Parking Expense and Food Cost Relief Could Be on the Way

One of the big sore points with the 2017 tax reform law involved the elimination of some business write-offs, including the deductibility of parking expenses and employer-provided food costs. At a recent event, a spokesperson from the IRS indicated that it may be adjusting its approach to give taxpayers some relief.

How Professional Sports Stadiums Are Affected by the Leasing Standard

New professional sports stadium builds like the ones in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Dallas could look very different under the forthcoming changes to lease accounting. The following is a closer look at some of the implication the standard changes could have on professional sports teams and their local governments.

AI's Implications for the Accounting Experience

Artificial intelligence technologies could reshape the world of accounting as we know it, but we may never get to the point where AI completely replaces the human accountant. The most promising AI accounting technology available today requires human-machine collaboration. Here’s how it may be affecting your organization.

The 2020 Campaign and Taxes Part 6: The Price of an Economic Safety Net

A recent proposal from a Democratic presidential candidate sounds good in theory—$1,000 per month per citizen—but the provision designed to be an economic safety net would come at a huge cost. Even its proposed economic benefits would not be enough to make it affordable. Our analysis takes a closer look at why the concept of universal basic income is so difficult.

Relief Coming for Parking Expenses? Not-for-Profits Hold Out Hope

Not-for-profit organizations drew the short end of the stick when the new tax law commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made parking expenses incurred on behalf of their employees a taxable increase to unrelated business taxable income (UBTI).

5 Ways the New ERISA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Standards Will Affect Your Plans

Changes are coming to auditing standards for employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). While most of the updates affect plan auditors, there are implications for your management team. Here are some changes ERISA plan sponsors should expect for their employee benefit audits starting in 2021.

How Tech Will Change Cyber Defense in 2020

Goran Kovacevic, a director at CBIZ, looks ahead to 2020 and how tech trends will impact cybersecurity and risk management.

The Challenge of Valuing a Deferred Revenue Liability - Part 1: Definition and Basic Valuation Principles

Advance payments happen every day, from subscription services to purchasing airfare or tickets to a sports game. For the companies accepting the advance payments, however, the deferred revenue liability that comes from those sales presents certain challenges, particularly if those companies were to undergo a business combination while holding the deferred revenue.

Webinar: Key Issues Facing Public Companies in 2020

The AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments, held December 9-11 in Washington D.C., highlights current key topics that will have an impact on SEC registrants and other public business entities moving forward into 2020. Members of our team who attended the conference will provide a debrief on the key points, tips and other guidance shared at the conference.

How to Ensure Estimated Discount Rates for Lease Liabilities Hit the Mark

The forthcoming lease accounting changes will require companies with leased assets to record a lease liability. For most lessees, the only option they will have to calculate their lease liability will be to estimate an incremental borrowing rate. Careful analysis is needed to estimate an incremental borrowing rate. The following factors should be part of that evaluation.

Do Your FATCA & CRS Due Diligence

Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) firms can save a lot of grief with their international tax requirements by setting up parameters for their investor onboarding and reporting processes.

Get A Jump-Start on Planning for Your 2019 Tax Bill

While the 2018 tax filing season has come and gone, it is never too soon to start thinking about filing for next year’s taxes.

IRS Announces New Comprehensive Withholding Estimator

After a tax season with some unwelcome withholding tax surprises, the IRS created a new tool to help. Taxpayers can use the Tax Withholding Estimator to complete their Form W-4 so that they get the desired income tax withholding outcome: a refund or a zero balance. But the new tool is only as good as the information supplied.

Improve Your Revenue Recognition Assessment Speed

In the race to adopt the revenue recognition accounting changes, the initial impact assessment is your course map. Knowing how to conduct your revenue recognition assessment—from selecting the sample contracts to applying the five-step accounting model itself—can help your organization get to the adoption finish line faster.

Washington Simplifies Economic Nexus Standards

Washington recently joined the growing number of states that are adjusting state tax policies around remote retailers and marketplace facilitators. The state made updates that will likely increase the number of out-of-state vendors who would be subject to the state’s Business and Occupation tax.

