Author: Tony Novak
-
401(k) investment choices
The CFO is individually named as defendant in this class action lawsuit for his choice of investment offerings in company’s 401(k) plan. Contrast this story to other news of employees pressuring employers to add a range of non-traditional investments like real estate, partnerships, private company stock and cryptocurrency. The risk to employers and employees is…
-
Understanding cryptocurrency fraud
Cryptocurrency fraud falls into two main categories: Scams soliciting investment Theft of accounts The number of cryptocurrency scams is decreasing as people become more suspicious of unsolicited offers. This seems like a natural reaction to the publication of fraud risks. But the number of security breaches and account thefts is increasing sharply. Even sophisticated owners…
-
Real estate investing forecast
The sharp and fast rise in mortgage rates this year led to only slow and modest decreases in real estate sales prices. As a result, housing affordability is at its lowest level in 30 years. Predictably, the number of sales completed declined rapidly. The logical forecast is that sales transactions will remain sluggish, making this…
-
No tax change coming
The Inflation Protection Act (IRA) is expected to be passed by Congress this weekend and signed into law by the President shortly thereafter. This is an appropriate time to repeat a reminder that there will be no significant change in income tax liability to anyone reading our publications. This message repeats the tax forecast offered…
-
Two easy ways to avoid tax misinformation
In 2017 and again in 2021, Americans suffered the effects of deliberate lies about U.S. tax policy fed through news media and politicians. In contrast to well-vetted public process that led to the major Tax Reform Act of 1986, the current tax lawmaking process of our federal tax law is crude and largely based on…
-
Nonprofit financial governance FAILS
This weekend I took an informal look at the legal and financial filings of two nonprofit organizations that are associated with potential accounting engagements. In other words, this was my preliminary homework in preparation for my work week ahead. What I found could be described as ‘more of he same’ in substandard governance and public…
-
Best practices for the future of small business accounting
I woke today to find an email notice of another five star review from a small business client. I am grateful for the willingness of over 50 clients to share their comments on one of the various online business rating services. It’s pretty humbling, actually, that they are all organic five star reviews that they…
-
Significant small business tax news: Alliantgroup
IRS sent subpoenas to CPAs who referred clients to a tax shelter seller Alliantgroup regarding R&D tax credits, cost segregation, and IRC Sec 179D, (all are aggressive tax strategies) taken by their business clients from January 1, 2011 to present. The IRS subpoena reportedly clarifies that Alliantgroup and not the individual business taxpayers who took…
-
How to prepare financial statements for a nonprofit board
If you are a bookkeeper for a nonprofit organization, the focus your job is to present information in a useful form to the organization’s management. What information should be prepared and how should it be presented? The simple correct answer is ‘however the board says’. But it often is not so simple. The problem is…
-
My Greatest Fear
My greatest fear is that the world, and specifically the United States, is on an accelerated path of self destruction and there is little I can do to change this. A probabilistic analysis of current events, including yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court against the U.S. emission control plan, lead to a conclusion that we…