Would you leave the front door unlocked to your business or not-for-profit organization? Of course not. That would give thieves easy access to your assets. Yet a surprising number of organizations don’t have strong antifraud controls in place to protect against dishonest people inside their organizations. And theft from insiders — also referred to as…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) introduced a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations for tax years beginning in 2018 and beyond. Under prior law, profitable C corporations paid up to 35%. This change has caused many business owners to ask: What’s the optimal choice of entity for my start-up business?…
As more and more consumers opt for swiping credit cards rather than use cash, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of fraud with more criminals using stolen or counterfeit cards. While the use of counterfeit credit cards isn’t new, their use has exploded in recent years as computer hackers steal millions of…
By nature, most people avoid planning for crisis situations. After all, there is so much to do in the here and now without trying to second guess the future. Business leaders are no exception when it comes to the often thankless task of crisis planning. Unfortunately, disaster can strike any company, at any time. Even…
Let’s say your family company includes a great group of employees and business couldn’t be better. You know that much of your success is due to one or two people with skills and personalities that are hard to match. Suppose they were injured and out of work for a while? Or worse, suppose they died…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes the rules for deducting interest on home loans. Most homeowners will be unaffected because favorable grandfather provisions will keep the prior-law rules for home acquisition debt in place for them. Old Rules for Mortgage Interest DeductionsPrior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), you could deduct interest…
To survive and thrive in a competitive marketplace, companies need to secure help and guidance from a wide range of sources.To do so, many companies create advisory boards, or more formally, a board of directors to help guide them and hopefully facilitate growth. If your company plans to go public, it will be required to put…
In a tough economy, the availability of business credit remains tight. Financial institutions are cautious and highly skeptical of new lending requests. In addition to increased scrutiny regarding new relationships, bankers also increasingly turn their focus to existing customers. With little or no notice, lenders may close business credit lines or reduce the amount of…
Many of the Federal Acquisition Regulations included in a prime contract require that the substance of the clause also be included in subcontracts. These flow-down clauses are generally intended to help ensure that the subcontracts adhere to federal procedures. Contract clauses define compliance requirements. Contractors should flow-down all clauses that place requirements on subcontractors that…
Eligible employers may now be able to conduct a self-audit of certain wage practices, thanks to a pilot program from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). This program — called Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) — was recently launched as a tool for employers to uncover payroll errors on their own. Employers…