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Ashleigh Laabs 2/3/22 Ashleigh Laabs 2/3/22

2022 deadlines for reporting health care coverage information

Ever since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, business owners have had to keep a close eye on how many employees they’ve had on the payroll. This is because a company with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalents on average during the previous year is considered an applicable large employer (ALE) for the current calendar year. And being an ALE carries added responsibilities under the law.

What must be done

First and foremost, ALEs are subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 4980H — more commonly known as “employer shared responsibility.” That is, if an ALE doesn’t offer minimum essential health care coverage that’s affordable and provides at least “minimum value” to its full-time employees and their dependents, the employer may be subject to a penalty.

However, the penalty is triggered only when at least one of its full-time employees receives a premium tax credit for buying individual coverage through a Health Insurance Marketplace (commonly referred to as an “exchange”).

ALEs must do something else as well. They need to report:

Whether they offered full-time employees and their dependents the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage under an eligible employer-sponsored plan,
Whether the offered coverage was affordable and provided at least minimum value, and
Certain other information the IRS uses to administer employer shared responsibility.

The IRS has designated Forms 1094-C and 1095-C to satisfy these reporting requirements. Each full-time employee, and each enrolled part-time employee, must receive a Form 1095-C. These forms also need to be filed with the IRS. Form 1094-C is used as a transmittal for the purpose of filing Forms 1095-C with the IRS.

3 key deadlines

If your business was indeed an ALE for calendar year 2021, put the following three key deadlines on your calendar:

February 28, 2022. This is the deadline for filing the Form 1094-C transmittal, as well as copies of related Forms 1095-C, with the IRS if the filing is made on paper.

March 2, 2022. This is the deadline for furnishing the written statement, Form 1095-C, to full-time employees and to enrolled part-time employees. Although the statutory deadline is January 31, the IRS has issued proposed regulations with a blanket 30-day extension. ALEs can rely on the proposed regulations for the 2021 tax year (in other words, forms due in 2022).

In previous years, the IRS adopted a similar extension year-by-year. The extension in the proposed regulations will be permanent if the regulations are finalized. No other extensions are available for this deadline.

March 31, 2022. This is the deadline for filing the Form 1094-C transmittal and copies of related Forms 1095-C with the IRS if the filing is made electronically. Electronic filing is mandatory for ALEs filing 250 or more Forms 1095-C for the 2021 calendar year. Otherwise, electronic filing is encouraged but not required.

Whether you’re a paper or electronic filer, you can apply for an automatic 30-day extension of the deadlines to file with the IRS. However, the extension is available only if you file Form 8809, “Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns,” before the applicable due date.

Alternative method

If your company offers a self-insured health care plan, you may be interested in an alternative method of furnishing Form 1095-C to enrolled employees who weren’t full-time for any month in 2021.

Rather than automatically furnishing the written statement to those employees, you can make the statement available to them by posting a conspicuous plain-English notice on your website that’s reasonably accessible to everyone. The notice must state that they may receive a copy of their statement upon request. It needs to also include:

An email address for requests,
A physical address to which a request for a statement may be sent, and
A contact telephone number for questions.

In addition, the notice must be written in a font size large enough, including any visual clues or graphical figures, to highlight that the information pertains to tax statements reporting that individuals had health care coverage. You need to retain the notice in the same location on your website through October 17, 2022. If someone requests a statement, you must fulfill the request within 30 days of receiving it.

Identify your obligations

Although the term “applicable large employer” might seem to apply only to big companies, even a relatively small business with far fewer than 100 employees could be subject to the employer shared responsibility and information reporting rules. We can help you identify your obligations under the Affordable Care Act and assess the costs associated with the health care coverage that you offer.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/31/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/31/22

Does your trust need protection?

Designing an estate plan can be a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you want to preserve as much wealth as possible for your family by protecting it from estate taxes and creditors’ claims. On the other hand, you want to have some control over your assets during your life.

Unfortunately, these two goals often conflict with each other. Generally, the most effective way to remove wealth from your taxable estate and shield it from creditors is to place it in one or more irrevocable trusts. But, as the name suggests, an irrevocable trust requires you to relinquish control over the trust assets. One potential solution to this problem is to appoint a trust protector.

Trust protector’s duties

A trust protector is often compared to a member of a corporation’s board of directors. A trustee manages the trust’s day-to-day affairs while the trust protector serves in an oversight capacity to prevent trustee mismanagement and to participate in certain major decisions.

A trust protector’s specific powers are set forth in the trust document. Among other things, powers may include adding, changing or eliminating beneficiaries’ interests; replacing a trustee; and amending the trust or redirecting distributions to comply with new laws or to reflect beneficiaries’ changing circumstances.

One advantage of using a trust protector is that you can confer powers on the protector that you wouldn’t be able to hold yourself without exposing your assets to creditors or triggering gift or estate taxes.

Bear in mind that a trust protector should be distinguished from a trust advisor, who’s available to advise the trustee but has no power to make binding decisions on trust matters.

2 primary benefits

Trust protectors offer two primary benefits:

1. They provide a check against mismanagement, fraud or abuse by the trustee. A trust protector might have the power to remove or replace the trustee, or veto certain decisions, if the trustee isn’t acting in the beneficiaries’ best interests.

2. They allow you to build some flexibility into an otherwise rigid estate planning tool. Many people are reluctant to transfer assets to an irrevocable trust for fear that changing tax laws or changing circumstances years or even decades later may affect the trust’s ability to achieve their original goals. At the same time, they may be hesitant to provide the trustee with too much discretionary authority over the trust. A trust protector can step in if circumstances change and modify the trust or take other actions to ensure that the trust continues to accomplish your estate planning objectives.

Scope of a trust protector’s powers

What powers should you grant your trust protector? The answer depends on the nature of your estate plan, your family’s situation, the capabilities of the trustee and your specific estate planning objectives. But in most cases, it’s advisable to limit the trust protector’s authority to relatively narrow circumstances. Contact us if you have questions regarding the role a trust protector should play in your estate plan.

