Returning Value Blog

Does your organization offer health care and retirement benefits for its employees? Benefit plans with 100 or more participants are generally required to have their annual reports audited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Here’s some guidance to help plan administrators fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities for hiring independent qualified public accountants to perform audits.

Healthcare Has a Margin Erosion Problem

The past few years have significantly destabilized the healthcare industry’s financial footing. According to our 2023 Healthcare CFO Outlook Survey, 60% of healthcare CFOs could not meet the terms of their bond or loan covenants in 2022 — up from 41% in 2021.

If your profitable business has trouble making ends meet, it’s not alone. Many business owners mistakenly equate profits with cash flow, leading to shortfalls in the checking account. The truth is that there are many reasons these numbers might differ.

If you’re thinking about setting up a retirement plan for yourself and your employees, but you’re worried about the financial commitment and administrative burdens involved, there are a couple of options to consider. Let’s take a look at a “simplified employee pension” (SEP) or a “savings incentive match plan for employees” (SIMPLE).

Merger and acquisition activity dropped dramatically last year due to rising interest rates and a slowing economy. The total value of M&A transactions in North America in 2022 was down 41.4% from 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

There's been buzz about new retirement plan provisions for weeks, and now they're final, bringing about changes to various federal rules and adding flexibility for current and future retirees. The Secure 2.0 Act of 2022, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, includes the following modifications, some of which are immediate and others that will take effect in the future.

These days, most businesses have some intangible assets. The tax treatment of these assets can be complex.

What makes intangibles so complicated?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Biden on August 16, contains many provisions related to climate, energy, and taxes. There has been a lot of media coverage about the law's impact on large corporations. For example, the IRA contains a new 15% alternative minimum tax on large, profitable corporations. And the law adds a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks of more than $1 million by publicly traded U.S. corporations.

Twelve days after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced that they had reached agreement on a healthcare, climate, and tax bill, the U.S. Senate on August 7 approved the Inflation Reduction Act on a party-line vote, with all 50 Democratic Senators voting for the legislation and all Republicans voting against it, and Vice President Kamala Harris casting the decisive 51st vote in favor.

U.S. businesses have been hit by the perfect storm. As the pandemic continues to disrupt supply chains and plague much of the global economy, the war in Europe further complicates the landscape, disrupting major supplies of energy and other commodities. In the U.S., price inflation has accelerated the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates and commence quantitative tightening, making debt more expensive. The stock market has declined sharply, and the prospect of a recession is on the rise. Further, U.S. consumer demand may be cooling despite a strong labor market and low unemployment. As a result of these and other pressures, many businesses are rethinking their supply chains and countries of operation as they also search for opportunities to free up or preserve cash in the face of uncertain headwinds.