Finances

Budget for Success: Your Essential Tool for Business Planning, Financing and More

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Is your business in growth mode?

Over the years, we’ve heard from too many business owners that their budget is in their head. And that may work for some in the beginning — as long as you’re not looking to grow.

As your business expands, there’s a spend against revenue. If you grow by $500,000 or a million, for example, you may need to hire more employees — so you’re going to spend more dollars. A monthly budget will help you figure out how much you can spend to still achieve your revenue goals.

And what business can’t benefit from that?

Beyond crunching the numbers

At Magone & Company, we recommend that most business owners have two to three different budgets:

  • Internal planned budget
  • Overachievement budget
  • And a budget that considers negative outcomes

Your planned budget is the one you’ll present to banks and investors when looking for financing opportunities. The other types are used when analyzing trends for the year.

As you’re forecasting trends, involve your sales team to speak with customers to gather input. What will your customers buy? How much will they spend? You can also refer to previous forecasts and estimate sales based on past purchase orders. For example, if you had purchase orders for $2 million in sales, but your overall sales for the year were $2.75 million, you can budget 35% of sales will be unplanned by your customer base.

All hands on deck

Budgeting involves more than your sales department — from your inventory team to HR to marketing and more:

  • Is there enough warehouse space?
  • Do you have a team of employees to carry out the projection?
  • Did customers indicate they’ll buy the same quantities?
  • Are customers looking for a price reduction?

Once the budget is complete, you’ll need a consistent close process to produce the actual results and analyze variances, so you can make changes to your headcount, pricing or other factors. Remember, as a business owner, you want to have the ability to change strategy and still achieve results.

Take control of your business growth

In celebration of our 30th year in business, we’re rolling out a series of educational videos to help busy executives, families and business owners meet their accounting and tax needs and achieve their financial goals.

Check out the latest on our YouTube channel, or call us at (973) 301-2300 for help setting up a business budget.

 

Executive Pay and Fringe Benefits: Is Your Compensation Plan Triggering an Audit?

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Executive compensation has evolved dramatically in recent years, in terms of creativity, complexity and dollar value. For example, stock options, deferred compensation, fringe benefits and other “non-cash” alternative forms of payment are becoming increasingly popular at business types of all sizes, making up a larger portion of executives’ overall compensation packages.

But creativity isn’t fooling Uncle Sam. The IRS is well aware that executives often receive extraordinary (and potentially taxable) fringe benefits that are not provided to other employees.  And executive perks that are not properly reported can land both you and your company in hot water.

Under the IRS’s watchful eye

If your organization does get audited, here’s what you might expect as the IRS examines your executive compensation and fringe benefits:

  • Assessment of corporate executives and officers to identify the highly compensated employees and determine who is responsible for approving and processing their payments.
  • Review of meeting minutes concerning executive compensation. In this case, auditors are looking for decisions and instructions about the treatment of fringe benefits.
  • Inspection of employment contracts and severance agreements to identify salaries and benefits.
  • Examination of loan agreements between the corporation and executives and officers. 
  • Evaluation of monthly expense reports submitted by executives.
  • A search of accounts payable records for the names, titles and Social Security numbers of executives to establish if payments made to them were included on their Forms W-2 or 1099.
  • Examination of any documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as Form 10-K, to identify compensation issues.
  • Scrutinizing of payroll codes or other accounting codes which might be used for executive expenses to detect payments which may be taxable.
  • Analysis of certain items on tax returns to see if fringe benefits have been claimed.

Getting ahead of an audit

When it comes to executive compensation, getting the details right and staying in compliance can be a daunting task. Reach out to the CPAs at Magone & Company to ensure your company’s executive compensation plans are in line with IRS regulations.

The Right Time to Build a Banking Relationship? Right Now

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If you think about it, running a business is largely about building relationships. And establishing a solid banking relationship is one of the most critical moves you can make as a business owner.

When is the appropriate time to begin forming this relationship? According to CPA Nick Magone, Managing Partner of Magone & Company, “Immediately — before you need the money.”