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FMD’s estate planning team will work with you and your legal and financial advisers to design plans that align with your goals and objectives. When it comes to estate planning and wealth preservation, every one of our clients receives the quality of service and personal attention that are the hallmarks of FMD. To learn more about how we can help address your estate planning and wealth preservation needs, contact us today.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/31/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/31/22

Let your financial statements guide you to optimal business decisions

Now that 2022 is up and running, business owners can expect to face a few challenges and tough choices as the year rolls along. No matter how busy things get, don’t forget about an easily accessible and highly informative resource that’s probably just a few clicks away: your financial statements.

Assuming you follow U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or similar reporting standards, your financial statements will comprise three major components: an income statement, a balance sheet and a statement of cash flows. Each one contains different, but equally important, information about your company’s financial performance. Together, they can help you and your leadership team make optimal business decisions.

Revenue and expenses

The first component of your financial statements is the income statement. It shows revenue and expenses over a given accounting period. A commonly used term when discussing income statements is “net income.” This is the income remaining after you’ve paid all expenses, including taxes.

It’s also important to check out “gross profit.” This is the income earned after subtracting the cost of goods sold from revenue. Cost of goods sold includes the cost of direct labor and materials, as well as any manufacturing overhead costs required to make a product.

The income statement also lists sales, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses. They reflect functions, such as marketing and payroll, that support a company’s production of products or services. Often, SG&A costs are relatively fixed, no matter how well your business is doing. Calculate the ratio of SG&A costs to revenue: If the percentage increases over time, business may be slowing down.

Assets, liabilities and net worth

The second component is the balance sheet. It tallies your assets, liabilities and net worth to create a snapshot of the company’s financial health on the financial statement date. Assets are customarily listed in order of liquidity. Current assets (such as accounts receivable) are expected to be converted into cash within a year. Long-term assets (such as plant and equipment) will be used to generate revenue beyond the next 12 months.

Similarly, liabilities are listed in order of maturity. Current liabilities (such as accounts payable) come due within a year. Long-term liabilities are payment obligations that extend beyond the current year.

True to its name, the balance sheet must balance — that is, assets must equal liabilities plus net worth. So, net worth is the extent to which assets exceed liabilities. It may signal financial distress if your net worth is negative.

Other red flags include current assets that grow faster than sales and a deteriorating ratio of current assets to current liabilities. These trends could indicate that management is managing working capital less efficiently than in previous periods.

Inflows and outflows of cash

The statement of cash flows shows all the cash flowing in and out of your business during the accounting period.

Cash inflows typically come from selling products or services, borrowing and selling stock. Outflows generally result from paying expenses, investing in capital equipment and repaying debt. The statement of cash flows is organized into three sections, cash flows from activities related to:

Operating,
Financing, and
Investing.

Ideally, a company will generate enough cash from operations to cover its expenses. If not, it might need to borrow money or sell stock to survive.

The good and the bad

Sometimes business owners get into the habit of thinking of their financial statements as a regularly occurring formality performed to satisfy outside parties such as investors and lenders. On the contrary, your financial statements contain a wealth of data that can allow you to calculate ratios and identify trends — both good and bad — affecting the business. For help generating accurate financial statements, as well as analyzing the information therein, please contact us.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/24/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/24/22

Educate Your Children On Wealth Management

If you’ve worked a lifetime to build a large estate, you undoubtedly would like to leave a lasting legacy to your children and future generations. Educating your children about saving, investing and other money management skills can help keep your legacy alive.

Teaching techniques

There’s no one right way to teach your children about money. The best way depends on your circumstances, their personalities and your comfort level.

If your kids are old enough, consider sending them to a money management class. For younger children, you might start by simply giving them an allowance in exchange for doing household chores. This helps teach them the value of work. And, after they spend the money all in one place a few times and don’t have anything left for something they really want, they (hopefully) will learn the value of saving. Opening a savings account or a CD, or buying bonds, can help teach kids about investing and the power of compounding.

For families that are charitably inclined, a private foundation can be a vehicle for teaching children about the joys of giving and the impact wealth can make beyond one’s family. For this strategy to be effective, children should have some input into the foundation’s activities.

Timing and amounts of distributions

Many parents take an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to the timing and amounts of distributions to their children — either transferring substantial amounts of wealth all at once or making gifts that are too small to provide meaningful lessons.

Consider making distributions large enough so that your kids have something significant to lose, but not so large that their entire inheritance is at risk. For example, if your child’s trust is worth $2 million, consider having the trust distribute $200,000 when your son or daughter reaches age 21. This amount is large enough to provide a meaningful test run of your child’s financial responsibility while safeguarding the bulk of the nest egg.

Introduce incentives, but remain flexible

An incentive trust is one that rewards children for doing things that they might not otherwise do. Such a trust can be an effective estate planning tool, but there’s a fine line between encouraging positive behavior and controlling your children’s life choices. A trust that’s too restrictive may incite rebellion or invite lawsuits.

Incentives can be valuable, however, if the trust is flexible enough to allow a child to chart his or her own course. A so-called principle trust, for example, gives the trustee discretion to make distributions based on certain guiding principles or values without limiting beneficiaries to narrowly defined goals. But no matter how carefully designed, an incentive trust won’t teach your children critical money skills.

Communication is key

To maintain family harmony when leaving a large portion of your estate to your children, clearly communicate the reasons for your decisions. Contact your estate planning advisor for more information.

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Ashleigh Laabs 1/24/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/24/22

Using B2B Media To Lengthen Your Marketing Reach

Companies that sell products or services primarily to other businesses face a tough challenge when it comes to marketing. Your customers are likely well-versed and experienced in what they do, so you must not only persuade them to buy from you, but also communicate that you’re an expert in your industry or field.

If you can demonstrate that expertise, half the marketing battle is won because your name recognition and reputation alone will likely generate positive interest in your products or services. So, how do you elevate yourself to this vaunted position? One way is to use business-to-business (B2B) media to get your name and know-how out there.

3 common approaches

B2B media, what we used to call “trade publications,” now encompasses a wide variety of content. Print publications still exist, but much of the activity has moved online to websites, blogs, social media platforms and podcasts.

You might be able to name the top B2B media outlets in your industry off the top of your head, or maybe you need to do a little digging. After getting a good sense of your options, consider one or more of the following three approaches:

1. Send out press releases. Launching a new product? Hiring a new executive? Opening a new location? When your company has big news, getting the word out to the B2B media in a press release can raise your profile with customers and prospects.

