At Machen McChesney, we are committed to Returning Value to you through our monthly e-newsletter, The Value Report.

Here you'll find regular tips to help with your business and personal finances, as well as strategies to grow and more efficiently run your organization. 

Table of Content

1. The Future of Accounting: How to Embrace Cutting-Edge Technology
2. Tips for QuickBooks Users: 5 Mistakes to Avoid During Bank Reconciliation
3. 6 Tips to Improve Job-Costing Systems
4. Auditing Concepts: Close-Up On Materiality
5. The Standard Business Mileage Rate Will Be Going Up in 2024
6. Should Your Business Offer the New Emergency Savings Accounts to Employees?
7. Tax-Favored Qualified Small Business Corporation Status Could Help You Thrive
8. 2024 Q1 Tax Calendar: Key Deadlines For Businesses and Other Employers
9. New Requirement to Cover Long-Term Part-Time Employees in 401(k) Plans Enters into Effect
10. What's New at Machen McChesney

The Future of Accounting: How to Embrace Cutting-Edge Technology

Technology is transforming the accounting profession. When businesses moved from paper ledgers to spreadsheets, it improved the timeliness, accuracy, and integrity of accounting-related data. Likewise, cloud computing and the ability to remotely access real-time data have allowed accounting departments to be far more responsive to an increasingly distributed workforce. Continue reading.

Tips for QuickBooks Users: 5 Mistakes to Avoid During Bank Reconciliation

Reconciling bank accounts is critical to ensuring the accuracy of your company’s accounting records. The primary purpose of a bank reconciliation is to confirm that the transactions recorded in your bank statement match those shown in your accounting records. Continue reading.

6 Tips to Improve Job-Costing System

Companies that work on customer-specific or long-term projects — such as homebuilders, contractors, custom manufacturers, and professional practices — generally track job costs to gauge the profitability of each project. In turn, this helps them bid on future projects. Continue reading.

Auditing Concepts: Close-Up On Materiality

As audit season begins for calendar-year entities, it’s important to review issues that may arise during fieldwork. One common issue is materiality. This concept is used to determine what’s important enough to be included in — and what can be omitted from — a financial statement. Here’s how materiality is determined and used during an external financial statement audit. Continue reading. 

Should Your Business Offer the New Emergency Savings Accounts to Employees?

As part of the SECURE 2.0 law, there’s a new benefit option for employees facing emergencies. It’s called a pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA), and the provision authorizing it became effective for plan years beginning January 1, 2024. The IRS recently released guidance about the accounts (in Notice 2024-22), and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published some frequently asked questions to help employers, plan sponsors, participants, and others understand them. Continue reading. 

Tax-Favored Qualified Small Business Corporation Status Could Help You Thrive

Operating your small business as a Qualified Small Business Corporation (QSBC) could be a tax-wise idea. Continue reading.

2024 Q1 Tax Calendar: Key Deadlines For Businesses and Other Employers

Here are some key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the first quarter of 2024. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. If you have questions about filing requirements, contact us. We can ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines. Continue reading.

New Requirement to Cover Long-Term Part-Time Employees in 401(k) Plans Enters into Effect

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act of 2019) and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (collectively, SECURE) enacted a new mandate that, starting in 2024, long-term, part-time (LTPT) employees must be allowed to make salary deferrals into their employer’s 401(k) plan. Continue reading.

What's New at Machen McChesney?

Sponsorships, new hires, announcements
Continue reading. 

We hope you found value in The Value Report you've received this month. We look forward to finding even more ways to Return Value to you in the future.