Hi from all of us at Machen McChesney,

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. Does Your Business Have To Begin Collecting Sales Tax On All Out-of-state Online Sales?
2. What Employers Should Know About National Medical Support Notices
3. Is It Time To Adopt The New Hedge Accounting Principles?
4. How To Avoid Getting Hit With Payroll Tax Penalties
5. Close-up On The New QBI Deduction's Wage Limit
6. Using Analytical Procedures In An Audit Provides Many Benefits
7. Choosing The Best Business Entity Structure Post-TCJA
8. Business Deductions for Meal, Vehicle and Travel Expenses: Document, Document, Document
9. What's The Difference Between A Plan Document and An SPD?
10. Are You Using Your Frequent Flyer Miles To Travel This Summer?
11. Hidden Liabilities: What's Excluded From The Balance Sheet?
12. What's New at Machen McChesney?

Does Your Business Have To Begin Collecting Sales Tax On All Out-of-state Online Sales?

What Employers Should Know About National Medical Support Notices

An employer may occasionally receive a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN). If this ever happens to your organization, here’s what you should know. Continue reading.

Is It Time To Adopt The New Hedge Accounting Principles?

Implementing changes in accounting rules can be a real drag. But the new hedge accounting standard may be an exception to this generality. Many companies welcome this update and may even want to adopt it early because the new rules are more flexible and attempt to make hedging strategies easier to report on financial statements. Continue reading.

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How To Avoid Getting Hit With Payroll Tax Penalties

For small businesses, managing payroll can be one of the most arduous tasks. Adding to the burden earlier this year was adjusting income tax withholding based on the new tables issued by the IRS. (Those tables account for changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.) But it’s crucial not only to withhold the appropriate taxes — including both income tax and employment taxes — but also to remit them on time to the federal government. Continue reading.

Close-up On the New QBI Deduction's Wage Limit

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides a valuable new tax break to noncorporate owners of pass-through entities: a deduction for a portion of qualified business income (QBI). The deduction generally applies to income from sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and, typically, limited liability companies (LLCs). It can equal as much as 20% of QBI. But once taxable income exceeds $315,000 for married couples filing jointly or $157,500 for other filers, a wage limit begins to phase in. Continue reading.

Using Analytical Procedures In An Audit Provides Many Benefits

Analytical procedures can make audits more efficient and effective. First, they can help during the planning and review stages of the audit. But analytics can have an even bigger impact when used to supplement substantive testing during fieldwork. Continue reading.

Choosing The Best Business Entity Structure Post-TCJA

For tax years beginning in 2018 and beyond, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations. Under prior law, C corporations were taxed at rates as high as 35%. The TCJA also reduced individual income tax rates, which apply to sole proprietorships and pass-through entities, including partnerships, S corporations, and, typically, limited liability companies (LLCs). The top rate, however, dropped only slightly, from 39.6% to 37%. Continue reading.

Business Deductions For Meal, Vehicle and Travel Expenses: Document, Document, Document

It's Meal, vehicle, and travel expenses are common deductions for businesses. But if you don’t properly document these expenses, you could find your deductions denied by the IRS. Continue reading.

What's The Difference Between A Plan Document and An SPD?

Most of the health and welfare plans offered by employers today are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Generally, ERISA envisions that employee benefit plans will have both a plan document and a summary plan description (SPD). But, in some cases, a single document may serve both purposes. Let’s look at the difference between the two and under what circumstances they may be combined. Continue reading.

Are You Using Your Frequent Flyer Miles To Travel This Summer?

Are you reporting the value of your frequent flyer miles as taxable income? Continue reading.

Hidden Liabilities: What's Excluded From The Balance Sheet?

Financial statements help investors and lenders monitor a company’s performance. However, financial statements may not provide a full picture of financial health. What’s undisclosed could be just as significant as the disclosures. Here’s how a CPA can help stakeholders identify unrecorded items either through external auditing procedures or by conducting agreed-upon procedures (AUPs) that target specific accounts. 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.