There are various best practices for sending out a press release. Include the who, what, where, when and why of the topic. Add at least two sentences from you or a company executive that can be used as comments in an article. If appropriate and available, incorporate customer testimonials.

Traditionally, press releases are submitted with a news kit that includes a fact sheet on your business, profiles of key team members, complete contact information, and, in some cases, professional photos.

2. Write bylined articles. If you know of one or more industry publications that would be a good fit for your knowledge and experience, and you’re comfortable with the written word, submit an article idea. Getting published in the right places can position you (or a suitable staff member) as a technical expert in your field.

For example, write an article explaining why the types of products or services that you provide are more important than ever to businesses in today’s difficult environment of pandemic-related changes. But be careful: Publications generally won’t accept content that comes off as free advertising. Write your article as objectively as possible with only subtle mentions of your company’s offerings.

There are other options, too. You could pen an opinion piece on how a legislative proposal is likely to affect your industry. Or you might write a tips-oriented article that lends itself to a publication or website looking for short, easy-to-read content. Insist on attribution for your company if the article is used, of course.

3. Do it yourself. A third approach is to create your own B2B media presence. For years, business owners have been urged to start their own blogs, send out their own tweets and, in general, create a social media identity that will make friends and win over customers.

This has largely become the way of the business world. In fact, there are so many social-media avenues you could travel down to get your message out, you may find the concept overwhelming. There’s also a high risk of burnout. Many people start blogs or open a social media account, post a few things and then disappear into the ether. This is not a good look for business owners trying to establish themselves as industry experts.

To be successful at blogging and social media marketing, set an editorial calendar and stick to it. Get your marketing department involved. Devise a strategy that will push out quality, consistent content regularly on the appropriate channels, whether authored by you or someone else at your company.

Not a replacement, but a booster

Using B2B media won’t completely replace the need for advertising or other marketing initiatives. However, it can boost your profile and credibility as a business owner and, thereby, create opportunities to increase sales and attract strong job candidates.

What’s more, the cost in dollars and cents is typically low — though you’ll need to set aside a certain amount of time in your schedule and you might have to expand the job duties of one or more employees. We can help you assess B2B media initiatives from a cost-benefit perspective.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/19/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/19/22

Avoiding Undue Influence Claims

A primary purpose of estate planning is to ensure that your wealth is distributed according to your wishes after you die. But if a family member challenges the plan, that purpose may be defeated. If the challenge is successful, a judge will decide who’ll inherit your property.

Will contests and similar challenges often occur when one’s estate plan operates in an unexpected way. For example, if you favor one child over the others or leave a substantial inheritance to a nonfamily member, those who expected to inherit that wealth may challenge your plan, often on grounds of undue influence. There are steps you can take, however, to reduce the risks of these challenges.

Not all influence is undue

It’s important to recognize that a certain level of influence is permissible, so long as it doesn’t rise to the level of “undue” influence. For example, there’s generally nothing wrong with a daughter who encourages her father to leave her the family vacation home. But if the father is in a vulnerable position — perhaps he’s ill or frail and the daughter is his caregiver — a court might find that he’s susceptible to undue influence and that the daughter improperly influenced him to change his will.

Protecting your plan

Here are steps you can take to reduce the chances of undue influence claims and increase the odds your wishes are carried out:

Use a revocable trust. Rather than relying on a will alone, create a revocable, or “living,” trust. These trusts don’t go through probate, so they’re more difficult and costly to challenge.

Establish competency. Claims of undue influence often go hand in hand with challenges on grounds of lack of testamentary capacity. With your attorney, establish that you were “of sound mind and body” at the time you sign your will. It can go a long way toward combating an undue influence claim.

Avoid the appearance of undue influence. If you reward someone who’s in a position to influence you, take steps to avoid the appearance of undue influence. For example, prepare your will independently — that is, under conditions that are free from interference by family members or other beneficiaries.

To deter challenges to your plan, consider including a no-contest clause, which provides that, if a beneficiary challenges your will or trust unsuccessfully, he or she will receive nothing. Keep in mind, however, that you may want to leave something to people who are likely to challenge your plan; otherwise, they have nothing to lose by contesting it.

No guarantees

If your estate plan leaves any family members less of an inheritance than they expect, there’s a risk they’ll contest it. Although there’s no guaranteed way to protect your plan, these strategies can minimize the chances that a disgruntled beneficiary will challenge your plan in court. Your attorney can address any concerns you have about your family possibly challenging your estate plan.

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Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22

With proper planning, a charitable remainder trust can replicate a “stretch” IRA

With proper planning, a charitable remainder trust can replicate a “stretch” IRA

The “stretch” IRA generally no longer exists. But if you have a substantial balance in a traditional IRA, a properly designed charitable remainder trust (CRT) can allow you to replicate many of its benefits.

SECURE Act’s effects on stretch IRAs

For years, a stretch IRA was an effective tool that allowed your children or other beneficiaries to stretch inherited IRA savings over their life expectancies. This was a big advantage, because it allowed funds to continue growing and compounding on a tax-deferred basis potentially for decades. However, the SECURE Act generally killed the stretch IRA, beginning on January 1, 2020, by requiring most beneficiaries of inherited IRAs (other than certain eligible individuals described below) to withdraw all of the funds within 10 years.

Requiring heirs to withdraw IRA funds more quickly means they’ll have to pay income taxes on those funds when they take distributions whether they need the money or not. This also may result in pushing them into higher tax brackets. Note that these rules don’t apply to spouses who inherit IRAs. As before, they may roll the funds into their own IRAs and defer distributions until they reach age 72.

In addition to your spouse, the SECURE Act designates several other potential beneficiaries for which a stretch IRA is still an option:

A person who isn’t more than 10 years younger than you (whether related to you or not),
A disabled or chronically ill person (as defined by the SECURE Act), or
A minor child, provided he or she is the sole beneficiary of a separate share of the IRA, either outright or in trust.

For a minor child, annual distributions may be based on the child’s life expectancy until he or she reaches the age of majority (usually 18 or 21), after which the remaining IRA funds must be distributed within the next 10 years.

