Returning Value Blog

Strategic planning for the coming year

Do you know where your business budget is?

This is the traditional time to draw up a budget for the coming year. Perhaps the way you previously developed the budget for your business has not been overly successful. Or maybe you have found as the year goes along that certain key factors were ignored or not given enough weight. In that case, the way you usually put together the budget may not be the best approach for your business.

Virtually every business owner will tell you it takes more than one person to build up and maintain a profitable business. In fact, it is likely that several “key employees” have contributed to the success of any given operation. However, while a business owner may be careful to make sure that he or she is adequately insured, the need to protect the business against the loss of key employees is often ignored or disregarded, which is a mistake. 

On September 22, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners issued an alert to taxpayers and tax professionals to be on guard against fake emails purporting to contain an IRS tax bill related to the Affordable Care Act.

Comparing C corporations with S corporations

If you are organizing a new business or considering a switch from one to the other for an existing business structure, you may prefer to elect S corporation status for tax purposes rather than a traditional C corporation.

How to value business interests

It is often difficult to put a price tag on a company that is not publicly traded. For instance, the value of a family-owned business will typically exceed the total value of the hard assets such as equipment and inventory. In addition, assigning a value to intangible assets such as goodwill is a difficult proposition at best.

When it comes to evaluating the fair value of income-producing real estate properties, capitalization rates – or cap rates, as they’re widely known – are among the most useful tools available for buyers, sellers, property appraisers, bankers, and financial statement auditors. 

Machen McChesney, LLP is honored to have been chosen again as a winner of the 2016 When Work Works Award.  This award is presented to companies for use of effective workplace strategies that increase business and employee success.

Important planning tool for business owners

A buy–sell agreement can be critical to a business owner intending to sell the business interest or needing to accommodate other changes within the organization. Typically, it can help ease a transition in leadership to the younger generation. 

Understand and realize the key differences

Don’t be fooled into thinking that cash flow and profit are the same thing. In fact, there are major differences. Cash flow is dynamic and moves daily, while profit is a snapshot of income and expenses at a specific point in time. Understanding this comparison, and acting upon it, can be significant for a small-business operation.