business - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

The Benefits of Operating Your Company with a “For Sale” Mindset

Selling your business may not be a current goal or something you plan to pursue in the future. However, it’s important not to dismiss the idea entirely, as running your company as if it were up for sale can bring numerous advantages. It is a strategic approach that emphasizes efficiency, organization, and value creation. By adopting this mindset, you can enhance your business operations, attract potential buyers, and maximize its long-term success. It also enables you to maintain excellent business records and address minor issues before they escalate into major problems.

Define Your Vision and Goals

Clearly articulate your long-term vision for the business and establish specific goals you want to achieve. Having a clear direction will help guide your decisions and actions.

Streamline Policies

Review and optimize your business processes to increase efficiency and eliminate any unnecessary steps or bottlenecks. Identify areas that can benefit from automation, technology, or outsourcing to improve productivity.

Imagine you’re in an elevator with a potential buyer, and you have a brief moment to describe your company. What would you say? Having a concise, easily understandable vision for your business is vital not only for appealing to outside buyers but also […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-06-26T19:25:46+00:00June 26th, 2023|business|0 Comments

Why Businesses May Want to Consider ESG in Strategic Planning

When engaging in strategic planning, business owners and their leadership teams must consider various factors. These commonly include the state of your industry, the national and local economies, the company’s financial position and cash flow, and opportunities in the marketplace.

However, in today’s world, where transparency is everything, another factor that may be important for some companies is a clearly defined approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

3 areas of focus

As a general concept, ESG (as it’s often called for short) focuses on three areas:

The environmental component considers your company’s impact on the environment, including the energy it uses, the waste it produces and the resources it consumes.
The social element examines your business’s relationships with people, communities and institutions. It includes fair labor practices; worker health and safety; diversity, equity and inclusion; and your company’s impact on the people of the community or communities where it operates.
The governance portion includes policies, practices and procedures your business adopts to govern itself. Considerations include ethics, transparency, legal compliance, executive compensation, supply-chain management, data protection, and product quality and safety.

The idea is that, to be a good “corporate citizen,” it’s important to recognize the impact of […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-06-07T19:27:01+00:00June 7th, 2023|business, planning, strategy|0 Comments

Traveling For Business This Summer? Here’s What You Can Deduct

If you and your employees are traveling for business this summer, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind. Under tax law, in order to claim deductions, you must meet certain requirements for out-of-town business travel within the United States. The rules apply if the business conducted reasonably requires an overnight stay.

Note: Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, employees can’t deduct their unreimbursed travel expenses on their own tax returns through 2025. That’s because unreimbursed employee business expenses are “miscellaneous itemized deductions” that aren’t deductible through 2025.

However, self-employed individuals can continue to deduct business expenses, including away-from-home travel expenses.

Rules that come into play

The actual costs of travel (for example, plane fare and cabs to the airport) are deductible for out-of-town business trips. You’re also allowed to deduct the cost of meals and lodging. Your meals are deductible even if they’re not connected to a […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-06-05T18:48:34+00:00June 5th, 2023|business, deduction, deductions, travel|0 Comments

If You’re Hiring Independent Contractors, Make Sure They’re Properly Handled

Many businesses use independent contractors to help keep their costs down — especially in these times of staff shortages and inflationary pressures. If you’re among them, be careful that these workers are properly classified for federal tax purposes. If the IRS reclassifies them as employees, it can be an expensive mistake.

The question of whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee for federal income and employment tax purposes is a complex one. If a worker is an employee, your company must withhold federal income and payroll taxes and pay the employer’s share of FICA taxes on the wages, plus FUTA tax. A business may also provide the worker with fringe benefits if it makes them available to other employees. In addition, there may be state tax obligations.

On the other hand, if a worker is an independent contractor, these obligations don’t apply. In that case, the business simply sends the contractor a Form 1099-NEC for the year showing the amount paid (if it’s $600 […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-05-16T13:03:05+00:00May 16th, 2023|business, employee|0 Comments

5 Valuation Terms That Every Business Owner Should Know

As a business owner, you’ll likely need to have your company appraised at some point. An appraisal is essential in the event of a business sale, merger or acquisition. It’s also important when creating or updating a buy-sell agreement or doing estate planning. You can even use a business valuation to help kickstart or support strategic planning.

A good way to prepare for the appraisal process, or just maintain a clear big-picture view of your company, is to learn some basic valuation terminology. Here are five terms you should know:

1. Fair market value. This is a term you may associate with selling a car, but it applies to businesses — and their respective assets — as well. In a valuation context, “fair market value” has a long definition:

The price, expressed in terms of cash equivalents, at which property would change hands between a hypothetical willing and able buyer and a hypothetical willing and able seller, acting at arm’s […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-04-12T16:04:20+00:00April 12th, 2023|business|0 Comments