The charitable solution

Leaving your IRA to a CRT may come close to duplicating the benefits of a stretch IRA. And even though the trust must preserve some of its assets for charity, the tax savings enjoyed by your heirs often make up for the loss of principal.

Here’s how it works: You provide in your estate plan that on your death your IRA will be transferred to a CRT. This is an irrevocable trust that pays out a percentage of its assets to your children or other beneficiaries for life (or for a term of up to 20 years) and then distributes its remaining assets to one or more charities. A CRT is a tax-exempt entity, so any assets you contribute to the trust — including IRAs — aren’t subject to tax unless they’re distributed to noncharitable beneficiaries.

The longer distributions can be stretched out, the closer a CRT comes to replicating a stretch IRA. It’s important to note, however, that the trust’s ability to do so depends on the age of your beneficiaries when you die. Contact us for more information.

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Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22

Business owners, do you need to step up your internal communications game?

They say we live in an on-demand world. Right now, many business owners are demanding one thing: more workers. Unfortunately, the labor market is somewhat less than forthcoming.

In the so-called “Great Resignation” of 2021, droves of people voluntarily left their jobs, and many aren’t rushing back to work. Neither are many of those who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. This is putting pressure on companies to do everything in their power to retain current employees and look as appealing as possible to the relatively few job seekers out there.

One element of a business that can make or break its employer brand is communications. When workers feel disconnected from ownership, it’s easy for them to listen to rumors and misinformation — and that can motivate them to walk out the door. Here are some ways you can step up your communications game in 2022.

Just ask

When business owners get caught off guard by workforce issues, the problem often is that they’re doing all the talking and little of the listening. The easiest way to find out what your employees are thinking is to just ask.

Putting a suggestion box in the break room, though it may sound old-fashioned, can pay off. Also consider using an online tool that allows employees to provide feedback anonymously.

Let employees vent their concerns and ask questions. Ownership or executive management could reply to queries with the broadest implications, while managers could handle questions specific to a given department or position. Share answers through companywide emails or make them a feature of an internal newsletter or blog.

At least once a year, hold a town hall with staff members to answer questions and discuss issues face to face. Even if the meeting must be held virtually, let employees see and hear the straight truth from you.

Manage your internal profile

Owners of large companies often engage PR consultants to help them manage not only their public images, but also the personas they convey to employees. If you own a small to midsize business, this expense may be unnecessary, but you should think about your internal profile and manage it like the critical asset that it is.

Be sure photographs and personal information used in internal communications are up to date. A profile pic of you from a decade or two ago says, “I don’t care enough to share who I am today.”

Although you should avoid getting up in employees’ business too often and disrupting operations, don’t let too much time go by between communications. Regularly tour each company department or facility, giving both managers and employees a chance to speak with you candidly. Sit in on meetings periodically; ask and answer questions. Employees will likely get a morale boost from seeing you take an active interest in their corner of the business.

In fact, for a potentially fun and insightful change of pace, set aside a day to learn about a specific company position. Shadow selected employees and let them explain what really goes into their jobs. Pose questions but stay out of the way. Clarify upfront that you’re not playing “gotcha” but trying to better understand how things get done and what improvements, if any, could be made.

Challenges ahead

Business owners face formidable challenges in the year ahead. One could say the power balance has shifted a bit from owners offering jobs to workers offering services. Being a strong, authentic and transparent communicator can give you a competitive advantage.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/10/22

Commission fraud: When salespeople get paid more than they’ve earned

Many employees — from retail workers to sales staffers involved in complex business-to-business transactions — receive part of their compensation from sales-related commissions. To attract and retain top talent, some companies even allow employees to earn unlimited commissions.

Unfortunately, some commission-compensated employees may be tempted to abuse this system by falsifying sales or rates. Fraud methods vary depending on an unethical salesperson’s employer and role. But companies need to be aware of the possibility of commission fraud and take steps to prevent it.

3 forms

Generally, commission fraud takes one of three forms:

Invention of sales. A retail employee enters a fake purchase at the point of sale (POS) to generate a commission. Or an employee involved in selling business services creates a fraudulent sales contract.
Overstatement of sales. Here, a worker alters internal sales reports or invoices or inflates sales captured via the company’s POS.
Inflation of commission rates. An employee changes a company’s commission records to reflect a higher pay rate. Employees who don’t have access to such records might collude with someone who does (such as an accounting staffer) to alter compensation rates.

More sophisticated schemes can involve collusion with customers and other outside parties.

Data-driven approach to detection

Regardless of the method used to commit commission fraud, these schemes create data and a document trail your business can use to detect abuse. For example, to uncover commission fraud in progress, you should regularly analyze commission expenses relative to your company’s sales. After accounting for timing differences, the volume of commission payments should correlate to sales revenue.

Also pay close attention to the total commission paid to each employee. Focus on outliers whose commission levels are significantly higher and analyze sales activity and the associated commission rates to ensure consistency. By creating benchmarks — based on commission sales by employee type, location and seniority — you can more easily detect fraud in subsequent periods. Randomly sampling sales associated with commissions and ensuring relevant documentation exists for each payment can be effective, too. You can contact individual customers to verify sales transactions by disguising your calls as customer satisfaction checks.

Commission schemes sometimes require cooperation with other employees and customers, which usually leaves an email trail. Consistent with your company’s policies and procedures, monitor employee email communications for evidence of wrongdoing.

Prevention processes

There are other processes your business can follow to prevent fraud from occurring in the first place. For example:

Formalize policies prohibiting it. State the consequences (for instance, termination and criminal charges) of committing commission fraud in your employee handbook. Also routinely stress your company’s commitment to detecting commission fraud and explain that management will regularly scrutinize individual payments for signs of malfeasance.

Minimize the potential for record tampering. To help prevent salespeople from accessing accounting records, rotate accounting staff assigned to recording commission payments. Segregation of all accounting duties is important to help prevent other fraud schemes from flourishing in your organization.

Set realistic sales goals. Although some employees commit fraud for personal enrichment, others cheat to meet their employer’s overly aggressive sales targets. Periodically solicit feedback from sales staff about their ability to meet objectives and pay close attention when salespeople complain or leave your company. If you encounter excessive frustration in meeting targets, make them more achievable.

