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The Affordable Care Act allows small employers to make health coverage available to their employees through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). Many of these organizations may wonder whether there are limits on when they can sign up for this coverage.The short answer is that they can sign up anytime — a SHOP must permit a qualified employer to buy coverage for its employees [...]

“We love our customers!” Every business owner says it. But all customers aren’t created equal, and it’s in your strategic interest to know which customers are really strengthening your bottom line and by how much. Sorting out the dataIf your business systems track individual customer purchases, and your accounting system has good cost accounting or decision support capabilities, determining individual customer profitability will be simple. [...]

Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the fourth quarter of 2017. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. Contact us to ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines and to learn more about the filing requirements. October 16 If a calendar-year C corporation that filed an automatic [...]

You’ve probably heard the term and wondered whether it could happen to your company. Maybe it already has. We’re referring to “digital disruption” — when new technologies and business models affect the value proposition of existing goods and services.Perhaps the most notorious recent example of this is the rise of ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, which have turned the taxi industry on its [...]

What are you doing November 28? If that date doesn’t ring a bell, your not-for-profit probably hasn’t made plans to participate in National Giving Tuesday. But considering the opportunities associated with it, maybe it should.What is it?Giving Tuesday, or National Day of Giving, was created to encourage Americans to contribute to charity during the holiday season, similar to how they participate in commercial shopping events [...]

If your organization sponsors a 401(k) plan, you may have more flexibility than you think when it comes to setting eligibility rules for participants. Granted, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) sets many rules for enrollment. But plan sponsors still have plenty of leeway to meet the demands of their respective employment markets. The question is: How generous should you be?Know your marketAs mentioned, [...]

Annual financial statements that have been audited by a professional auditor can help assure funders and lenders that your not-for-profit is financially sound. Here are three critical audit issues to understand when preparing financial statements: 1. The auditor’s roleAuditors are responsible for expressing an opinion on financial statements. Beyond that, they’re responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance that financial statements are free of material misstatements — [...]

From the baseball field to the boardroom, statistical analysis has changed various industries nationwide. With proper preparation and guidance, business owners can have at their fingertips a wealth of stats-based insight into how their companies are performing — far beyond the bottom line on an income statement.The metrics in question are commonly referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs). These formula-based measurements reveal the trends [...]

At back-to-school time, much of the focus is on the students returning to the classroom — and on their parents buying them school supplies, backpacks, clothes, etc., for the new school year. But let’s not forget about the teachers. It’s common for teachers to pay for some classroom supplies out of pocket, and the tax code provides a special break that makes it a little [...]

When businesses provide meals to their employees, generally their deduction is limited to 50%. But there are exceptions. One is if the meal qualifies as a de minimis fringe benefit under the Internal Revenue Code.A recent U.S. Tax Court ruling could ultimately mean that more employer-provided meals will be 100% deductible under this exception. The court found that the Boston Bruins hockey team’s pregame meals [...]

Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA can provide tax-free growth and the ability to withdraw funds tax-free in retirement. But what if you convert a traditional IRA — subject to income taxes on all earnings and deductible contributions — and then discover that you would have been better off if you hadn’t converted it? Fortunately, it’s possible to undo a Roth IRA conversion, [...]

Not-for-profits that ignore the IRS’s private benefit and private inurement provisions do so at their own peril. These rules prohibit an individual inside or outside a nonprofit from reaping an excess benefit from the organization’s transactions. Violation of such rules can have devastating consequences. Defining termsA private benefit is any payment or transfer of assets made (directly or indirectly) by your nonprofit that’s beyond reasonable [...]

In recent years, the IRS has increased its scrutiny of not-for-profits’ unrelated business income (UBI). Dividends, interest, rents, annuities and other investment income generally are excluded when calculating unrelated business income tax (UBIT). However, there are two exceptions where such income is taxable. 1. Debt-financed propertyWhen your nonprofit incurs debt to acquire an income-producing asset, the portion of the income or gain that’s debt-financed is [...]

If your organization sponsors a retirement plan, it’s important to recognize and understand all of the expenses associated with the plan. As you’re probably aware, plan sponsors may use certain retirement funds to pay allowable administrative and other plan-related expenses.But your plan document must authorize any payments for expenses. Also, the payment must be in the plan participants’ and beneficiaries’ interest, and the amount paid [...]