Get the ball rolling on the relationship

Banks typically offer three levels of financing:

  • Branch level – up to $250K
  • Small business lending – $1-5 million
  • Middle marketing lending – Over $5 million

To get started, reach out to your branch manager, and they’ll introduce you to the correct contact for your future lending needs.

Become the ideal borrowing candidate

What are banks looking for? First and foremost, if your business isn’t profitable, or isn’t able to show a track record of profitability, the bank will not loan you money. Remember, the bank is not your business partner.

Banks also need to have a clearcut understanding of your business and what it brings to the table for them. For example, how many of their services will you use? Will you need their treasury or cash management services in the future? In other words, they are looking for a profitable relationship. Bankers are more than accommodating to get to know you, especially if there is business to be had.

The first meeting

While in-person meetings are preferable, a video meeting can be just as effective for introducing yourself and your business. A typical presentation may include:

  • An overview of your business and management team, including who you are and the number of years in business overall.
  • The market your business serves, including the top 10 suppliers and customers.
  • Your high-level budget for the year, e.g. cost of goods sold, wages, administrative costs, etc.
  • The performance of the budget, as well as the trend for expected revenue and profitability throughout the year.
  • Future plans for growth, acquisition or inventory that may require financing.

The takeaways

Says Magone, “The three main points to keep in mind: Get to know your banker before you need the money; invite your banker to a meeting before you need the money; and, profitability and performance are key to having your loan approved.”

30 years of experience and expertise

In celebration of our 30th year in business, we’re rolling out a series of educational videos to help busy executives, families and business owners meet their accounting and tax needs and achieve their financial goals. Check out the latest on our YouTube channel.

Getting Ahead of 2023 IRS Cryptocurrency Reporting Requirements

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Know those 1099-B forms that show up at tax time from your broker? Well, if you’re dabbling in cryptocurrency, you’ll soon be seeing more of them.

Starting in 2023, U.S. legislation now extends the same transaction reporting rules to cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians or platforms (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini or Binance), as well as digital assets, such as cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin, Ether or Dogecoin). The same legislation also puts into effect cash reporting rules for payments of $10,000 or more to cryptocurrency. That means businesses accepting payments of $10,000+ in cryptocurrency will have to report those earnings to the IRS (using Form 8300).

How is this different than in the past?
The legislation, enacted in 2021, expanded the definition of “brokers” who must furnish Forms 1099-B to include businesses that are responsible for regularly providing any service accomplishing transfers of digital assets (also known as virtual currencies) on behalf of another person (for example, cryptocurrency exchanges). Thus, any platform on which you can buy and sell cryptocurrency will have to report digital asset transactions to you and the IRS at the end of each year.

The cryptocurrency exchanges/platforms will have to gather information from customers, so that they can properly issue Forms 1099-B. But it’s not yet known whether an exchange/platform will have to file Form 1099-B itself (modified to include digital assets) or some other new IRS form.

Digital assets defined
For these reporting requirements, a “digital asset” is any digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger or any similar technology. The definition could also potentially include some non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that use blockchain technology for one-of-a-kind assets like digital artwork.

Separate from the broker reporting rules, a business that receives $10,000 or more in cash must report the transaction to the IRS on Form 8300. For this cash reporting requirement, businesses will treat digital assets like cash.

What to expect moving forward
If you use a cryptocurrency exchange or platform, and it has not already collected a Form W-9 from you (seeking your taxpayer identification number), expect it to do so.

Cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, in addition to collecting information from their customers, will begin tracking the holding period, and the buy and sell prices of the digital assets in your accounts. Be aware that transactions subject to the new reporting rules will include not only the selling of cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies (government-issued currency, such as the U.S. dollar), but also exchanges of cryptocurrencies for other cryptocurrencies. 

It’s also good to keep in mind that the cryptocurrency exchanges or platforms may not have all the information they need to meet their reporting requirements under the new rules. So be patient, because it may be a challenging first year to get the information you need.

