Time to Celebrate! FASB Expands VIE Exception for Private Companies
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently gave private companies long-awaited relief from one of the most complicated aspects of financial reporting — consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs). Here are the details.
Automatic Extension Available for Making Portability Election
Portability allows a surviving spouse to apply a deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption amount toward his or her own transfers during life or at death.
Do Your Long-Term Customers Know Everything About You?
A technician at a mobility equipment supplier was servicing the motorized wheelchair of a long-time customer and noticed it was a brand-new model. “Where did you buy the chair?” he asked the customer. “At the health care supply store on the other side of town,” the customer replied.
How to Prepare for Year-End Physical Inventory Counts
As year end approaches, it’s time for calendar-year entities to perform physical inventory counts. This activity is more than a compliance chore. Proactive companies see it as an opportunity to improve operational efficiency.
Comply Carefully with the Laws Regarding Background Checks
A bad hire can lead to more than just disappointment. Disgruntled employees may draw bad publicity; file complicated, expensive lawsuits; and even disclose or destroy sensitive data. Many employers are adding background checks to their hiring processes for these reasons.
Year-End Tax and Financial To-Do List for Individuals
With the dawn of 2019 on the near horizon, here’s a quick list of tax and financial to-dos you should address before 2018 ends.
Getting Ahead of the Curve on Emerging Technologies
Turn on your computer or mobile device, scroll through Facebook or Twitter, or skim a business-oriented website, and you’ll likely come across the term “emerging technologies.” It has become so ubiquitous that you might be tempted to ignore it and move on to something else.
Accounting for Overhead Costs
Accurate overhead allocations are essential to understanding financial performance and making informed pricing decisions. Here’s guidance on how to estimate overhead rates to allocate these indirect costs to your products and how to adjust for variances that may occur.
How Incomplete Nongrantor Trusts Can Help Avoid State Income Taxes
With the federal gift and estate tax exemption at $11.40 million for 2019, people whose estates are below the exemption amount are shifting their focus to income tax reduction. High-income taxpayers — particularly those who live in high-income-tax states ?
Family Businesses Need Succession Plans, Too
Those who run family-owned businesses often underestimate the need for a succession plan. After all, they say, we’re a family business — there will always be a family member here to keep the company going and no one will stand in the way.