Gettin’ Crabby With It: How One Family Business is Gunning for Baltimore’s “Best of” Lists

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA

When thinking of industries likely to feature family businesses, a natural first instinct is the independent restaurant industry.   But like many other family owned and operated businesses, it is often difficult to get past that second generation hump.  So it is really a success story when a family restaurant survives forty years, and more inspiring still when said establishment experiences steady growth and has accolades heaped upon it.

Read more about how local Hanover, Maryland’s […]

August 21, 2009 Family Owned Businesses, Uncategorized Read more...

Family Values: The Meaning of Shareholder Value in a Family Business

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA

In this month’s Journal of Accountancy, there is an article titled “Four Options for Measuring Value Creation.” http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2009/Aug/20091518> At the beginning it states that first and foremost, the role of a corporation is to create shareholder value.  While this is relatively easy to visualize in the world of publicly-traded securities, how does this play out in the world of family-owned businesses?

Publicly-Traded versus Family-Owned

In the publicly-traded sector, you’re creating value for shareholders that, in a […]

August 8, 2009 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Sex, Booze and Rock ‘n’ Roll: Don’t Let Your Family Business Become a “True Hollywood Story”

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Wineries and other alcohol-based enterprises are often family businesses, passed on for generations.  We’ve heard that alcohol impairs judgment – is this the case in the alcohol industry as well?  Perhaps not, but read on from the article at the link below to learn about the family squabbles, financial squandering, and foolish squelching of the voice of reason pointing to the downfall of the Seagram’s empire.  Lessons learned?  Maybe that the family business […]

August 3, 2009 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Common Misconceptions about the Prevention of Occupational Fraud – Part 2

John Merchant,  CPA

As we discussed in Part 1 of this series of articles, when management of an organization relies solely on an annual audit of its financial statements by an independent CPA firm as its protection against occupational fraud, the organization is probably not nearly as well protected as management believes.  While an annual audit is a good idea, it must be supplemented by other fraud prevention policies and procedures.  One of the best steps management can take is […]

July 24, 2009 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

Fraud Within the Family Business: Damage Control for Both the Family and the Business

Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA

There are many resources available to assist family members in working together, for creating the right governance structure, the correct management style, and the most desirable compensation practices for a successful family-owned business.  But what happens when the unthinkable occurs – when a family member commits fraud?  When one family member steals from the business, and, in essence, from the rest of the family?  To where does a business, and in many cases, a […]

July 23, 2009 Family Owned Businesses, Forensic Accounting Read more...

You Can’t Pick Your Family, or Can You? Treating Employees “Just Like Family”

Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA, Principal

So often we hear of a business that seems more like a family, whether or not they are related.  “I treat my employees just like family.”  Well, a few episodes of the E True Hollywood Story teaches us that not all “families” operate well together, but in general this is meant to be a positive.  Often the owner has a more paternalistic management style, and they feel that everyone works together and is […]

July 20, 2009 Family Owned Businesses, Human Resources Read more...

Formatting Tips and Considerations for Writing up the Payroll Audit

Posting by Kurt Needles, CPA

I have seen many different formats used by CPAs to transmit the results of the audit to the TPA.  I had an administrator corner me before a Trustee’s meeting and tell me point blank that they do not want payroll audits performed because each one takes hours and hours of administrative time to key into the system.  Needless to say, I assured him that our format is TPA-friendly.  Within the year, the TPA got us […]

July 17, 2009 Accounting, Payroll Audit Read more...

Family Business Succession Planning – Resistance is Futile

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA

Many of us prefer not to think about what will happen upon our death; we say, “Let someone else deal with it.”  But none of us are immortal, and failure to make proper plans can mean that we leave behind a mess which needs to be sorted out by our loved ones.  At a time when they are emotionally vulnerable, such failure to properly plan could potentially lead to great expense and consume a […]

July 16, 2009 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

The Greater Washington, D.C. Family Business Alliance Launches as “Go To” Resource for Area Family Businesses

Bond Beebe, a Washington, D.C. based certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Maryland and Virginia, announced today that it has launched the Greater Washington D.C. Family Business Alliance (“The Alliance”) to serve as a “go to” resource for family-owned and operated businesses located in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. The Alliance’s mission is to help family businesses by providing them the information, knowledge and resources to succeed in business and their family lives. […]

July 15, 2009 Family Owned Businesses, Firm News & Events Read more...

Trustee Reports on Madoff Victims and Claims

John Merchant, CPA, CFE

On July 10, 2009, Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee who is overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s assets and repayment of funds to those he defrauded, officially reported what many have suspected since news of the fraud first broke.  Picard reports that it is unlikely that investors can be made whole on their losses because there simply are not enough assets to satisfy all of the claims.  Picard further reports that unraveling the mess will be […]

July 13, 2009 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...