 

 

Ready to Cash Out on Your Home? Beware of Capital Gains

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Home values around the country are soaring. The median price tag on a single-family home in the U.S. jumped 23% since last year. While it seems like a huge advantage for sellers, there’s one factor that may put a damper on your profit: capital gains taxes.

Your home is a capital asset, so the capital gains tax is what you pay on its appreciation from the time of purchase to the time of sale. The exact amount will depend on your income, your tax filing status and how long you’ve owned the home. And it could mean handing over more than you’d like to Uncle Sam.

The good news? There are some fairly simple strategies to help minimize the capital gains you’ll have to pay on a home sale.

Determine if you’re eligible for an exclusion. If you’ve owned your home for at least two years, then up to $250,000 of profit is tax-free — or $500,000 for married people filing jointly. But to qualify, there are other requirements that must be met:

  • You must live in the home for the majority of the year.
  • You must provide proof of residency (voter registration, utility bills, a tax return, etc.).
  • It must a reasonable distance from your job.
  • For married filers, you and your spouse must claim the same residence.

Factor in adjustments to the cost basis. Did you put on an addition? Renovate the kitchen? Install new central air conditioning? All of these home improvements increase the cost basis of your home. Your cost basis includes the price and acquisition costs of your home, plus a laundry list of property-related expenses. So if you purchased your home for $400,000 and sell it for $500,000 five years later, it may sound like you have a $100,000 capital gain. But if you spent $50,000 on renovations, your cost basis will be $450,000, lowering your taxable gain to $50,000.

Sell when your income is at its lowest. If you were recently laid off, took a pay cut or newly retired, it might work to your advantage. Because your capital gains tax is determined by your tax bracket, a dip in income could have a positive impact on how much you’re expected to pay.

No one wants to pay high taxes on a home sale...

Your home is likely your life’s biggest purchase. When the time comes to sell it, make sure you’re getting back every penny you’re entitled to receive. Reach out to the experts at Magone & Co at (973) 301-2300, and we’ll schedule a no-obligation confidential consultation to explain your options.

5 Actions That Can Unexpectedly Raise Your Taxes

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Knowing what factors can raise your taxes is one of the best ways to keep more money in your pocket. That’s why proper tax planning is a year-round practice. Here are five actions that can unexpectedly increase your tax bill:

  1. Cashing in your retirement plan. There are many reasons not to cash in your plan early, and the tax penalty is one of the biggest. If you take the proceeds from your 401(k) plan in cash, instead of rolling it over into an IRA, you’ll have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw. Even worse, you’ll be subject to a 10% penalty. By the time you’re done, you could lose up to half your hard-earned retirement plan to taxes and penalties.
  2. Working as a freelancer. Working for yourself is great, but it can trigger tax headaches. Freelancers and other self-employed workers are subject to self-employment tax, which represents the combined employer and employee share of the Medicare and Social Security tax. The tax hit can be substantial, especially if you don’t plan for it.
  3. Failing to take your RMD. You can’t keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely. You’re required to start pulling money from your IRA and workplace retirement plans when you turn 70. If you fail to make that required minimum distribution (RMD), the penalty fees can easily offset your savings.
  4. Skipping your IRA contribution. If you’re accustomed to making an annual IRA contribution, skipping that contribution can cost you. Before you omit it completely, run the numbers and see how the decision will affect your tax bill.
  5. Paying off the mortgage. Eliminating mortgage debt can be very freeing, but it can also raise your taxes. Mortgage interest is deductible if you itemize your deductions. Losing that deduction may leave you owing more to the IRS. That’s not necessarily a reason to keep a mortgage, but it can be an important consideration.

With smart strategies for tax planning, the CPAs at Magone & Company can help you make the most tax-efficient decisions. Give us a call today at (973) 301-2300 to learn more.

The above information is provided for general education purposes and should not be considered financial or tax advice. Please consult your accountant or financial advisor for advice specific to your situation.