Webinar: Colorado - An Example of Post-Wayfair Complications

Using Colorado as an example, our one-hour webinar explores how Wayfair affected sales and use tax requirements and the types of state-specific factors that make sales and use tax reporting in 2019 so difficult.

Maximizing the Tax Benefits of Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund Investments

Opportunity Zones are one of the hottest investment topics in the tax world because they offer not one, not two, but three tax saving opportunities. But is it as easy as just investing in a Qualifying Opportunity Fund? And what happens when an investment partially qualifies for tax benefits? Recent IRS guidance provides insight into these pressing questions.

Prepare for the Growing Demand for U.S. Data Protection Laws

We may be a ways off from having anything like the GDPR in the U.S., but support grows for federal privacy protection laws. Companies should brace themselves for potentially stringent data protection requirements. You can help position your organization for new regulations by answering some tough data security questions.

Select a Lease Accounting Software Solution That Works for You

The challenge with the new lease accounting standard won’t end with the initial adoption. Tracking and monitoring lease data and modifications may mean that traditional approaches to lease management aren’t feasible anymore. Lease accounting software provides a solution, provided you know what to look for in your tool.

CBIZ & MHM Named to Construction Executive’s Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms

Construction Executive Magazine, a publication from Associated Builders and Contractors, recently named CBIZ and MHM to its list of the Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms in the nation.

4 Major Takeaways from the 2019 AICPA Not-for-Profit Conference

Several members of the CBIZ and MHM Not-for-Profit Practice attended the AICPA’s not-for-profit conference in Washington D.C. this summer. The annual conference covers hot topics in accounting, tax, and financial advisory, and other industry trends that practitioners and their clients should have on their radar.

Reduce Accounting Challenges with the VIE Accounting Alternative

For many private companies, the evaluation of the variable interest entity (VIE) guidance to their brother and sister entities has been a confusing and difficult process.

The 2020 Campaign and Taxes Part 5: Your Taxes and the Federal Budget

The tax plans for each of the candidates in the 2020 Presidential campaign involve some varied and unique proposals, including a wealth tax, a tax on securities trading transactions, and new refundable credits for low-income housing.

New Lease Accounting to be Delayed?

Good news for private companies, nonprofits, and smaller public companies: the FASB is planning to delay the roll-out of its accounting updates to leasing, credit loss impairment standard, hedge accounting, and long-term insurance contracts. Discussions by board members also indicate the FASB may be leaning toward a new approach for future complex accounting standards.

Webinar: Important Revenue Recognition Implementation Issues for Not-for-Profit Organizations

Most not-for-profit organizations with calendar year ends must adopt the revenue recognition standard by Dec. 31, 2019, and fiscal year ends have an adoption deadline that’s not too far behind. In our free webinar, we will cover the final steps that not-for-profit organizations will need to take to ensure they are in compliance with their reporting requirements.

Webinar: Eye on Washington Quarterly Update Q3 2019

Our Eye on Washington webinars assist CEOs, CFOs, financial executives and advisors, and other interested parties in navigating the complex tax environment.

Opportunity to Lessen Tax Liability for Fulfillment By Amazon Sellers In California

As online sales surge, more sellers are using larger online marketplaces to provide their products online, oftentimes using the popular Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program.

Are Your Benefit Plan’s Alternative Investments Generating Taxes?

Unexpected UBTI & the Flip Side to Alternative Investments in Your Benefit Plan is designed to help plan sponsors understand how the tax on unrelated business income may affect their plan and what they can do to minimize compliance risks.

Not-for-Profit Organizations Granted Private Company Accounting Alternatives

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently extended relief for goodwill and intangible asset accounting to not-for-profit organizations.

The Revenue Recognition Lesson Not-for-Profits Can Apply to Leasing

Accounting changes to ASC Topic 842, Leases share many of the characteristics that made the revenue recognition updates in Topic 606 so challenging.

