Nonprofit Blog

The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) so-called Omni Circular supersedes and streamlines requirements from eight existing circulars that apply to federal awards. Although the new audit threshold has received much of the attention, nonprofits that receive federal awards should be aware of other significant changes that take effect for new contracts starting after December 26, 2014.

Many private business owners underestimate the importance of establishing strong business credit early on — and are surprised when they don’t qualify for affordable financing when they need it. Lenders are often the bearers of this bad news. Here’s a refresher on why it’s important for businesses to establish credit, what makes (or breaks) a business credit score and how borrowers can improve their ratings.

Establishing a tax domicile abroad — also known as a corporate inversion or expatriation — is a tax strategy that’s received a lot of media attention this year. The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world (35% before state and local taxes). And it’s the only country that taxes corporate profits earned outside its borders.

Related-party transactions played a major role in accounting scandals that happened at Enron and Tyco International. These scandals led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and prompted auditors to take a closer look at related-party transactions and financial relationships. Such scandals aren’t unique to large public companies that engage in complex business transactions, however. In fact, they’re even more prevalent among small private companies without auditors and financial analysts to scrutinize their financial results.

Borrowers often pledge receivables as loan collateral. But recent studies show that many companies are collecting receivables slower than they did before the Great Recession. When you review a borrower’s year-end financial statements, ask whether management has taken these five simple steps to turn receivables into cash faster. Tighter collection procedures can expedite service debt and reduce working capital needs and bad debt write-offs.

December 1, 2014: Georgia’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) — a reading of economic activity in the state’s manufacturing sector — increased 2.0 points during November. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) Report is underwritten by the Manufacturing and Distribution Group of Smith & Howard, a top Atlanta CPA firm with a focus on serving manufacturing businesses, and is produced monthly by the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University.

If you are in the market of heavy construction equipment, get ready for big changes come January 1, 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is rolling out their latest set of rules in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases. The new rules revolve around how much pollution can be emitted from large diesel engines used in varying types of construction-site equipment.

Your financial statements may be a guiding light when trying to wade through the complicated industry that is construction. Owners of small to midsize construction businesses can use the following information to hopefully help in their journey out of the red and into greater profitability.

For contractors, employment-related hassles can sprout like weeds and quickly grow out of control. Human resources, payroll, legal assistance and health care benefits are just some of the issues a professional employment organization (PEO) can help you with.

You may be able to relate to the owner of a growing electrical contracting company's frustrations surrounding his marketing efforts. The significant lag time between marketing his company's services to identifying leads and finally turning those leads into sales was much longer than initially anticipated. The contractor happened to mention his frustrations to his financial advisor.