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 run your organization more efficiently. 

Table of Content

1. The Tax Traps of Personally Guaranteeing a Loan to Your Corporation
2. FAQs About Creating and Optimizing Customer Profiles in QuickBooks
3. The 2025 - 2026 "High-Low" Per Diem Business Travel Rates Are Here
4. How Often Should Your Business Issue Financial Statements?
5. Year-End Budgeting: Where to Look for Cost-Saving Opportunities
6. There's Still Time for Businesses to Benefit From Clean Energy Tax Breaks
7. FASB About the Going Concern Assessment
8. Should Your Business Maximize Deductions for Real Estate Improvements Now or Spread Them Out?
9. What's New at Machen McChesney

The Tax Traps of Personally Guaranteeing a Loan to Your Corporation

If you’re considering guaranteeing, or are asked to guarantee, a loan to your closely held corporation, it’s important to understand the potential tax consequences. Acting as a guarantor, endorser, or indemnitor means that if the corporation defaults, you could be responsible for repaying the loan. Without planning ahead, you may face unexpected tax implications. Continue reading.

FAQs About Creating and Optimizing Customer Profiles in QuickBooks

Small business owners might be tempted to rush through setting up customer profiles in QuickBooks® just to get invoices out quickly. But the extra data fields aren’t just busy work. Complete, accurate customer records help you generate more insightful reports, communicate with customers more effectively, and save time on bookkeeping tasks later. Here are answers to some common questions to help ensure your files are set up properly in your accounting software. Continue reading. 

The 2025 - 2026 "High-Low" Per Diem Business Travel Rates Are Here

If you have employees who travel for business, you know how frustrating it can be to manage reimbursements and the accompanying receipts for meals, hotels, and incidentals. To make this process easier, consider using the “high-low” per diem method. Instead of tracking every receipt, your business can reimburse employees using daily rates that are predetermined by the IRS based on whether the destination is a high-cost or low-cost location. This saves time and reduces paperwork while still ensuring compliance. In Notice 2025-54, the IRS announced the high-low per diem rates that became effective October 1, 2025, and apply through September 30, 2026. Continue reading. 

Year-End Budgeting: Where to Look for Cost-Saving Opportunities.

As 2025 winds down, business owners and managers are ramping up their planning efforts for the new year. Part of the annual budgeting process is identifying ways to lower expenses and strengthen cash flow. When cutting costs, think beyond the obvious, such as wages, benefits, and employee headcount. These cutbacks can make it harder to attract and retain skilled workers in today’s challenging labor market, potentially compromising work quality and productivity. Here are three creative ideas to help boost your company’s bottom line — without sacrificing its top line. Continue reading. 

There's Still Time for Businesses to Benefit From Clean Engery Tax Breaks

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, extends or enhances many tax breaks for businesses. But the legislation terminates several business-related clean energy tax incentives earlier than scheduled. For example, the Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 45W) had been scheduled to expire after 2032. Under the OBBBA, it’s available only for vehicles that were acquired on or before September 30, 2025. For other clean energy breaks, businesses can still take advantage of them if they act soon. Continue reading.

FASB About the Going Concern Assessment

The going concern assumption underlies financial reporting under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) unless management has plans to liquidate. If a going concern issue is identified but not adequately disclosed, the omission might be considered “pervasive” because it can affect users’ understanding of the financial statements as a whole. So it’s critical to get it right. Here are answers to common questions about this assumption to help evaluate your company’s ability to continue operating in the future. Continue reading.

Should Your Business Maximize Deductions for Real Estate Improvements Now or Spread Them Out?

Commercial real estate usually must be depreciated over 39 years. But certain real estate improvements — specifically, qualified improvement property (QIP) — are eligible for accelerated depreciation and can even be fully deducted immediately. While maximizing first-year depreciation is often beneficial, it’s not always the best tax move. 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.