Making manipulation difficult

When structured and managed correctly, a commission program can boost employee compensation and morale — and add to your company’s bottom line. But schemes to manipulate a company’s compensation structure often are all too simple for shady salespeople to commit. To make fraud much harder to perpetrate, you may need to step up data analysis and revamp your internal controls.

Many companies don’t have the internal resources to conduct this type of analysis and don’t know how to fix controls that aren’t working. That’s where a CPA or forensic accounting specialist can help. Contact us.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/4/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/4/22

Review your strategic plan … and look ahead

Business owners, year end is officially here. It may even be over by the time you read this. (If so, Happy New Year!) In any case, the end of one year and the beginning of another is always an optimal time to look back on the preceding 12 calendar months and ask a deceptively simple question: How’d we do?

Large companies tend to have thoroughly documented strategic plans in place, some stretching years into the future, that include various metrics for measuring whether they’ve achieved the growth intended. For them, reviewing a calendar year’s success in terms of strategic planning is relatively easy. They mostly just crunch the numbers.

For small to midsize businesses, the strategic planning process may be a little more informal and less precise. Yet even if your strategic plan isn’t a detailed document replete with spreadsheets and pie charts, you can still review actual performance against it and use this assessment to look ahead to 2022.

Areas that inform

Generally, there are three areas of most businesses that inform the success of a strategic plan. They are:

HR. Your people are your most valuable asset. So, how does your employee turnover rate for 2021 compare with previous years? High employee turnover could be a sign of underlying problems, such as poor training, lax management or low employee morale.

Much has been written this year about “the Great Resignation,” the trend of employees leaving their jobs for various reasons. How has it affected your company? Has it stymied your efforts to meet strategic goals? You may need to make hiring and retention efforts a focal point of your 2022 strategic plan.

Sales and marketing. Did you meet your monthly goals for new sales, in terms of both revenue and number of new customers? Did you generate an adequate return on investment (ROI) for your marketing dollars?

If you can’t clearly answer the latter question, enhance your tracking of existing marketing efforts so you can better gauge ROI going forward. And set reasonable but growth-oriented sales goals for 2022 that will make or keep your business a competitive force to be reckoned with.

Production. If you manufacture products, what was your unit reject rate over the past year? Or, if yours is a service business, how satisfied were your customers with the level of service provided?

Again, if you’re not sure, you may need to establish or enhance your methods of tracking product quality or measuring customer satisfaction to meet this year’s strategic goals. Many companies now use customer satisfaction scores or a customer satisfaction index to establish objectives and benchmark their success.

Flexibility and the right adjustments

By now, you should probably have at least the framework of a 2022 strategic plan in place. However, if you’re not that far along, don’t worry. Strategic plans are best when they’re flexible and open to adjustment as economic conditions and buying trends change.

This is particularly true when the year ahead looks as uncertain as this one, given the continuing impact of the pandemic. We can help you review your 2021 financials and use the right metrics to develop a cohesive, realistic strategic plan for the next 12 months.

Ashleigh Laabs 1/4/22 Ashleigh Laabs 1/4/22

Making funeral arrangements in advance can ease family turmoil after your death

It’s difficult for many people to think about their mortality, so it’s not surprising to learn that many put off planning their own funerals. Unfortunately, this lack of planning may result in emotional turmoil for surviving family members when someone dies unexpectedly.

Also, a death in the family may cause unintended financial consequences. Why not take matters out of your heirs’ hands? By planning ahead, as much as it may be disconcerting, you can remove this future burden from your loved ones.

Communicate your wishes

First, make your funeral wishes known to other family members. This typically includes instructions about where you are to be buried or cremated, if you prefer a formal or religious ceremony, and even the clothing you’ll be buried in.

It may also cover a memorial service in lieu of, or supplementing, a funeral. If you don’t have a next of kin or would prefer someone else to be in charge of funeral arrangements, you can appoint another representative.

Be aware that the methods for expressing these wishes vary from state to state. With the help of your attorney, you can include a provision in your will, language in a health care proxy or power of attorney, or a separate form specifically designed for communicating your funeral arrangements.

Whichever method you use, it should, at a minimum, state 1) whether you prefer burial or cremation, 2) where you wish to be buried or have your ashes interred or scattered (and any other special instructions), and 3) the person you’d like to be responsible for making these arrangements. Some people also request a specific funeral home.

Consider the ins and outs of a prepaid funeral

There’s a division of opinion in the financial community as to whether you should prepay funeral expenses. If you prepay and opt for a “guaranteed plan,” you lock in the prices for the arrangements, no matter how high fees may escalate before death. With a “nonguaranteed plan,” prices aren’t locked in, but the prepayment accumulates interest that may be put toward any rising costs.

When weighing whether to use a prepaid plan, the Federal Trade Commission recommends that you ask the following questions:

What happens to the money you’ve prepaid?
What happens to the interest income on prepayments placed in a trust account?
Are you protected if the funeral provider goes out of business?

Before signing off on a prepaid plan, learn whether there’s a cancellation clause to the plan in the event you change your mind.

Open a POD bank account

One alternative that avoids the pitfalls of prepaid plans is to let your family know your desired arrangements and set aside funds in a payable-on-death (POD) bank account. Simply name the person who will handle your funeral arrangements as beneficiary. When you die, he or she will gain immediate access to the funds without the need for probate. Contact us if you have questions about how to address your funeral in your estate plan. We’d be pleased to assist you.

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Have you named contingent beneficiaries?

Although your will or revocable trust governs the distribution of many or most of your assets, certain assets — such as retirement plans, insurance policies, and bank or brokerage accounts — require you to name a beneficiary (or beneficiaries). This can be an advantage, because when you die, the funds can pass directly to your beneficiaries without going through probate. But to avoid unpleasant surprises, it’s critical not only to choose your beneficiaries carefully, but to also name contingent beneficiaries in case a primary beneficiary dies before you.

Outcome depends on asset type

Suppose a beneficiary predeceases you but you don’t get around to updating the beneficiary form before you die. If you haven’t named a contingent beneficiary, then the disposition of the funds depends on the type of asset.

