Returning Value Blog

Thoughtful business gifts are a great way to show appreciation to customers and employees. They can also deliver tax benefits when handled correctly. Unfortunately, the IRS limits most business gift deductions to $25 per person per year, a cap that hasn’t changed since 1962. Still, with careful planning and good recordkeeping, you may be able to maximize your deductions.

When your business is growing, billing can easily fade into the background. After all, once invoices go out and payments come in, it may seem like everything’s running smoothly. But small inefficiencies and overlooked errors can quietly chip away at cash flow.

Inventory is one of the most significant assets on a balance sheet for many businesses. If your business owns inventory, you have some flexibility in how it’s tracked and expensed under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The method you use to report inventory can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line, tax obligations, and financial ratios. Let’s review the rules and explore your options.

Now is a good time to review your business’s expenses for deductibility. Accelerating deductible expenses into this year generally will reduce 2025 taxes and might even provide permanent tax savings. Also consider the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It makes permanent or revises some Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions that reduced or eliminated certain deductions.

Commercial real estate usually must be depreciated over 39 years. But certain real estate improvements — specifically, qualified improvement property (QIP) — are eligible for accelerated depreciation and can even be fully deducted immediately. While maximizing first-year depreciation is often beneficial, it’s not always the best tax move.

The going concern assumption underlies financial reporting under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) unless management has plans to liquidate. If a going concern issue is identified but not adequately disclosed, the omission might be considered “pervasive” because it can affect users’ understanding of the financial statements as a whole. So it’s critical to get it right. Here are answers to common questions about this assumption to help evaluate your company’s ability to continue operating in the future.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, extends or enhances many tax breaks for businesses. But the legislation terminates several business-related clean energy tax incentives earlier than scheduled. For example, the Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 45W) had been scheduled to expire after 2032. Under the OBBBA, it’s available only for vehicles that were acquired on or before September 30, 2025. For other clean energy breaks, businesses can still take advantage of them if they act soon.

As 2025 winds down, business owners and managers are ramping up their planning efforts for the new year. Part of the annual budgeting process is identifying ways to lower expenses and strengthen cash flow. When cutting costs, think beyond the obvious, such as wages, benefits, and employee headcount. These cutbacks can make it harder to attract and retain skilled workers in today’s challenging labor market, potentially compromising work quality and productivity. Here are three creative ideas to help boost your company’s bottom line — without sacrificing its top line.

Life has a way of throwing curveballs at us that require time away from work to resolve them. Running a personal errand, taking a sick family member to a doctor's appointment, or attending a child's parent-teacher conference are some examples of when having paid time off to be used at your own discretion is greatly valued. Employees no longer need to categorize their absence; all time away from work comes from the same single source.

For decades, quarterly financial reporting has provided the cornerstone for fair, efficient, and well-functioning markets. However, President Trump recently posted on social media that public companies should move to semiannual financial reporting. He believes changing the frequency would lower compliance costs and allow management to focus less on meeting short-term earnings targets and more on building long-term value. But critics say less frequent reporting could result in information gaps and increased market volatility.