The U.S. Small Business Administration and lenders are taking more strides to improve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) so that small businesses can access much needed funds to persevere through the pandemic, recover, and build back better.
The administration is working to increase equitable access to under-served small businesses, to assure the integrity of the program, and to promote rapid and efficient distribution of funds, officials said.
By Feb. 10, the SBA had hit a major milestone of approving $104 billion of PPP funds to more than 1.3 million small businesses, according to the agency.
Highlights from this round include:
During COVID Pandemic, Attorneys Face Challenges In Courts And Business Law Cases
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By Susan Elise Campbell
As businesses adjust to the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic, so do the attorneys who advise them.
“There have been a whirlwind of legal issues that we never thought we would have to deal with,” said James T. Towne Jr. of The Towne Law Firm PC, with offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.
Unique issues about government relief, bankruptcy and foreclosures, contracts, COVID-19 fraud, cybersecurity and much more are on a daunting list of topics attorneys are being challenged to address this past year.
“During the first 120 days we were confronted with a variety of labor and employment inquiries,” said Towne.
Many of these were rooted in the logistics and liabilities of sending non-essential staff home to work and as a condition of employment, he said.
“Managers are accustomed to taking their laptops and working from home, but maybe not the support staff,” he said. “Matters come up about restrictions on the equipment taken offsite, using that equipment for personal matters, and businesses not enforcing obligations in connection with work performed at home.”
Business Report: Preventing Small Business Fraud
By Paul Zarecki
Small businesses are more likely to become the victims of fraud than larger businesses.
Small businesses are the most vulnerable to occupational fraud and abuse, according to the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). In its 2020 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, ACFE cites that the smallest organizations, 100 employees or less, suffered higher median losses than did the largest organizations (10,000 employees or more).
While the largest companies suffered losses of $140,000 on average, small businesses’ losses averaged $150,000, based on its survey.
Considering the potential losses and how much more of an impact $150,000 is to a smaller business than a larger business, it befits small-business owners to make the prevention of fraud a priority. Though no business owner wants to feel it employs unscrupulous people, sometimes temptation or personal financial pressures can push even the hardest working, most trusted employee into perpetrating fraud.
Here’s how you can prevent fraudulent activity in your workplace:
Outsourcing Accounting Services Can Be A Benefit To Some Small Business Owners
By Rachel Phillips
In business, accounting is the day-to-day tracking of financially operations, both in the short term and the long term.
Not only does accounting serve the purpose of tax compliance and record keeping, but also recording metrics used for evaluating business performance. As such, it is a vital function for success in business.
However, with improving technology and the internet, it has become easier than ever for certain business tasks to be done remotely. As a result, recent years have seen an increase in businesses using outsourced accounting services.
When a business outsources accounting, they hire an outside professional to organize and evaluate their books and records.
Business Report: Are You Working On Your Business?
by Stephen Ferraro,
CPA/ABV/CFF, MAFF, CVA, CEBC
Business owners need an ongoing planning process to grow, maximize business value and create the most successful business transfers. It’s just as important to work on your business as it is to work in your business.
The process should coordinate business valuation, growth planning and business transfer analysis with personal retirement planning. The ultimate goal…successfully operate, grow and transfer your business on your terms and time frame, while maximizing and protecting your personal wealth.
Maximize Business Value
To determine how fast you can get to where you want to go, you need to know where you are now. That’s why business valuation is so important.
Business Report: Attorneys Are Important In Real Estate Deals
BY DANIEL S. GLASER, ESQ.
Local. Real Estate. Attorney.
When buying or selling real estate, it is imperative that you have the counsel, guidance, and skill of a local real estate attorney.
For example, next week you are going under the knife for a triple bypass surgery. You are given two options on how to proceed: use the services of a cardiothoracic surgeon; or save some money by trying to do it yourself.
Yes, you may have a steady hand but going with option one seems like the better way to go.
While the hypothetical may seem unrealistic, the message behind it is real. When you are dealing with something very important, for example making the largest purchase in your life, seek assistance from professionals that have a plethora of experience in their field.
In Technology Age, Face-To-Face Interaction Important, But Even That Can Be High-Tech
Courtesy BST
By Jennifer Farnsworth
As technology continues to grow and expand across the business sector, accounting firms have worked hard to keep up.
Accounting advisory and consulting services have benefited from the way technology has allowed them to work with clients without meeting face-to-face. But these services still need to be personalized. Many local firms have found ways to balance technology with personalized service.
Kristen D. Berdar, CPA, CMA, a partner at BST & Co. CPAs LLP, runs the company’s Virtual Accounting Solutions Division. She said they offer outsourced CFO and accounting solutions for clients on a cloud-based platform, working entirely outside of the client’s office.
They work to create a personalized service that is based on each individual client’s needs and goals.
Business Report: Four Horsemen Of Uncertainty
By Kenneth J. Entenmann, CFA
What a difference three months make. At the end of the third quarter of 2018, every equity market index was posting significant positive returns, and the markets were focused on an overheating economy and the fear of rapidly rising interest rates.
Suddenly, market psychology turned sharply negative, and the new fear was an imminent global economic recession brought on by trade wars, overaggressive central bank policy and an earnings recession. By year’s end, volatility spiked to levels not seen since 2008, and all the major equity indices were decidedly negative. International markets suffered the most, with the developed markets (MSCI-EAFE Index) falling 13.32 percent and the emerging market (MSCI-EM Index) falling 14.49 percent.
The domestic equity markets fared better, but still posted negative returns for the year—Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.38 percent, S&P 500 fell 4.39 percent, Nasdaq composite fell 2.81 percent and Russell 2000 fell 11.03 percent—a very tumultuous end to 2018.
Business Report: The Power Of A Power Of Attorney
Debra A. Verni, Esq.
Recently, I received an email from one of my client’s daughters. It was mom’s 90th birthday and she took mom to a casino.
Mom won $1,300 on a slot machine. When the staff member came over to cash mom out and give mom her winnings, she asked for photo ID. Mom let her license expire years ago, as she was no longer driving so she did not have a photo ID.
The daughter asked the casino staff member if she could sign for mom as power of attorney because she had photo ID. They said no. Apparently, the rule is that the person who won the money (pushed the button on the slot machine) has to be the one to collect it, so she could not use the power of attorney to collect mom’s winnings.
Although the power of attorney is a very powerful document, it is not powerful enough to collect casino winnings. So why do you need a power of attorney?
Software Programs Are Important To Accountants In Efforts To Stay Abreast Of Tax Law Changes
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By Maureen Werther
The federal tax bill that passed the House and Senate in the final weeks of 2017 had accounting firms of all sizes scrambling to read, understand and interpret the new legislation for clients, with most working long hours through the holiday season to ensure their clients would be in compliance with the new law.
Dan Kumlander, of Kumlander, Donofrio, Hay, Pehl CPAs, LLP, on Route 9 in Malta, said that the passage of the new tax laws caused what he referred to as a “scramble” to ensure that planning for clients was being done correctly and in keeping with those new laws.
“We’ve tried to lessen the tax liability as much as possible for our clients and make sure they take advantage of every possible tax savings. When the IRS makes these announcements, we all scramble,” said Kumlander.
He said fortunately, the new changes did not affect 2017. However, they will have a big impact on 2018-2025. He said his clients are all, understandably, looking for clarity.
One big question that arose for clients was whether to pay their 2018 real estate taxes in advance. Kumlander said that making the pre-payment would not have benefitted all their clients. He also added that the IRS mandate that taxes had to be assessed in the same year they were being paid set off an even bigger scramble.