Cleveland Wealth Management

Several tax breaks are on the books for 2011 but may be gone next year unless they are extended by Congress. One of those is the option to deduct state and local sales and use taxes instead of state and local income taxes.

• What it is:  Currently, taxpayers have the ability to deduct, as an itemized deduction, either State and Local sales tax or State and Local income tax.
• Who it applies to: Although this deduction usually applies to our snow birds that have moved their residency to Florida,...

Remember the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper? The ant labors all summer long storing up food for the long winter ahead, while the grasshopper spends the warm summer months singing, dancing and playing. Then when the winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger while the ant is taking inventory of all the food it had stored. The story concludes with the grasshopper, ill prepared for the hardships of winter, struggling for survival and ultimately starving to death.  

Sur...

The issue of whether a worker should be treated as an employee or an independent contractor has been an area of significant IRS interest for decades. The IRS has the ability to assess significant employer penalties for failure to withhold employment and income taxes on a worker who should have been treated as an employee.

If an employer is faced with this issue upon an IRS examination, the IRS will typically offer to settle the penalties at a discounted rate under Internal Revenue Code (IRC)...

Despite the recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies and the call from thousands of private companies across the country, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) has decided that there should not be separate accounting standards for privately held businesses and publicly traded companies.

It was the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Panel (and the hope of small businesses across the country) that a separate independent standard-setting board would be...

The 2011 edition of our Survey of Northeast Ohio's Construction and Real Estate Industries seems to be pointing to a brighter future for many of those in the construction industry. Survey respondents are more confident about opportunities in the Northeast Ohio market, have seen increasing job sizes and are finding financing somewhat easier to come by. While there were many positives in this year’s survey, competition is still keeping margins very tight and obtaining bonding remains a concern.

Oppo...

On Friday evening, the S&P downgraded the United States’ sovereign debt rating to AA+ for the first time in our history.  While we all saw yesterday what a huge impact this downgrade could have on our stock portfolios, there is also a considerable effect on the process by which we as valuation practitioners value closely-held companies.  For years, valuators have based their analyses of cost of capital on the assumption that the U.S. debt is “risk-free.”  For example, our firm typically uses the...

Did you hear that? That loud sigh of relief? That was me exhaling now that it is official that football will be on my TV screen during Sunday afternoons this fall. Now that teams are wrapping up the mad scramble to add free agents and resign players, the football world’s collective thoughts naturally turn to which team is the favorite to win the NFL championship. At the beginning of the year, there are always a number of teams that the pundits believe have a good shot at making a title run. As...

Join area business professionals at the Skoda Minotti office as we continue our monthly audio book discussion with the help of David B. Rust, President of Audio Group, A business audio book club for time-starved people.

September's featured audio book: The 4-hour Workweek - by Timothy Ferriss

Meeting Details

Date: September 6, 2011

Time: 7:30-9:00 a.m. - A light breakfast will be provided

Location: Skoda Minotti Office, Mayfield Village, Ohio

Cost: $45 per session

Meeting Facilitator: David B....

As the Internal Revenue Service continues to move into the electronic age, it has adopted the EFAST-2 filing system to electronically file tax returns related to employee benefit programs.  For the 2010 tax year, the IRS provides a choice of filing mediums for tax-qualified retirement programs that cover ‘one-participant’ plans—the paper Form 5500-EZ or the electronically filed Form 5500-SF.  Let’s briefly go over the filing rules:

1. What is a “one participant plan?”  A ‘one-participant plan’ is a...

CLEVELAND – Skoda Minotti, a CPA, business and financial advisory firm, has once again been named a World Class Customer Service award winner, as presented by Smart Business Magazine. With this year’s award, Skoda Minotti became one of only four companies to have won this award in each of the five years since its inception.

“At Skoda Minotti, a key component of our firm’s vision is to create a culture of continually improving client service,” says Skoda Minotti partner, Mike Trabert, CPA. “This...

Reduced Taxes for Exporters Extended: Are You Taking Advantage of the IC-DISC?

Does your Company export goods to Canada, Mexico, or other countries?  Do you provide engineering, architecture, or design for property constructed outside the United States?  If so, you may be eligible for a Federal income tax incentive known as an Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation (the "IC-DISC").  The IC-DISC could potentially save you a significant amount of US income taxes.

Click here to...

Nearly 90% of owners of family-run businesses believe that the same family (or families) will control the business in five years.  Unfortunately, if history provides any indication, only about two-thirds of those businesses will survive to the second generation.  The statistics deteriorate when it comes to the third and fourth generations, with only 5% of family-owned businesses surviving to the fourth generation.  These statistics illustrate a key challenge that today’s business owner faces:...

I feel terrible for those in the South who are struggling with some of the worst flooding that the U.S. has experienced in years. One pair of shoes I’m glad I’m not in belong to the person who had to decide whether or not to open up the Morganza Spillway. Open up the spillway – save New Orleans, but flood a rural area in which over 25,000 people live. Keep the spillway closed – keep the Mississippi River contained north of New Orleans, but risk another major flood in the city that birthed jazz...

• Capacity: refers to the skill and expertise that the contractor possesses in order to complete the job.
• Capital: refers to the ability for a contractor to financially complete the job,...

As we all know in the construction industry, surety losses are a lagging indicator of the tough economic struggles we have been facing.  As surety losses have moved well below the annual averages of 29%, underwriters are expecting loss ratios to significantly decline in the next 12 – 24 months due to a weakened sub-contractor community that has been impacted by two to three years of deteriorating results and/or outright losses. 

Because of the performance of the construction industry the past...

This month's Special Delivery e-newsletter includes the following articles:

• New Law Extends Favorable Capital Gain Rules
• How to Help Pay for College Education
• The Wrap-up for Wrap Fees
• Aurum Capital Markets Summary
• Repeal of Expanded 1099 Requirements
• Audio Book Club
• College Planning
• Advisor Insights Video Archive
• Delivering on the Promise

New Law Extends Favorable Capital Gain RulesThe tax rules for offsetting capital gains and losses can be confusing, even for experienced investors. Saving grace: The...

Job Opening Title: Senior Corporate Accountant

Position Summary: Prepare monthly financial reporting, and quarterly and annual preparation for external reporting requirements, including assistance and coordination with external auditors.

Job Description:         

• Prepare initial formats of quarterly press release, 10-Q, annual report, 401K statements and other required filings, and assists with final documents.
• Assists in quarterly and year-end audit process.
• Prepares and analyzes financial...

• Investment Reporting and Disclosure
• 403(b) Plans - How Many Are There?
• DOL and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Annual Filings
• Required Fee Disclosures to Plan Sponsors - 408(b)(2) Interim Final Regulations
• Defined Benefit Plan Amendment Deadline Extended by the IRS
• EBSA Enforcement Actions to Protect Employee Contributions
• Do you have a "Mr. Forfeiture" in your Plan?

Recent EBP Developments

Change and transparency are...