On September 27, 2019, PKF Texas and the Houston Business Journal (HBJ) are partnering for a Power Breakfast event: “What’s Next for Your Business: Transition Planning.” A panel of transaction professionals and advisors will provide their insights at the Royal Sonesta about how business owners and executives should prepare for and have a transition plan in place.

The Houston Business Journal’s Market President and Publisher, Bob Charlet, will be moderating the panel, which includes:

Business owners, CEOs, CFOs, exit planning professionals, middle market private equity professionals, and mergers & acquisition and family business advisors should attend this discussion, which will cover:

  • Business valuation
  • Financing a deal
  • Structuring
  • Succession planning
  • Estate planning
  • Sell-side considerations
  • Pre-sale due diligence

For more information and to register, visit the HBJ website at www.bizjournals.com/houston/event/164052/2019/whats-next-for-your-business-transition-planning.

If you have questions, reach out to Quinn Hoang, HBJ Events Director, at qhoang@bizjournals.com or 713-395-9613.

If you’re like many people, you’ve worked hard to accumulate a large nest egg in your traditional IRA (including a SEP-IRA). It’s even more critical to carefully plan for withdrawals from these retirement-savings vehicles.

Knowing the fine points of the IRA distribution rules can make a significant difference in how much you and your family will get to keep after taxes. Here are three IRA areas to understand:

Continue Reading Carefully Plan Your Traditional IRA Withdrawals…

Jen: This is the PKF Texas Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Jen Lemanski, and I’m back again with Nicole Riley, an Audit Senior Manager and one of the faces of the PKF Texas Not-for-Profit team. Nicole, welcome back to The Playbook.

Nicole: Thank you. Glad to be here.

Jen: You know, we’ve been covering topics relevant to not-for-profit organizations, and one thing I noticed that you’ve talked about with clients are the fiduciary responsibilities of a board member. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?

Nicole: A lot of board members don’t realize that they do have a fiduciary duty, and it’s really important that they understand that, because they could be held financially responsible for the financial harm they do to an organization.

Jen: Wow, interesting. So, are there certain steps that they need to be mindful of?

Continue Reading Three Important Fiduciary Responsibilities of a Not-for-Profit Board Member

We’re excited to share the news of one of our Directors, Danielle Supkis Cheek, CPA, CFE, CVA, being named as a “Woman Who Means Business” by the Houston Business Journal!

This is the third year in a row PKF Texas team members have been recognized for this honor — Sonia Freeman, Audit Director and Chief Culture Officer, in 2018; and Karen Love, Practice Growth Director, in 2017.

On October 3, 2019, Danielle will be awarded alongside 64 fellow “Women Who Mean Business” at the Marriott Marquis, and the Houston Business Journal will print a special section the following day, recognizing each honoree.

Danielle is a Director in PKF Texas’ Entrepreneurial Advisory Services team and is the face of the fraud and forensics team. She is passionate and enthusiastic about her work, which will continue her drive for innovation in our firm, as well as the accounting industry.

How well do you listen to your not-for-profit’s supporters on social media? If you don’t engage in “social listening,” your efforts may not be good enough.

This marketing communications strategy is popular with for-profit companies, but can just as easily help not-for-profits attract and retain donors, volunteers and members.

Continue Reading Engage Your Supporters on Social Media by “Listening”

In the past few months, many businesses and employers nationwide have received “no-match” letters from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The purpose of these letters is to alert employers if there’s a discrepancy between the agency’s files and data reported on W-2 forms, which are given to employees and filed with the IRS. Specifically, they point out that an employee’s name and Social Security number (SSN) don’t match the government’s records.

According to the SSA, the purpose of the letters is to “advise employers that corrections are needed in order for us to properly post” employees’ earnings to the correct records. If a person’s earnings are missing, the worker may not qualify for all of the Social Security benefits he or she is entitled to, or the benefit received may be incorrect. The no-match letters began going out in the spring of 2019.

Continue Reading How to Handle “No-Match” Letters from SSA

Jen: This is the PKF Texas Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Jen Lemanski, and I’m here again with Nicole Riley, an Audit Senior Manager and one of the faces of the PKF Texas Not-for-Profit team. Nicole, welcome back to The Playbook.

Nicole: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Jen: So, we’re touching on topics important to not-for-profits. Accounting departments and development departments are two really critical components of a not-for-profit organization. How do you facilitate cooperation between the two departments?

Nicole: As you mentioned, they really are critical components of an organization, and when they work together well it can really benefit an organization.

Continue Reading Why Accounting and Development are Critical to Not-for-Profits

There was a full house at the PKF Texas office for our second not-for-profit seminar of the year, “2019 Accounting Updates and Changes for Not-for-Profits.” For this breakfast event, Audit Senior Manager and the face of PKF Texas’ not-for-profit team, Nicole Riley, CPA, CFE, discussed timely updates and changes organizations need to know.

Continue Reading Recap: 2019 Accounting Updates and Changes for Not-for-Profits

Have staffers complained because their expense reimbursements are taxed? An accountable plan can address the issue. Here’s how accountable plans work and how they benefit employers and employees.

A photo of a folder, a journal and a stack of paper to make not-for-profit employees aware of reimbursement plans.

Be Reasonable
Under an accountable plan, reimbursement payments to employees will be free from federal income and employment taxes and aren’t subject to withholding from workers’ paychecks. Additionally, your organization benefits because the reimbursements aren’t subject to the employer’s portion of federal employment taxes.

The IRS stipulates that all expenses covered in an accountable plan have a business connection and be “reasonable.” Additionally, employers can’t reimburse employees more than what they paid for any business expense. And employees must account to you for their expenses and, if an expense allowance was provided, return any excess allowance within a reasonable time period.

Continue Reading Why an Accountable Plan is Important for Not-for-Profits

If you’re lucky enough to be winning at gambling or the lottery, congratulations! After you celebrate, be ready to deal with the tax consequences of your good fortune.

A photo of two slot machines to show the tax implications of winning the lottery or by gambling.

Winning at Gambling
Whether you win at the casino, a bingo hall, or elsewhere, you must report 100% of your winnings as taxable income. They’re reported on the “Other income” line on Schedule 1 of your 1040 tax return. To measure your winnings on a particular wager, use the net gain. For example, if a $30 bet at the race track turns into a $110 win, you’ve won $80, not $110.

You must separately keep track of losses. They’re deductible, but only as itemized deductions. Therefore, if you don’t itemize and take the standard deduction, you can’t deduct gambling losses. In addition, gambling losses are only deductible up to the amount of gambling winnings. So you can use losses to “wipe out” gambling income but you can’t show a gambling tax loss.

Continue Reading Tax Implications of Winning – What You Need to Know