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On this special holiday weekend, I was taught to always stop and remember the men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice. Here are links to two of my more meaningful posts:
Sacrificial Leadership – Pearl Harbor
Leadership: Service in the Armed Forces
Thank you to all those that serve/have served our great country.
Posted at 05:53 PM in Leadership, My Thoughts | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Businesses and not-for-profit organizations are accustomed to IRS rules that require them to report certain payments on annual Form 1099 information returns. However, the recently enacted healthcare law imposes surprising new Form 1099 reporting requirements (no doubt so the Gov’t can better track underreporting of income).
Complying with them may add significantly to your organization's paperwork burden. While the new rules don't apply to payments made before 2012, it's not too early to start gearing up to deal with them.
Key Point: For many organizations, the new rules will require issuing 1099s for all sorts of business payments that they never had to worry about before. And the IRS will receive 1099s detailing how they spend money on a whole new range of business expenses. However, the healthcare legislation does not require Form 1099 reporting of payments that are made for non-business reasons.
Continue reading "Get Ready for Onerous New 1099 Reporting Rules " »
Posted at 12:24 PM in Tax | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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Sometimes I enjoy getting another professional’s perspective on what is happening in Washington. Here is a great blog post from the Tax Girl.
Apparently, Congress is on a roll. Just a couple of months after they pushed through the massive health care bill (referred to as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010) and debated the similarly hefty Tax Extenders Bill (referred to as the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, passed by the Senate in March 2010), they’re trying again. Pitched as “amendments to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 4213? (H.R. 4213 is the Tax Extenders Bill), the Senate and the House have apparently reached a consensus on a new bill and it’s causing quite a commotion.
First, the title: American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Let your mind wander for a minute.
Next, the length. When I plowed through it earlier today, the version was a remarkable 433 pages (the officially summary alone is 27 pages). Yeah, for an amendment.
And finally, the content. Brace yourself. There are nine chapters:
Posted at 10:05 AM in Economy/Stimulus, Tax | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Yesterday I attended a viewing service for a long term employee who passed away over the weekend. This dear woman retired a couple years ago after a few decades of serving us and our clients so well. As I tearfully hugged the husband, I could see his eyes were red from crying. He no doubt was still in the very difficult moment of grieving the loss of his life partner. He had his children and grandchildren around to comfort him, but each look in the casket would reveal the handmade “good bye” cards written to grandma. In between tears, we laughed over some funny stories about this wonderful woman and her strong desire to sacrifice self for others (even in her final hours).
It was during this moment, that I was reminded why I am a business owner. I know what all the textbooks and Fortune Magazine tell us about profits (yes, profits are important because without them we have no business) but to me it is first about the people. Without others, success is a lonely and difficult journey. It is for this reason I have always enjoyed team sports. The joy of working together for the betterment of the whole is a special joy. As my grandfather always told me, “You can’t take it with you.” He no doubt wanted me to focus less on the material treasures here on earth and instead to focus more on others.
But as a business owner, I believe this is not only the right thing to do, it is a good business decision as well. I have said it many times, but if you love your employees and their families they in turn will share that love with your customers. All too often I find business owners miss this key point and first (and sometimes only) focus on profits. Yet the sweet fruits of success often allude them, why? I believe it is because they miss the powerful impact of aligning people to a common mission or belief. It is this unified force that drives success of profits and at the same time the joy of helping and caring for others. This joy and satisfaction of winning together is a very powerful tasting fruit.
Posted at 03:38 PM in Leadership, My Thoughts | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
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Why is it that some family businesses thrive and the entire family seems to be at peace while others seem like World War 3 is just around the corner? Why do some families in business together seem to have tremendous trust and respect for each other? According to Bill Alexander during his recent presentation at the S. Dale High Center for Family Business, it is probably the result of lacking good governance.
First, what is governance? It basically is how a corporation is governed. Who has the authority to make decisions for a corporation within what guidelines? When an entrepreneur starts a business, he is ownership, management, and clearly a member of a family. As the business grows, more people are introduced into the business. Likely, some additional managers and decision makers are added. Maybe some additional family members start working in the business and possibly some become owners.
It is at this point that internal conflicts and ambiguity often start to arise. This is the time, as Mr. Alexander states, that family owned businesses will need focus on governance.
Continue reading "Family Business: Good Governance – Impacting the Bottom Line" »
Posted at 10:01 AM in Family Business | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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When I look at the huge deficits the US has amassed and continues to run up, I see very few magic bullets. The Congressional Budget Office currently estimates that we will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years. This is an enormous amount of money and in order to balance our budget (or at least close the gap) it will take more than spending cuts…it will take tax increases. The question that everyone wants to know is how much additional tax will I have to pay?
Our President made many promises during his campaign regarding tax increases and his desire to “only tax the rich.” Well, I am not sure that is a solution for increasing long term tax receipts. Check out this chart below. It shows the actual tax receipts as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Notice how over the past 70 years we collect approximately 18% of GDP regardless of the tax rates in place.
Continue reading "Are We Headed Towards a VAT (Value Added Tax)?" »
Posted at 07:27 PM in Economy/Stimulus, Tax | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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The politicians and the media have been quick to point out some of the new “enhancements” and early adopted components of the new healthcare law. One of those being the extension of dependent coverage to age 26. This provision is to take effect on October 1, 2010, however as many are learning that may be not be totally correct.
The actual laws states that group health plans that provide dependent coverage for children must make that coverage available to adult children up to age 26 as of the first plan year that begins on or after October 1, 2010. For calendar year plans, the compliance date is January 1, 2011.
This is where the confusion begins. Most people read that paragraph and think coverage must begin in October, but according to Mark Lacher (President of Lacher Insurance), “plan sponsors will be required to comply with this provision on the anniversary date following September 23, 2010.” Why that date? It is 6 months after the bill was signed and the actual date of compliance. So a company that has a plan year ending on June 30th, they would not need to comply with this provision until July 1st, 2011.
If you have other questions about the health care bill, please feel free to contact me.
Posted at 11:53 AM in Economy/Stimulus | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Recently someone asked me why accountants use “two-sided” entries? It really is simple, but it requires some history. When Luca Pacioli, “The Father of Accounting,” wrote his foundational book on double-entry bookkeeping 5 centuries ago, his theory was that these “balanced” transactions would serve as a proof of accuracy. We call this debits and credits within the accounting equation, assets = liabilities + equity. The accounting equation serves as a kind of error-detection system: if, at any point, the sum of debits does not equal the corresponding sum of credits, then an error has occurred.
This is important when it comes to occupational fraud and misappropriation of assets. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, most frauds were committed by the accounting department or upper management and one of the most common is Accounts Payable schemes.
Posted at 07:18 AM in Fraud | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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