By Laura Kalick, JD, LLM in Tax Most exempt organizations are well aware that the IRS conducts random audits. But in light of its limited resources, particularly for the Exempt Organizations Division, the agency is increasingly focusing its examinations on areas it believes will yield a high return for its efforts. When it comes to exempt organizations, the […]

In November of this year, the IRS raised the safe harbor threshold for deducting certain capital items from $500 to $2,500. Small businesses that do not have audited financial statements and other “applicable financial statements” may use this safe harbor amount. For businesses that do have audited financial statements, the safe harbor threshold remains at […]

By Terri Albertson CPA and Tom Gorman, CPA In the time since our team attended the 2015 NACUBO Annual Meeting, we’ve been continuing to mull over many of the presentations we attended and conversations we had, particularly around the breakneck pace of change in the higher education industry. Each busy back-to-school season, as colleges and universities welcome […]

By Mike Sorrells, CPA and Joyce Underwood, CPA As nonprofits grow larger and their missions expand, many organizations structure their activities through a variety of related organizations, often because a particular structure may not work at all if the activity were carried out in the main nonprofit organization. We commonly see structures involving 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) or (6), Political […]

By Mike Conover There are tens of thousands of tax-exempt 501(c)(6) organizations that represent the interests of virtually every type of business in the United States. They are as diverse in their size and scope of activities as the businesses they represent. And the compensation paid to the executives that manage these organizations can range from less than […]

By Lee Klumpp, CPA, CGMA and Adam Cole, CPA Liquidity is crucial for not-for-profit (NFP) and for-profit entities alike to have the right amount of liquid and non-liquid resources available when needed to accomplish an organization’s mission. While there is a cost associated with not having enough liquidity, there is a foregone opportunity cost for having too […]

Originally posted on www.nsspartners.com. Here we go again! Already one of the most complicated of government programs, the bipartisan Budget Bill signed last week has created a great deal of confusion and complication for those looking to social security to provide income in retirement. Before the new legislation, there were over 2,700 rules governing social security. […]

Q&A with Henry Rinder, Member with the Firm We sat down with Henry Rinder, Member with the Firm, to discuss the rapid advancement of technology, and his thoughts on dealing with cyber security, social networking, cloud computing, and other issues impacting the accounting field. Does Smolin assist clients with technology in their businesses? HR: We […]

By Marc Berger, CPA, JD, LLM One of the benefits of tax exemption under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3) is the ability to use tax-exempt financing. Tax-exempt bonds generally carry a lower interest rate than taxable bonds and the interest received by the bondholders is excludable from income for federal income tax purposes. Because of these advantages, […]