Blogging Beyond the Numbers

Wouldn’t it be great if you could find a document on your computer without having to hunt around or open several files before you found what you were looking for? More than ever before we need to be able to function digitally for work, and that includes storing and accessing your accounting records. The goal of naming files is to ensure that the document is not only easy to find but that you can also ...

Should you capitalize or expense your business’ or organization’s latest purchase?  This is a question that should be getting answered for each and every purchase you make.  The answer you decide will have an effect on the usefulness of your financial statements, the size of your record-keeping burden, and how much you pay in taxes. The point of capitalization Making this decision requ...

On March 5th, the SBA released a Preliminary Application Checklist that walks through documents needed once the application portal opens.  This list is a working document and may change as the program continues to evolve, but it is a great reference for all of the information that potential applications should start gathering immediately.  An important reminder that applicants are required to register fo...

Additional funding was made available for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance program with the Economic Aid Act signed into law on December 27th.  However, with this round, the grants will be targeted to specific applicants.  At this time, there is no application to apply for the grant advance, the SBA will be reaching out directly to those applicants that are eligible.  Adva...

More and more people are working from home, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  If you spend time working at home, you may wonder whether you can deduct expenses related to your home office space. Unfortunately, if you are an employee of a company, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the business use of home office deductions from 2018 through 2025 for employees. Those who receive a paycheck ...

The employee retention credit (ERC) has been getting a lot of press – and generating a lot of questions. Here is a summary. Background of ERC Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the ERC was included as a refundable tax credit against payroll taxes. This credit is equal to 50% of the qualified wages an eligible employer paid to employees after March 12, 2020, and be...

The rules for accounting for leases in a set of financial statements in accordance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) will change significantly starting in 2022.  The logic for making the change is that balance sheets are currently very different for businesses that own a building compared to businesses that rent a building.  To enhance comparability between businesses the Finan...

The best choice of entity can affect your business in several ways, including the amount of tax you will pay. In some cases, businesses decide to switch from one entity type to another. S corporations can generally provide substantial tax benefits over C corporations (because of single level tax versus double tax); in some circumstances there are potentially costly tax issues that may be triggered before m...

The Internal Revenue Service has released the 2021 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable and medical purposes. [table id=12 /] The standard mileage rate for business use is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the...

On December 22, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”).  The Act serves as a vehicle to provide pandemic relief as well as to fund government operations through the fiscal year.   The Act is best categorized as three bills in one huge package: Stimulus Relief (i.e., another rebate, PPP Round 2 and unemployment insurance)Tax Extenders andSpending Appro...