Take time to learn

The holidays are over and you're finally able to focus on the details of your life - business and personal. Well, good news - the presentations from our annual tax update in December are on video! 

Click below to view the SDK Tax Update videos by topic.

Business Tax - Laurie Waterman 

Repair Regulations - Ryan Churness 

Health Insurance- ACA  - Jennifer Stavish 

Individual Tax - Rick Tollefson 

Estate and Gift Tax - Jill Abrahamson 

Employee Benefits - Valorie Mussehl 

The Holidays are behind us and tax season is already underway at SDK! The next few months will be the busiest time of the year for all tax accountants, and we're fired up! The sooner we receive your documents, the faster our turnaround time will be.

We have sent out individual organizers via US mail. If requested, you should also be receiving one via email shortly. If you have not received one please get in touch with your SDK contact.

Here are 10 questions to ask yourself as you prepare for your SDK accountant:

1. Does the general ledger bank balance reconcile to the bank statement?
2. Have you searched for any payables that need to be split, or for expenses  incurred that have not been entered into your accounting records?
3. Are there any prepaid items that need to be expensed (i.e. prepaid insurance)?
4. Are there other debts that have not been included on the books?
5. Does the notes payable account (loans) agree with the bank?
6. Does your payroll tax liability coincide with year-end reports?
7. Does the company's inventory balance reflect actual inventory available?
8. Are there any uncollectible accounts receivables that should be written off?
9. Does the company still have all their fixed assets?
10. Does your retained earnings match the amount shown on the prior year's tax return?

Buy-sell agreements - have you updated yours?

A buy-sell agreement is an essential part of a multi-owner business that ensures continuation of the business when an owner leaves the business. Sometimes it is planned, sometimes not, however many of these agreements, once written, are put into a drawer until needed. Most certainly, circumstances change and evolve over time, and you find yourself surprised by provisions that were put in several years ago.

Is it time to rewrite or revise your buy-sell agreement? Read the article and give us a call.

Preparing to sell your business - 10 ways to clean up your financial statements

If you plan to sell your business in 2015, follow these 10 tips to clean up your financial statements so a potential buyer can assess the true value of your business:

1. Record all income
2. Make sure financial statements agree with tax returns
3. Have an adequate allowance for bad debts
4. Remove obsolete or damaged inventory from the books
5. Accurately record value of inventory
6. Record all prepaid expenses
7. Remove obsolete or damaged equipment from the books
8. Record all liabilities (including lease obligations, property taxes, wages, vacation and other benefits)
9. Remove personal expenses from the books
10. Record transactions with related parties at market value

Tax saving opportunities for real estate under the new repair regulations