LGT's Profit Sense

When was the last time you benchmarked your manufacturing operation against your competition? Are you aware of how your revenue stacks up against your peers? In today’s business environment with COVID-19, manufacturing operations can utilize benchmarking—both internal and external—as a tool to provide valuable insight and navigate these choppy waters.

Dawn Möeder leads both the firm's assurance services practice as well as the manufacturing and distribution (M&D) practice. A chartered accountant from the United Kingdom, Dawn brings an international perspective to her approach with clients. Dawn is a trusted advisor to C-suite executives providing consulting, due diligence, internal control evaluation, forecasting, and budgeting services.

We are quickly approaching yet another market-moving event this year, but unlike the unprecedented coronavirus, the 2020 Presidential election has been on the calendar for years. The year began with an unforeseen worldwide pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on all aspects of life, and subsequently threw the investing markets into brief turmoil.

The Small Business Administration has introduced a third forgiveness application to the Paycheck Protection Program.  Late in the day on October 8th, the SBA released Form 3508S, which is an application suitable for small businesses with PPP Loans of not more than $50,000. 

The Paycheck Protection Program has provided crucial relief to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the Program provided timely relief to businesses across the country, the swift implementation of such comprehensive legislation has left some business owners with unanswered questions.

The 2017 Tax Cuts Jobs Act (TCJA) essentially eliminated the business deduction for expenses related to entertainment, amusement, or recreational activities. On September 30, 2020, the IRS released its final regulations on these provisions. The final regulations primarily adopt the proposed regulations issued in February 2020 (Notice 2018-76), with some clarifications.

Businesses generally pay their utility bills without any second thoughts, but utility providers may be charging you more taxes and fees than you actually owe. If they are, you should be entitled to a refund. There are two main areas where businesses should focus their attention to determine if they are entitled to such a refund.

Growing up the youngest of three children was certainly an adventure, always having built-in babysitters, usually embracing the role of punching bag, and learning every sport my siblings took up were just some of the “perks” of being the youngest. In almost all aspects of life, especially sports, my comparison, or benchmark, would always be my five-years-older brother.

As a general rule, gross income includes all compensation and employment benefits unless exclusion is provided by law. Cafeteria plan and certain other fringe benefits are among the items that could be excluded from employees' taxable income. Below are some common fringe benefits excludible from an employee's taxable income if certain conditions are met.

If you own a manufacturing business, your overarching goal should be to create opportunities and conditions that enable stability and business growth over the long-term. This is true whether you wish to continue operating the business or prepare it for transition. Financial professionals call this value acceleration, and the goal is all about charting a path toward maximum business value.