BEING SMART WITH YOUR CHARITABLE DONATIONS

Camile Smith, CPA

Donations to charitable organizations can be a great way to both lower your tax liability and support causes you care about. When making your donation, keep in mind the IRS has specific requirements in order for your charitable contribution to be tax deductible. To deduct a donation you will need to itemize your deductions, donate to a qualified organization, and keep records.

First and foremost, for any charitable contribution you make to be deductible, you must itemize your […]

December 29, 2015 Accounting, Tax Read more...

PRESIDENT SIGNS BILL FOR PERMANENT AND EXTENDED TAX BREAKS

Sarah McCraine, CPA

A little cheer has come early this year, as President Obama has signed into law both permanent and extended tax breaks for individuals and businesses. This expansive bill has been the subject of much debate, as to which provisions would become permanent vs. extended for another year. Listed below are some of the more pertinent tax breaks that individuals and businesses having been hoping would be remain.

Individual Provisions (may be subject to income limitations)

Permanent Provisions

Additional […]

December 21, 2015 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 17: The Confusing Transaction is Often the Fraudulent Transaction

Larry Beebe, CPA

Accounting transactions can be very complex. For example, the use of derivatives in an investment can tremendously increase the risk in what appears to be a conservative asset purchase. Generally accepted accounting principles often allow transaction to be recorded in an entity’s accounting records in many different ways. Some of these ways are conservative, and some employ very liberal accounting. Unfortunately, these transactions can be manipulated in a fraudulent manner to make an entity appear healthier than […]

December 15, 2015 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Benefit Plan Policies: Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy

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.

Any employee benefit plan that reimburses trustees and/ or plan employees for travel expenses and/or for educational programs attended should have a travel and expense reimbursement policy.

In the fast changing world of employee benefits, education of plan trustees, administrators […]

December 9, 2015 Accounting, Benefit Plan Accounting Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 16: The Smart Crook Makes the Abnormal Look Normal

Larry Beebe, CPA

The smart crook can work wonders with a high quality photocopier. Checks, deeds, and other documents can be created that appear to be genuine, but are as phony as a $3 bill.

Barry Mikow started a carpet cleaning business, ZZZZ Best, while in high school. He soon branched into the “insurance restoration business” to restore buildings damaged by natural disasters. The “insurance restoration business” didn’t exist. He and a partner forged all of the documents to create the […]

December 8, 2015 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

TAX BENEFITS AVAILABLE FOR CHILDCARE EXPENSES

Sarah McCraine, CPA

As parents excitedly plan for the arrival of a new addition, they may be in for a bit of a surprise when they calculate the cost of childcare. According to 2015 data from Child Care Aware of America, the cost of full-time infant childcare can take up as much as 15% of median family income. Currently there are two tax benefits that parents may consider using towards their childcare expenses.

The first is the Child Dependent Care Credit, […]

December 8, 2015 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 15: You can Drive a Mack Truck Through an Internal Control Hole

Larry Beebe, CPA

An organization must have excellent internal control systems to insure that its accounting records and financial statements are complete and accurate. An employee benefit plan has many internal control systems including cash receipts, cash disbursements, benefit payments, payroll and participant data. A person working at the plan who wants to steal only has to find a small flaw in the internal control system to steal. In no time, that small flaw in the internal control system becomes […]

December 1, 2015 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 14: Your Online Bank Statement may not be Adequate

Larry Beebe, CPA

Many organizations have gone paperless. As a part of going paperless, many organizations get bank statements online. The problem with an online bank statement is that the organization may shortcut the process by not getting copied of their cancelled checks.

A fraudster in an employee benefit plan was aware that the organization never saw copies of its cancelled checks. He was able to have checks drawn to dormant participants in a vacation plan. These were participants who had […]

November 24, 2015 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 18: Two Signatures on a Check may be no Better Than one Posted on Decemb

Larry Beebe, CPA

Many organizations have a requirement that any check drawn for more than a certain amount must be signed by two people. The assumption is that two signatures are better than one. If each person signing the checks takes their responsibility seriously, and examines the supporting documentation for each check, then two signatures are better than one. The fictitious scenario in the next paragraph shows how two signatures could be worse than one.

Rotten Rodney has had it with […]

November 22, 2015 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Larry’s Laws of Larceny- Law 13: Collusion is Hard to Catch and to Prove

Larry Beebe, CPA

The American Heritage Dictionary defines collusion as “a secret agreement between two or more parties for a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose.” In an employee benefit fund, certain people in the organization have the responsibility of handling the income receipts of employer contributions. Other individuals are responsible for maintaining the accounting records of the plan. For example, an account receivable clerk is responsible for posting employer contributions to the accounting records.

When a person responsible for handling plan […]

November 17, 2015 Accounting, Audit, Forensic Accounting Read more...