For retirement plans, the plan document might call for the funds to go to your spouse or, if you’re not married, to your estate. Leaving retirement plan assets to your estate can have undesirable consequences. For one thing, they’ll pass according to the terms of your will, which may be contrary to your wishes. Plus, they’ll have to be distributed and taxed under a five-year rule, depriving your beneficiaries of opportunities to defer those taxes for 10 years or more.

For other types of assets, the funds will likely end up in your estate, which can lead to unfortunate results. Suppose, for example, that your will leaves your entire estate, valued at $1 million, to your son. You also have a $1 million life insurance policy naming your daughter as beneficiary. If your daughter predeceases you and you haven’t updated the beneficiary designation or named a contingent beneficiary (your grandchild, for example), then your son will receive everything, effectively disinheriting your daughter’s family.

Have a backup plan

To ensure that your wishes are fulfilled, name at least one contingent beneficiary for each primary beneficiary. Your contingent beneficiaries can be virtually anyone you choose, including distant family members, friends or even charitable organizations. Contact us if you have questions regarding beneficiary designations. We’d be pleased to help.

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Ashleigh Laabs 12/27/21 Ashleigh Laabs 12/27/21

Looking for a 2022 safety net for your business? Act on EIDL funding before year end

As the new year approaches, the future of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) — and the strength of the economic recovery — remains uncertain. One thing that’s not uncertain when it comes to your business is the impending deadline to apply for COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funding, some of which needn’t be repaid.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) expanded eligibility in September 2021. While you may not have qualified or considered EIDL funding necessary previously, you might want to reconsider in light of yet another wave of COVID infections. But you’ll have to do so quickly, as the application deadline is December 31, 2021.

Shaky economic ground ahead?

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) released a statement on December 19 announcing that he “cannot vote to move forward” on the BBBA. The $2.1 billion bill that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives includes numerous provisions related to healthcare, energy initiatives, immigration, education, social programs and taxes.

The Democrats lack the votes to pass the proposed legislation in the Senate without Manchin’s support. Yet Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated on December 20 that he nonetheless intends to hold a vote on the bill in early 2022. Schumer’s announcement came hours after Goldman Sachs reduced its predictions for U.S. economic growth in 2022 based on Manchin’s statement.

Types of EIDL relief available

The COVID-19 EIDL program was created to make low-interest fixed-rate long-term loans to provide small businesses (including sole proprietorships and independent contractors) the working capital they need to withstand the effects of the pandemic. Three types of funding are available:

Loans. This funding type features a 30-year term and fixed interest rate of 3.75%. The proceeds can be used for any normal operating expense, including payroll, rent or mortgage, utilities, and other ordinary businesses expenses. Since the recent program expansion (see below), funds also can be used to pay or pre-pay business debt incurred at any time, including after submitting the application, and regularly scheduled payments of federal debt.

Targeted advances. Businesses located in low-income communities, have no more than 300 employees and have suffered more than a 30% reduction in revenue may qualify for a targeted advance up to $10,000. These advances don’t have to be repaid.

Supplemental targeted advances. Businesses in low-income communities that have no more than 10 employees and saw revenue declines of more than 50% may be eligible for an additional $5,000. Supplemental advances also don’t require repayment.

The recent expansion

The SBA has implemented several changes to make it easier for small businesses to access the COVID-19 EIDL loans. Among other things, the SBA:

Expanded eligibility from organizations with no more than 500 employees (including affiliates) to encompass businesses in the hardest hit industries with no more than 500 employees per physical location, as long as the business (with affiliates) has no more than 20 locations,
Increased the maximum loan amount from $500,000 to $2 million,
Extended the payment deferment period to two years after the loan origination date for all loans (interest will accrue during that period, and principal and interest payments must be made over the remaining 28 years of the loan term), and
Simplified the affiliation requirements.

The SBA has also limited entities that are part of a single corporate group to a combined total of no more than $10 million in COVID-19 EIDL loans.

Additional eligibility requirements

Applicants must be physically located in the United States or a designated territory and have suffered working capital losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the businesses must have been in operation on or before January 31, 2020.

Businesses (other than sole proprietorships) must have a valid tax identification number. Each owner, member, partner or shareholder of 20% or more must be a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or qualified alien with a valid Social Security number.

For loans of $500,000 or less, you must have a credit score of at least 570. For larger loans, the credit score must be at least 625. Personal guaranty and collateral requirements may apply, too, depending on the amount of the loan.

The looming deadline

The SBA will accept applications for loans and targeted advances until December 31, 2021. It will continue to process applications after that date, until the funds are exhausted. While the SBA earlier advised businesses seeking supplemental targeted advances to submit applications by December 10, 2021, it later announced it will accept applications until year end. It can’t process applications after the deadline, though, so applications submitted near the deadline might not be processed.

Note that borrowers can request increases, up to their maximum loan eligibility amount, for up to two years after loan origination or until the program funds are exhausted. In addition, the SBA will accept reconsideration and appeal requests received before December 31, 2021, if received on a timely basis. For reconsiderations, that means within six months from the date the application was declined. Appeals must be received within 30 days from the date the reconsideration was declined.

Don’t dawdle

You can apply online for COVID-19 EIDL relief, but the clock is ticking. We can help you determine if you should go this route and help you collect the necessary documentation.

Ashleigh Laabs 12/23/21 Ashleigh Laabs 12/23/21

Michigan Pass-Through Entity Tax Enacted – What You Need to Know for 2021 and 2022

Post updated 2/24/2022

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 5376 on December 20, 2021, which allows owners of Flow-Through Entities (S-Corporations & Partnerships) the option to pay and deduct their state and local income taxes at the business-entity level instead of individually.

The new tax election option is not available to disregarded entities.

The Entity Level tax rate is 4.25% (Same rate as the Michigan individual income tax rate).

This new tax mirrors the so-called State and Local Tax (SALT) cap workaround enacted by several other states and is designed to avoid the $10,000 federal limit on individual itemized deductions for state and local taxes.

Importantly, the new tax election is available retroactively for years beginning in 2021. Therefore, pass-through entities, and their owners, may want to consider making this election for the current tax year.

