Accounting Method Guidelines Compliments Of The IRS

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 all the tax returns and forms that are required. While the federal income tax is the 500-pound gorilla, there are many other types of taxes are imposed on business. Businesses that are employers pay taxes on their payroll, including Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes. Some...

3 Business Growth Strategies for Existing Product Markets

Existing product markets are often attractive growth avenues. For many businesses, existing product markets are the ‘low hanging fruit’ when it comes to increasing sales -- both new and repeat. An established firm typically has a base on which to build, which means it is easier for momentum to be exploited. Also, the firm may have experience, knowledge, and resources (including human resources) already in place. This two-pronged strategy isn’t the ‘Holy Grail’ for businesses looking to increase growth, but it certainly is the cornerstone. Here are three growth strategies to put to use for your business: Increase Market Share...

Preparatory Checklist: Form 706 for Decedent’s Estate

Living life to its fullest isn’t always cheap. Unfortunately, neither is dying, particularly if you have a hefty estate. The federal government imposes an estate tax on large estates and with the help from the IRS, they make it a priority to collect. How? IRS Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return. While smaller estates usually aren’t required to file this form, unless the surviving spouse wants to preserve the unused portion of the decedent’s estate tax exemption, larger estate are required to file. How large does the estate need to be? As of August of 2015,…

What does “forensic” mean

I keep getting asked about the definition of “forensic”. Remember … “Bones” on TV is a “forensic” pathologist. There are “forensic” psychologists, “forensic” scientists and “forensic” accountants (like me!) Forensic comes from the Latin words “forensis” and “forum” which mean “public” and “forum”. A “forensic” (any profession) is an individual, who declares, in a public forum (example … Court of Law) the facts and truths of a matter. “Bones” declares who did it and how it was done. We forensic accountants do the same!

How Businesses Should Account for Liabilities

Nobody likes debt, but it’s often an inevitable part of a company keeping its doors open for business. In this post, we’ll cover how businesses should account for liabilities. We’ll provide the two types of liabilities most businesses incur, along with three examples — and we’ll show you how a business should account for them. The gamut of liabilities includes both short-term liabilities (less than a year) and long-term liabilities like bonds, mortgages and notes payable. Another type of liability can include loss contingencies, but we’ll leave that topic for another time. At the basic level, liabilities are claims against…

Measuring The Value Of Cost Accounting For Manufacturing Companies

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 more. While financial accounting focuses on a company’s stockholders, managerial accounting focuses on internal operations and provides the manager the tools needed in order to evaluate operations and make necessary changes. We can assume the two primary objectives of an effective manager are: Producing the…