The IRS recently issued another notice extending tax deadlines because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notice 2020-35 supplements IRS Notice 2020-23 and earlier guidance by extending the deadlines for certain additional time-sensitive actions relating to employment taxes; exempt organizations; employee benefit plans, including 401(k)s; Health Savings Accounts (HSAs); IRAs; and other specified accounts. With some exceptions, the extensions […]
You may have good intentions in keeping a trust a secret from its beneficiaries. Perhaps you have concerns that, if your children or other beneficiaries know about the trust, they might set aside educational or career pursuits. Be aware, however, that the law in many states forbids this practice by requiring a trust’s trustee to […]
Every two years, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) publishes what has become the definitive guide for preventing and detecting workplace fraud. The recently released Report to the Nations: 2020 Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse draws conclusions from more than 2,500 fraud incidents — including 191 in not-for-profit organizations. In fact, this year’s report […]
In times of turmoil, your board of directors should be your not-for-profit’s rock-solid foundation. But what if your board is understaffed or simply doesn’t provide the leadership your nonprofit requires? Think about rebuilding it — and the sooner the better. Financial, public health and other challenges are likely to remain a reality for the foreseeable […]
By Nicholas Sanchez, J.D., LL.M. Taxation; and Kaveh Imandoust, J.D., M.B.T., CPA Earlier this month the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (H.R. 7010, PPPFA) was signed into law. If you’re not already familiar, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a provision included in the CARES Act that provides forgivable loans to small businesses to […]
If you’re age 65 and older, and you have basic Medicare insurance, you may need to pay additional premiums to get the level of coverage you want. The premiums can be costly, especially if you’re married and both you and your spouse are paying them. But there may be a silver lining: You may qualify […]
Many companies struggle to close the books at the end of the month. The month-end close requires accounting personnel to round up data from across the organization. Under normal conditions, this process can strain internal resources. However, in recent years the accounting and tax rules have undergone major changes — many of which your personnel and software […]
It’s often difficult for married couples to save as much as they need for retirement when one spouse doesn’t work outside the home — perhaps so that spouse can take care of children or elderly parents. In general, an IRA contribution is allowed only if a taxpayer has compensation. However, an exception involves a “spousal” […]
For business owners, succession planning is ideally a long-term project. You want to begin laying out a smooth ownership transition, and perhaps grooming a successor, years in advance. And you shouldn’t officially hand over the reins until many minute details have been checked and rechecked. But it doesn’t always work out this way. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) […]
Private companies and most nonprofits were supposed to implement updated revenue recognition guidance in fiscal year 2019 and updated lease guidance in fiscal year 2021. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has decided to give certain entities an extra year to make the changes, if they need it. […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some people to contemplate their own mortality or that of a family member. For those whose life expectancies are short — because of COVID-19 or for other reasons — estate planning can be difficult. But while money matters may be the last thing you want to think about when time […]
by Alex Chernyak, CPA and Catalina Kirby, CPA Earlier this year, Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) issued a final rule on a Form T-1 Trust Annual Report that requires annual reporting by certain Form LM-2 filing labor organizations on financial information pertinent to “trusts in which a labor organization is interested.” In general Form […]