· The election to file for the 2021 tax year must be made by the 15th day of the fourth month after the taxpayer’s tax year-end and the tax due must be paid with the election (April 15, 2022 for calendar year taxpayers).

· The election to file for tax years 2022 and beyond must be made by the 15th day of the third month after the taxpayer’s year end and the first quarter tax estimate must be made with the election (March 15, 2022 for calendar year taxpayers).

· This election is an irrevocable election for a three-year filing period.

To ensure a 2021 Federal tax deduction, cash basis taxpayers had to act quickly as the Michigan estimate needed to be paid before December 31, 2021, to be deductible at the Federal level. If taxpayers were unable to make a payment by December 31, 2021, the benefit is not lost – it is simply deferred to the 2022 tax year.

The Michigan Department of Treasury continues to issue ongoing guidance relative to the implementation of the law and administration of payment and tax filing procedures. At this time, all payments are to be made through the Michigan Treasury Online website (MTO) and all returns will need to be electronically filed through the same site by the taxpayers, or their designated representatives.

Your FMD Advisors are following this closely. If you have any questions, please contact your FMD Advisor right away.

For further information on this topic feel free to visit the following link to the State of Michigan Website: https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,4676,7-238-43976-574512--,00.html

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A blended family requires smart estate planning

If you’re married and have children from a previous marriage plus children or stepchildren from your current marriage, your family is considered a blended family. And because you’ll likely wish to pass your wealth on to all of your biological children but also provide for your spouse and perhaps any stepchildren, estate planning can get tricky. Two estate planning strategies to consider involve a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust and an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT).

QTIP trust: The upside and downside

One of the most effective estate planning tools for blended families is a QTIP trust. This trust is designed to qualify for the estate tax marital deduction, so that assets you transfer to the trust aren’t taxed after your death.

Unlike an ordinary marital trust, however, a QTIP trust provides your spouse with income for life but can preserve the principal for your children from your previous marriage. Note that, when your spouse dies, the trust assets are included in his or her taxable estate.

Under the right circumstances, a QTIP trust is a great tool for balancing competing estate planning goals and preserving family harmony. But in some cases — particularly when one spouse is considerably older than the other — it can hinder estate planning efforts.

For example, Pete and Kim got married 10 years ago and have two children, ages six and four. Pete is age 50 and has two children from a previous marriage, ages 17 and 24. Kim is age 34 and this is her first marriage. Pete wants to make sure that Kim and their young children are provided for after his death, but he also wants to share his wealth with his older children. In addition, it’s important to him that everyone in the family feels they’ve been treated fairly.

A QTIP trust would allow Pete to spread his wealth among the family, however, it has a big disadvantage: Pete’s older children would have to wait until Kim died to receive their inheritance. And with a relatively small age difference between the older children and their stepmother, that could be a long time. Pete worries that such an arrangement would create tension.

ILIT: The alternative

As an alternative, Pete’s advisor suggests an ILIT. The ILIT purchases insurance on Pete’s life, and Pete makes annual exclusion gifts to the trust to cover the premiums. If the ILIT is designed properly, there won’t be any estate tax on the insurance proceeds.

When Pete dies, the ILIT collects the death benefit and pays it out to his children from his first marriage. The older children receive their inheritance immediately, and Pete’s other assets remain available to provide for Kim and the younger children.

Communication is key

Whether you choose a QTIP trust, an ILIT or another strategy, explain your plans — and the reasons behind them — to your children and spouse. Communication is important to maintaining blended family harmony. Contact us with any questions regarding estate planning and your blended family. We’d be pleased to assist you.

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Is your estate plan up to date following a divorce?

If you’ve recently divorced, your time likely has been consumed with attorney meetings and negotiations, even if everything was amicable. Probably the last thing you want to do is review your estate plan. But you owe it to yourself and your children to make the necessary updates to reflect your current situation.

Keep assets in your control

The good news is that a divorce generally extinguishes your spouse’s rights under your will or any trusts. So there’s little danger that your ex-spouse will inherit your property outright, even if those documents haven’t been revised yet. If you have minor children, however, your ex-spouse might have more control over your wealth than you’d like.

Generally, property inherited by minors is held by a custodian until they reach the age of majority in the state where they reside (usually age 18, but in some states it’s age 21). In some cases, a surviving parent — perhaps your ex-spouse — may act as custodian. In such a case, your ex-spouse will have considerable discretion in determining how your assets are invested and spent while the children are minors.

One way to avoid this result is to create one or more trusts for the benefit of your children. With a trust, you can appoint the person who’ll be responsible for managing assets and making distributions to your children. It’s the trustee of your choosing — not your ex-spouse’s.

Consider a variety of trusts

As part of the post-divorce estate planning process, you might include a variety of trusts, including, but not limited to a:

Living trust. With a revocable living trust, you can arrange for the transfer of selected assets to designated beneficiaries. This trust type typically is exempt from the probate process and is often used to complement a will.

Credit shelter trust. This trust type typically is used to maximize estate tax benefits when you have children from a prior marriage and you also want to provide financial security for a new spouse. Essentially, the trust maximizes the benefits of the estate tax exemption.

Irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT). If you transfer ownership of life insurance policies to an ILIT, the proceeds generally are removed from your taxable estate. Furthermore, your family may use part of the proceeds to pay estate costs.

Qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust. A QTIP trust is often used after divorces and remarriages. The surviving spouse receives income from the trust while the beneficiaries — typically, children from a first marriage — are entitled to the remainder when the surviving spouse dies.

Make the necessary revisions

If you’re currently in the middle of a divorce, contact us to help you make the necessary revisions to your estate plan, as well as to discuss changing the titling or the beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies and joint tenancy accounts.

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Could an FLP fit into your succession plan?

Among the biggest long-term concerns of many business owners is succession planning — how to smoothly and safely transfer ownership and control of the company to the next generation.

From a tax perspective, the optimal time to start this process is long before the owner is ready to give up control. A family limited partnership (FLP) can help you enjoy the tax benefits of gradually transferring ownership while you continue to run the business.

How it works

To establish an FLP, you transfer your ownership interests to a partnership in exchange for both general and limited partnership interests. You then transfer limited partnership interests to your children or other beneficiaries.

