A major challenge for professional services firms is that the employees must be able to access and process a lot of unstructured information in the course of creating client deliverables — typically documents and digital files. Many professional services firms could achieve valuable productivity gains and other benefits by using a corporate intranet to improve…
Share Trust account management is based on the concept of receiving payments from insured’s and immediately compensating the companies who are providing the service. Dispersing the commission income is not typically managed in a formal way; therefore funds are solely based on the needs of the company as opposed to the earnings. Most agencies lack…
With the struggling economy, the resulting government spending cuts and the shrinking donation pool, not-for-profits (“NFPs”) are finding it more difficult to survive. Some NFPs are simply closing down and transferring their assets to another NFP and many are simply cutting the population they serve and the program services they offer. There is a viable…
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is input in the income approach that considers the risk of both types of financing to estimate the Market Value of Invested Capital (MVIC). Companies are generally financed by a combination of debt and equity. The MVIC is calculated by dividing the cash flow available to investors divided by…
Retirement savers can realize significant tax savings through the use of employer qualified plans (such as a 401(k) or 403(b)) and Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”). After all, these plans are designed to incentivize workers to save for retirement. Tax advisors and financial planners will tell you that it’s important to devise a sound strategy to…
Enterprise collaboration tools cover a broad spectrum, and it’s important to educate users on choosing the right tool for a given context. If you don’t have efficient, organized ways of working, getting the latest tools or methodology won’t automatically make your company more efficient. It’s no secret that having disorganized files and information slows employees…
Exit Plan, Succession Plan, Estate Plan “The what, the what and the what?” Dialogue from Spaceballs – byMel Brooks As a business matures, the owner or owners begin to dwell on the next chapter in their lives. (For purposes of this blog, I will assume one owner.) The preoccupation with growth and profits starts to…
Giving Back: Out of Haiti This past August, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Haiti and volunteer through an organization called Adventures in Missions (AIM). In my quest to make a lasting imprint on the hearts of orphaned children around the world, Haiti seemed like the perfect place for my next destination. Haiti…
Sale of Donated Financial Assets There are many accounting issues that are unique to not-for-profit organizations. One of these unique items involves the sale of donated financial assets. For instance, suppose a not-for-profit organization receives donated securities on September 1, 2014 and they sell the securities the next day. How does a not-for-profit organization classify…