There are a number of reasons why you may be provided with an award or settlement—including compensatory and punitive damage payments for discrimination, harassment, or personal injury. If so, some of the amount is subject to federal taxes and may also be taxed at the state level. Hopefully, you won’t ever experience a personal injury […]

Auditors will usually ask you to provide similar documents each year, and anticipating an auditor’s document requests can make external audits less stressful and intrusive.  For certain items, including bank reconciliations and fixed asset ledgers, auditors will accept copies or client-prepared schedules. Other items, such as invoices, leases, and bank statements, will need to be […]

2021 is almost over, but there may still be time to reduce your tax liability. These three quick strategies may allow you to reduce your taxes before the end of the year. Accelerate deductions or defer income Some tax deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction, are claimed for the year of payment. This means […]

If you're considering merging with or acquiring another business, CPA-prepared financial statements may offer useful insight into historical financial results. However, you may also want to think about using an independent quality of earnings (QOE) report. QOE reports look beyond the quantitative information included in the seller’s financial statements and can serve as another valuable […]

On November 15, President Biden signed The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Although the Act doesn’t include many tax provisions, it does make one important change to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers used the ERC, a valuable tax credit, to survive the economic downturn. However, the new legislation has […]

Managers, investors, and lenders often use performance dashboards, graphs, and other visual aids to make it easier to digest complex financial information. These tools can also be used by auditors during financial statement audits as a way to identify trends and anomalies that need to be looked into further. Data visualization as an auditing tool […]

401(k) plans allow employees to accumulate retirement savings on a tax-advantaged basis, and employers may offer them for several reasons, including as an incentive to attract and retain talent. If your employer offers such a plan and you’re thinking about participating, here are a few things to know. A 401(k) plan gives you the option […]

Valuation plays an essential role in any well-crafted estate plan. After all, the value of your assets at the time of transfer has a major effect on the tax implications of different estate planning strategies. Many business interests and other assets have had their value impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this may create some […]

If your business is depreciating the entire construction cost of the building that houses your operation over a 30-year period, a cost segregation study may be worth considering. Running a cost segregation study could allow your business to reduce taxes and boost cash flow by accelerating depreciation deductions on certain items. And as a result […]