If your company provides paid family and medical leave to your employees, you might qualify for a credit that can reduce the taxes you owe. It’s called “The Employer Credit for Family and Medical Leave.”
Here are some facts about the credit to help you learn whether you can claim it.
Any number of reasons can lead to a meeting with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). It might be your first meeting if you have a new business or if you need assistance with your personal finances and don’t want to use your company’s CPA.
Maybe you’re one of those individuals who meet regularly with a CPA, but you don’t feel satisfied with how things are going, so you’re interviewing replacements.
Read on for tips on how to achieve a win/win meeting.
Do you need a succession plan?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe, probably, who knows
d. Meh, don’t bother me, I’m busy
Should an accountant have a role in your succession plan if you decide to implement one?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe, probably, who knows
d. Meh, what does an accountant have to do with who succeeds me
Simply put, succession planning is preparing your company for changes. It’s usually thought of as training individuals to fill leadership roles, but it also includes transferring ownership of your business. It’s a process with both long-term and short-term facets.
You can probably name more than one company that’s no longer in existence because it didn’t adapt to change. Big companies must evolve just as much as small companies do. Markets change. Key employees leave. Regulatory agencies always have new or different rules. Your business goals aren't the same as when you began.
Unless you have a crystal ball, you can’t know precisely what impending changes, if any, will affect your company. You might see changes coming, but you can't predict their impact. Part of your succession planning involves calculating the probabilities of certain occurrences and how to survive them.
Depending on a variety of factors, you may have an accountant or CPA on staff, or you may be a client of an outside accounting firm. In either case, you want a professional who welcomes your questions. If you receive answers that are full of jargon or feel like you’re being patronized, then you may need to change accountants.
You’ll find a selection of suggested questions in this article, not all of which need to be asked repeatedly. Change the frequency of your questions and topics to suit your needs. The first two questions are generally more applicable to an accountant you’re considering hiring, but they may be appropriate to clarify matters with an accountant with whom you have an established relationship.
The simple answer is “no”, but there is more to know about the “no”. Let’s walk through the basics of amending a tax return.
If you discover an error after filing your taxes, you may need to amend your tax return. You should file an amended return if there's a change in filing status, income, deductions or credits. This is a reality as receipts are lost, records jumbled or the exclamation of: “I thought you kept that record.” It is more common than you might think to experience errors on a tax return since humans can easily misinterpret definitions of terms and expectations.
You can and should file an amended return if there is a change in filing status, income, deductions or credits.
Please note that the IRS may have already corrected mathematical or clerical errors on a return. They also may accept returns without certain required forms or schedules. In these instances, there is no need to file an amended return, but you can contact us, and we can help you amend your return.
If you use a car or other vehicle for your business, you may be able to deduct the expense of operating that vehicle on your taxes. Businesses generally can use one of the two methods to figure deductible vehicle expenses:
Following the most expansive tax law changes in 30 years, Treasury asked the IRS to look at ways to improve the 1040 filing experience. The IRS reviewed the set of 1040 forms (i.e. the Forms 1040, 1040EZ and 1040A) with the goal of simplifying this experience for taxpayers and its partners in the tax industry.
Treasury approved a new approach that provides flexibility in how IRS will be able to manage future changes to the Form 1040 and reduce the number of 1040 forms from which taxpayers must choose, to one basic Form 1040 that all taxpayers will use.
The 2018 Form 1040 replaces prior year Forms 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – better known simply as tax reform – allows more small business taxpayers to use the cash method of accounting. Tax reform now defines a small business taxpayer as a taxpayer that has average annual gross receipts of $25 million or less for the three prior tax years and is not a tax shelter.
A FAR compliant accounting system is a common prerequisite for becoming a pre-qualified consultant for a state transportation department.
Your accounting system must, among other functions, properly segregate direct and indirect costs in accordance with the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) of Federal Acquisition Regulation(FAR) Part 31 for you to work government contracts.
If you do not have a FAR compliant accounting system, you could fail to get or keep pre-qualified consultant status and perhaps miss opportunities to bid on transportation contracts all together.
Engineering firms must provide annual reimbursement rate audit reports to the Florida Department of Transportation to bid on contracts larger than $500,000.
FDOT Reimbursement Rate Audit Guidelines contain specific Departmental requirements in addition to the general guidelines contained in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Uniform Audit and Accounting Guide.
