Returning Value Blog

A leadership departure in your accounting department can create turmoil, at least temporarily. However, it also provides an opportunity to assess the department’s performance and create a vision for its future performance. Here are four questions to address if your CFO or controller leaves.

What a difference a year makes. In 2021, cryptocurrency markets reached all-time highs. Broader institutional adoption continued with the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs investing in the space and offering their clients crypto assets. Interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) was at an all-time high.

If you ask some business owners why they do things a certain way, they might answer, “Because we’ve always done it that way.” But with all the changes that have taken place in the financial and accounting realm, doing things the way you’ve always done them could be costing your business in terms of lost efficiency and profits. Here are five considerations to help modernize your accounting processes and systems.

While plan sponsors have been able to amend their 401(k) plans to include a post-tax deferral contribution called Roth for more than a decade, only 86 percent of plan sponsors have made it available to participants, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America. Meanwhile, despite the potential benefits of such plans, just a quarter of participants who have access to the Roth 401(k) option use it. Plan sponsors may want to consider adding a Roth 401(k) option to their lineup because of the potential tax benefits and other advantages for plan participants.

Learn how to create an effective payroll budget to avoid wondering how and where your money was spent. Creating a payroll budget helps you understand what percentage of your budget should go to payroll and enables you to stay on track throughout the year. Generally, payroll should account for about 15% to 30% of your company’s gross income, but with service industries, costs can be as high as 50%.

How accurate is the amount reported in your company’s perpetual inventory system? To best answer that question, a physical count is essential at year-end. For calendar-year entities, year-end is fast approaching on December 31.

U.S. businesses are facing pressure to drive revenue, manage costs and increase shareholder value, all while surrounded by economic and political uncertainties. Disruptions to supply chains brought about by the pandemic have continued into 2022. Inflation and rising interest rates have made the cost of debt, goods and services more expensive and cooled consumer spending. The stock market has declined sharply, and the prospect of a recession is on the rise. What’s more, the outcomes of the upcoming November U.S. congressional elections — which as of the publication of this article are as yet unknown — will shape future tax policies. How do businesses thrive in uncertain times? By turning toward opportunity, which includes proactive tax planning. Tax planning is essential for U.S. businesses looking for ways to optimize cash flow while minimizing their total tax liability over the long term.

With rising interest rates, inflation, and continuing market volatility, tax planning is as essential as ever for taxpayers looking to manage cash flow while paying the least amount of taxes possible over time. As we approach year-end, now is the time for individuals, business owners, and family offices to review their 2022 and 2023 tax situations and identify opportunities for reducing, deferring, or accelerating their tax obligations.

The endgame is accurate and timely employee paychecks. How do you get there? Have a payroll plan that outlines what the procedures are to get to your goal.

These days, most businesses buy or lease computer software to use in their operations. Or perhaps your business develops computer software to use in your products or services or sells or leases software to others. In any of these situations, you should be aware of the complex rules that determine the tax treatment of the expenses of buying, leasing, or developing computer software.