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Marvin & Co. Blog
New Tax Credit for Family and Medical Leaves
Employers may benefit from new tax break
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) creates a unique tax break for certain businesses. If your company pays employees while they are out of work on a family or medical leave, it may claim a brand-new tax credit for a portion of the wages, beginning in 2018.
Divide Up Interest Expenses Four Ways
Consider the impact of the new tax law
When can you deduct interest expenses? In two words—it depends. The exact tax treatment is based on the type of interest incurred. Notably, there are four main categories for tax purposes.
The following article explains these categories..
Eight tips for Recruiting Employees
Practical advice for finding success
The success or failure of a small business can usually be traced back to the performance of several key employees. So how do you get the best and brightest to work for your firm? There are no guarantees.
The following article describes eight helpful hints.
Guarding Against Investment Scams
Watch out for the latest schemes
Practically everyone knows someone who has been victimized by an investment scam. It is a common occurrence, and even sophisticated investors can become unsuspecting victims. What’s more, the crooks are concocting new scams daily.
This article provides insight and gives practical advice for avoiding these scams.
IRS Announces HSA Contribution Limits for 2019
Individuals enrolled in high-deductible health plans (HDHP) can benefit from enrolling in health care savings accounts (HSAs). In addition to saving on taxes, enrollees can accumulate funds for medical expenses
This article provides the latest information on HSA contribution limits for people who are enrolled in high-deductible health plans HDHPs.
The Clock is Ticking on Adopting New Accounting Standards
It might be human nature to procrastinate. It’s definitely not in most accountants’ natures, however. That’s what makes the findings in a recent MorganFranklin poll about the adoption of new revenue recognition and lease accounting standards so surprising. Most companies are simply not making the kind of progress they should be.
This article shares insights on the pending deadline for implementing the new revenue recognition standards, and what companies can do in advance of it.
New Tax Law’s Excise Tax ‘Bite’ on Exempt Organization Compensation
The bill known as the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”) in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 4960 (specifically Sec. 13602) imposes a 21 percent excise tax on employers for any remuneration in either or both of two specific situations: amounts in excess of $1 million paid to a covered employee by an applicable tax-exempt organization for a taxable year, and/or any separation or “parachute” payments made to a highly-compensated employee (defined by the IRS as greater than $120,000 for 2018) terminating employment that is equal to or greater than three times the average W-2 earnings of that individual for the five years prior to the year of termination.
Updates to FASB Proposed Guidance for Contributions
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) met in February 2018 to re-deliberate on the proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU), Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958): Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made, which relates to revenue recognition of grants and contracts by not-for-profit (NFP) entities.
Why QuickBooks Should Be on Your Desktop
You know about QuickBooks but you’re still hesitating. Here’s why you should make the transition.
Even if you’re a very small business, you’re at a competitive disadvantage if you’re still doing your accounting manually. You might be doing okay using Microsoft Word for invoices and records and Excel for reports.
But many of your rivals manage their financial data digitally. Some of them likely use QuickBooks; it’s the market leader, and it’s on millions of desktops. Their products and/or services may not be superior to yours, but they have an edge because they’re running their businesses more efficiently. They’re presenting a more modern image to their market and building better customer relationships.
Now is the time to update your accounting system. Here’s what your competition has learned and what you, too, can experience.
5 QuickBooks Online Reports You Should Run Regularly
There are numerous QuickBooks Online reports that you should be consulting at regular intervals. But you need these five at least every week.
QuickBooks Online’s Dashboard, the first screen you see when you log in, provides an effective overview of your company’s finances. It contains at-a-glance information about your recent expenses, your sales, and the status of your invoices. It displays a simple Profit and Loss graph and a list of your account balances. Scroll down and click the See all activity button in the lower right and your Audit Log opens, a list of everything that’s been done on the site and by whom.
You can actually get a lot of work done from this page. Click the bar on the Invoices graph, for example, and a list view opens, allowing you access to individual transactions. Click Expenses to see the related Transaction Report. Below the list of account balances, you can Go to registers and connect new accounts.
