Blogging Beyond the Numbers

The Internal Revenue Service has changed the due dates for a number of returns relevant to cooperatives. The primary driver for this was moving up the partnership due date so that K-1s are made available to individuals in time to file their 1040 without extensions. A secondary issue was moving back the corporation due date one month. Most corporations extend their returns so the initial due date is less imp...

Cooperatives sometimes consider changing their year end to a new month or to a 52-53 week year ending on the same month. Most cooperatives seem to start up with a December year end. Larger food cooperatives gravitate to a June year end. One general guideline on choosing a year end is that the year should end on the strongest quarter or begin on the weakest quarter. Beginning on a weaker qu...

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 2020. 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 Financial Accounti...

Highlights: Food must be given to a food pantry or similar nonprofit organization for feeding the ill, the needy, or infants. The deduction is the cost of the food plus the lesser of: One-half of the gross margin using the normal retail price, or The cost of the food. This makes the maximum deduction equal to twice the cost of the food.  In a food co-op 2a will almost always apply. ...