You retain the general partnership interest, which may be as little as 1% of the assets. However, as general partner, you still run day-to-day operations and make business decisions.

Tax benefits

As you transfer the FLP interests, their value is removed from your taxable estate. What’s more, the future business income and asset appreciation associated with those interests move to the next generation.

Because your children hold limited partnership interests, they have no control over the FLP, and thus no control over the business. They also can’t sell their interests without your consent or force the FLP’s liquidation.

The lack of control and lack of an outside market for the FLP interests generally mean the interests can be valued at a discount — so greater portions of the business can be transferred before triggering gift tax. For example, let’s say the discount is 25%. That means, in 2022, you could gift an FLP interest equal to as much as $21,333 (on a controlling basis) tax-free because the discounted value wouldn’t exceed the $16,000 annual gift tax exclusion.

There also may be income tax benefits. The FLP’s income will flow through to the partners for income tax purposes. Your children may be in a lower tax bracket, potentially reducing the amount of income tax paid overall by the family.

Some risks

Perhaps the biggest downside is that the IRS tends to scrutinize how FLPs are structured. If it determines that discounts are excessive or that your FLP has no valid business purpose beyond minimizing taxes, it could assess additional taxes, interest and penalties.

The IRS also pays close attention to how FLPs are administered. Lack of attention to partnership formalities, for instance, can indicate that an FLP was set up solely as a tax-avoidance strategy.

Not for everyone

An FLP can be an effective succession and estate planning tool but, as noted, it’s far from risk free. We can help you determine whether one is right for you and advise you on other ways to develop a sound succession plan.

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Make the season even merrier with a tax break

Ashleigh Laabs 12/7/21 Ashleigh Laabs 12/7/21

Prepare for a new year by reviewing your estate plan

Hopefully, you already have a sound estate plan in place to protect the interests of your heirs and minimize potential estate tax liability. But that doesn’t mean you’re completely in the clear. You can’t just fill out the paperwork, lock up the documents in a file cabinet or store them electronically, and forget about it. Consider your estate plan to be a “work in progress.”

Notably, your circumstances could be affected by certain life events that should be reflected in your estate plan. And the plan should be reviewed periodically anyway to ensure that it still meets your main objectives and is up to date. Although you can examine the plan whenever you choose, the end of the year and the start of a new year is often an opportune time for individuals to take stock of their situations.

Reflect life-changing events

What sort of life events might require you to update or modify estate planning documents? The following list isn’t all-inclusive by any means, but it can give you a good idea of when changes may be required:

Your divorce or remarriage,
The birth or adoption of a child or grandchild,
The death of a spouse or another family member,
The illness or disability of you, your spouse or another family member,
When a child or grandchild reaches the age of majority,
When a child or grandchild has education funding needs,
Changes in long-term care insurance coverage,
Taking out a large loan or incurring other debt,
Sizable changes in the value of your assets,
Sale or purchase of a principal residence or second home,
Your retirement or the retirement of your spouse,
Receipt of a large gift or inheritance,
Sale of a business interest, or
Changes in federal or state income tax or estate tax laws.

As part of your estate plan review, examine the critical components — including the key legal documents incorporated within the plan.

Update your letter of instruction

As you review your estate plan, be sure to reread your letter of instruction and make any necessary revisions. Although a letter of instruction isn’t legally binding, it can be incredibly useful.

The letter may provide an inventory and location of assets; account numbers for securities, retirement plans, IRAs and insurance policies; and a list of professional contacts that can help your heirs after your death. It may also be used to state personal preferences (for example, specifics for funeral arrangements).

Prepare for a new year

Don’t put off your estate plan review any longer. Identify any items that should be changed and arrange to have the necessary adjustments made soon after 2022 arrives, if not sooner. We can help you complete your review and make any needed updates.

Ashleigh Laabs 12/7/21 Ashleigh Laabs 12/7/21

Use change management to brighten your company’s future

Businesses have had to grapple with unprecedented changes over the last couple years. Think of all the steps you’ve had to take to safeguard your employees from COVID-19, comply with government mandates and adjust to the economic impact of the pandemic. Now look ahead to the future — what further changes lie in store in 2022 and beyond?

One hopes the transformations your company undergoes in the months ahead are positive and proactive, rather than reactive. Regardless, the process probably won’t be easy. This is where change management comes in. It involves creating a customized plan for ensuring that you communicate effectively and provide employees with the leadership, training and coaching needed to change successfully.

Prepare for resistance

Employees resist change in the workplace for many reasons. Some may see it as a disruption that will lead to loss of job security or status (whether real or perceived). Other staff members, particularly long-tenured ones, can have a hard time breaking out of the mindset that “the old way is better.”

Still others, in perhaps the most dangerous of perspectives, distrust their employer’s motives for change. They may be listening to — or spreading — gossip or misinformation about the state or strategic direction of the company.

It doesn’t help the situation when certain initial changes appear to make employees’ jobs more difficult. For example, moving to a new location might enhance the image of the business or provide more productive facilities. But a move also may increase some employees’ commuting times or put them in a drastically different working environment. When their daily lives are affected in such ways, employees tend to question the decision and experience high levels of anxiety.

Make your case

Often, when employees resist change, a company’s leadership can’t understand how ideas they’ve spent weeks, months or years carefully deliberating could be so quickly rejected. They overlook the fact that employees haven’t had this time to contemplate and get used to the new concepts and processes. Instead of helping to ease employee fears, leadership may double down on the change, more strictly enforcing new rules and showing little patience for disagreements or concerns.

It’s here that the implementation effort can break down and start costing the business real dollars and cents. Employees resist change in many counterproductive ways, from intentionally lengthening learning curves to calling in sick when they aren’t to filing formal complaints or lawsuits. Some might even quit — an increasingly common occurrence as of late.

By engaging in change management, you may be able to lessen the negative impact on productivity, morale and employee retention.

Craft your future

The content of a change-management plan will, of course, depend on the nature of the change in question as well as the size and mission of your company. For major changes, you may want to invest in a business consultant who can help you craft and execute the plan. Getting the details right matters — the future of your business may depend on it.

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