Category: Accounting Advisory

Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell (CBM), a leading full-service tax, accounting and advisory business headquartered in Bethesda, MD, is proud to announce the expansion of its Accounting and Advisory Services Group with the addition of Mike Thomas.  Mike Thomas, CPA is a supervisor of client accounting and advisory services at CBM with more than 25 years of accounting, audit and tax experience in public accounting and the private sector. He has conducted and supervised various organizational accounting functions, including financial projections,… Read more ›

Whatever the size or stage of your business, success requires strategic decision-making, effective allocation of time and resources, and concentration on the organization’s core competencies. Outsourcing your organization’s accounting function to a professional provider will allow you to stay focused on these crucial aspects. Further, increased controls, better compliance, and timely and accurate financial information will minimize risks and strengthen your ability to make decisions.  In addition to the primary benefits below, business leaders report greater scalability and access to… Read more ›

Quick References are high-level insights about critical issues and concerns facing your organization. Our outsourced accounting and advisory group is available to help you implement solutions. Click here to view other Quick References and to sign up for email alerts when future Quick References are released. Many fiduciaries believe cash to be synonymous with risk-free. This is not always the case. Regardless of market conditions, stakeholders want confidence that an organization’s cash is secure and insured. The standard Federal Deposit… Read more ›

The U.S. Supreme Court recently weighed in on an issue in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) that has split two federal courts of appeal. The 5-4 ruling in Bittner v. U.S. is welcome news for U.S. residents who “non-willfully” violate the law’s requirements for the reporting of certain foreign bank and financial accounts on what’s generally known as an FBAR. FBAR stands for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. FBAR Reporting Requirement The… Read more ›

Many job seekers and others assume that not-for-profit organizations offer fewer or less-generous fringe benefits to employees than for-profit companies. But that’s not necessarily true. According to a recent survey by the Nonprofit Times, 87% of nonprofit employers offer a health insurance plan. But as the Kaiser Family Foundation has found, only 49% of private for-profit companies with three to nine workers offer health insurance coverage to workers. Larger for-profit companies generally do offer health insurance and other benefits. So… Read more ›

They say hindsight is 20/20. You can take advantage of that hindsight by holding regular project closeout meetings to find nuggets of truth about how the project went and learn from them. Not every project makes money for your firm. You can find ways to improve project and accounting management if you set a tone of openness to genuine feedback that will filter down to your project managers and other key employees. Here are some guidelines for success in this… Read more ›

Here’s a tax break you might not have considered: Your business could be eligible for a tax credit for money you spend to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law requires companies with 15 or more employees to make reasonable accommodations in the workplace for disabled employees. (Reasonable accommodations must be made on a case-by-case basis and are not required when the cost would cause an undue hardship.) Eligible small businesses can claim a credit equal… Read more ›

Councilor, Buchanan and Mitchell (CBM) works closely with clients to protect their financial and data operations from phishing attacks and criminals seeking access to corporate networks to steal or hold private, customer-related information for ransom. Members of CBM’s outsourced accounting and advisory team recently prevented a business from falling prey to a phishing attack and potentially losing a considerable sum of money. The client had reached out to a vendor to obtain ACH information for sending a payment electronically. When… Read more ›

Losses can be used, within certain limits, to offset other highly-taxed income, such as salary from a job. However, in general, losses from “passive” activities can only be used to offset income from other passive activities. Any excess passive loss is suspended and must be carried forward to future years. The tax law generally defines a passive activity as a trade or business in which you don’t “materially participate.” The IRS has established various tests for determining whether someone qualifies… Read more ›

Chances are, your construction business hires independent contractors, rather than employees, to perform some of the work. These arrangements obviously save your company a lot of time, money and headaches. Take a look at some of the recordkeeping and financial differences: With anEmployee: With an IndependentContractor: You must pay the employer’s half of FICA, as well as federal unemployment tax (FUTA). You generally don’t have to withhold taxes from the worker’s pay, you don’t owe the employer’s portion of FICA… Read more ›