rent paid for the use of business property is deductible. In fact, the tax code doesn’t even specifically state that rent paid must be “reasonable,” (a tax term applied to most deductions). However, transactions between “related parties” come under closer scrutiny by the IRS because of the potential for abuse. If rent paid to a related party is found to be “unreasonable,” the deduction will be reduced. In many such cases, the rent found to be excessive […]

March 6, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Top Ten Fraud Prevention Tips for Small Businesses, Tip #8: Segregation of Duties

Lawrence R. Beebe, CPA

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.

One of the most frequent causes of the misappropriation of assets in any business is the lack of segregation of duties.  No one individual should have custody […]

March 4, 2011 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

CAN YOU DEDUCT YOUR CLUB DUES?

Jobe Dupre’, CPA

Generally, club dues are not tax deductible as a business expense.
This general non-deductible rule covers dues paid to country clubs, golf clubs, business luncheon clubs, athletic clubs, and even airline and hotel clubs. However, you can still deduct 50% of the cost of otherwise allowable business entertainment, even though the dues you pay are nondeductible. For example, if you have business dinner with a customer at your country club, 50% of the cost of the dinner is […]

February 28, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

UPDATES IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

Billy Thomas, CPA

District of Columbia:  Reports have shown that E-filing your return typically results in a quicker refund.  Now DC is allowing individual taxpayers the opportunity to track his or her refund online.  Follow the link to check your refund status: Refund Status Inquiry

Maryland:  The Comptroller of Maryland has announced a ‘Tax Free’ Weekend.  Well tax-free for those individuals and entities purchasing qualified energy efficient equipment.   Qualified energy efficient equipment includes equipment with the ‘energy star’ product seal (refrigerators, […]

February 17, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Dumb Criminals Are No Match for Digital Forensics

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

This has been a newsworthy week for computer forensics. Not only are high-profile individuals committing crimes on their computers, but they aren’t exactly being smart about it. Let’s start with the story about Christopher Lee, the New York congressman who decided to participate in some extracurricular activities at work.

Interestingly enough, this story did not involve any law enforcement, but still received huge press coverage . We’ve seen politicians having affairs in the past, but […]

February 15, 2011 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Boy, How Quickly the News of Bad Service Travels…

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Remember the old adage about those having bad service experience tell ten people, and those having a good service experience maybe tell only one person?  Well into today’s digital age, just think of all the people you could gripe to if you had a bad experience – all with the click of a button.  This is even more reason for today’s businesses to make sure their customer service is at the top of […]

February 14, 2011 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

VIRGINIA CORPORATE & PASSTHROUGH TAX RETURNS DUE 4/15

Brian Wynne, CPA

The Virginia Department of Taxation clarified on Friday that calendar-year corporate and passthrough entity tax returns are due Friday, April 15, 2011.  There was some confusion as the Federal and most states filing date was moved to Monday, April 18 this year, due to a holiday in Washington DC (Emancipation Day).  Virginia does not recognize this holiday as a legal holiday and therefore will not move it’s due date.

February 14, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

A SECOND CHANCE AT VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF FOREIGN ASSETS

Brian Wynne, CPA

On Tuesday, February 8, 2011, the IRS announced another voluntary disclosure program giving taxpayers a second chance to report offshore assets.  The first program began in March of 2009 and allowed taxpayers six months to voluntarily disclose all offshore assets going back six years, offering the chance to avoid criminal prosecution and limiting penalties.  The penalties were 20% of the amount of foreign assets in the year with the highest value, plus all taxes, interest and a […]

February 11, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Has the Smoking Gun Gone Paperless? Searching for Evidence in a Digital World

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

One of the biggest trends for companies is ‘going green.’ This trend does extend beyond legitimate businesses and is now being used by more and more criminals. It is a nice gesture on their part, especially from a Digital Forensics standpoint.  According to the FBI, crime rates in America have been declining, and are actually lower than before the recession. However, the FBI has seen cases involving removable media double in the last year […]

February 7, 2011 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...