John F. Craven CPA will be moderating a panel on Small Business Success Strategies at the Greater NY Chamber of Commerce Business EXPO that begins at 10:30am on September 23rd. Panelists include:
Read MoreAdMedia Partners, a leading media M&A advisor, performs an annual survey of senior executives. This year’s survey shows an expected deal increase for mergers and acquisitions in the media and technology industry. The following key points highlight AdMedia’s findings.
Read MoreDeter Identity Theft With Fraud Alerts and Security Freezes
Posted by Jack Craven CPA on Thu , Jul 07 , 2016
If someone steals your identity, you will begin to feel the confusion and strain that comes with trying to recover your good name and pilfered finances. Identity theft is a real and growing concern for everyone; remain alert and prepare before it happens. We have put together some ways to deter identity thieves and protect your information:
- Shred financial documents as well as personal information before getting rid of them.
- Protect your Social Security number
- Remain cautious with personal information on the phone, by mail, or over the internet.
- Protect your home computer with anti-virus guard software.
Avoiding the Wrong Decision - Selecting an Accounting Method for Your Media Business - Cash VS Accrual Accounting
Posted by Jack Craven on Tue , Dec 29 , 2015
In the first year of a startup business, you, as a business owner, will need to make certain elections for tax purposes. These start up tax choices (elections) establish precedents for tax years to come. An important election you will make is selecting an accounting method for your business. The two methods commonly used are cash basis accounting or accrual basis accounting. You may be reading this and thinking, “What do cash and accrual basis mean?” and “What difference does this make to me and my business?”
Making the wrong decisions could cause your business to become just another failure.
Simply put, as our whitepaper explains, under cash basis accounting, a business owner such as yourself recognizes revenue and expenses (and pay taxes) when you receive or pay cash. Under accrual basis, you recognize income and expenses (and pay taxes) when they are earned without regard to being paid. In the attached white-paper, we provide media company tax tips and advice.
Many accountants automatically suggest that all of their small business clients automatically adopt cash basis accounting. As we discuss on the whitepaper that follows, this should not automatically be the case for many media and entertainment companies. The remainder of this paper explains cash basis versus accrual basis accounting and how they impact your business.
Selling your business can be an emotional and life-changing event. On the “big day” of sale, hopefully, you may realize a once in a lifetime payoff. It could be that you have spent years building the business. Alternatively, your business could be a relatively new growing interactive business that you are cashing out.
We have put together some useful information on Selling Your Business. Our guide contains the following:
- Who to speak with to get an idea on the value of your business
- What kind of attorney is best for helping you sell your business
- How to think going into the selling market
- How to be flexible
- How to spruce up your business
- How to think ahead to the future
As an entrepreneur, you work hard for your money. There is almost nothing worse than experiencing pilferage, embezzlement, and other types of misappropriation. Internal controls are extremely important to the entrepreneurial company.
Read MoreIt's getting hot outside, and you probably don't want to think about tax planning. But we have put together some summer tax tips so that you can get the most out of your 2015 return.
Before you head off to the beach, please take a look below at what we have prepared.
Read More- Bonus depreciation. You can expense 50% of the cost of new property you acquired and placed in service during 2014.
- Section 179. The immediate expensing limit for new and used property purchased and placed in service during 2014 is $500,000. This is a substantial increase from the $25,000 deduction under the prior tax law. Your total Section 179 deduction is limited when you purchase $2 million or more of assets during the year.
- Qualified improvements. You can use a 15-year straight-line depreciation method for improvements to leased buildings, restaurant property, and the interior of retail establishments.
- Commercial building energy-efficient improvements. If you made improvements to your commercial building that helped reduce utility costs, you can claim a deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot.
- Residential energy-efficient improvements. Did you buy qualifying storm windows or doors for your home during 2014? The credit of 10% of the cost of improvements is back, up to a lifetime limit of $500.
- Charitable contributions from IRAs. When you’re age 70-1/2 or older, you could make a 2014 tax-free distribution to a charity from your IRA.
- State and local sales tax deduction. If you itemize, you can claim a 2014 deduction for these taxes instead of deducting state and local income taxes.
- Qualified tuition expenses. The law reinstated the above-the-line deduction of up to $4,000 for expenses you paid in 2014 for higher education for yourself or other family members.
- Teacher classroom expenses. If you’re a teacher and you paid out-of-pocket for books and certain other materials for use in your classroom, you can claim an above-the-line deduction of up to $250 for 2014.