Insights

Somewhere in an office not so far from here, there is a company that gets all their work done without touching a piece of paper. Invoices are routed through a structured electronic workflow where they could easily be reviewed and approved—even remotely from a mobile device. Managers are notified if any documents are held up too…

“Death, taxes and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.” (Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind) Given my life experiences and chosen profession, I agree with this statement whole-heartedly and would add to the list, an IRS Audit. There is never a convenient time for an IRS Audit, especially if you are…

Are you looking to start a business in California or considering whether or not to keep your business in California? In an effort to retain current businesses and attract new ones, the State of California has developed the California Competes Credit. The tax credit will be available for taxable year beginning on January 1, 2014 and will apply…

As we continue making plans for the New Year, you may be looking at your business with a fresh eye and realizing that it may be time for a change in the structure of your business. This decision could be due to a number of reasons from a change in the ownership structure to wanting more protection from liability or maybe…

Given the recent economic downturn, is it any wonder that fraud is a hot topic in the news? According to the 2012 Report on Occupational Fraud and Abuse published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the average duration of an occupational fraud, a fraud committed at work, is 12 to 36 months. It’s no…

The IRS just announced a new exception to the longstanding “use or lose” rule for healthcare flexible spending account (FSA) plans. Under the exception, if you have an unused balance in your FSA at the end of the plan year, you can carry over up to $500 of that unused balance to the following year.…

Most people are aware of deducting charitable contributions, but did you know that you may also be able to deduct various expenses incurred while doing charitable work, including travel expenses? There are many different types of charitable work where volunteers spend hours giving back to their organization of choice. This article explores some of the…

Ben & Jerry’s, Etsy, Seventh Generation and our very own local icon, Patagonia, are a few of the leaders that have stamped their brands with a socially and environmentally responsible framework designed to identify positive impact businesses. Incorporating as a Benefit Corporation or receiving a B Corp certification are two ways that for-profit companies are…

Although the topic of recordkeeping, including retention and destruction of records, may appear to be straightforward, there are different rules and regulations governing the varying retention periods for records of all types. In order to ensure that an organization is compliant with regulations, a record retention policy should be created that clearly states procedures to…