Every two years the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner releases a study on fraud in their Report to the Nation. The 2018 report was recently released and I found the following facts to be very interesting. Over $7 billion in total losses. This number continues to increase. A majority of the victims recovered nothing. [...]
Many businesses report unusual, extraordinary gains and losses in addition to their usual revenue, income and, expenses. Recording a gain increases an asset or decreases a liability, while recording a loss decreases an asset or increases a liability. When a business has recorded an extraordinary gain or loss during the period, its income statement [...]
Some people view the IRS as a blood-sucking ogre intent on harassing businesses. Perhaps that’s the reason why the saying, “if something can be taxed, it is taxed” rings true for so many business owners and managers. Even in a relatively small business with just a few employees, one accountant can keep busy filing [...]
In order to control internal operations and make sound business decisions on behalf of their business, managers need pertinent information on which to base their decisions. When it comes to manufacturing, most organizations use complex accounting and data systems to manage inventory and track raw materials, production, labor hours, maintenance and repairs, storeroom supplies and [...]
Many businesses (as well as tax professionals) are very good at compiling financial information. Most have decent systems in place to gather, compile, and summarize the financial information collected. Yet, many times, unfortunately, it is the only set of metrics that organizations use to determine their success. Finance is only one piece of the story [...]
If you have ever thought of owning foreign real estate, but have doubts of its merits, this post is going to outline some of the primary benefits that ownership of offshore real estate entails. It will also shed some light on the common pitfalls that Americans may encounter when acquiring offshore real estate. Whether foreign [...]
Accounting for real estate development projects under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) demands knowledge of regulatory requirements from various accounting bodies; bodies like the Accounting Principles Board, Emerging Issues Task Force, Financial Accounting Standards Board, and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), to name a few. The costs accrued with the development of a [...]
Marcus v. Quattrocchi, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19041 (Feb. 4, 2014) In an estate and trust case featuring a major real estate family, the plaintiff beneficiaries retained two experts to prove damages resulting from the alleged improper depletion of trust assets by way of an investment company in which the defendants had a stake. In [...]
Last week our firm hosted a small group of clients and friends for lunch and to listen to the former head of IRS talk for an hour. He spoke about a lot of things, The Affordable Care Act, IRS staffing, budget issues, and also mentioned inversions. He said that the biggest threat to our tax [...]
The fate of law firms depends on their ability to recognize that mere growth is not the key to success. This is the conclusion of the “2014 Report on the State of the Legal Market” published by the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession (Georgetown University Law Center) and Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor. [...]