9 Ratios to Help Measure Your Not-for-Profit's Financial Health

More not-for-profit organizations are recognizing the benefit of financial performance measurement as a strategy for evaluating operations, programs, services and financial stability.

Today’s Trends for Not-for-Profits

Not-for-profit organizations benefited from a stronger economy and higher per capita disposable income in recent years.

What Auditor Form and Content Changes Mean for Your 2020 Audit

The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (ASB) recently released SAS No. 134, Auditor Reporting and Amendments, Including Amendments Addressing Disclosures in the Audit of Financial Statements, which updates the form and content of a financial statement auditor’s report.

4 Ways to Improve Your Cybersecurity Strategy

Cybersecurity, data security, and data privacy continue to be hot topics for all market segments. Information security incidents put a lot at stake and can cause financial harm, brand and reputational damage, increased regulatory scrutiny and personal liability for business leaders, and of course, repercussions for customers, clients and others in the value chain.

How the Tax Reform Law Revitalizes the Qualified Small Business Stock Incentive for PE/VC

Tax reform may have made investments in qualified small businesses more appealing for private equity and venture capital firms.

Selecting the Right Lease Discount Rate for You

Companies have options when it comes to the lease discount rate they use when applying the new leasing standard. Here's what to consider.

It's Tax Season... All Year Round: IRS Audits

IRS collections and audits are tightly regulated processes that are designed to protect a taxpayer’s rights, but a taxpayer must be familiar with these rights in order to take advantage of those protections.

Selecting the Right Lease Discount Rate for You

Lessees have options when it comes to which method they use to determine their lease discount rate. It’s important to understand what those options are, how they differ, and the relative advantages or disadvantages of each in order to ensure the best method has been selected to address your lease arrangements.

3 Ways Tariffs Impact Accounting

The impacts of tariffs on trade and operating a business can be complex and often depend on where in the supply chain a business operates, but how might it impact your business’s accounting?

Clear the Hurdles to Revenue Recognition Adoption

Although we are in the home stretch for adoption of the new revenue recognition standard, it could still be a mad dash to the finish line for those who have not started to prepare. Some private companies may not see it that way, however, which is a significant misconception.

Webinar: Leasing Considerations for the Construction Industry

This webinar will cover the specific considerations for leasing standard adoption for the construction sector and the steps contractors can be taking now to ensure a smooth transition.

Webinar: Hidden Costs Not-for-Profits Need to Know About

In our free webinar, our cost recovery team will identify how not-for-profits can identify overpayments, over charges, and other items that could be eating into their bottom line.

Recent Developments in UBTI for Not-for-Profits

Not-for-profit organizations have a long-standing debate with regulators about whether revenue generated by certain organizational activities should be taxable.

De-Mystifying the IRS Audit Selection Process

Independent contractor or employee? A recent Last Week Tonight with John Oliver segment highlights the vital importance of making the right distinction. We take a closer look at the issue, including the compliance risk employers face if they misclassify their workers.

Small Public Companies May Be Granted Audit Reprieve

The Securities and Exchange Commission took another step toward simplifying the financial reporting requirements for small public companies.

How the New Credit Loss Standard Affects M&A

Private equity and venture capital firms that have or are looking to invest in financial services portfolio companies should be aware of the coming changes in the way financial service entities calculate credit loss reserves.

How Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms Can Improve Their Internal Tax Processes

If it’s been a while since your firm last evaluated its tax function, you may want to consider a quick self-assessment.

Make Your Audit Committee Meaningful Again

Economics 101 teaches us that time can be quantified in dollars and cents, and that if you want to measure the value of your time—i.e., your opportunity cost—start by looking at your hourly wage.

Congress is Asking for President Trump’s Tax Return; Who Can Access Yours?

The news is full of stories about the President’s tax returns and whether Congress can obtain them.

Webinar: Top 10 Common Errors in Valuation

Business valuations provide vital information to business owners and management teams. They can be key inputs to your exit timeline, and inform transaction prices and the value of shareholders’ equity. With so much riding on the business valuation, it’s imperative that management teams have conclusions that they can rely on.